July 4, 2007 (Madrid, Spain) – Spain is ground zero for the Specialized 2008 product release parade. Media from all corners of the globe have converged on the small mountain town of Navacerrada, located just outside of Madrid, and situated at a breathtaking 1,200 meters above sea level.

If the altitude or the stunning panoramic view of the Spanish countryside didn’t take our breath away Specialized was hoping their 2008 product line would.

We weren’t disappointed when they rolled out their first gem of the 2008 season. A completely redesigned Stumpjumper FSR, a bike Specialized is quick to point out is the lightest, most efficient, best handling 120mm XC Trail bike on the planet. The 2008 Stumpy has been redesigned from the ground up, taking advantage of Total Suspension Integration (TSI), a technology Specialized introduced last year and designed around the 2007 Enduro.

The FSR has some impressive engineering packed into its FACT (Function Advanced Composite Technology) Az1 high modulus carbon frame. One of the highlights of the ’08 Stumpy is the new Future Shock S120 with FlowControl Brain. The S120 incorporates a unique 1.5/1.125-inch, tapering, carbon steerer/crown assembly, with the lower bearings aligned directly level with the down-tube, to decrease flex significantly. The tapering also eliminates sharp angles between the steerer and crown, reducing high stress points in the Carbon and yielding much greater strength and stiffness with less weight.

The S120 also uses the new “Buddy System” which incorporates both the spring and damper systems into the right leg of the fork, reducing redundancy and weight by 103 grams over last year. At 1,450 grams, the S120 is one of the lightest, if not THE lightest, forks available. The lowers of the S120 have also been refined and upgraded by increasing the thrust surface between the hub and the fork, adding torsional rigidity. The oversized hub drop is matched up to Specialized’s newest Roval MTB wheels, but can be used with any wheels.

Specialized has also used TSI to optimize and match the front S120 and Flowcontrol Brain, rear suspension performance by developing the FSR telemetry and linkage rate in conjunction with the AFR Shock’s spring curve. The entire suspension system is virtually independent of chain and brake forces so that it is fully active over rough terrain.

The attention to detail is impressive on the Stumpjumper. Even the rear triangle has been optimized for a greater strength to weight ratio. The FACT carbon seatstay includes carbon drive-side dropouts with a stainless steel insert at the hub interface, and unique non-drive dropout, that has been designed to maximize bonding surface to the seatstays for ultimate strength.

Simply put, the ’08 Stumpjumper is a beauty, its smoky carbon chassis highlighted with crimson red lines, red anodized FSR linkage, and red anodized Magura Marta SL disc brakes. And it is fully loaded with an XTR drive and SRAM X-0 shifters, but what might really grab you for ’08 is the new set of slippers the stumpy is sporting. A pair of Specialized’s new Roval Controle, race disc wheels, with the latest rubber soles known as The Captain, a design from the mind of long standing Specialized team Member and veteran rider, Ned Overend.

Also new in bikes from the big Red “S” are the 29ers in both an FSR and a Hardtail comp. The 29ers have been heavily researched by Specialized and they’ve made every effort to improve the performance of the big bikes without compromising the advantages 29ers are said to offer. The Specialized 29ers have had their geometry and suspension tweaked to make up for the large amount of room that 29″ of wheel takes up. Head tubes have been shortened and flat bars have been incorporated to keep the front end low. The head angle has been increased a degree vs. the Stumpjumper FSR, to give the 29er a more nimble ride. Specialized has also taken advantage of the direct mount front derailleur to allow for a shorter chainstay design, possibly the industries shortest in the 29er category.

Also new in men’s bikes is the Pitch, the Enduro SL’s little brother. The Pitch is targeted at a lower price point but offers much of what the high end Enduro SL offers the in the way of ride. The Pitch weighs in at about 30lbs and comes with a 150mm travel Fox in the rear and a 140mm Pink up front.

