The New 2022 Specialized CruX: Breaking Down the Hype and Hysteria

As you may have heard or seen, Specialized debuted a new CruX at the 2021 Sea Otter Classic. Before the embargo date, we saw one in Baltimore with Day 2 winner Maghalie Rochette and also just hanging out at a local bike shop.

When Specialized updated the CruX in 2017, the frame received updated geometry and took on a new silhouette compared to the previous version. We first saw that version at Sea Otter as well. It remains one of our favorite all-around rigs, and one of our most “borrowed” photographs, either disc-side or drive-side:

Four years later, one of the oldest bikes in Specialized’s catalog (ignoring repurposed names) receives an update with new geometry and a new focus. There’s been plenty of hype and strong opinions by observers, but let’s dive into whether the bike should get your blood pressure up, in a good or bad way.

Unlike Trek, with its latest Boone remains an elite cyclocross race bike designed for top-level racing with a stated maximum tire clearance of just 33mm, or Bianchi, which rebranded Wout van Aert’s winning cyclocross bike as a new gravel model, Specialized has worried some as abandoning true cyclocross race bikes. The company sees the future of drop bars off-road on gravel rather than between the tape. As such, the new CruX is designed as a gravel race bike first, with some nods toward cyclocross racing.

The 2022 Specialized CruX Geometry Gets Tweaks:

The largest departure in the redesign is a focus on what’s described as more stable geometry, with a lower bottom bracket drop and longer wheelbase across all sizes.

• The bottom bracket is lower by an average of 3mm per size (eg. a 56cm used to be a 6.9cm drop is now 7.2cm drop)
• The wheelbase is longer by an average of 9mm across the size range.
• The top tube is slightly longer, effectively extending the reach.

Here’s the actual geometry table:

2022 Specialized CruX Cyclocross/Gravel Bike Geometry Chart:

	49	52	54	56	58	61
Crank Length	165mm	170mm	172.5mm	172.5mm	175mm	175mm
Handlebar Width	380mm	400mm	420mm	420mm	440mm	440mm
Stem Length	70mm	80mm	90mm	100mm	110mm	110mm
Saddle Width	155mm	155mm	143mm	143mm	143mm	143mm
Seatpost Length	330mm	330mm	330mm	380mm	380mm	380mm
Stack	530mm	547mm	560mm	578mm	598mm	621mm
Reach	375mm	382mm	388mm	397mm	405mm	415mm
Head Tube Length	100mm	115mm	130mm	147mm	167mm	190mm
Head Tube Angle	70.5°	71.25°	71.5°	72°	72.25°	72.5°
BB Height	284mm	284mm	286mm	286mm	286mm	286mm
BB Drop	74mm	74mm	72mm	72mm	72mm	72mm
Trail	74mm	69mm	67mm	64mm	62mm	60mm
Fork Length, Full	401mm	401mm	401mm	401mm	401mm	401mm
Fork Rake/Offset	50mm	50mm	50mm	50mm	50mm	50mm
Front Center	594mm	600mm	608mm	618mm	630mm	644mm
Chainstay Length	425mm	425mm	425mm	425mm	425mm	425mm
Wheelbase	1008mm	1014mm	1023mm	1033mm	1045mm	1059mm
Top Tube Length, Horizontal	512mm	539mm	549mm	568mm	582mm	599mm
Bike Standover Height	749mm	772mm	794mm	816mm	841mm	866mm
Seat Tube Length	466mm	496mm	521mm	546mm	576mm	606mm
Seat Tube Angle	75.5°	74°	74°	73.5°	73.5°	73.5°

The adjustments have been polarizing, with strong reactions to the headlines, mostly due to the labels of “gravel” and “cyclocross” being thrown around.

If we can forget labels for a second, a lower BB drop, especially with cyclocross and gravel tire sizes and rim widths increasing, and 98% of bike owners never lining up for a UCI tire-measured event, gets riders back to the same bottom bracket height as a few years ago. Sure, a UCI pro on 33mm tires might notice an extra pedal strike in a deep muddy rut, but who can blame Specialized for prioritizing retail-paying customers over sponsored athletes and retrogrouches?

As for the longer front center, it’s not like the CruX gets slacker, with head angles staying constant, and trail growing by just 2mm on a 56cm size, putting it back in line with a 2009 Specialized Tricross. Freaking out over 2mm? To put that in perspective, the front-center of the new 56cm CruX is shorter and the head tube angle steeper than Kerry Werner’s Kona Major Jake cyclocross bike, which doesn’t seem to hold him back from riding between the tape.

Remember when everyone was up in arms with Todd Wells winning National Championships on gravel bikes? Okay, that didn’t happen, and a few holdovers at Specialized must remember that. The Specialized Tricross cyclocross bike, developed by Andy Jacques Maynes as an early “all road” bike, with its long 44cm chainstays, ultra-low bottom bracket (69mm drop, quite low for the time), long trail and long wheelbase had no problem cleaning up the medals at the National Championships under dozens of sponsored riders. Meanwhile, Redline’s winning Conquest at the same time featured 43.5cm chainstays, a typical “gravel” number these days, and yet somehow racers navigated tight corners and made it up steep climbs. More recently, Tobin Ortenblad on his “gravelfied” Stigmata and racers on the updated Pivot Vault have adapted to the lower BB drops on a diversity of cyclocross courses.

