Specialized Carve Mountain Bike 29er Review £1000

The Specialized Carve range was only introduced this year. The Carve is a purpose built 29er hardtail and is a bit like a 29er version of the Specialized Hardrock range. The Carve is designed as a 29er so the angles and geometry are slightly better than you get with some of the 26” bikes that are made to work as a 29er.

29ers

The whole are 29ers better argument is old news now. We know that they excel in certain areas over a 26” equivalent, but there are areas where you are going to enjoy a 26” bike more.
For trail centre use, and we are talking singletrack with flowy corners and grade reversals, switchbacks and berms, a 26” bike is going to be more fun. There is an argument that a 29er can be quicker… yeah but it’s never going to be as much fun at a trail centre – and that’s what biking is all about?
Where 29ers excel is in cross country(XC) territory  and open moor land. The larger wheel will rollover rough ground better and the rolling efficiency of the larger wheel will carry more speed. It’s just a case of riding one and seeing which works better for you.

Frame and forks

The Carve is built with Specialized’s M4SL aluminium alloy which is both light and strong but is also super stiff. The frame is designed with XC geometry so it’s going to really favour climbing and long rides and the head tube is both integrated and tapered for maximal stiffness.
At the front the Carve is fitted with an air sprung Rock Shox Recon, 29er specific fork. The recon is a great for the kind of riding you’ll be doing on a 29er and its light weight means the bikes weight will remain low.

Groupset

With its 10-speed groupset the Carve Expert definitely has a good spread of gear options. An 11-36 rear cassette combined with a triple 42/32/24t combo at the front gives you a massive range of gears as well as a large number – the ranger of gears is far more important that how many you have in total. That ability to run a 24:36 ratio means you don’t need the legs of a track sprinter to get up the hills. It would also mean you can run a 1X10 drive train if you want to remove the front mech and opt for a lighter chain device.
The Carve Expert also comes with Shimano BR-M505 brakes; Shimano are widely recognised as one of the best brake manufacturers and their performance, reliability and ease of service are second to none.

Wheels

The Carve Expert has Specialized’s on Carve rims built onto Formula hubs with 32 spoke construction. The rubber comes in the form of The Captain Control tyres 29x2.0. The Captain Tyres are a really fast rolling and grippy tyre that will work on and off the mountain. They are also 2Bliss (tubeless) ready so you can convert them if you wanted to.

Overall

The Carve Expert is a great mountain bike for XC and open land. It will feel a bit heavy at a trail centre but will roll fast and smoothly. Yes, you could commute on the Carve although you might want to stick to shorter distances – or change the tyres for something like the fast rolling Maxxis Crossmark, but the Carve will certainly eat up the miles with its larger wheels.

We recommend to buy it from Wheelies or Tredz. Wheelies also stock bike clothing & bike accessories