Specialized Crux DSW Comp review: A lesson in restraint

Gravel is a spectrum. All the way from praying for grip on 28c tyres to falling asleep climbing on a full blown MTB. Important context as someone who mainly rides on the road or heads straight to that sweet sweet singletrack on an XC bike.

The best gravel bikes aim to fit neatly in the middle somewhere; confident enough to have fun, fast enough to keep you awake. So what does the Specialized Crux DSW Comp have to offer? Is it a road bike with an identity crisis? Is it enough to make the most mundane off-road riding enjoyable?

To answer these questions I took the “lightest alloy gravel bike” out on a platter of central Scotland's finest gravel and tarmac. A mixture of chunky and smooth, often wet, fast and hilly.

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Design and Aesthetics

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Perhaps taking aesthetic cues from the Tarmac SL4, the Crux paints a classic silhouette, with clean lines and simple tube shapes. Something I greatly appreciate.

The clean looks also carry over to the simple frame features and glorious lack of gimmicks. A round 27.2mm seatpost, 68mm BSA BB, three bottle cage mounts, 47mm tyre clearance and most importantly, no headset cable routing. Personally I believe this feature has no place on off road bikes but I understand some people want that clean look. I would love to see mudguard mounts, but I suppose we can’t expect that from a bike designed in California.

The 40c Pathfinder tyres hint at the bikes intended use. As the current trend is to go wider and wider, I would like to see that tyre clearance fully utilised out of the box but I appreciate Specialized isn't trying to make the Crux something it isn’t. After all, Specialized has the Diverge in its range for those more adventurous/chunky gravel rides.

SRAM provides the shifting and brakes with Apex XPLR mechanical, with a generous 11/46T cassette and 40T chainring. We also have 160mm rotors front and rear.

DT Swiss rims are a nice touch but you won’t see that label on the OEM hubs; a choice to keep cost down as is common practice at this more budget friendly price range.

The Comp model we have here is the only complete build of this bike, but I am glad to see a frame only option available though; something I wish more brands would offer.

The stock flared handlebars are quite wide. Quoted at 42cm they measure closer to 43cm on the tops and 47cm on the drops. This is matched with a 100mm stem for some quick handling and plenty of leverage when sprinting.

The tan wall Pathfinders go down well aesthetically and adding a couple of stainless steel bottle cages really tied the whole bike together. I can’t help but think some classic silver spokes and hubs would complete the look Specialized was going for here but the black does disappear nicely.

Specialized positions the Crux DSW as a more affordable version of the Carbon fibre Crux and indeed, the geometry is identical. To achieve a similar ride feel, Specialized makes great use of its “D’Aluisio Smartweld Technology”, a patented manufacturing technique that heavily hydroforms the tubing to create stronger welds and reduce weight. You can see it most clearly around the bottom bracket; the shell and down tube are formed from one single tube. The welds aren’t smoothed down but you’d be hard pressed to find nicer joints on another mass produced alloy bike. Something that really helps the Crux DSW stand out from its competitors. I feel Specialized has nailed this across its whole alloy lineup.

Overall the Crux DSW is quite the handsome bike. Simple shapes and lines that let the geometry and design choices speak for itself.

Performance

These Specialized Pathfinders roll nicely on the road. They aren’t the fastest according to Bicyclerollingresistance.com, but didn’t feel like I was dragging an anchor behind me. They do a great job smoothing road chatter in the 40c size on this bike. I was also able to fit a mudguard through the fork with the extra space. If you wanted to use this bike for cyclocross you’d have huge amounts of mud clearance. Similarly, off-road in dry conditions, these tyres roll very nicely. The shoulder knobs hook up well in the corners and I found the traction good on some pretty steep gravel climbs. In the wet, it's a different story; next to no grip on mud and poor braking performance, as expected for a semi slick. These are perfectly suited in most scenarios however.

The wheels are fine. Basic hubs and spokes and a decently wide rim at 24mm inner diameter. J-bend spokes are easy to replace and find in most bike shops and the cartridge bearing hubs can be serviced, so these should be a reliable workhorse wheelset for many years. However these straight gauge spokes lead to a stiff, wooden feeling while riding. I would be looking to upgrade to a nicer wheelset for an improved performance.

The Sram Apex brakes give good modulation but lacking outright power at higher speed and on steeper tracks. The hoods are a great shape though and the levers have a generous range of adjustment; useful for those with smaller hands.

One thing did bother me; the flared bar means the edge of the squared off leaver did create a pressure point on my hands. I was able to get comfortable but felt it worth noting if you suffer from hand pain.

