This Specialized Diverge Is Fresh Out of 1989 and Ready to Rock UNBOUND
This special Diverge colorway pays tribute to the 1989 Rockcombo, a gravel bike before its time.
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You’ve probably heard the joke that gravel biking is just ‘80s mountain biking. Well, in Specialized’s case, gravel biking is ‘80s gravel biking. The brand was slightly ahead of its time in this department, putting drop handlebars on what would otherwise be considered a mountain bike all the way back in 1989. Now Specialized is paying tribute to that pioneer, the Rockcombo, by painting its modern Diverge gravel bike in the same retro livery for UNBOUND Gravel this weekend.
Three Specialized athletes will take on 200 miles in the Flint Hills of Emporia, Kansas, this weekend aboard the throwback Diverge: Alison Tetrick, Ian Boswell and Laurens ten Dam. And it seems like a perfect fit. “I was into gravel before it was cool, just like the Rockcombo,” said Tetrick. “I am stoked to be a part of bringing the OG party style back to all things gravel. Game on!”
Some things are different between the Diverge and the Rockcombo: hydraulic disc brakes, 1x and wireless shifting options, to name but a few. But the original spirit of the Rockcombo is very much alive in the Diverge.
Take a look at the full spec of the original Rockcombo, complete with a 3×7 SunTour groupset.
