Originally Posted by Skipjacks

Wait a second....

That's a 2018?

So Specialized stopped running the rear brake line through the frame this year and now routes it under the top tube?

Why would they do that? On my 2017 both derailer cables and the rear brakes run through the frame. Makes it no fuss when putting the bike on a my car rack. Never have to worry about cables rubbing or snagging on the rack.

But under the top tube? So anytime you have the bike on a car rack or wall rack it's resting on the pressurized oil filled brake line? That seems...like a backstep in design.

The fully hidden cables and lines on the 2017 were one of the biggest selling points of the Crosstrail to me. I wonder why they took that away.

I mean...it cost them time and money to redesign the frame from 2017 and change the production line. So I'm SURE they had a reason. Companies don't typical spend money on design changes just for the heck of it.