Up Close with the Zwift Triathlon Academy Specialized Shiv Disc
Great Britain's Paul Lunn and Germany's Philipp Herber are two members of the eight person Zwift Triathlon Academy's powerhouse age-group squad.
Lunn and Herber have experience racing in Kona's lava fields and will be aiming for podium placements this year. These two hard chargers let us pull their team issued Specialized Shiv Disc bikes aside for a closer look.
Lunn is no stranger to racing in Kona and has twice finished on the podium including a 5th in 2017 and a 3rd last year.
The 47 year old Architect qualified at IRONMAN Cannes earlier in the year and will be looking to find the top step in his age group on Saturday. Traveling with Lunn this year is his 27 year old son, Josh, who won Kona's local Path 10k run race last Saturday in 32:08 beating Lionel Sanders by 45 seconds.
Lunn and teammates were able to optimize their bike positions at a team camp earlier in the year at Specialized's headquarters with testing done in their wind tunnel. Lunn uses the Specialized Shiv Aerobar with extensions raised to meet his preferred position. According to a member of the team staff, Lunn has one of the lowest CdA's ever seen at their Morgan Hill wind tunnel.
Lunn has a Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt GPS to provide speed, heart rate and power reading easily seen while in his aero tuck. His orange Zwift water bottle sits securely in a XLAB Gorilla bottle cage.
The Specialized Shiv Disc comes with a 52/36 chainring but Lunn has replaced it with a 56 tooth Osymetric chainring.
Lunn uses Speedplay's Zero Aero pedals and power is measured through the dual-sided S-Works Power Cranks.
The team members were issued Roval CLX 64 Disc wheels and Ceramic Speed's Oversized Pulley Wheel System rear derailleur.
No doubt who these pulley belong to!
At the time of this shoot, tires were Specialized's Turbo Cottons but a new Specialized tubeless tire offering was going to be switched out for those athletes wanting that option.
For Herber, a bike crash and broken collarbone at Challenge Geraardsbergen nearly derailed his Kona plans. However, the 30 year old from Hamburg, punched his ticket the last week of the qualifying period a dominating 8:19 at IRONMAN Copenhagen.
Herber uses Sync Ergonomics extensions to achieve his desired hand position and also uses a team issued Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt computer.
The Shiv provides plenty of adjustability.
The bars also fold down making the bike more suitable to break down and travel with.
The nose cone can be removed and covers the hydration bladder hose as well as cable for electronic shifting.
The Hydration Fuelcell is hidden from the wind inside the fin shaped foil behind the seat tube.
Herber keeps his flat repair kit inside a sock tucked into the Nutrition Fuelcell.
The Nutrition Fuelcell offers enough storage for up to a dozen gels, half a dozen bars or chews and also secures the Shimano junction box.
Herber uses S-Works 55-tooth chainrings and S-Works Power Cranks. He also uses Speedplay Zero Aero pedals.
Both Lunn and Herber use Specialized's Sitero Pro saddle.
With a track record of previous speedy outings in Kona, Lunn and Herber look to lead the way for the Zwift Triathlon Academy squad on Saturday.
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