At first, the Era feels like the Stumpjumper from years gone by: a comfortable touring bike with an upright riding position. But after the first few metres of climbing, you are sure that you can win the mountain classification today. The suspension is firm and enables efficient propulsion. This makes the Era a real racing machine.
That's why the bike was the first choice for a six-day crossing of the Dolomites, probably the most demanding test terrain for a mountain bike. Steep, rough gravelled climbs are followed by rocky trail descents - the Era copes with all situations like a touring fully. It cranks up every ramp as light as a feather and the in-house shock responds so sensitively that the rear tyre does not slip even in deep gravel. This allows weight to be shifted over the relatively high cockpit and the front tyre, which also grips the gravel and remains easy to control. In the carrying sections, the lightweight bike is quickly levered over the rucksack, which clings firmly to the frame triangle.
The upright riding position can now be fully savoured downhill: with your weight on the fork, you have the bike under control at all times. The steep steering angle and SID fork are so agile that even fast cornering is fun. Thanks to the new damper linkage, the seat post can now be fully lowered, so there is no risk of rolling over even on steep descents.
The only drawback: on rough descents you wish you had a little more suspension travel.
Web: www.specialized.com
You can also download the individual test as a PDF below.
Photo: Markus Greber
