Camber Expert Carbon 29: Out Of The Box: by Grannygear
In 2010 I was able to spend a brief time on the trail aboard a Specialized Camber 29″er and came away intrigued. It ended up being my favorite bike of the weekend, not just for its performance, but for what it represented. It was set squarely between the race focused Epic 29″er and the med/heavy trail bike Stumpjumper FSR. It lacked the Mini Brain rear shock and had no tapered head tube and it was priced less than the typical Epic or Stumpy, but it promised to be an all-a-rounder full suspension 29″er and there was not a lot of that in the market right at the time.
Since then, 2011 saw the rise of what I call the ‘Everybike’ 29″er full suspension bike. If you could buy just one 29″er full suspension bike and it needed to be pretty good at nearly everything, the Everybike is it. The Everybike needs to pedal well, have enough travel and a slacker approach to run difficult trails at speed, and, to keep weight low-ish, the best Everybikes will likely be carbon, although that is really a cost vs. weight/performance thing more than a deal killer. 2012 models like the Yeti SB95 and the Ibis Ripley come to mind right away. They are greater than the typical 100mm of travel (120mm in this case), but still in a package that works for the typical cross country application and not an attempt to be an all mountain 29″er. The Salsa Horsethief is another bike that fits there as well as the Trek/Fisher Rumblefish and the Tomac Diplomat, although they (and the Yeti) will be tipping the scale to the heavy end compared to a carbon bike.
This is great news for the average Joe (and Jill) out there looking for a 29″er full suspension bike. This type of bike is exactly what a HUUUUGE section of the 29″er riding, pie chart statistic is made for….ride it with your buddies during the week (the ones with the 5-6” travel 26″ers) and then do an Epic trail ride on Sat to get ready for the team 12 hour race next weekend.
Specialized has their answer to the Everybike 29″er full suspension bike, and that is the Camber, but the 2012 Cambers are quite a bit further along the evolutionary trail compared to the one I rode in 2010. I had a chance to try a Camber Evo (not a US model) in France during a recent product launch there and I was quite impressed with the bike over that brief ride. So, when talk turned to what bikes that we might focus on coming into 2012 for review, this was one of the bikes I put at the top of the request list and here it is.
The Camber Expert Carbon 29 I have to sample is priced at $5100.00. Now, when you consider that the Camber Pro 29 is $8300.00, it is obvious that the Camber is not a budget model exclusively, something that I saw it as in 2010. As well, the Expert model is part carbon with a Fact 9M main frame (I call it a ‘half-caff’ approach…apologies to Starbucks) and an M5 aluminum rear triangle. I see this as a two part deal…save some money on manufacturing and put the carbon where it will make the most difference. My take, anyway.
Components are a mix of SRAM X9 and X0 with an X7 front der. Brakes are custom Formula ‘The One R’ with a 203mm F and 180mm R rotor size. Well, that ought to stop something! There is a Fox Float Performance RL 29 fork with a FIT damper, tapered steerer, lock out (compression damping) and rebound adjust, standard drop-outs, and 110mm travel. Yep. 110mm, front and rear, rear coming from the FSR linkage and a custom Fox Triad II shock with on-the-fly 3-position compression switch 1) Lock out 2) Open 3) ProPedal, and rebound adjustment. Not 100mm…not 120mm. 110mm of travel. Hmmm?
The custom SRAM carbon S-2200 crank with a 10-speed XC Trail double set up and 22/36T CRs, a PF30 spindle, and a removable spider do the power transmission into a 10 speed 11-36 SRAM cassette.
Wheels are very nice DT Swiss hub based Roval Control Trail aluminum rims (all ready to go tubeless) and comes with the OS24 front hub end caps, 5mm standard quick release, and a 142+ rear hub (Specialized exclusive/proprietary deal) with a 12mm through axle.
Another notable feature is the Blacklite Command Post and the accommodating internal routing for the cabling. The cabling is impressive and well protected too. They most likely used the services of a company like Printasleeve to do this.
So, taking a step back, what do we have here? All built up and converted to tubeless use with no pedals, the XL sized bike was 27.5lbs (just under 13KG) on the scale. With SPDs and a cage it was 28.5lbs. That is not terribly light, is it? 27 pounds has been a point for me in the past where the weight seems to tip towards the better on a 29″er full suspension bike, so we shall see. However, it is square between the two pounds lighter (with carbon Rovals and XX parts) Epic Marathon and the two pounds heavier Stumpjumper FSR Project Long Legs.
