Specialized P2 and P3 Bikes First look HIS and his

Specialized recently reintroduced their Dirt Jumper line in 4 different sizes and I was offered to "review" the P3 for the summer. While the idea of commiting to ride and review a DJ bike seemed silly, and downright dangerous, the impending arrival of a young guest at my household made the decision making a little more appealing.

Dirt jumping creates community. Building the terrain to ride together, and spending hours shaping massive piles of dirt into rideable sculptures, takes many hands and feet. These hands and feet end up spending many hours together and become family. Just like any family, there is dysfunction and anger and love all within arm's reach. This communal aspect of riding and sessioning is what makes the whole dirt jump scene fun. While I've had very little interest in entering the family of blown knees and busted shoulders as the repetitive, progressive nature of jumping little bikes on big take-offs creates, I was excited about a few things lining up for July-August to make this review worth everyone's time.

My offspring, who is now a 125cm (4'1") tall firecracker of a boy lives quite far away from where I reside in North Vancouver, BC. He goes to a school in Eastern Spain and is already a master of multiple languages at the age of 8 1/2. We had previously made plans to get him out to Canada where he was born, for summer holidays last year but the craziness that was the Passport mania delayed his visit to the summer of 2023. He doesn't spend a lot of time on his bike in Spain due to the excessive daytime heat and questionable driving exercised on the neighbourhood streets. His visit to the mountain biking capital of the world should get him up to speed on what is possible on two wheels.

I told Specialized I'd be particularly interested in reviewing the P3 if they also sent a P2 for the little man who would be my roommate as well as my riding buddy at the newly opened North Shore Bike Park.

My bluff was called immediately as Allan Cook showed great interest in the proposition. We would be riding the indoor bike park as often as we could and see what kind of progress we could make over the course of the month.

The first model in the line is the 20-inch-wheeled P1 with a rigid fork. The traditional 22.2mm bars are swapped for 19mm ones with thin grips for little hands. The geometry is corrected for a 100mm fork at sag. The excellent Manitou JUnit Expert-Pro fork comes in 100mm options which I would personally use. It's a wicked looking bike but after some deliberation with Allan, we decided it might be a little small for the intended user.

My roomie is of thinner proportions, not unlike how I ran my lipid levels when I was at his age. Full of energy and sprint speed, he lacks stamina for the longer rides but has ton of get up and go for a lap around the pumptrack.

Specialized P2

The 24-inch-wheeled P2 is a sharp looking bike and all the new bikes have a few things in common.

The head angle, which sits at 68.5°, and the 12x148 boost (can I get an Hells Yeah!) hub spacing. The slack-ish angles of the bike allow for a relaxed riding experience. For Comparison the Evil Faction II and the Chromag Monk are around 70°. If you are an experienced park or street rider those might be good options but the slacker P Series feels right at home on the jumps and pump track for this old man. The young roomie however has no idea what he is doing so it also works in his favour by allowing him to make mistakes and not faceplant.

The standover is exceptional and the 680mm bars and 140mm cranks are just about perfect for him. A 30T chainring paired to a 13T cog seems to be a decent gearing for the 24" bike for riding around and spinning out at the BMX track. I wouldn't change a thing on that front. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't change anything on the P2 for the foreseeable future. The Kicker Sport tires roll fast and grippy on just about any surface they touch. Wood, dirt, gravel, asphalt. It's all good.

The P2 however is a 1700 bike. While not cheap, the Manitou Junit-forked fun machine will not be out grown for a few years. As a matter of fact, I personally took it for a few laps around the Bike Park and was surprised how rideable it was for my 5'9" (175cm) self.

Specialized P3

The dictionary definition of a Dirt Jumper may illustrate a steel tubed sleek frame but the Specialized P3's alloy frame sure is a looker. The glossy grey/black combo is excellent and if you have the chaps to send it big, you can also opt in for the Desert Rose option. It looks stunning in person.

What makes the P series an easy going bike is the geometry first and the 68.5° Head Angle is excellent off of big jumps at the Bike Park or the local trails. Specialized put a Sram Level T brake on the P series and while it does a noble job scrubbing speed when coming in hot, I wouldn't want to rely on one on the trails. Why would you have to if you ask, the reason would be that all the P series bikes have internal routing for a dropper post. Which will allow for an easy pedal to the local spot or maybe even ride some easy blues and greens in the woods. I've seen such things happen in the past and The Marzocchi Z1 DJ with the grip damper is so damn good, that I would have no hesitation hitting some fun lines on it. Coming up to Bobsled soon! stay tuned.

P Series wheels are stout and rock Schrader tubes with metal valves. Pumped up to 55psi, they roll mighty fast, have tons of support and grip on wood, asphalt and gravel on our local BMX track.

165mm cranks are fine on this beast and mated to a 30t Chainring and 13T cog, there is enough get up and go for anything I've come across so far.

9-degree backsweep, 6-degree upsweep, 38mm rise, 750mm width, bars feel great on the bike and I can see taller folks may want to bump that up to a 50-70mm rise one for more comfort.

P3 and P4 frames share geometry and can be run with either 26 or 27.5". At my height I see no benefit to the bigger wheels and the 26-inch-wheeled P3 seems perfect. Recently a buddy of mine decided to purchase a P4 and I will be asking his opinions for the final review to see if there is a merit to the bigger wheels for the 6'2" (188cm) fella.

The Goal

With the mini me constantly looking for ways to burn whatever calories he is ingesting, we are spending as much time on the bikes as possible. Either on the rather steep access trails or killing hours at the North Shore Bike Park working on skills.

We've made 3 visits in so far and aiming for at least 10 or 15 total. The progression curve is steeper than the Shore itself but he is getting more and more confident on every visit and the translation of the skills to the trail has been phenomenal.

I'm looking forward to writing a report at the end of his visit as he just started making an elevation/distance chart for every ride he is going on. This kid is awesome!

Specialized P Series