Specialized CrossTrail Sport

If ridden in isolation with no regard for the wider bike market, the 2019 Specialized CrossTrail Sport is a fine bike that does everything it sets out to do very dependably. It's safe, reliable, well balanced and can be rather satisfying to ride. But if you are even just slightly interested in comparing bike specs and overall packages, you might come to feel hard done by.

• Pros: Super-stable, dependable and comfortable ride, 'Fitness Brain' suspension fork works well, Trigger Sport Reflex tyres roll very well
• Cons: Tektro hydraulic disc brakes are sub par, overall poor value for money

It doesn't normally take long to work out the characteristics of a new bike, and the more benign the machine, the less time it takes to come to a conclusion. So, to say the Specialized CrossTrail Sport felt very familiar from the off gives you some clue about have safe and secure this bike is.

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The initial sensation that strikes you is how incredibly stable and assured it feels. Surefootedness is the order of the day, with direction changes inspiring confidence and road bumps and lumps dealt with impressively. Sleeping policemen are left to snooze peacefully as the CrossTrail glides over them, thanks in no small part to the 55mm SR Suntour NEX fork with Specialized's proprietary 'Fitness Brain' technology. This does away with a lockout and instead uses an inertia valve to keep the fork rigid when the going is smooth, and reactive when you negotiate less welcoming surfaces. It works very well.

Brain tech also means you can get out of the saddle and sprint without causing the suspension to fidget, although I doubt CrossTrail riders will put this to the test too often. The reason for my misgivings is that this is not a lively bike under acceleration, although getting up to speed has a solid, consistent feel to it.

Climbing is efficient thanks to sensible gearing setup, and maintaining a good tempo is surprisingly rewarding. But this is not a dynamic, stop/start, sprint-for-the-lights kind of ride experience, and excitement is slightly lacking overall.

Frame

Specialized CrossTrails of old had something utilitarian or certainly ultra-rugged about them. They were effectively 29ers before marketing folk dreamt up the term, with a heavily mountain bike-inspired frame running on 700C road bike wheels shod with fat tyres.

Certainly some of those ingredients remain in 2019, but the modern CrossTrail frame has undergone a transformation and now looks pretty sexy rather than tough-as-nails. It arguably looks even more svelte than the more road-orientated Specialized Sirrus. There's smart internal routing through the down tube, 'Plug and Play' mounts for mudguards and a rear rack, and even the seatstay bridge is rather delightful.

Add in the nice blue finish and some 'Integrated Reflectivity' branding, and you've got a very pretty machine.

It's not perfect, though. The bottle cage mounts on the seat tube require spacers (supplied) because the band that holds the front mech in place is in the way.

Also, Specialized has fitted three individual bottle cage bosses rather than two on the down tube, which had me puzzling, so we asked and were told it's because some European lock brands require three points for their lock mounts, "notably Abus with its Bordo models". Learn something every day!

As you'd expect from Specialized, fit and geometry is bang on the money. This large model was a fraction short in reach for me (I'm just a smidge over six foot), but everything felt in perfect proportion with quite a sporty position. It's not exactly aggressive but it encourages a more enthusiastic approach than head's-up daydreaming.

Components

In terms of drivetrain, the MicroSHIFT front derailleur is a bit agricultural but it works reliably enough. While changes of chainring may be clunky, at least they're positive and secure – there's no faffing about waiting for things to happen. The same can be said of the Shimano Alivio rear mech, although that's a little more refined.

Choice of gear ratios is good. This CrossTrail Sport model comes with an FSA Alpha Drive double chainset, the two chainrings featuring 48 and 32 teeth. Combine that with the 11-36t cassette and you have a setup that can easily handle city cycling, and will have a good crack at a lot more besides.

So everything works well enough when it comes to gaining momentum, but things take a bit of a turn when it comes to slowing down. Specialized really should have stopped at 'S' in the bike component catalogue because these Tektro hydraulic discs can't compete with entry-level discs from Shimano or SRAM. It's not just a matter of modulation or feel, all-out power is also found wanting. In fact, the brake levers can be squeezed through about half of their potential travel before you feel the callipers doing anything at all.

