Specialized CruX Elite

Pinpoint accuracy, superfast and absolutely stunning to look at, the Specialized Crux Elite is a highly capable cyclo-cross race bike, but there are better-specced bikes for the money.

• Pros: Looks great, rides great, good details, fast and comfortable
• Cons: Spec compared to rivals, could be lighter

What's it like to ride?

The handling and steering are extremely well calibrated for the demands of cyclo-cross racing. The steering is pinpoint accurate when you focus on the apex of a corner, with not a hint of hesitation. It goes precisely where you want it to. It's not reluctant to turn in harder and tighter when you're racing hard and fast and pushing your limits.

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The race focus can be felt when putting the Crux through its paces on a tight and winding cyclo-cross course (is there any other type?); it's really responsive when you're getting on the power out of slow corners and chasing fellow racers. It might not be the lightest bike at this price but that doesn't dent its ability to carry great speed through fast sections, and it's easy to throw over your shoulder when you have to leg it over some hurdles.

Composure and compliance over rough ground is good. Cyclo-cross racing is never going to be a comfortable experience, but the Crux manages to provide an acceptably smooth ride over the roughest school playing fields and rutted paths, though there's no getting away from the diminutive air volume between you and the ground.

With such narrow tyres, you'll find the limits of traction if you push it hard but the Tracer tyres and the handling of the Crux ensure that when you find those limits it's all as controllable as possible, with nicely executed drifts possible if you're happy to explore the limits. Swapping tyres is an obvious way to increase the traction, and I'd have preferred to see Specialized's Terra tyres as they have a much deeper tread pattern and are better suited to typical UK winter conditions.

I really can't find fault with the geometry of the Crux for cyclo-cross racing. There's adequate pedal clearance but it's not as lofty as some 'cross race bikes I've ridden in the past, so you don't feel unduly perched over the top of the bars.

What's it like away from the barriers, tape and lactic acid of a cyclo-cross race? Even though it's not designed for much more than racing, it's clear many customers will want to use it for much more than that. For riding my local 'gravel' test loops with a wide variety of terrain, the Crux is right at home. The front is sharp with precise steering and the back end doesn't pummel you.

I also used the Crux, with 35mm WTB Cross Boss tyres, for this year's 3 Peaks CX race. It was my first time at this fabled and legendary race, and it was quite the experience. Brutal, hardcore and bonkers – you can watch my video account of the race here.

For that race the Crux was a great choice as it copes with demanding and challenging terrain well, the handling surefooted and stable at higher speeds; even when I was tired it wasn't skittish, and frame compliance took the edge off the hardest Yorkshire rocks. Don't get me wrong, it was hard as nails – a mountain bike would have been a lot more suitable.

Frame

The Crux was introduced in 2010 as a replacement for the ahead-of-its-time Tricross. Last year, the Crux received quite a big update: new and lighter carbon frames, more race focus, and modern disc brake standards fully embraced.

You have a choice of carbon or aluminium frames. Our test bike has a FACT 11r carbon fibre frame and it's disc brake-specific – there are now no rim brake options. The discs are flat mount and 12mm thru-axles secure the wheels in the frame with flush-fitting axles that give the bike a clean appearance.

Since you won't be doing any quick wheel changes in a 'cross race, the absence of levers is no biggie. In case you're wondering, the latest Crux now uses a 142mm-wide rear axle rather than the SCS 135mm of a few years ago.

You're getting the same carbon frame and fork as used right across the range, no downgrading of carbon on the cheaper models as is often the case. It's a smartly designed frame. Full internal cable and brake hose routing keeps the lines clean and cables away from mud. There's no front mech mount but you could fit a clamp-on front mech if you wanted, and there's a spare cable port on the down tube, which is just ugly on this 1x specced bike.