There is a tapered head tube now on the FACT 9M frame and that main frame is a serious piece of mold work. Everyone that has seen the bike has commented on the shape and size of that top tube/down tube/head tube juncture. You can do cool shapes with carbon that round tubes can only dream of. But will it make a seat of the pants difference on the trail?
No 15mm QR? Well, we shall see. The OS28 on the Epic Marathon has never even given me a shrug of wobbliness so I have hopes the OS24 (24mm is the max diameter that a Fox dropout will accept for now) will follow suit. Still, it is counter to the marketing forces at large.
No Mini Brain in the rear shock? That has me the most concerned. Will I miss it? Will I get callouses from flipping the Triad’s ProPedal lever back and forth till I go mad in the process? Dunno.
110mms of travel? Really? Not 120mm? I predict the stock angles of 70*HT/74*ST and 447mm
chain stay length will keep the bike agile yet comfy stable, but will 110mm and a slacker head tube angle be enough on trail to set it apart from something like the Epic with 100mm of travel?
Stay tuned as Specialized’s answer to my Everybike category hits the trail. The Camber Expert 29, coming to a dirty place near you with all these questions answered.
Note: Specialized sent over the Camber Pro at no charge for test/review. We are not being bribed, nor paid for this review. We will strive to offer our honest thoughts and opinions throughout.
I’m lucky enough to already be riding a Carbon Pro version of this bike. It will be my endurance racing bike and general trail bike for non-chunky rides. So far so good –very good. I don’t miss the rear brain, but do wish the PP “on” setting was a bit firmer. It probably shouldn’t be, but it seems that way. In any event, the full-sized rear shock has noticeably superior damping action than the Epic’s mini-shock on rougher trails.
I am very pleased to be done with the brain on the fork. The Epic’s Reba brain rattled like a bb in a boxcar. Through some LBS magic and trickery, I ended up with a Fox Terralogic unit which was superior in that regard, but I never felt like I could find the perfect setting. Either too stiff or too soft. I will just have to embrace the fact that I’m going back to being a Lever Flipping Monkey, I guess.
As far as weight goes, my guess is that the frame weights less than 6 ounces more than an Epic, a trade off for the fact that it is also stiffer than the Epic — not that the Epic wasn’t plenty stiff.
I don’t know about the QR front. It feels like it MIGHT be a bit less stiff than the 15 mm TA on my Epic was. If so, it’s a trivial amount, and it sure is nice to slap the bike onto a fork-mount rack without screwing around with an adapter!
At this point, I would say the Epic remains the choice for a pure “race whip” in shorter xc races, but that the Camber will be great in 100 milers, especially in the second (exhausted) half!
Here I thought there was a recession going on…1/2 of 10 large for a good everyday store bought non-bling bike, YIKES….
I’m with Yogi, apparently “every-bike” means “you have to sell every one of your other bikes to buy this one”. Guess I’m turning into a curmudgeon I guess..
“non-bling”?? Carbon frame + carbon cranks…that’s not bling?
Maybe you should re-think your definition of bling – you’re getting jaded!
Yeah, this bike has a fair amount of bling. No one said it was an everyman’s bike. They have less expensive models.
@all…let me ‘splain a bit. “Everybike’ does not mean every pocket book. It just, in my mind at least, defines a category that a lot of buyers will fit into needs wise. For a budget approach, consider the Salsa Horsethief. At the far end, maybe an Ibis, etc.
And yes, this bike is semi bling, but hardly all in. No gold teeth, etc, but certainly not a plain jane scooter. Let’s face it…bikes are getting more and more expensive and the nicer/lighter stuff costs.
grannygear
GG- not your fault at all, and I understand your definition completely. Its just interesting (to me at least), how dang expensive its getting to buy a new bike these days.
I think the point on prices still stands. I thought the Carve hard tail was suppod to be a budget bike. When I saw one on the floor of the shop, the build kit certainly struck me that way. So I was kind of shocked to see a $2k price tag on it. The typical claim from the bike manfacturers that their’s is a low margin game is starting to ring hollow.
Camber’s have a wide range in price. Taken in context with the rest of Specialized’s line, they are middle to upper end priced. We’re not trying to say it is a “Everyman’s Budget Bike”, we’re talking about how the bike platform is purposed. If we were focusing on price only, we obviously would not have chosen this bike as a review rig. 😉
LOL… It’s true though. Life is indeed good when a $5500 bike is an “everyman” bike.
