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2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure/gravel bike tech overview (short version)

2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike
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2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike

Did you miss our long form story on the new 2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike? Or perhaps Monday just wasn’t the right day for such prose? Bookmark that one for the weekend (definitely worth a read!) and skim through this post for the quick tech and details overview of their new steel road bike.

Designed to fit in between the carbon fiber Diverge and the all-steel AWOL, the new Sequoia mixes modern lines with quasi-old school geometry to create a bike capable of hitting the trails, or just ripping up long pavement miles in comfort. Three versions are offered, two with a full carbon fork, but all are ready to load up as many bags and bottles as possible and head outta town…

2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike

The Sequoia was inspired by the original bikes Jim Merz used to help test Specialized’s early tires. Which was important, because tires are what Specialized started with…they were the beginning of the entire company. And who’s Jim Merz? Glad you asked:

jim-merz-specialized-sequoia-bike-history

2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike

The Sequoia’s frame is made of Premium Chromoly with size specific tubing – meaning, wall thickness and butting is all spec’d according to frame size so that the smallest frame rides the same as the largest frame. Complete bike weight is claimed at 24lb (10.88kg) for a size 56.

UPDATE: Frame weight is claimed at 2.2kg, and the carbon fork is 500g and steel fork is 1,400g.

2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike

2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike

In addition to fender and rack mounts in all the usual spots, the fork gets two water-bottle-cage-spaced mounting holes on the legs. The front triangle has room for two bottles and their new Burro Burro top-tube bag, plus a third bottle mount on the bottom of the downtube. Smaller frames may have to run a shorty bottle, but it’s still there.

2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike

Flat mount brakes let you run 140mm or 160mm rotors. Stealth (read: tooled) thru axles come stock.

2017 Specialized Sawtooth tubeless ready gravel road bike tire

2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike
Note the ample tire clearance, even with 42mm wide rubber.

The bike comes spec’d with the new Sawtooth tire. It’s a 700×42 with a deeper-than-normal chevron style tread pattern that they say is designed to handle any road surface while still performing on the dirt. In their words:

“The Sawtooth tread offers sharp angles and edges to hook onto any paved and dirt surfaces. The center tread is reinforced from the tread ground up for high puncture resistance and high mileage. Specialized Endurant casing reinforces the sidewall for added protection and high carrying loads. 2BR bead allows for Tubeless setup for good ground adaptability and further improved puncture protection. GRIPTON compound offers reliable grip and control.”

The casing is a supple 120tpi and claimed weight is 615g. Retail is $40, should be available late summer.

To go with them are the new Cruzero wheels. The box section rim profile measures to an internal rim width of 25mm, 30mm external. Spoke length is the same front and rear for ease of repair. The bike comes with 700c wheels, but look for a 650b Cruzero wheel and Sawtooth tire in Spring 2017.

SEQUOIA PRICES & SPECS

Specialized Sequoia Expert 2017-Specialized-Sequoia-Expert-specs

The Sequoia Expert will retail for $3,500.

The Elite will run, $2000.

2017-Specialized-Sequoia-Elite-specs

Sequoia Elite is $2,000 (above), and the base model comes in at just $1,300 (below, with chromoly fork rather than carbon).

Specialized Sequoia

2017-Specialized-Sequoia-specs

All will be available in stores in mid August. Geometry and frame sizes are:

Specialized Sequioa Geometry Chart

Now, don’t forget to read our recap of the ride camp/launch event for more of the backstory, who, why and what behind the Sequoia’s reboot.

Specialized.com

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23 Comments
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Matt
Matt
7 years ago

THANK YOU for the coherent write up.

Chris H
Chris H
7 years ago

Oh boy the version for “the internet desk donkeys”. This one just made me want to ignore a rather bland segment of bikes that don’t get much flattering attention anyway. The first one at least made me feel like I was missing the party that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to attend in the first place.

Mr. P
7 years ago
Reply to  Chris H

Nailed it. And, oh boy, that last sentence… so good.

Birdman
Birdman
7 years ago

lol you guys should do “long form story” more often though. Still, never stop doing the short version!

Thor29
Thor29
7 years ago

I am one of those people who really dislike Specialized as a company, but they do seem to make some really cool bikes. This is exactly the kind of bike I am looking for, except for one thing – the colors are so intensely boring. America gets blander every year and this isn’t helping. Give me a little color, please. Except I still won’t buy a Specialized, so I suppose it doesn’t matter.

Mr. P
7 years ago
Reply to  Thor29

Squid Bikes is for you. Check it.

Flatbiller
Flatbiller
7 years ago
Reply to  Thor29

“I am one of those people who really dislike Specialized as a company, but they do seem to make some really cool bikes.”

Let me guess: You hate Apple for paying Chinese workers $5/hr and for pressuring their workers into suicide…but are, right now, playing Pokémon Go on your iPhone?

Heffe
Heffe
7 years ago

I really loved the first story but having read both I’m still not sure – did they ditch the funky rear axle setup that the diverge is blessed with and use something less proprietary?

Mr. P
7 years ago
Reply to  Heffe

I read 142mm 12mm axle rear. Industry standard.

ShopDood
ShopDood
7 years ago
Reply to  Heffe

Yes, they also have released some 2017 CX bikes that were “blessed” with SCS last year onto their dealer site and it looks like they’ve dropped that spacing “standard” entirely. Finally going 142×12 across the board.

augsburg57
7 years ago

Hmm, gearing on the Sequoia is a bit high and the small brake rotors would never work for someone that is XL like me. I’ll stick with my Salsa Fargo 2. I then have 42/28 and 11-36 with 180mm rotors. That’s what I need in the mountainous west.

durianrider
durianrider
7 years ago
Reply to  augsburg57

What cranks have a 42/28 ratio?

Cheers.

chadquest
7 years ago
Reply to  durianrider

Durianrider:
Sram 80/120 bcd mountain cranks.

Brian S.
Brian S.
7 years ago

A far cry from the first article but necessary for the uninteresting and short attention span readers.

craig
craig
7 years ago

Cool bikes

motarded
motarded
7 years ago

Bro!

Dicky
7 years ago

Dude!

durianrider
durianrider
7 years ago

The vegan employee at Specialized designed this bikes. Makes sense cos it is the most practical adventure gearing Ive seen so far.

First time ever a 9spd xc rear mech has been paired with 9 spd road shifters factory spec.

Look at that GS5800 paired with the 36 cassette!!

YES!

#finallyproperadventuregears

Bin
Bin
7 years ago
Reply to  durianrider

Vegan? What difference does eating meat make to designing bikes? Is he also gluten free, free range and grass fed? HA

MB
MB
7 years ago

Thank you – you should go ahead and delete the obnoxious first article now.

mcatanzm.catanz@yahoo.com

Is it just me or do the geo of these bikes almost exactly match that of their mid 90’s mtb’s (with slightly longer chainstays)? Can see it in the frame especially.

James Daugherty (@JimmyDaugherty)

Any word if Specialized will offer fenders for the Sequoia to fit the 42mm Sawtooth tires? I really like the Diverge’s clean look with their plug-n-play fenders.

pk
pk
7 years ago

why they did not offer FutureShock suspension (see new Roubaix) with Sequoia ? It would be a killer setup. Without it one needs to buy Roubaix which can only take 32 tires (or so) so not so great for offroad consitions.

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