Bike Test: Specialized Demo 8 I Carbon
When Specialized began testing the carbon version of their Demo 8 in 2011, downhill racers world-wide became like the paparazzi, trying to be the first to spot the blacked-out prototypes in Whistler’s lift line. When the bike made its first appearance on the World Cup circuit in 2012, riders had to live vicariously through the athletes who were pushing this bike to its limits. The world of gravity racing was abuzz when top gravity rider Aaron Gwin decided to pilot the Demo carbon for his 2013 season. The wrecking crew has been waiting a long time for a Demo 8 carbon to grace our fleet, but the wait is finally over.
WHO IS IT MADE FOR?
It’s made for riders who want to go fast. While it’s not the lowest or slackest race sled we’ve ever tested, it’s certainly among the most versatile and maneuverable. The adjustable geometry makes this bike work for a wide variety of courses. It retains the forgiveness of a long-travel chassis without the straight-line “hang on and pray” feel we’ve experienced with other downhill race bikes.
WHAT IS IT MADE FROM?
The front triangle is built with Specialized’s FACT 10m carbon, which features an aluminum bottom bracket and head tube inserts and an integrated downtube protector. The frame also features aluminum chain- and seatstays with 150-millimeter rear-wheel spacing and a rear derailleur protector. The bottom bracket is a PressFit 30, and the head tube is an internal 1.5 to 1.125 tapered design for strength and stiffness.
WHICH COMPONENTS STAND OUT?
The carbon frame is the standout here. It is the same top-of-the-line model Gwinny uses. The suspension components are also top performers that won’t force you to upgrade right off the bat. The Fox DHX RC4 shock has enough adjustability right out of the box to satisfy riders and racers at any level. In a world where people are demanding air-sprung suspension on gravity bikes, the RockShox Boxxer RC fork proves that coil-sprung forks still have their place. This thing is simple, easy to adjust, stiff, precise and ultra plush. While the rest of the components are fully capable of tackling the gnarliest terrain, most of them are ripe for an upgrade.
Specialized also offers the Demo 8 in an aluminum version at the same price with upgraded parts, so if you’re a parts rat, the carbon version might not be for you.
HOW DOES IT PERFORM?
Moving out: Out of the box, this bike feels like it was designed with two distinct riders in mind. On the one hand, the race-proven geometry can be set up to suit just about any course you can throw at it, and the light and stiff frame feels as fast as it looks. On the other hand, the component package is designed to save money without cutting corners in key places like suspension, wheels and tires. While this bike could be a serious race contender, it’s going to need some upgrades eventually. Still, it’s ready for riders of all levels bone stock.
Suspension feel: The Demo Carbon’s suspension feels just like a dialed FSR-link bike should. It’s plush and lively at the top end of the stroke and has a nice and natural progressive feel for larger hits and drops. While the suspension feels slightly more active than that of a multi-link bike, which has some natural anti-squat tendencies, the compression damper on the shock can easily be tuned to achieve this feel.
Straight confidence: The Demo 8 will make the average rider as calm and collected as a cow in a Hindu village. This bike instills confidence by striking a perfect balance between straight-line descending stability and flickable maneuverability. Yes, we’ve tested downhill bikes that plow rock gardens better, but the Demo 8 isn’t designed as a plow-through-everything kind of bike. The geometry keeps it feeling maneuverable, even in the steepest of chutes. As long as there’s a clean exit, the maneuverability of the Demo will help you hit it.
Pedaling: This clearly isn’t the primary purpose of any downhill bike, but all gravity riders know there are flat sections and/or short climbs on just about every racetrack or bike-park trail. With the Demo 8, riders have the option to increase low-speed compression damping on both the shock and fork. Doing this results in a much more efficient pedaling platform, but seems to decrease some of the small-bump compliance we really prize with the FSR design. The Demo allows the rider to choose how the suspension feels.
Cornering: The shorter-than-average chainstays make this bike a breeze to maneuver through corners, including tight switchbacks. In the lowest and slackest setting, the bike felt confidence-inspiring in high-speed corners. We found ourselves choosing this option for most of the testing. While the higher settings, which raise the bottom bracket slightly, make for a more playful bike, it is at the expense of some of the stability and confidence we love.
Boosting it: The short chainstays come to the rescue here because the Demo comes off the ground easily, making this a very playful bike. It’s no wonder that Demos are the most popular choice among Whistler riders (according to a 2012 MBA survey). It’s just as fun to rip a racecourse to shreds on this bike as it is to hit a jump line like A-Line at Whistler or Pipeline at Mammoth Mountain.
TRICKS, UPGRADES OR TIPS?
The X7 rear shifter certainly gets the job done, but it lacks the smooth and snappy feel of the X9 or X0, which both use ball-bearing action instead of a bushing. A quick upgrade here will make the X9 Type 2 rear derailleur’s action feel much snappier.
Our stock bike came properly sprung for a Clydesdale rider, but we found it too stiff for our liking, especially given the softer spring in the fork. We made a sizable jump down from the 450-pound stocker to a 350-pound titanium spring, which gave us our ideal 35 percent sag.
BUYING ADVICE
This is a race bike that dishes out tons of fun and maneuverability on the course. That said, though, if you are after a purebred race bike that can double as a bike-park workhorse, we’d be hard-pressed to suggest a better choice than the Demo 8 carbon.
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