The Demo can stick its chest out: right after taking office (2019), the aluminium bike became world champion (Loic Bruni) and won the overall World Cup at the same time. Wow! And the success story continued - right up to the present day. Specialized only offers its big bike in Mullet, large at the front, small at the rear. If you want to ride an all-29-inch bike, you have to modify it yourself. Surprisingly, the largest size (S4) of the Demo only has a reach of 466 millimetres. We even tested the bike in S3 with the narrowest wheelbase (1269 mm) and narrowest reach (43 mm) in the test field. Nevertheless, it felt comfortable, only our big World Cup tester would have liked S4.
The Demo's strength: the bike is fast AND playful. Sit on it, feel good - and the feeling of well-being stays with you - whether you're blasting down the steep, root-infested World Cup track at Vmax or turning onto the 99 jumps track for some airtime. This quality makes the Demo the testers' favourite, and its suspension gives the bike the necessary stability at all times. We felt bombproof on the Demo. The best proof: If you want to jump the Roadgap with its sketchy approach for the first time, you'll gladly reach for the Demo. Worldcupper Garlicki criticised the fork, but the FREERIDE testers had little to criticise about the Swedish front end. Super: The Specialized rides nice and quiet.
Conclusion on the Specialized Demo Race:
Fast, safe, manoeuvrable - these attributes make the US big bike a top downhiller and at the same time a park shredder. Only Propain and Mondraker had more speed potential.
Stefan Garlicki (height: 1.84 m):
The Demo has a first-class rear suspension. However, I didn't get on with the Öhlins fork - it reacted insensitively and harshly. I would have liked to try the Demo in size S4 for even more smoothness.
The low-cost alternative:
One bike, two versions. At Specialized, the price gap to the cheaper model is particularly large. The Demo Expert costs 3300 euros less than the model above it. Instead of Öhlins suspension, the bike is available with the cheaper Rockshox Select suspension. The rest of the equipment is impressive, e.g. Code RS brakes. Weight: 17.4 kilos. Price: 4800 euros.
Technical data and notes Specialised Demo Race
Manufacturer information
- Material / Sizes: Aluminium / S2, S3 (tested size), S4
- Price: 8100 Euro
- Weight without pedals: 16.9 kg
Measurement data
- Front / rear suspension travel: 200 mm / 200 mm
- Rear suspension system: four-link
- Reach: 443mm
- Stack: 636 mm
- BB drop: -25 mm
Equipment
- Fork / shock absorber: Öhlins DH38 M.1 TTX / Öhlins TTX 22 M (411 lbs)
- Cranks / gears: Sram X01 DH / Sram X01 DH
- Brake system: Magura MT-7
- Wheels: Roval DH system wheelset
- Tyres: Specialized Butcher GridGravity T9 2Bliss 2.3
STRENGTHS
- Geo (!)
- Handling
- Chassis
WEAKNESSES
- Price
FREERIDE RANKING
The number (maximum 10 points) reflects the overall impression of the testers and is not an addition of the performance points.
- 10 Test winner, it couldn't be better.
- 9 Very good. Buy recommendation
- 8 Good. Solid performance
- 7 Below average. The product has weaknesses.
- 6 and less: We can only warn against this!