Design for Women

Design for women, headed up by Canada’s own Eron Chorney, also continues to push boundaries for 2008. Breaking away from the old school tradition of having women’s versions of popular men’s brands, (ie:Stumpjumper women’s , Rockhopper women’s ) Specialized has opened up a whole new category of women’s specific bikes. Performance, Trail and Sport/Recreation make up the three cats and five bikes fill out their ranks.

In Performance, Specialized introduces the ERA FSR, full suspension, and the ERA HT, hardtail. Trail sees the intro of the Safire, and Sport/Rec the Myka FSR and Myka HT. All of Specialized’s women’s specific bikes are custom designed with smaller, thinner walled tubesets, and make use of components geared towards women’s smaller anatomical features. Mike Sinyard, founder and president of Specialized, made a point of mentioning that sales of women’s Rubies outpaced the men’s Tarmac last year without any print advertising and sales in the women’s shoe line is overtaking men’s in many markets. He stated with conviction, “The potential for the women’s market is bigger than when the mountain bike itself was introduced.”

Parts and Accessories

Equipment was certainly not left on the sidelines as Specialized rolled out their new 2008 bikes. In fact many of the bikes were rolled out on the impressive New Roval MTB wheel sets with new hub designs. There are three hub designs for 2008, the Roubaix 322x, the Controle XC race, and the Traversee.

The Roubaix is Specialized’s newest, most unique Carbon road hub, with increased spoke length, creating better spring to maximize damping on rough roads. The Controle XC Race and the all Mountain Traversee, feature a DT Swiss, Star ratchet freehub mechanism and 24-spoke DoubleDrive front pattern for increased braking stiffness and balanced spoke tension, and 28-spoke 3x pattern to support disc brakes and loads in the rear wheel.

A very cool feature on the MTB hubs are the interchangeable axel cups. The Controle, can be changed easily from a standard QR to an oversized QR. The Traversee also has an interchangeable QR, 20mm and 25mm front end caps allow use with any fork. The hubs are tricked out with E5 alloy, lightweight disc rims with eyelets and are tubeless compatible. The Traversee wheelset is at 1,579 grams and the Controle at 1,425 grams, making these some of the sweetest light ride MTB wheels you could possibly hope for as your next feel good purchase.

Of course one of the big Headliners to hit the press this season will be Specialized’s amazing S-Works 2D helmet. Wetting your hair will increase the weight of your head more than this carbon shelled beauty. The dual density 2D is a mind blowing 199 grams for the medium, 185g for the small! The entire focus for the 2D’s development was weight reduction without safety compromise. Two separate densities of foam are used to decrease weight by approx. 30% and is supported by over 20 meters of uni-directional Kevlar fibre, laid out in 10 separate strands to form the InnerMatrix. Specialized has also decreased weight at every opportunity, from thinning of retention straps to buckle optimization. Inline vents provide maximum airflow and a new Mega Mouthport vent up front provides cool airflow right were needed, at the forehead. This helmet has to be worn to be believed and any questions we may have had as to its ability to withstand a high impact crash were answered this week as one of the media from Japan real world tested it by slamming his 2D wearing noggin into a rock garden at about 30+ km/hr. The helmet took the full brunt of the impact, split but left the dazed kamikaze with an intact skull and the ability to walk away with a smile on his face, even if it was nervously forced.

BG Shoes have been upgraded for ’08 with tweaks to the Boa closure system. The new Boa drops the red release button, found on older versions, and is replaced with a simple pull release mechanism. The S-Works MTB shoe also features a new Powerzone lacing feature that effectively allows you to double up the tightening force at the top and mid zones of the shoe for a snug fit. Simply unhook the high strength braided steel lace to return an even lacing force to the entire shoe. At 335 grams, these shoes, like much of Specialized’s equipment, puts them at the front of the field weight class.

We will have lots more to report on as it trickles in, SRP’s , release dates, tech head details, pics from the field and much more on Specialized 2008 road bikes and products. Stay tuned.