… I know what you’re saying G-T. The $2800 bike is likely similar in performance, if a bit heavier.
GG and GT, I see what you are saying. I am curious to know if the 110mm travel will actually split the difference between 100 and 120 mm in terms of performance.
Misleading connotation associated for “everybike” (esp after saying something about everyman earlier in the article). As far as carbon full suspension bikes go, they have a carbon one clocking under 4 grand, but their base 29er is right above 2. As far as the carves go, Specialized, IMO, has engaged in some silly pricing, since their top tier carve is almost as expensive as their bottom tier stumpjumper. However, carves start at around 1300 which has, realistically, been around what you need to spend to get a “real” moutainbike, at least since I started cycling (My fisher big sur, bought in 2003, cost about 1100).
True dsquiz… I should note that my comments had a fair amount of implied sarcasm for Guitar Ted, as he knows full-well that I have a bit of a taste for expensive bikes. But you stated the case for the bikes with eloquence.. I agree that spending a bit more up-front on your bike is always a good deal in the long run, and if you’re an aspiring off-road cyclist and you can afford a $1,000-$1,300 bike, it’s definitely going to advance your learning curve and your enjoyment level significantly. And you’ll save money down the road not having to replace everything on the bike as your skills increase.
Sorry to hijack the thread… I’m curious about 110mm of travel too. I rode my 100mm travel Big Mama yesterday and it felt pretty darn plush. Rode my Ti El Mariachi today. It, obviously, was a bit less plush, but was a heck of a lot lighter… And probably faster overall on the trails I was riding.
Hope your weekend rocked, y’all.
Cheers,
MG
@dsquiz…and others…one more time. “Everybike” does not imply any particular price level or point of affordability. Rather it is my feeble attempt at defining a category. Like we need more categories in cycling, but still…there it is. The way my brain works. Or not.
grannygear
@ Yogi and Rob,
My Camber Comp 29 comes in on Friday. I got it at an LBS for 2,300. I think it’s a LOT of bike for the money. So much so that I’m conteplating getting the carbon version for a grand more when the aluminum one comes in.
Tom
Hi!
Thanks for the great review.
I am currently thinking on going for a Camber and this was most useful. I am, however, thinking on going one level below and choose a Comp Carbon 29 (budget limitations) and possibly upgrate as time goes by.
I comfess I am a bit confused with this new (to me) hub and fork/swing-arm drop-out dimensions. I am from the time of quick released and I just wake up from my MTB hibernation and all this is new to me.
Will I be able to retrofit… say… a set of Mavics, Fulcrum, Crank Brothers or similar on this baby?
I understood that the rear drop out is a through-axle with 12 mm but I looked into those wheel manufacturers specs and found nothing matching. For the front it looks to me like a standard drop-out quick release.
Am I totally wrong?
Thank you in advance and apologies if this is a tad off-topic
Cheers
JM
JM: Thanks for the kind words, first of all. We’re glad that you find the review useful.
Secondly, the axle dimension for the rear is not retro-fittable to older wheels unless expressly identified by the manufacturer. The 142 X 12 hub on this particular bike is even more exclusive, being a proprietary Specialized developed thing. I think you’d find most 142 X 12 hubs would work with this bike though. Still, to be sure, always check with the manufacturers as to compatibility.
In your case, if the wheels were spec’ed as being convertible on the rear hub, you’ll likely need to contact the manufacturer for specific end caps and/or axles to swap over to 142 X 12. If the wheel end of the equation works out, then you may want to check with the Specialized dealer to see if that wheel will work in the Camber as well. Hope that helps!
Hi! Thanks for the hints!
I live in Sweden so here the winter can be long. I think I will go for the Camber and then count the days till the spring comes and the biking season starts.
In the meantime I will keep checking for more info and reviews!
As we say here… Tack!!
Finally got the bike. A Camper Carbon Exper Evo. Weighed 11,9 kg with a set of Crank Brother Malet 2 pedals. I know it’s not the most adequate pedals but till I get used to it I want a larger platform. Then I may change for a set of Candys.
Only rode it for 70 km mainly on gravel roads and asphalt. Getting used to 29… to SRAM (always used Shimano)…
But… overall the feeling is good. Only tried a couple of small (tiny) obtsacles… I do notice more stability… and also more dificult to lift the front wheel or make a U-turn on turn in a tight space. But the speed is clearly higher and is sooo stable. I love it. Just waiting for the weather conditions to get better and try it better.
Cheers
JM
OPS… Camber Expert, I meant…