We look at the direction of these drop bar, off-road bikes and will say one thing. We’d rather be on a bike with a longer front-center and lower BB than one with longer chainstays, but memories are short and “gravel” is now a movement that has the purists concerned. Those of us who have ridden all iterations of mixed terrain bikes over the years look at such adjustments as minor tweaks that shouldn’t be a reason for racers to sell their own rig, jump on a waiting list or worry about the future of cyclocross bikes.

Cyclocross racers Maghalie Rochette and Cody Kaiser seem to like their new CruX bikes, while gravel star Moriah Wilson proudly showed off her own rig for us. All are sponsored racers of course, while Kaiser’s dad also sells Specialized in his store.

Find the new models to be a bit long for you in terms of reach? You could size down or opt for a shorter stem length.

In addition to the new geometry, gravel enthusiasts and cyclocrossers without a pit bike or crew will find tire clearance to their liking, for both modern gravel tires and generous mud clearance. That’s smart, because most retail-paying customers will fit that customer description and aren’t UCI cyclocross racers. The frame and fork sport greater tire clearance, with room for up to 47mm tires on a 700c rim, or 2.1″ tires with 650b. That’s a lot of clearance to keep you rolling when conditions get messy. Most cyclocrossers will opt for an extra pedal strike while pedaling over carrying a mud-clogged bike with “traditional” cyclocross geometry.

Worried the company has abandoned cyclocross? For what it’s worth, you can still find the bike under “cyclocross” on the company’s website.

The 2022 CruX Sheds Features and Weight

Beyond geometry tweaks, Specialized also makes some concessions to practicality with its new 2022 CruX. As with other current Specialized frames, the new CruX trades the BB30-based OSBB bottom bracket found on previous versions for a BSA threaded bottom bracket. That’s easier for the average home mechanic to work on.

Additionally, while the CruX retains a standard 27.2mm seat post, the internal wedge has been dropped in favor of an external collar.

Cable routing and derailleur mounting are also new, with the CruX utilizing the same interchangeable plate on the down tube as the Aethos for cable management. The frame is 2x capable, but rather than using a 31.8mm clamp the new CruX has a removable mounting tab for those who prefer a 1x setup.

Unlike the previous version that utilized the same S-Works level 11r layup across the entire product family (with some stickering 10r sticker errors), the new CruX really does come in 10r carbon, with a pricey, lighter 12r S-Works version on the top-shelf model and frameset option. All models share the same FACT 12r fork. Of course, the S-Works CruX is lighter on the scale and the wallet. The S-Works 12r frame can weigh as little as 725g, but will take several Gs from your bank account as well. The frame retails for $5k, and a complete bike for $12k. Have trouble justifying the price and frame tweaks? Your shoulder will appreciate it on run-ups.

All complete bikes will be SRAM-equipped, with the base model featuring a mechanical Rival 1 drivetrain and retailing at $4200. Shimano builds might be coming, but are likely supply-chain delayed.

As with many cycling-related products the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the availability of the new bike. Dealers were offered a pre-order window for 900 units available at launch, with additional units expected to arrive in late December.

There are 4 models of the 2022 CruX:

Specialized CruX Comp $4200:

FACT 10r carbon frame, 12r carbon fork
Rival 11 s mechanical
40t front with 10-42 cassette
DT Swiss G540 aluminum rim

Specialized CruX Expert $6000:

FACT 10r carbon frame, 12r carbon fork
Rival AXS
40t front with 10-44 cassette
Roval Terra C wheels

Specialized CruX Pro $8000:

FACT 10r carbon frame, 12r carbon fork
Force AXS
40t front with 10-44 cassette
Roval Terra CL wheels

Specialized CruX S-Works $12000:

FACT 12r carbon frame (725 grams), 12r fork (400 grams)
Red AXS with AXS power meter crank
40t front with 10-44 cassette
Roval Terra CLX wheels

The complete S-Works bike weight is claimed to be 7.25 kg. We spied Maghalie Rochette with her new CruX that is reportedly at that weight. The claim to be the lightest cyclocross/gravel bike is obviously with the S-Works 12r frameset.

Bye Bye Affordability

We think the biggest story is not the geometry tweaks but that we didn’t see a model that lowers the barrier to entry to the sport for those on a tight budget. Sure, Specialized is a for-profit entity, and parts are hard to come by these days, so going after the wealthy might be the best short-term strategy, but we shed a tear that a cyclocross or gravel racer needs to plunk down $4200 to get any entry-level CruX.

An alloy model with affordable parts could help pour more people into the funnel. You used to be able to get a CruX E5 alloy complete bike for $1400, and we hope such models come back for the unsponsored amateurs without $4-12k in disposable income. Future bike sales depend on a healthy, growing sport, regardless of how we label the bike.

Stay tuned for a full review.

Brandon Grant and Clifford Lee contributed to this article.

More info: specialized.com