2006 Specialized P.3 - first look

I haven't been able to ride since October after the incident where I shattered my foot, so I sold several of my bikes, including my Evil DOC urban/dj hardtail. I really liked this bike quite a bit (I rode the Evil more than anything else this summer), but after I realized the high bb height adversely affected my ability to corner the bike in tight berms, it was clear it wasn't my ideal hardtail. The search was on for a replacement. One of main features that drew me to the Evil was the short chain stays and the slack head tube angles.

For 2006 Specialized redesigned their popular P.3 freestyle hardtail and they finally shortened up the chain stays to under 16". That got my attention.

The numbers and angles on the new P.3 were right along the lines of what I was looking for: something just like my Evil, but with a dropped/ lowered bb. According to the spec on Specialized's web site, the listed bb height was 310mm, considerably lower than the towering DOCs bottom bracket. The numbers looked good. I tried riding a P.2 in the shop, but you can't really get the feel for the bike while in a cast. The tape measure seemed to reflect the numbers listed on Specialized's site, so I put my order in.

When I built her up, I already had established a few goals for the bike. Getting the weight to about 30lbs would be nice, and make the bike more flickable. This meant the marzocchi fork had to go. The DJ Urban fork that came OEM is essentially a DJ 2 with a peg compatible axle kit from Specialized. I'm not so keen on the idea of running pegs on a mountain bike; especially an aluminum bike, so that was the first to go. My friend Drew sold me his refurbished Pike for the front of the bike, which seems to be a really good fit for the build I wanted. I also swapped out the TruVativ stem and generic seatpost right off the back with a Thomson 50mm X2 and Elite Post, which dropped even more fat off the bike. I cut the bars down a bit, and added a King Headset to finish my initial build.

Other than a the few changes listed above, the spec on this bike is pretty damn tight. E.thirteen chain guide, and the new Holzfeller cranks with the external bb; can't complain here. I may switch out the Holzfeller for my Saint cranks, but I'm not in to much of a rush. Examining the bb and chain stay closely reveals some nice details; check out the asymetrical chain stay.

Sram X-9 drivetrain with short cage derailleur, road cassette, and Avid Juicy 5 brakes. Good stuff.

Another detail I liked was the horizontal dropout with the built in chain tensioner. The derailleur hanger bolts onto the hub axle. It comes off easily to convert the bike to a SS set up if desired.

The chain stays are listed as being 15.7. I set the wheel as slammed in as possible, and it gets pretty close. I run my stem as low as possible and the fork on the shortest travel setting, and the bike still pulls up for manuals really well.

I'm limited to cruising around doing wheelies while I rehab my foot, but I can tell you this: the 2006 P.3 series is pretty sweet. The only thing I should warn you about? If you like to do x-ups, you're going to have to learn how to do them 1 footed.