As a FREERIDE editor, you get to ride a lot of bikes. An estimated 50 every year. Many are fun, but only a few are so inspiring that you don't want to give them up. The Specialized "Demo I" was one such bike. In our big Big bike test, early 2012the "Demo" quickly took the lead. "Test winner" is what we internally call such favourites, which all test riders fight over - for the last fun descent of the day. Even World Cup downhiller Johannes Fischbach could hardly hide his enthusiasm for this black and green car, despite the pressure of sponsorship. For the test, we stopped Fischbach's descent time on all the test bikes to see which one was the fastest. It was the "demo". After this race check and our test rides on other routes, we gave the "Demo" the coveted 10 as a test score and a note to our editorial assistant: "Anette, don't send the 'Demo' back yet!" We all agreed: we wanted to have even more fun with this bike.
We'll tell you why: The low bottom bracket is particularly striking: 336 millimetres. Standing on the pedals, you really feel like you're "in the bike", pushing through the turns as confidently and low as Sebastian Vettel in his Formula 1 racer. The rear end is firmly planted. If you lift the bike by the saddle and drop it onto the tyres, the rear end emits a pleasurable, promising "thump". On the trail, the rear triangle swallows up everything: boulders, gullies, potholes - whatever nasty things the topography has in store - this double rear end with its twin seat stays irons them out. And this despite the fact that only the inexpensive Fox "Van RC" shock is fitted - amazing! Thanks to the short chainstays, the "Demo" can be accelerated nimbly out of corners, pulled onto the rear wheel or fired over jumps. In short, the "Demo" has massive suspension reserves and flops down bad rubble at speed. At the same time, it is so lively and manoeuvrable that you'll go into raptures in the bike park. An almost perfect combination.
Only the inexpensive RockShox "Boxxer RC" stuttered from time to time when the terrain got really rough and impacts hit the fork legs like continuous fire. That's when we wished for a Fox "40" or RockShox "Worldcup", the 10-point forks that you can see in the fork test (page 76). The Specialized "Roval" rims seemed too soft at first - after just three days on our test track they were badly dented. Strangely enough, the replacement set of exactly the same wheels held up - even though we had to re-centre them frequently.
For two seasons, we put the "Demo" through its paces, used it for our bike park tests (18 parks), and actually rattled around in the parks at every opportunity - "on duty" and privately. Parks are hard on your equipment - if you break something, it's usually there. Every now and then we had to tighten screws, but otherwise the "demo" remained pretty unimpressed by our torture procedures. Not only did it withstand everything like a Leopard tank, it also saved our arses a few times. For example, when a gust of wind caught me at the drop in Spicac: I was in an inclined position in the air, panic in my face, scared stiff, but somehow the "Demo" sucked away the inclined landing and swayed itself and the rider to safety. Thank you, "Demo"! Even when new big bikes arrived for testing - GT's new "Fury", Kona's carbon downhiller - no matter which high-end machine it was, we also took the "Demo" with us, even if it was just for the last fun descent. We probably would have kept the bike forever, but what had to happen happened: Specialized demanded the bike back. And now? What to do? Buy flowers, light candles and shed a tear - maybe even two in this case. Goodbye "Demo"!
Laurin Lehner
Editor
