The "I hate Specialized" Bandwagon...... what's the deal?

[rudi-h]

Yeah! That's why the entire XCO field at World Cups ride 67' head angles and 160mm travel rigs.

 

Oh, wait...

They are pro's. Schurter and Hermida can hop a postman bike onto the back of a bakkie if they want to... And yes, to them the 10 seconds per lap that a XCO bike is faster could be the difference between gold and no medal at all ...

[Spez247]

Wow! And I thought the Toyota vs Land Rover debate was heated.... Let's please get back on track: the Big S could do with some more lambasting / testimonials. I have to wonder if Ferrari / Roger Dubuis & Oral B get as much hate mail...

[Rocket-Boy]

Exactly my point. Nobody goes back to being 13 year olds trying to master skills on a HT once they turn 30. Enduro bikes are easier to learn and not meaningfully slower or heavier than marathon bikes anymore. So why make it hard for yourself. You need to pull really hard to lift the front of an XCO bike which makes it really hard to control the movement. The end result is that nobody masters the skill and are forever limited to hop a 100mm pavement by pulling the bike up with your cleats. Make it easier with an enduro bike and... Boom! suddenly okes master the skills giving them the confidence that they can too improve and do cool stuff like hop logs and ride badass rock gardens..

Have to disagree there, I come from a roadie background and I can bunny hop most things without needing to rely on bouncing the shocks on a long travel bike or having cleats to pull up on. Heck I could do that after my first few rides on an anthem. Manualling isnt a problem either. Sure its not as fast through heavier rock gardens due to having to pick lines more carefully but Im sure as hell faster up hills than the guy on a longer travel bike.

Horses for courses and all that.

[Hairy]

Have they made under pants yet with a secret compartment store your "emergency tools" in. .....recon this could be very innovative and that the market by storm.

 

It would need a propietry liner though to freshen up all the expected hot air .....

[Spez247]

Specialized Swat Bib....

[Fisan]

Exactly my point. Nobody goes back to being 13 year olds trying to master skills on a HT once they turn 30. Enduro bikes are easier to learn and not meaningfully slower or heavier than marathon bikes anymore. So why make it hard for yourself. You need to pull really hard to lift the front of an XCO bike which makes it really hard to control the movement. The end result is that nobody masters the skill and are forever limited to hop a 100mm pavement by pulling the bike up with your cleats. Make it easier with an enduro bike and... Boom! suddenly okes master the skills giving them the confidence that they can too improve and do cool stuff like hop logs and ride badass rock gardens...

 

Neh, that is half true. I still encounter a few okes on a very specific brand of enduro bike who can't navigate basic ST's to save their lives...

[Butterbean]

For me, it's one of those brands you either love or hate. Marmite, they're called.

 

I personally think they're much like apple. Dominating, great look and feel to a product, and does perform. However, if you look around you'll find higher spec for cheaper money.

 

To the MAMILS who are kitted in the big red S, you will always look like a chop. But you're probably rich enough not to give a **** by now, so well done.

 

I find myself trying to avoid specialized products, just because I try to go against the grain. However, their saddles are te comfiest I've ridden, and they seem to have decent product support. The products are good and some are well priced too.

 

Mike Sinyard is one of the rare people that can set aside their love and passion to make great business decisions. Love him or hate him, he does what he needs to to protect his brand and livelihood, like all of us would do in the same situation. Sometimes it comes out like a bully, but that's what happens. I do feel for the guys who get screwed in the process, but that's a decision he's made. We like to think cycling is a sport where we should give freely and let us all exist together in some utopia of stranger love. But it's never been like that and that's not the world we're living in. The guys who did, you don't know about because they couldn't survive long enough like that.

 

When I began cycling, spez bikes looked attractive for the right reasons. They look great, and seemed to have an air of "excellence" about them, I can't quite put it in the right words. However, I now of course know better and I doubt I would ever spend my money on an actual spez bike. Nothing against them, but i know uncoils spend my tight budgets better on something else.

 

They're a bit like the Porsche of the bike world. Not as lairy and exotic as the lambos and Ferrari (I think piña and colnago occupy that spot), but they're well made, great performing, great looking bikes that you either love or hate, just like Porsche.

 

At the end if the day tho, I feel pity for you if you are envious enough that you'll hate a brand because it's outside your budget. Much the same pity I feel if you're actually worried about what someone else you don't know rides a bike you don't like enough that you'll proclaim hate for the brand.

[Spoke101]

Here I differ passionately... Enduro bikes teach a LOT more skill than a XCO or marathon bike, purely because the geometry takes the weight off your arms and front wheel and prevents OTB's. Im yet to see a non-pro marathon rider on an aggressive XCO bike that can bunnyhop a log or manual his way through a rutted section... Go to an enduro race and every second bloke can do it.

