Originally Posted by
ColonelSanders
They also took 4 spokes out of the wheels and they are now 28 spoke wheels.
The price increased by $200 Aussie dollars over the 2017 model, partly due to the better fork that you mention and partly due to Trek and Specialized utterly dropping the ball with their DS and Crosstrail models for the Australian market.
In Australia the highest DS on offer in 2017 is the DS 3(dunno what the 2018 situation will be, probably the same as 2017) and Specialized has as its highest aluminium framed Crosstrail on offer in Australia being the Crosstrail Sport.
To add insult to injury for Australian buyers, Specialized has increased the price of the
only Crosstrail they offer
above the Crosstrail Sport, by $400 Aussie dollars.
So now the CrossTrail Elite Carbon is $2,200 Aussie dollars.
Tend to agree re. the wheels; 32 f/r would make more sense, and certainly minimum 28/32 f/r.
Pricing -- ikr? We are in the same boat here in Canada relative to the US: pricing differentials are not proportionate to exchange differentials. Compounding that some brands (Trek, Specialized) are worse than others (Giant) when it comes to base pricing.
D'you have VAT or equivalent included in price? We don't, but the Crosstrail Elite Carbon is right at $2000 Cdn (= 2000 Aud today), + 13% HST.