The Specialized Fuse is designed to appeal to riders who want a Stumpjumper in simpler hardtail clothing. Slacker, longer, lower. 130mm travel up front.

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• Aluminium trail hardtail
• 130mm suspension fork
• Can run 29in or 27.5+ wheels
• Specialized Fuse 27.5, £950
• Specialized Fuse Comp 29, £1,250
• Specialized Fuse Expert 29, £1,600
• Available in June (AKA pretty much right now)

The reach is longer. The head angle has been slackened. The seat angle has been steepened the seat angle. The standover has been lowered (as much as 52mm). Increased seatpost insertion depth for longer-travel dropper posts. There’s also chainstay length adjustability into the M4 Fuse frames.

The components have been bumped up a bit too. The suspension fork travel is now 130mms and sports reduced-offset forks. 780mm handlebars and 45mm stems. 1X drivetrains all round.

29er and 27.5+

Two out of the three Fuse have 29 x 2.6in tyres but actually all of the new Fuses are compatible with both 29in and 27.5+ wheels, so riders can swap wheel sizes if they want to.

The Fuse Expert 29 and Fuse Comp 29 frames are made of Specialized’s fancier M4 Aluminium, while the entry level Fuse 27.5 is A1 Aluminium.

Specialized Fuse Expert 29

• M4 Aluminum frame is stiff and lightweight.
• Adjustable dropouts let you adjust chainstay length and/or run the bike either geared or single-speed.
• SRAM NX Eagle 12-speed drivetrain offers maximum gear range (11-50t cassette) in a simple and bulletproof package.
• Long-travel TranzX dropper posts (150mm drop on L/XL models) let you tackle steep descents without your saddle tickling your esophagus.
• Burly RockShox 35 Gold fork with 35mm stanchions boasts 130mm of smooth travel.
• Stout Trail SL 29 wheels with Boost™ 110/148 thru-axle hubs.

Specialized Fuse Comp 29

• M4 Aluminum frame is stiff and lightweight.
• Adjustable dropouts let you adjust chainstay length and/or run the bike either geared or single-speed.
• SRAM SX Eagle 12-speed drivetrain pairs simplicity with a massive gear range (11-50t cassette).
• Long-travel TranzX dropper posts (150mm drop on L/XL models) let you tackle steep descents without your saddle tickling your esophagus.
• RockShox Recon fork provides 130mm of smooth travel.
• Stout Trail 29 wheels with Boost™ 110/148 thru-axle hubs.

Specialized Fuse 27.5

• A1 Aluminum frame.
• Simple and reliable Shimano Deore 1×10 (11-42t) drivetrain.
• TranzX dropper posts let you tackle steep descents without your saddle tickling your esophagus.
• RockShox Judy Silver fork offers up 130mm of travel.
• Stout Trail 38 wheels with Boost™ 110/148 thru-axle hubs.

Specialized Fuse press release

The new Fuse is sleek and simple-looking—that’s part of the appeal, but we also know this might be someone’s only bike. Since that’s true, the new Fuse needs to be both capable and versatile….

And that’s why we’ve given the Fuse the kind of geometry that lets you tackle both mellow singletrack and truly technical terrain. We also built in surprising versatility—the option to run multiple wheel sizes, to go fully geared or singlespeed, and to fine tune the bike’s rear centre so that you can adjust the Fuse’s handling to your terrain and/or riding style.

This isn’t “just another hardtail”. It’s long-travel capability in a deceptively simple package.

Increased Control

There’s less margin for rider error on a hardtail. Giving riders an edge in fast and technical terrain is crucial.
A slacker head-angle, longer reach and reduced fork offset give the Fuse more confidence and stability on steep and technical trails.

Larger volume tires—both 29×2.6 and 27.5×2.8—give you more control over rocks and roots thanks to lower tire pressures and increased traction.

130 millimetres of travel and a stout fork chassis are crucial to making the bike more capable;

Smart Spec

Hardtails take a beating—particularly bikes in this genre—and that means the fork, brakes, wheels and drivetrain need to deliver and truly hold up to abuse.

The right forks. An underwhelming fork with too-small stanchions and not enough ramp-up is an absolute failure on a bike like this. A long-travel hardtail really needs to have a fork that punches above its weight class. We spec’d the best fork possible at this price point.

1X drivetrain. Does ditching a front derailleur make a bike handle better? Nope. But riders want a drivetrain that’s dead simple and reliable so they can focus on the trail ahead and not the clicky bits. Moreover, they want range to tackle big climbs. 2/3 of the new Fuse line up feature Eagle drivetrains (for max gear range), which is particularly impressive given the price range.

Long Travel dropper. A big part of your ability to clean technical sections, sans rear suspension, boils down to your ability to manoeuvre the bike beneath you. You can’t do that if the standover is high and/or you can’t get the seat out of your way.

Long travel droppers are key. Large and XL Fuse Expert and Comps now come with 150mm travel posts. All new Fuse frames also allow for more seatpost insertion, so you can run a long dropper even if you get a smaller Fuse.
Versatility

Looking for an aggressive hardtail? There’s a good chance that this is going to be your sole mountain bike…so it can’t be a one-trick pony. It needs to tackle ugly descents, yet handle big climbs and more mellow terrain with grace.

You can change the Fuse’s personality significantly by swapping tire and wheel sizes. We designed the frame to accept both tire/wheel combos and to give riders the flexibility to choose between deft/nimble manners or more compliance, stability and traction.

Adjustable dropouts—Admittedly, not everyone is going to take advantage of the ability to ditch their derailleur on the M4 Fuse frame, but for anyone who likes singlespeeds, it’s an outstanding feature. Going singlespeed does truly change the ride experience (massively so) and for some riders it’s a key reason to consider a particular frame.

Adjustable chainstay length lets you customize the ride feel of the M4 Fuse frame. 15 millimeters is a mile when it comes to chainstay length. We wanted to give people the option to tune the Fuse to their trails or riding style.