Like the Specialized Tarmac, the Crux employs the company's Rider-First Engineering. It's Specialized's attempt to tune the frame for each frame size, so the layup and tube shapes are refined across the size range to account for the requirements of different height and weight cyclists. It means this 56cm frame has a different layup to the smallest and biggest sizes.

And like the Tarmac, the seat clamp is integrated into the top tube. It's a little fiddly to access, as all internal clamps tend to be, but I had no issues with slippage with the bolt correctly tightened. Putting the clamp inside the frame in this way provides 20mm more seatpost extension and therefore more deflection for the carbon fibre seatpost.

Down below, there's Specialized's own OSBB press-fit bottom bracket (a narrower version of PressFit 30) and the head tube is tapered. Frame weight is a claimed 900g and the fork adds 400g. That gives the potential for a nice light build – lighter than the 8.2kg of this test bike.

As we're starting to see with other cyclo-cross bikes, the Crux is completely and utterly race-focused. Yes, there are two bottle cage mounts, but there's nowhere to fit a rack or mudguards. For that sort of versatility (which cyclo-cross bikes used to be bought for), there are now the latest gravel and adventure bikes, such as the Specialized Diverge, which are far better suited to a wider range of uses and take much wider tyres.

Tyre clearance here is pegged at 38mm, with ample space around the UCI-legal 33mm tyres fitted as standard. To test the limits of clearance, I swapped in some 40mm tyres and there was enough space to allow the wheels to rotate freely but at the rear it was tight, with about 2mm of clearance either side. That might be enough to tempt you, but really if you're looking at the Crux with a view to fitting some 40mm tyres, you'd be better off with the Diverge, especially if you want a bike for swapping from tarmac to dirt.

The geometry of the Crux is race-focused too, and this is an area where my riding highlights that Specialized has got the numbers and angles just right. Compared to the previous version, the new bike has a 4mm longer top tube and 1mm more fork rake, the former giving a racier fit and the latter increasing the trail (how far the tyre patch trails behind the steering axis) for increased stability. Otherwise, the numbers are the same, so a 72-degree head angle, 69mm bottom bracket, 425mm chainstays and a long 1,026mm wheelbase on this 56cm bike.

It's a good looking frame, and not just because of the rad paint job. There's a lovely smoothness to the tube profiles and the way they merge into each of the key junctions, and this smoothness ensures mud can clear easily and not cling to the frame. There's no seatstay bridge to help in this regard, and the S-Works model goes a step further with hydrophobic paint.

The top tube is flattened to provide more comfortable shouldering, which does make a difference for long stints of portaging such as in the 3 Peaks. The top tube isn't as distinctively bowed as it used to be, but isn't to the detriment of shouldering. A metal scratch guard on the chainstay protects the frame against dropped chains.

My only small gripe is that, considering Specialized is only offering 1x builds, it's still compatible with 2x with an ugly redundant cable port on the down tube.

Specialized has been stunning the cycling community with its flash and bold paint jobs and designs in recent years, and the Crux line is perhaps where its designers are allowed complete freedom to experiment. The pink fade might not be to everyone's taste, but it was almost universally well received by everyone who clapped eyes on it. I had more comments riding this bike than any other bike I can recall testing.

Build

The Crux is available in four builds and a frameset, including one aluminium model. Of the three carbon models, this £2,800 Crux Elite is the most affordable. It's equipped with SRAM Rival 1, a common sight on cyclo-cross and gravel bikes at or around this price. And it works very well, with easy gear shifts even in the heat of a race and solid brakes, and no dropped chains at all.

Specialized has been speccing Praxis chainsets for a number of years and does so on this bike. It's a solid and dependable choice with the Wave Ring narrow/wide chainring design ensuring complete chain retention. The 40t chainring combines well with the 11-32t cassette to provide, in my case, all the gears needed for a typical cyclo-cross race course.

They're not flash, but the DT Swiss R470 wheels with their strong and light aluminium rims have been dependable and robust, with no issues during several months of hard racing and riding, including the brutal 3 Peaks CX race. They're tubeless-ready, with rim strips installed, and setting up the Specialized Tracer tyres tubeless was a complete and utter doddle.