1x gearing shines on undulating and more technical terrain where being able to shift quickly to get on top of a gear is important, but it does feel limiting at higher speeds on the road. I often found myself jumping between the 12 and 11 tooth sprockets, looking for a comfortable cadence and coasting descents I would otherwise keep pushing on, especially above 45km/h. It’s more than enough for most riding conditions but if you're looking for that edge in a race or maybe wondering if you could keep up with the local chaingang, I would be wishing for a 2x drivetrain.

This was my first time on SRAM’s mechanical double tap system. Unlike Shimano, SRAM uses a ratcheting escapement mechanism controlled by one paddle instead of two separate levers. It's been around a fair while now and I’ve had some lukewarm experience with it in the repair stand. I was surprised at first with how intuitive it was once I was riding it. It's smooth enough with a nice clack noise from the shifter. Unfortunately I have however found myself getting a little frustrated with it. Trying to shift up just one gear will often lead to a miss shift and the amount of throw required to shift multiple gears is obscene; not great for people with smaller hands.

The most confusing spec choice to me is the handlebars. I really don’t understand the trend for ultra wide, flared drop bars. While I was comfortable on the hoods, the drops just felt so far away and put me so low down that I barely used them and didn’t add anything to my confidence or my ability to take a corner.

Close your eyes and imagine descending a road bike. Now think: how are you steering around corners? Through your hips right? You're not turning the bars like you would with a car steering wheel. So at high speed on the Crux the bars added nothing to my experience and made me significantly less aerodynamic on the road. While at low speed on tight technical trails they did improve the handling but honestly I would rather just be on my mountain bike on terrain like that and I’d have way more fun.

Yes, your more adventure focused gravel bike might benefit from this. The Crux is not that; it’s a tight, nimble, aggressive bike with semi slick tyres. In my opinion the bars just don’t match what Specialized is trying to achieve here. Thankfully the standard a-head cockpit and external hoses allowed me to play around with my position and once I found a match to my road bike fit, the Crux started to make a lot more sense.

Before receiving this bike I visited one of my favourite websites, bikeinsights.com, to compare the sizing to my road bikes and was surprised to find the stack and reach figures to be almost identical. only adding 10mm of reach. So out on the road it did indeed, feel very similar and easy to get used to. The extra wheel base and slacker head angle does well to add stability off-road. In long sweeping bends and at high speed it felt very stable and predictable; a slight departure from the CX roots of the Crux. Those looking for that classic CX race bike feel may want to look elsewhere, but genuine cyclocross geometry is becoming very hard to find nowadays.

Pointing the Crux uphill felt very familiar and it certainly doesn’t feel like an over 9kg bike. With a surprising amount of stiffness from such slender chainstays, the Crux is more than happy under heavy torque. Even on very steep off road climbs I was able to keep traction on the back wheel while keeping the front firmly on the ground. For a bit of fun I took the Crux for a little max effort hill climb up to Stirling castle; a short sharp climb, ending with a cobbled section. The Crux handled this very well; I happily razzed up the tarmac and felt in control over cobbles.

Increasing the gradient and roughness of the trail will help you find the limits very quickly. The Crux is not dancing with the cool MTB kids at the school disco. However if you’re willing to push those limits, it delivers a seriously enjoyable ride, a “by the seat of your pants” experience if you dare. Maybe those MTB kids will notice...

It’s a fantastic handling bike on tarmac and unpaved roads adding an extra dimension to old routes and more mundane trails.

Value

At the time of writing you can find this bike for under £2000 but for the sake of comparison I’ll be comparing it to other bikes at full RRP.

Value is an interesting topic with this bike; £2300 puts the Crux against entry level carbon fibre framed bikes, such as the Giant Revolt Advanced 1 and Cube’s Nuroad C:62 ONE. And comparing it to other alloy bikes like the Trek checkpoint ALR, it’s significantly more expensive. So where’s the value?

Specialized has produced a very high quality frame with the DSW tubing, with excellent welds and paint work as well as those hassle free features. I feel this is what you are paying for: a high end metal bike that competes with similarly priced carbon bikes. And in the subcategory of performance gravel, I don’t see many alloy alternatives.

For me the easier headset cable routing alone is reason enough to buy the Crux over any competitor, cheaper or not.

There was one bike that stood out to me as a compelling alternative; The Fairlight Secan. It’s a fair bit more expensive, but comes with some interesting options if you’re willing to save up.

Verdict

I had a great time with the Crux. It’s an incredibly satisfying bike to ride, in the right conditions. Largely I can forgive all the issues I have with the spec for the handling characteristics alone. It suits the type of gravel riding accessible to me; long road sections to nice wide fireroad tails and green singletrack along with lesser ridden broken tarmac roads. I genuinely could see it as a replacement for a general use road bike; it's fast enough and the option to take a traffic free trail is a novelty that's not lost on me. I think that's where the Crux DSW shines.