2022 Specialized Mountain Bike Range Guide
2022 Specialized Mountain Bike Range Guide
Specialized have been making mountain bikes for nearly as long as there have been mountain bikes. Models like the Rockhopper and Stumpjumper have been staples of the range for decades with the technology being updated and refined every year. The 2022 Specialized mountain bike range has bikes for all kinds of mountain bikers with prices ranging from £500 to over £10,000. All Specialized mountain bikes are ‘beyond gender’. Although they are technically unisex, Specialized tend to fit more female friendly saddles on the smaller size bikes and more male friendly saddles on the larger bikes. These can easily be swapped out to suit preferences.
Specialized Rockhopper £499 to £1149
Best for – New riders looking for their first mountain bike
The Rockhopper is Specialized’s entry level mountain bike and is nearly always a ‘top pick’ for a beginner’s bikes. These are general purpose bikes with can handle proper off-road riding and will give you a real taste for mountain biking.
The smaller bikes come with 27.5” wheels to make them easier to handle. The larger bikes with 29” wheels for greater speed and stability. On the medium size bikes you get a choice of either 27.5” or 29” wheels.
All of the bikes in the Rockhopper range use the same frames but as you go up through the range they come with better brakes, better gears. The entry level Rockhopper for £499 comes with mechanical disc brakes while all other bikes come with hydraulic disc brakes for better stopping power. The Rockhopper Comp at £749 comes with a 1x drivetrain and the Elite at £899 has a Rockshox fork.
Specialized Chisel £1699 to £1999
Best for – XC racing and fast cross country rides
The Chisel is almost a bit of a throw back bike. It’s a lightweight aluminium XC race bike which not that many companies make anymore. As a modern XC bike it can be used for racing but is also a really fast and fun bike for general cross country riding. It’s versatile enough to easily handle the red routes at most UK trail centres.
All of the Chisel bikes come with 1x12 speed SRAM drivetrains, 29” wheels and 100mm travel Rockshox air forks. It’s also available as a frameset so you can build up your own bike.
Specialized Fuse £1049 to £2299
Best for – Technical trail riding
While the Chisel is a bit of an old school bike the Fuse follows the template for most modern trail hardtails. The Fuse comes with either 27.5” or 29” wheels depending on the mode. 27.5” wheels are more manoeuvrable at slower speeds on technical terrain. 29” wheels are generally faster and more stable at speed. Both wheel sizes are paired with a 130mm travel fork to handle bigger hits. All of the geometry is much slacker than the Chisel as well so it can handle steeper descents more easily.
The entry level fuse at £1099 uses an X-Fusion fork and 1x9 speed microShift gearing. The rest of the bikes use either a Rockshox or Fox fork and come with 1x12 speed SRAM gearing.
Specialized Stumpjumper £1950 to £3700
Best for – all round trail riding
'Stumpjumper' has been the name given to top of the range Specialized mountain bikes since the 1980s. The current Stumpjumper is an all-round trail bike which comes with 130mm of front and rear suspension travel. This is a bike which can be used for big all-day rides, big climbs and big descents. It can be used comfortably at trail centres and bike parks.
The entry level bike uses an aluminium frame while the Comp is available with either a carbon or aluminium frame. Both versions come with Specialized’s S sizing which. S sizing keeps most of the bikes the same height but varies the length so you can have a shorter bike which is more playful or a longer bike which is more stable at speed.
Specialized Stumpjumper Evo £3250 to £9500
Best for – playful trail riding and bike parks
The Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Comp was named by MBR magazine as their trail bike of the year for 2021. It’s a more playful version of the standard Stumpjumper and comes with adjustable geometry with 6 different settings plus the ability to run mullet setups with 27.5” wheels at the back and 29” wheels at the front. This means you can have the Stumpjumper Evo as a pretty much standard trail bike that climbs well and works on longer rides. Or you can have it as a bike park focussed bike with aggressive geometry.
Like the standard Stumpjumper the Evo uses S sizing and the entry level model uses an aluminium frame while the bikes higher up in the range use carbon fibre frames.
Specialized Status 140 & 160 £2750
Best for – Instagram influencers
The Status was launched very quietly in 2021 with virtually no bikes available in the UK. Specialized’s idea was to launch them as a ‘stealth’ model only available to influencers. It’s available with either 140mm of travel or 160mm of travel. Both versions use a mullet setup with a 27.5” rear wheel and a 29” front wheel. This gives a combination of manoeuvrability and speed.
The Status is designed as a do it all bike which can jump and handle technical singletrack riding. Availability is likely to be very restricted in 2022.
Specialized Epic and Epic Hardtail £2750 to £11750
Best for – XC racers
The Epic and Epic hardtail are full on cross country race bikes. They are among the lightest mountain bikes available and some of the fastest. With carbon frames and 100mm suspension travel they are built for pure speed. These bikes will also work as fast bikes for general riding but the race course is where they are really at home.
Specialized Epic EVO £4000 to £11750
Best for – down country
The Epic Evo has been around for a few years and was one of the first of what are now being called ‘down country’ bikes. The bikes in this genre are generally XC race bikes like the Epic which are modified to have slightly more suspension travel, bigger tyres and a more trail focussed build. You still get a lot of the speed of a pure XC race bike but with the ability to handle more technical trails and jumps.
Specialized Enduro £4500 to £9500
Best for - Enduro and bike parks
The Enduro is, not surprisingly, built for Enduro racing. It also doubles up as a big hitting bike park machine. With 170mm of travel the Enduro is geared towards downhill riding, but can also climb efficiently enough to get you back to the top of the hill for your next run.
Specialized Demo £4000 to £6000
Best for – downhill racing
The Demo is a full-on downhill race bike. It comes with 200mm of travel front and rear and uses a mullet setup mixing 27.5” and 29” wheels. If you want to go downhill racing, or hit some really massive jumps and drops this is the bike for you.
