The Specialized Crux has been a really popular choice in the world of cyclocross racing, winning at every level of the sport from the world champs to regional races, fast in the capable hands of professionals but equally at home with privateer racers. In the above video we take a first look at the arrival of the new Specialized Crux Elite and its Acid Pink paint job.
Among the five cool things we highlight, there's the bold colour choice which follows an encouraging trend by the big US company to allow its creative team much more freedom. Underneath the paint is a 900g frame that borrows technology, such as the Rider First Engineering, tube profiles and internal seat clamp, from the Tarmac SL6, and adds disc brakes with 12mm thru-axles and internal routing.
Those are some significant updates over the previous generation Crux we tested a couple of years ago, and one notable improvement is the weight. It's dropped from 8.8kg to 8.2kg with the same SRAM Rival 1 groupset and DT wheels. Progress eh!
You don't need us to tell you it's cyclocross season, hence the reason for testing a couple of cyclocross race bikes at the moment. As well as this new Crux we're also putting the new Canyon Inflite AL SLX 6.0 Race through its paces, and if you missed that video first look you can watch it here.
If anything, the bright paint job will help me to stand out at the race, so it'll serve as an easy marker for where the back of the pack is! Stay tuned for a full review soon...
David has worked on the road.cc tech team since July 2012. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds.