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Old 07-21-17, 09:35 PM
  #25  
sgtrobo
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: PNW
Posts: 197

Bikes: Cutthroat, Scalpel, Roubaix, Sequoia, SuperX, Diverge

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I have about 1000 miles on a Sequoia (basically built up using an entry-level frame and custom everything else). The original wheelset that comes with the lower 2 models of Diverge is the Hayfield. Hayfield, translated, means "boat anchor". If you like riding a bike with manhole covers for wheels, then no problem. Otherwise, budget an extra bit of coin for your Sequoia purchase. I'm not sure if the Elite comes with the carbon or the steel fork. The bottom model comes with the steel fork. That's another set of boat anchors. I replaced the Hayfield wheels with a set of I9 Trail 245s and the steel fork with a Whiskey 9, and went Force for the drivetrain, 22 lbs with XT race pedals. The drivetrain on the Elite is the 48/32 Praxis with the 105, same as the Diverge Comp. I was pretty impressed with it (more than I expected). Shifted great, wasn't particularly noisy at all.

It is a lot "racier" of a geometry than I expected. Fun bike to ride, but it's not a singletrack slayer by any stretch.

I did a lot of testing the new Diverge and ended up putting $$$ down on one. The Diverge itself is a lot quicker and lighter, and a lot more "comfortable", i.e. more upright. Neither bike is really good for singletrack to be honest (I have a Salsa Cutthroat for that), both are good/excellent for gravel, and I didn't notice the lower BB to be an issue with the Diverge, although I ride a full suspension MTB and I almost never pedal strike anymore as a result (As opposed to constant pedal strikes when I first started riding a full suspension). If you aren't used to riding a full suspension MTB, you may or may not have issues with the Diverge off-road.

I'll say this much, both are fun as heck, but I wouldn't really want to race either of them in a cylocross race, for a few reasons. I'd definitely take the Diverge for the Dirty Kanzaa though.

Ultimately, your question:
"If you aren't bikepacking/touring, is there any real reason to get the Sequoia over the new Diverge, given the wider tire clearance on the new Diverge?"

I don't really think so. The extra few mm of width in the tires isn't going to matter nearly as much as the geometry
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