These tyres have a low-profile, closely packed tread pattern that is well suited to riding on hardpack trails and in dry conditions. They're a good all-round tyre, and the raised shoulder knobs and Gripton compound combine to provide reasonable traction on loose and damp ground, though I'd prefer a more aggressive tread pattern with taller blocks for more bite. Like Specialized's Terra Pro tyre, in fact.

While it's not the most generously specced bike for the price, Specialized goes some way to redeeming itself with the quality of the finishing kit. The Phenom saddle is a top quality Body Geometry design that I found utterly comfortable, with sufficient padding for racing over rough ground.

An aluminium handlebar is a sensible choice for a bike that is likely to enjoy some rough and tumble, and it's a short reach with compact drops. The bar tape is nicely grippy without gloves, and lightly padded.

The aluminium stem goes about its business and was a suitable length for me – I like to keep the reach a little shorter on cyclo-cross bikes for increased control in the corners.

Value for money

The Crux is an expensive proposition. SRAM Rival on a bike nudging £3k does feel a bit steep, something that's confirmed when you start to shop around – especially if you don't mind buying online.

For example, you'll find the Vitus Energie CRX with a SRAM Force groupset for £1,899; that's seriously impressive. You also get decent WTB Cross Boss 35mm tyres on tubeless-ready wheels, so it's not skimping on details. I haven't ridden this bike, but we do have one in for test so we'll let you know. 

A bike I did race last year is the Canyon Inflite CF SLX. For £2,699 the Inflite CF SL 8.0 Race, which uses slightly lower grade carbon than the top-flight model I tested, is also specced with a SRAM Force groupset including a Quarq power-ready crankset, Reynolds AR 41C carbon fibre wheels, race-ready Schwalbe X-One tyres and a one-piece carbon handlebar and stem. The claimed 7.7kg weight seriously undercuts the Crux. 

> Beginner's guide to cyclo-cross essentials

Or there's the Canyon Inflite CF SL 7.0 Race, with SRAM Rival 1 and DT Swiss aluminium wheels at £1,799.

The two business models are very different – buying direct versus through a dealer network – but that is a huge difference. It's worth remembering that the CF SL isn't the highest grade carbon and lightest Inflite frame, and at 1,050g it's quite a bit heavier than the Crux's 900g claimed weight.

Over to another popular cyclo-cross bike on the world cup circuit, the Trek Boone with its front and rear IsoSpeed decoupler borrowed from the Trek Domane endurance bike. The closest in terms of price is the £2,500 Boone 5 Disc which has a carbon fibre frame with a SRAM Rival 1 groupset and a claimed 8.39kg weight. Again, it's a bike I haven't tested – soon to be rectified, hopefully, when Trek sends me one to ride... 

> Buyer's Guide: 12 of the best cyclo-cross bikes

None of those rivals looks as smart as the Crux, though. What price to put on a stunning paint job? True, the Crux is pretty woefully specced compared with other similarly priced or even, in the case of the Vitus, hugely cheaper rivals, but the components are just one aspect of the overall package, and other than the weight they don't dent the performance which really shines through on a race course.

Conclusion

The Crux is a thoroughly capable, fast and smooth cyclo-cross race bike with a paint job that will turn heads, but you'll need to look past the fact that it's not as generously specced as rival bikes to be a contender.

I'd love for the Crux to be a bit lighter and better specced for the money, but I've still really enjoyed racing and riding it because the handling just works so well, and it's flippin' fast.

I fear not enough people will be able to get past the low spec for the price to consider the Crux Elite when shopping for a cyclo-cross race bike; it's a shame it's either not cheaper or better specced because if it was it would be a blinding choice for the privateer or aspiring 'cross racer.

Verdict

Fantastic handling and performance and stunning paint job, but let down by weight and spec