 

I have to disagree a bike with less travel will always create riders with more skill, a 20 inch BMX or 26 Jump bike will teach you more than any XC bike and far more than a 160mm Trail bike.

 

Oh and 3rd place at the last two KZN Enduro's is riding a 29er Hardtail Spez, and the only people to beat him this year are the SA DH champ, KZN Enduro champ and runner up.

[Spoke101]

They are pro's. Schurter and Hermida can hop a postman bike onto the back of a bakkie if they want to... And yes, to them the 10 seconds per lap that a XCO bike is faster could be the difference between gold and no medal at all ...

 

More like a minute a lap.

 

It's the same as saying that because I can't do what the top 10 in the World Enduro Series do on there bikes I must buy a DH rig so that I can ride the same line as them without killing myself or make that crazy road gap and not care that it weighs more and pedals like $h!t. Or sell your Trail bike because you can't keep up with the XC crowd on the climbs what because either way you will loose 10 seconds?

Everyone has to start somewhere and thankfully we are all different otherwise the world would be a very boring place.

 

A few things to consider are how long have you been riding? how long have they been riding?

What terrain do you mainly ride? what terrain do they mainly ride?

I know guys who have more skill on a road bike than I will ever have and will probably beat you and me in an Enduro riding a CX bike.

 

So just ride your bike an be happy that there on a bike to.

[Odinson]

Neh, that is half true. I still encounter a few okes on a very specific brand of enduro bike who can't navigate basic ST's to save their lives...

 

The Spruit legends on their 160mm Pyga's?

[Lurch the stalker]

The Check Express would have dominated on a bmx with the inverted shock.

Czech Express*

[_David_]

No Specialized discussions are ever about the actual bikes so if your identity is stronger than your choice of bike brand you can enjoy some terrific engineering.

 

Which raises the real question: what kind of person would be upset about someone else's choice of bike? In the spirit of Friday then:

 

A Spez hater is somebody who pictures himself as an above average bike rider ("real mountainbiker") but he's frustrated because there is no defined way for him to gain the recognition he's craving while others can go around claiming to be mountain bikers without riding the black route. For some reason it frustrates him no end that not every person who chose to buy a Specialized is world cup winning material. 

[Johny Bravo]

For me, it's one of those brands you either love or hate. Marmite, they're called.

 

I personally think they're much like apple. Dominating, great look and feel to a product, and does perform. However, if you look around you'll find higher spec for cheaper money.

 

To the MAMILS who are kitted in the big red S, you will always look like a chop. But you're probably rich enough not to give a **** by now, so well done.

 

I find myself trying to avoid specialized products, just because I try to go against the grain. However, their saddles are te comfiest I've ridden, and they seem to have decent product support. The products are good and some are well priced too.

 

Mike Sinyard is one of the rare people that can set aside their love and passion to make great business decisions. Love him or hate him, he does what he needs to to protect his brand and livelihood, like all of us would do in the same situation. Sometimes it comes out like a bully, but that's what happens. I do feel for the guys who get screwed in the process, but that's a decision he's made. We like to think cycling is a sport where we should give freely and let us all exist together in some utopia of stranger love. But it's never been like that and that's not the world we're living in. The guys who did, you don't know about because they couldn't survive long enough like that.

 

When I began cycling, spez bikes looked attractive for the right reasons. They look great, and seemed to have an air of "excellence" about them, I can't quite put it in the right words. However, I now of course know better and I doubt I would ever spend my money on an actual spez bike. Nothing against them, but i know uncoils spend my tight budgets better on something else.

 

They're a bit like the Porsche of the bike world. Not as lairy and exotic as the lambos and Ferrari (I think piña and colnago occupy that spot), but they're well made, great performing, great looking bikes that you either love or hate, just like Porsche.

 

At the end if the day tho, I feel pity for you if you are envious enough that you'll hate a brand because it's outside your budget. Much the same pity I feel if you're actually worried about what someone else you don't know rides a bike you don't like enough that you'll proclaim hate for the brand.

Can I like your post twice.

[Wyatt Earp]

My apologies if this offends all the deep brand fans and I know it will.

Specialized are no longer the market leader they used to be in terms of technology.

 

Sure they use high grade carbon and their brain is still an amazing feat ,something with which they got a lot of help from Fox.

However they have turned more in to a marketing machine than an actual bike company.

Cycling is pretty simple, it's a sport or activity that should be accessible to people from all walks of life.

