This is such a great trail bike!!! It feels playful, direct, lively and fast. Those meaty tires provide incredible grip and some undamped bump absorption. You'll find you can use more of the trail, as you can find traction just about anywhere and steering is laser sharp. Components are superb. Shifting is effortless, brakes are hell for strong with excellent bite and feel. Gearing and rear tire (you can hear it digging in!) are perfect for difficult technical climbs. Instead of attacking a tricky section 100%, I can throttle back a little and finish without putting myself in the ""red"" zone and thus get to the top more efficiently, without the need to recover - just motor on and drop your tongue wagging buddies when you hit the top. Dropper post works well and the fork (while stiff) seems to soak up everything nicely. This thing shreds on the descents, extremely sure footed and inspires confidence. Really fun for practicing wheelies, manuals and bunny hopping. I live in rocky So Cal and was worried it would beat me up, but this not the case at all. This bike makes me smile every time I ride it. Chain slap is extreme, annoying and will damage the frame finish, so I used a 700c inner tube wrapped tightly around the chain stay, problem solved. I adore this bike! I might try some Maxxis DHF / DHR 2.8's as the 3.0's might be slight over kill for me and those are my favorite doughnuts. SWAT is cool too & it's nice to ditch the pack on cooler days and less than 2 hours on the trail. This bike will surprise and delight you!

I have owned Specialized bikes since the early 1990's, and they just keep getting better. I just picked up my new 2018 Fuse Comp Carbon (red/black) from my LBS and did a quick 10 mile spin (12/22/17). Like the Fuse I demo'd a few weeks ago, this bike is just a blast to ride. I left the flat pedals on for this ride, and have not set up it tubeless yet, but even stock, right off the floor, it climbed well, has tons of traction and rolled surprisingly well on the flats. My only negative feedback so far is the chain slap on the chain stay. It is loud and annoying quite frankly. My 2016 Stumpjumper HT has a built in rubberized cover that really dampens the chain slap noise. For $3k, I am surprised this detail was overlooked on the Fuse. Overall, very pleased with the bike. The GX drive train worked well, and the Level T brakes are okay so far, I may move my XT brakes over from the Stumpy, but I will give the Level's a chance. The dropper, my first on a bike, worked well and was pretty intuitive to use. The red/black frame is stunning in person, it is such a beautiful looking bike. Next steps - set up tubeless, put XT pedals on and ride the heck out of it!