First Date: The Specialized BigHit Comp

After high level negotiations with customs, and some serious palm greasing, the BigHit Comp Specialized sent us to test arrived from California. Instead of waiting until the end of the test period to give you my take, I decided to write some first impressions and then follow that up with a long term response down the road. Specialized has really been making an effort to pay more attention to those of us lured by the temptations of technical riding and I had heard good things about the BigHit. The boys at Dizzy cycles (Thanks Punky) did an awesome job building the bike for me and it was ready to roll shortly after it was wrested away from those wankers at customs. Before I left home I pulled off the SPDs and installed a pair of grippy flat pedals - the standard in our neighbourhood. I was also going to remove the big ring and put a rock ring (bashguard) in it's place but I decided to keep the bike as close to stock as possible. After all, I thought, we always used to ride with a big ring.

Specialized BigHit Comp

I was up on Fromme on Thursday and I put the bike through it's paces on Air Supply, The Original Pink Starfish, Groovula and then we finished with lower Boundary. The Bighit was set up substantially lighter than my Bullit and the climb went by rather painlessly. I also found later on in the ride that in technical situations the Comp really loves to go up - surprising for a bike with 6" of rear travel. It may be the 24' rear wheel tucked in close that makes the bike such a billy goat.

About the first thing I noticed on the descent was the Marzocchi DJ 1.5 up front. I suppose I have become spoiled but I feel that I am over single crown forks on long or medium travel bikes. After shearing the steerer on a set of Z1s with unpleasant consequences I went out and picked up a set of Boxxers. The feeling of security those 2 crowns provide along with 7 slippery inches of travel is hard to give up. The 6 inches in the rear inspires confidence and encouraged me to roll but the 5 up front wasn't enough for me and I found myself in trouble far too often. Starfish is flush with 6 foot launches to flat and the Bighit was capable in the rear but the DJ1 bottomed out regularly. I will be the first to admit that I land more like a drunken Hell's Angel than a butterfly so the fork can't take all the blame but my Boxxers rarely complain about my lack of stealth.

I quickly began to feel comfortable on the Bighit and, despite being midwinter rusty, I knocked off some lines and launches I had recently balked at. I even managed the Groovula Creek Gap, which was under renovations and looked sketchy, and I almost cleaned lower Boundary. I had a remarkably good ride considering it was my first time on the bike. Another issue I had with the bike out of the box was the aforementioned big ring. I am so used to sliding over obstacles thanks to a wide toothless rockring that when the teeth sunk into an obstacle I was very nearly pitched off the bike a few times and once I landed in a heap at the bottom of a ladder. My bike stopped while my body continued awkwardly forward. A rockring is original equipement on most Shore worthy bikes produced here (Norco, Kona, Brodie and Rocky Mountain) and it is something I have come to expect from a bike meant for technical riding. At least it is something easily dealt with.

Today (Sunday) was ride no. 2. I joined the hordes on Seymour and did a couple of shuttles. First off we banged off Ned's, and while the bike felt nicely balanced, I missed being able to plow through the rough stuff with the front end. Everything was great at speed until it got rough and then I was very nearly bucked off the front several times. Round 2 was the slower and more technical Corkscrew/Pingu/Boogie Man route. The Bighit Comp felt more at home here and I quickly forgot I was on a bike I had only ridden once before. The bike comes equipped with Hayes Comp hydraulic discs. These are a lower priced model than the original Hayes and they sport a composite lever body. These brakes have a pleasing light action and plenty of power. The body did seem to flex more than the magnesium or aluminum of other models but not enough to impede performance. I wasn't as happy with the levers though. I am a fan of Razor Rock levers which are flat and gnurled in the contact area but these blades seemed overly curved where my fingers sit so that I often felt that I could slip off. There wasn't enough hook at the end of the lever for my liking either since I always brake with one finger.

Here in Canada the Comp will set you back $2850 and our Southern neighbours can expect to shell out slighlty under $2G.

Everything from the tires to the shifters seemed to perform adequately and so far I am quite pleased with The Bighit Comp. I'll let you know how things turn out further down the trail (and give you some photos too).

Keep it Pointed
Cam McRae