I’m lucky enough that my girlfriend loves mountain biking. Just another indication of her excellent taste (ha ha).
She has spent the last 12 months throwing herself around South Wales’s excellent trails on her Specialized Myka Pro (now become the Myka Expert) which has proved a reliable and great riding little bike but she felt the time was right to move to full sus as I think she’d reached the limits of what a hardtail can cope with on some of the rockier descents we’re both keen on.
Finding a suitable bike was no easy task as Sarah is 5’2” and whilst there are numerous ‘women’s specific’ bikes out there, finding one with a decent amount of travel (5”+) to suit her riding style and height and able to cope with long wilderness rides and forays into the Alps wasn’t simple.
We looked at the Orange 5 Diva Pro but budget prevented this and besides, the obvious choice was the Specialized Safire Comp as it seems to tick all the boxes; travel, sizing, spec, price.
FRAME:
Specialized always make lovely frames and this is no exception. Smooth welds and constructed entirely from their excellent M5 alloy. A 68.5 degree head angle makes for sure footed steering that encourages speed in descents without being sluggish on twisty single-track climbs. Size wise the small seems right on the money. It’s hard to make a frame with good travel fit smaller people but the very low top tube and D4W geometry combined with longish saddle rails and the superb Specialized 4 way adjustable stem and generous head tube spacers (all carbon) makes getting the right fit a doddle.
The frame finish (paint job) had us divided; Sarah thought it “dull” but it is very well applied feeling almost like anodising. I thought it was classy in a sort of understated way, If I have to be honest I’d prefer something a little more ‘bling’ and in your face but you can’t please everyone. Anyway, one thing for sure is that Specialized paint jobs always last well. You can find the specific geometries here.
SUSPENSION:
The frame delivers 120mm of very well controlled, fully active travel via the always superb Fox Triad rear shock that has 3 position compression damping giving locked, fully open and ‘Pro pedal’.
Whilst these options are good to have, a light rider with a smooth pedal stroke needn’t use anything other than fully open off-road as the FSR system does its job more than ably reacting very little to pedal input.
The front end is taken care of by the also excellent Fox Float 120RL again with adjustable compression damping. Both ends being air shocks makes a lot of sense as it offers the most adjustability to get the most out of the available travel.
To make sure you get the most out of the shocks you will need a good shock pump and a bit of advice as to how to set them.It’s well worth the effort and expense though as if a full sus bike is badly set it can ruin the ride and sometimes be worse than no suspension at all.
COMPONENTS:
As always seems to be the case with Specialized the component package is very well thought out and represents great value for money. Shifting is taken care of by the ever-reliable Sram X9 rear mech and shifters, having all the functionality of X0 without the terrifying crash replacement cost.
One real highlight is the wheelset: DT Swiss X420 rims shod with S-Works ‘the captain’ dual compound tyres make for a tough, light and extremely grippy combination. Avid juicy 5 SL brakes bring every thing to a well-controlled powerful stop with the added nice touch of frame size specific rotors. I’m a huge fan of juicys having a pair that have done 2 Alps trips, 3000 miles across the US and everything between, without fault. Finishing components are always good from Specialized, being worthy after market upgrades in their own rights. The excellent Body Geometry saddle is about as good as it gets in terms of design and comfort. So often you get a new bike and the first thing to go is the saddle but thankfully not so with Specialized.
PERFORMANCE:
I know I wasn’t riding this bike (I’m 6’2”) but I knew how it would ride as I’ve spent many hours on the Stumpjumper Comp, which is essentially the same bike in gents form. They ride beautifully, lightning quick up and down any trail I’ve been on. They always feel like they deliver more than the promised 120mm travel whilst maintaining a sprightly efficiency (I love them in case you hadn't guessed).
This was Sarah’s first proper experience of full suspension and it resulted in nothing but smiles.
“I felt much more in control and less likely to crash (on descents) and didn’t notice any loss of power on the climbs. The way it smoothes out rocky climbs was brilliant …..I loved it!”
The way full sus reduces fatigue on all angles of off-road riding should not be under-estimated and is often forgotten about amidst often un-founded worries about ‘bob’ and loss of power.
We’re off to the Brecon Beacons next weekend for a ‘biggy’ where I’m sure the afore mentioned fatigue reduction will come into its own.
CONCLUSIONS:
This is a superb bike, full stop. It looks classy (I think so anyway) and delivers proper big mountain performance in a well-designed manageable size. Has an excellent choice of components and looks and rides like a much more expensive bike. Specialized have made great strides in designing ‘proper’ bikes for women who want to ride hard. They haven't just paid lip service and made 'make do' rides with 3" travel and flowery paint jobs.
Specialized design their D4W (designed for women) bikes from the ground up as women’s bikes and it shows. Bring on a D4W downhill bike! I know Sarah’s ready for one and I’m sure there are many more women out there who are.
