Finn Iles secret Specialized is finally for sale

After several seasons of very public, if slightly hidden-from-view prototyping, Specialized’s new Demo 11 is finally here, and public. After breaking cover at Sea Otter over the weekend, the new downhill bike goes from the Specialized Factory Racing team pits to Specialized dealers everywhere.

This bike started life as a lugged-carbon frameset. It now has the fully polished look of a production bike, even with the fancy new bottom bracket area. The only thing missing is Loic Bruni and Finn Iles’ factory-only Ohlins electronics on the suspension.

The new bike uses a very distinctive drivetrain. The chain passes over the crankset, instead of wrapping around it. A small tensioner pulley on the crank arm is the only visible connection to the chain, with the chainring mounted separately above that. Specialized is calling that the “HighGear” drivetrain, claiming an extra 30mm ground clearance as well as the ability to isolate the drivetrain from suspension movement. It sounds similar to how a high pivot system works, it just looks very different.

The suspension system, which Specialized is calling the “Over Bottom Bracket” or OBB linkage, is claimed to allow separate tuning for the rear wheel’s axle path, the suspensions leverage rate and the bike’s behaviour under hard braking. The complicated linkage is still hiding in that mostly covered area above the bottom bracket. Specialized also claims the Demo 11 has a “self-aligning chassis” that pulls the rear wheel into alignment, somehow, as it moves through its travel. This is supposed make the bike steer in a calmer manner through the roughest trails.

If you want to experience speed like Iles and Bruni, now you can. Or, you can buy the bike at least.

It’s all available now, albeit at a slightly staggering price. A S-Works Demo 11 frameset is CAD $9,000. A S-Works Demo 11 is $15,000. That’s with SRAM’s XX DH wireless group, RockShox Ultimate suspension and some other fancy, S-Works-level parts. And… that’s it. For now, at least, that’s all Specialized is offering. So if you want to go as fast as Iles or Bruni, better start saving your pennies.