I think it will take time to trickle down. Like the p5x to the p3x. I’m guessing they will keep the old shivs till this is possible. I don’t see the new one getting close to 3k anytime soon.

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2019 T-Rex Tri Series

Yea I get trickle down. It just seems odd that they’re essentially stuck in neutral indefinitely while other brands (QR, Felt, etc) are rolling out solid disc options. I had a Shiv tri and freaking loved it. Fantastic bike. But it’s been unchanged for like 8 years or so? I’m not knocking Specialized. I’m actually a huge fan of theirs.

OK I am legit asking this question, though it may sound like I'm being a smart ass.

If the bike is fantastic, and you loved it, why should it be changed? Change for change's own sake doesn't always translate to improvement. It's often a false sense of progress just to encourage new purchases. (Simpsons fan? - It's the same Malibu Stacey, but she has a new hat!)

In this space, I know next to nothing, granted. I won't ever have the income or wattage to warrant buying the good stuff, so I don't bother to learn. I was just struck by this comment, thinking about it as a consumer issue.

Well in my specific case mine got ruined when my rear derailleur caught my spokes and tore my RD hanger off the bike. Frame was ruined. But that’s a silly argument. Great bikes become obsolete over time. Always.

Given the timing of the release for the last shiv... i suspect trickle down versions will be announced before kona.

This is their year to sell the top end model. Then it will be phased down.

Or maybe the rear water system lid mishap (live on the kona feed) killed the program.

Hey Rocket_racing, that lid mishap did not kill the program, but it did make the program better! The athlete bikes in Kona were pre-production samples and as with all of our Athlete programs, we take their feedback seriously. The design of the hydration system was modified and improved prior to production along with many other aspects of the bike.

Sniff around; somebody here posted links to at least one Specialized retailer web site, or maybe it was a foreign distributor, that had inadvertently prematurely posted a page for a Sub S-Works Shiv Disc. Can't remember if it was a "Pro" or "Expert" level, but it was clearly down-market from the initial offering. I suspect by Kona, 2020, there will be a sub $6k version.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"