The Build: Cockpit, Fork, Wheels & Tires.
As Specialized’s flagship DH bike, the S-Works Demo comes kitted out with some fancy parts, but it presents a few surprises—both good and bad.
Some of the bike’s parts are common fare for Demos. The brakes on the S-Works are comprised of Avid Code XO calipers mated to SRAM XO levers, which as far as I’ve seen, is a setup unique to Specialized. A similar set of brakes was spec’d on my Demo 8 I, and I’ve found they generally offer good stopping power on both my bike and the S-Works, though they do fade a bit when things heat up.
The other bits of the S-Works Demo are all par for the course for a high-end Specialized bike: Renthal Fatbar DH 30mm x 780mm bars, Thomson seatpost, Specialized saddle, and a Specialized branded direct mount stem. All of these parts function nicely, although I would prefer a stem with less rise than the stock option. Perhaps on steeper World Cup tracks, the stock stem is perfect, but for the average DH trail in North America, it had me riding a bit too high. I also noticed that the Renthal bars are pretty stiff, which is a good thing for cranking the bike precisely into a corner, but not so hot for hand fatigue over a long day.
The fork is a Boxxer World Cup, which again is identical to what I have on my Demo 8 I. The S-Works we tested was brand new, so its Boxxer wasn’t broken in and was a bit sticky. By the end of our test week in Whistler, it was starting to feel a bit better, but we barely got it past that initial break in period. I know that a Boxxer will feel great once broken in with some fresh oil, so this isn’t something that I hold against the S-Works. That said, after switching between my personal Boxxer (which is broken in and gets regular maintenance) and a bike with a Fox 40, I think a dialed 40 is a bit stiffer and offers better small bump compliance while still having the excellent mid-stroke support and bottom out resistance of the the Boxxer.
The wheels on the S-Works are, in my opinion, one of its low points. It’s spec’d with the Specialized house brand Roval DH wheelset, and the quality of these wheels doesn’t seem to match the quality of the rest of the bike. The first issue I had was with the general build quality of the wheels. On our test bike, the rear wheel completely de-tensioned itself within 3 hours, and obviously that’s not something that a well-built wheel should do.
Second, I didn’t find the wheels to be particularly stiff. Specialized has a bit of a reputation for saving some weight in its wheels, and the Roval DH’s seem to follow this trend. The hubs have a fairly low flange, and the rims aren’t especially stout. I have a set of Roval DH rims on my Demo 8 I, and have had similar problems; the rear wheel essentially needed to be rebuilt from the factory. And while I haven’t had any catastrophic failures, I’m also not overly impressed with their durability. On the $8,500 S-Works, I’d expect something a bit better.
I’m happy to report that the Butchers mounted to those wheels are great. I’ve also run Butchers on my Enduro, and I was happy with them in that scenario as well. The Butchers have a “soft dual compound” (70a base and a 42a top) and the tread pattern bears a lot of similarities to the Maxxis Minion DHF (pretty much the benchmark for DH tires, in my opinion). So, long story short, a good tread pattern on the Butchers coupled with a fairly soft compound meant that they hooked up great in all types of terrain (including wet roots and rocks), but they still had enough support to not feel squirmy on hardpacked corners.
Drivetrain
At first glance, the drivetrain of the S-Works is fairly uninteresting; it’s a bunch of SRAM XO bits, which is about right for a DH bike of this caliber. But wait, it’s a 7-speed setup. Or more accurately, it’s a 7-speed cassette with a 9-speed derailleur, shifter, and chain. And, as I mentioned above, the drivetrain is wedged into a 135mm rear end that is substantially narrower than a “normal” DH bike.
There are some pros and cons to this drivetrain setup. On the one hand, the narrower rear end keeps the rear derailleur more tucked away from rocks and other impediments. The 9-speed chain is also a bit stronger than a 10 or 11-speed option; it’s slightly wider, and can take a bit more abuse. The custom Capreo cassette also has a 9-20t range. (Yes, the small cog is a 9 tooth, and there’s a custom hub to accept that wee little piece of metal.) This means the S-Works Demo gets away with running a small 32t chainring, significantly improving clearance while still providing a high enough gear so that you’re not spinning out all over the place.
On the other hand, I found the drivetrain to be a bit frustrating for “normal” DH riding. I would have preferred an easier gear for those annoying little uphill pedals that you frequently encounter on the trail (like that little climb to get up to Schleyer and Joyride at Whistler). And despite not having a particularly low gear, I also found that I would spin out the hardest gear just often enough that I wanted another gear at the high end of the cassette.
Perhaps more irritating was the fact that, while it has a 7-speed cassette, the S-Works Demo still has a 9-speed shifter, meaning that two of its “clicks” are unused. This isn’t a big deal, except for the fact the limit screws on the derailleur aren’t long enough to limit the derailleur to the cassette. So when you’re absent-mindedly pedaling up a little hill and click into an easier gear, only to find that an easier gear doesn’t exist, the derailleur shifts the chain past the largest cog. Luckily Specialized realized this issue and threw on a spoke guard, but that remedy strikes me as pretty half-assed considering the price of this bike.
The other thing I disliked about the drivetrain is its 9-speed derailleur. No one makes a 9-speed derailleur with a clutch mechanism, so we’re back to having rear derailleurs clattering against chainstays, and zip-tying pieces of cut up tubes to try to quiet the racket.
But perhaps the thing that I like the least about the S-Works drivetrain is that it uses a bunch of proprietary and difficult-to-find parts. Worn out cassette? Go talk to Specialized. Trashed your rear hub? Go talk to Specialized. Toasted your rear derailleur and want an equivalent replacement? Most shops aren’t stocking high-end, 9-speed parts these days. Building a drivetrain with all out, race day performance in mind is great, but that doesn’t do you any good if you destroy a proprietary part in practice and can’t get a replacement in time for the race.