Specialized is doing things a bit differently with the launch of their new Status. The former Status, which was discontinued in around 2015, was a budget downhill bike for those riders who couldn't stretch to the full Demo. It was a hugely popular bike, especially among younger racers who were still getting into downhill racing.
The new Specialized Status first caught our attention in May and has been a familiar sight on our social media ever since. The only problem is that finding any concrete information on the bike has been much more difficult. The bike is on sale in the UK and has been seeded to some UK media, but for North American outlets, we're still sitting on our hands and waiting. It's definitely an unusual way to launch a bike, but Specialized apparently want to build a surge of interest among the young people they are predominantly aiming this bike at using influencers rather than going down the traditional route.
So, because the internet isn't restricted by country and it seems silly to not let you know about a new bike just because Specialized won't tell us about it, here's everything we've picked up so far from across the internet. Information has been mainly taken from:
Singletrack and
MBR.
The first thing to note is that the Status hasn't strayed too far from its namesake. As enduro racing takes over from downhill as the race format with the highest level of participation among mountain bikers, so too the Status has changed to become something more closely resembling an enduro bike. Instead of a downhill/freeride bike, it's now a 160mm travel bike that rolls on mullet wheels aimed at everything from racing to jibbing.
Details
Frame: M5 aluminum
Travel: 160mm front and rear
Wheelsize: 29" front, 27.5" rear
Head Tube angle: 63.7°
Seat tube angle: 76°
Sizes: S1, S2, S3, S4, S5
The frame is made from M5 aluminum with a solid build kit that's clearly aimed at producing a burly yet affordable ride, and we think Specialized has done a good job of spending where needed and saving on some less crucial areas. Only one spec is available, and that includes Fox Rhythm suspension, a SRAM NX drivetrain and SRAM Code brakes, with most of the rest the kit coming from Specialized's own ranges including Roval wheels and Butcher tires.
The geometry for this bike points to an aggressive bike for riders who like to like to get rowdy, but there's also a fliip chip that can set the bike in a higher setting for those who like to get not-quite-as-rowdy-but-still-pretty-rowdy. The head angle sits at a super-slack 63.2°combined with a 487mm reach for the S4 size, which roughly correlates to a large in other brands' sizing. Some other key numbers include a 338mm BB height, 76° seat tube angle and 426mm chainstays.
Now for the all important factor, price. The new Status maintains its heritage as a more affordable option and the one spec level is currently retailing in the UK for £2,399, and $2,600 in the US.
Photos: Ian Lean Photography
Doubly impressive as the Big S is hitting a very different market segment with this than they normally do. Don’t underestimate the effort to reorient - or even more: experiment with - a massive sales machine like theirs.
It’s ace to see Specialized expanding away from a NA-centric, semi-pro, very-serious, performance-oriented market to include... well... lads... who ride bikes... for fun.
And loved the table-to-jib-to-roller-manual at 3m40.
The Big Hit was a great affordable freeride bike.
Kinda the same for the previous Status.
Specialized has been killing the marketing game since the release video of the latest stumpy, followed by the epic evo.
silly man, a mullet can't be grown deliberately, it chooses you, if you're worthy.
Its all in your setup/bike fit
There has never been more choice in every single bike category than in today's market, its just the general mass who cant use a single tool on their machine see bikes only for the builds/specs they come in and as if a bike (suspension tune, cockpit, drivetrain, wheels, tires, geometry) cant be setup to excel at multiple jobs either at once or at a time.
Actually, following this I wish the major players would drop the XC pretensions from their sub-1000$/£/€ hardtails and bring back the freeride hardtail!
Looking for an enduro bike to replace my downhill and trail bikes as they're a bit old now and most trails around me dont need a full on dh bike, but are sometimes a bit much for a trail bike
I will be pleased to hear answer.
The new one might be a good park bike also, if using 27.5 front wheel.
The diameter difference between 27.5 and 29 wheels is 38mm, so if using 27.5 front wheel, there is 19mm difference of the hight on the front axle. To compensate it, you will need 19/sin(63.7°)=21.19mm more travel if we don't consider the difference of the offset. So 275 front wheel with a 180mm fork seems fine.
So you'd need to run a 200mm travel 27 fork to get close to similar geometry, and then it would just feel weird.
Because of the extra fork sag, the already-low BB would probably be getting too low as well.
Basically it won't work
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Good amount of travel as a long travel trail bike to come between the stiff and short on travel Stumpjumper and the race ready big Enduro. Great price and alloy frame is the way to go for price, longevity/damage resistance and i think every single frame should be offered in both carbon and metal/alloy.
Personally kind of bummed by the very long front end and very short, nonadjustable and not growing proportional to each frame size rear end (the future of proper bike fitment) making it another bike that needs to be ridden aggressively over the front wheel. Nothing wrong with that for weekend warriors but as a daily one bike quiver its gets very tiring on long days/sessions over years.
Price wise, its refreshing seeing that offer from Specialized as its part of the brand to be over priced for bikes built in Taiwan, far from boutique fit/finish and even being warrantied for life (same as Trek and Giant, all 3 sharing the markets oligopoly)
Definitely want to see the reviews tho
> Test bikes have Ohlins suspension and an XX1 drivetrain
........?
Thanks
I can't find it anywhere. I contacted the closest 50 shops listed on specialized.com and no one has it.
It means taking a dump!