Wheels, etc

Better news can be found at the wheels, which roll nicely but are otherwise pretty unremarkable. The Trigger Sport Reflex tyres are much more interesting, though. Earlier on I said the CrossTrail is surprisingly rewarding to pedal at speed – 'surprisingly' because out in front of you is 38mm of rubber, which would normally suggest plenty of rolling resistance. But the Triggers have a neat trick up their sleeve...

As all good cycling scientists know, all tyres, no matter what their width, have the same area of contact patch with the road as long as they are inflated to the same pressure. Normally, fat tyres have a max inflation significantly below skinnier tyres and so create a larger contact patch, but these 38mm Triggers can be pumped up to 100psi. That means, for all their girth, they should be almost as easy to roll as any other tyre at 100psi. Of course, there are other factors to take into account (I'm keeping things simple here) but essentially they roll impressively, they add to the overall ride comfort, and they find traction on the road well, too.

Finishing kit is traditionally a strong suit for Specialized. Here it's good but tinged with a little disappointment. The CrossTrail Sport comes with the same Body Geometry XCT grips and Specialized Canopy Sport saddle found on the Sirrus Alloy I tested and mentioned earlier. While they were a great find on a £425 bike, I would have hoped for something a little more special on a bike demanding a £325 premium.

Off-road

As is my wont with any bike that arrives boasting a squidgy fork, I decided to take the CrossTrail Sport for a quick blast off road. Actually, 'blast' is a bit of a misnomer, because its inherent stability means this doesn't really offer a seat-of-the-pants adrenaline-fest, but a fairly relaxing roll through the woods. With a change of tyre, it would be a perfectly decent machine for modest trails, especially if your mountain bike skills are still developing. And while it's not particularly playful, if you're just trying to keep up with the kids off-road, there shouldn't be any nasty surprises to make you look a fool.

In fact, the CrossTrail Sport's all-round ability reminded me of the Saracen Urban Cross 3. The CrossTrail is to my eyes a nicer looking bike and I'd rate its ride quality as better suited to road and commuting duties, while the Saracen is a little more fun, especially off-road, and has a notably better spec.

Value

Actually, it's not just the Saracen that has a notably better spec. Look at similarly priced bikes from GT, Cannondale, Pinnacle, Cube (the list goes on...) and you'll see they all come with superior Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and at least some superior Shimano Deore drivetrain components (or even – in the case of the £749 Cube Nature SL – two XT derailleurs).

> Buyer's Guide: Why your next bike should be a hybrid

Okay, some of those are different kinds of bike brands compared to world renowned Specialized, but if you'd like a particularly close comparison between similar models from very similar global bike makers, there's the Trek Dual Sport 3. This features two Shimano Alivio/Acera derailleurs, a Shimano Acera triple chainset, Shimano MT200 hydraulic disc brakes, and an SR Suntour NEX fork with lockout (but without Fitness Brain technology), yet costs £625. That's £125 less than the Specialized CrossTrail Sport.

Conclusion

The first bike I ever lusted after as a schoolboy was a white Specialized Rockhopper, and over the years I've been only too pleased to praise Specialized's road models, especially the Roubaix. But this is the second Specialized hybrid I've tested in the last six months and both warrant exactly the same criticism.

While the most important basic ingredients – the frame and fork's ride qualities – are as impressive as anything on the market at this price, the overall spec isn't good enough. The MicroSHIFT front mech doesn't let the side down too much in performance terms, but it's not like Specialized has discovered an overlooked gem. And the Tektro hydraulic discs are plainly inferior to Shimano or SRAM offerings. Add in the small matter of component snobbery (or even just recognition), and I'm not sure buyers should be impressed.

Verdict

'Surefooted' sums up the Specialized CrossTrail Sport's talents, but at this price the spec is a bit underwhelming