Base Diverge E5 Worth It?

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nateners
Posts: 52
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 1:55 pm

by nateners

I'm intersted in getting into gravel riding. I've spent the past decade exclusively on road bikes, but now I want to try something a little different. I'm looking at the base Diverge E5 and wondering if the aluminum frame would be a decent place to start if I decide to start upgrading things.

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pdlpsher1
Posts: 4016
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: CO

by pdlpsher1

There's nothing wrong with an aluminum frame. But currently components are in short supply. So keep this in mind if you are planning on putting preminum components on this bike. It would be a lot easier and perhaps cheaper to just buy the bike that comes with the components you desire. For reference I bought a Diverge Comp Carbon last Dec. The only thing I upgraded was a set of new wheels, which by the way made a huge difference as the stock wheels weighed just over 2kg without tires! I've been doing gravel rides a lot and loving it. You will too.

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nateners
Posts: 52
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2020 1:55 pm

by nateners

pdlpsher1 wrote:
Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:29 pm
There's nothing wrong with an aluminum frame. But currently components are in short supply. So keep this in mind if you are planning on putting preminum components on this bike. It would be a lot easier and perhaps cheaper to just buy the bike that comes with the components you desire. For reference I bought a Diverge Comp Carbon last Dec. The only thing I upgraded was a set of new wheels, which by the way made a huge difference as the stock wheels weighed just over 2kg without tires! I've been doing gravel rides a lot and loving it. You will too.
Thanks for the advice pdlpsher1. I cant belive you saved so much weight with upgraded wheels. My two main reasons for looking at the Base were:

1. Cheap entry costs. I wont be sad if I beat up a cheaper aluminum frame.

2. No Future shock. Weird tech like that kind of puts me off. I'd read through the Diverge thread on here and nobody seemed to have negative opinions, but it is a turn off to me.

What has your experiance been with the furutre shock? I also read that the aluminum frame is not Di2 compatiable. Do you know if this is true?

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pdlpsher1
Posts: 4016
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 6:09 pm
Location: CO

by pdlpsher1

I don't know anything about Di2 and Diverge frame compatibility. I have Di2 on my two road bikes and wanted Di2 on my gravel bike as well. But the Diverge line's Di2 offerings lack a good priced 2x Di2 option. I don't want a 1x whether it's Di2 or mechanical. Hence I got the Diverge Comp which has the GRX mechanical 2x. Coming from Di2 I had thought I would be disappointed with mechanical GRX. Boy was I wrong. The group shifts nice and crisp, and without dropped chains. I bought my son an identical bike, same model and same size. He had one dropped chain on one ride. I re-adjusted the FD and it's been fine ever since. I would highly suggest that you worry about other things like wheels before you even think about Di2. And right now it would be a challenge in finding anything Di2, at any price level because the supply is so short.

On the future shock, I love it and I can't imagine riding through some of the rough stuff without it. I have never ridden a gravel bike without it but I can tell you that I don't get beat up on the rough stuff. Yes it does add weight, something like a pound. To a Roadie that's a lot. But trust me when you ride a gravel bike your concerns won't be weight but rather tire grip, control, compliance for comfort, and gearing. When you're riding on a washboarded and rocky descent you won't be thinking about weight! When you're on a 15% climb with loose surface your back tire would be slipping and your concern would be tire grip. So in conclusion I highly recommend the shock if the price is not a huge concern for you.

As for my wheel upgrade, it's hands down the best performance/buck upgrade ever. I went with 650B LightBicycle MTB rims with flyweight option, DT Swiss 240 EXP hubs, and CX-Ray spokes. Total wheelset weight with rim strips was 1,118g. So I saved exactly two pounds of rotational weight. Total cost was about $1,200. The 650B wheels along with 40mm wide tires made the bike nimble and fun to ride. The slighly smaller diameter of the new wheels decreased the trail, which was too high to begin with if you run 700C rims with fat tires. The new setup is like riding a totally different bike.

I hope this helps.

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