 

What the brand has done is that it has brought a certain amount of snobbism in to the sport, a certain amount of "if you don't have a Specialized you are really not worthy"

They have the complete brand yet they have turned it in to something elitist.

 

Many manufacturers are making and producing fantastic products, often some of it something that started right under our noses.

Take Silverback as an example, for such a new brand they certainly have achieved a lot in a short space of time.

Sure we have über expensive brands, take Pinarello as an example, but there is a market for everyone.

I personally think that what annoys people about the big S is the fact that they are trying to monopolise, they certainly want to make their mark on the cycling landscape and let's face it, this they have managed to achieve world wide .

 

For me personally the downside of the brand, they have been very slack in bringing materials such as steel and titanium in to their stable over the past few years (I actually have a steel Langster)

The S-Works logo is nothing but a clever elitist concept, you don't get infinitely much more gains from that to the next level down whether it being an expert or pro level bike.

 

Is it a good brand ?

Nope it's actually a great brand, really the complete brand with some exceptional products in their lineup .

Is it accessible in terms of price, no not so much anymore, someone asked for examples, it's easy to see and find these at any LBS and compare them.

 

They are expensive and a person looking for an entry to mid level bike in South Africa is really not going to care if it carries the S designation or not.

I still have three Specialized bikes, had numerous bikes from their stable over the years, and if I say numerous I mean many (and no this is not to boast or try and swing a bigger willy)

 

I will end off with this, there are some great brands out there that bring the same value to us and they also make it much more accessible in terms of price and also with much less fuss .

[Brian Fantana]

In my opinion Specialized manufacture great quality products and the demo Stumpjumper FSR I rode during an open day was fantastic.  I still prefer my current bikes, but that is not part of this discussion.

 

I have one problem with the brand:

 

There are many bike shops who have been Specialized dealers for years.  These guys have spent considerable resources on training themselves and their staff to be able to service and repair Specialized products such as their Brain suspension. A large part of the client base of these shops were also closely linked with the brand. With the opening of some of their concept and elite stores, some of these local bike shops have lost their Specialized dealerships.  Whether these dealers were given a choice, I don't know.

 

I just feel that these above mentioned shops helped to make the brand popular in SA, and then headquarters stepped in with a "Thanks, we'll take it from here" attitude.

 

Just my opinion.

[Johny Bravo]

My apologies if this offends all the deep brand fans and I know it will.

Specialized are no longer the market leader they used to be in terms of technology.

 

Sure they use high grade carbon and their brain is still an amazing feat ,something with which they got a lot of help from Fox.

However they have turned more in to a marketing machine than an actual bike company.

Cycling is pretty simple, it's a sport or activity that should be accessible to people from all walks of life.

 

What the brand has done is that it has brought a certain amount of snobbism in to the sport, a certain amount of "if you don't have a Specialized you are really not worthy"

They have the complete brand yet they have turned it in to something elitist.

 

Many manufacturers are making and producing fantastic products, often some of it something that started right under our noses.

Take Silverback as an example, for such a new brand they certainly have achieved a lot in a short space of time.

Sure we have über expensive brands, take Pinarello as an example, but there is a market for everyone.

I personally think that what annoys people about the big S is the fact that they are trying to monopolise, they certainly want to make their mark on the cycling landscape and let's face it, this they have managed to achieve world wide .

 

For me personally the downside of the brand, they have been very slack in bringing materials such as steel and titanium in to their stable over the past few years (I actually have a steel Langster)

The S-Works logo is nothing but a clever elitist concept, you don't get infinitely much more gains from that to the next level down whether it being an expert or pro level bike.

 

Is it a good brand ?

Nope it's actually a great brand, really the complete brand with some exceptional products in their lineup .

Is it accessible in terms of price, no not so much anymore, someone asked for examples, it's easy to see and find these at any LBS and compare them.

 

They are expensive and a person looking for an entry to mid level bike in South Africa is really not going to care if it carries the S designation or not.

I still have three Specialized bikes, had numerous bikes from their stable over the years, and if I say numerous I mean many (and no this is not to boast or try and swing a bigger willy)

 

I will end off with this, there are some great brands out there that bring the same value to us and they also make it much more accessible in terms of price and also with much less fuss .

You make very valid points. And I agree with almost all of them. I cannot think of another company with their range of bikes. From kiddies bikes, jump bikes, fat bikes, xc, downhill etc etc. All available from cheap spec to top spec. Some of their bikes are more expensive than the competition, agreed. Some are about equal to other offerings. No one ever complains how expensive a Santa Cruz is, or how ridiculous a Pyga frame is priced. 

 

Some brands offer better value, for sure. But you cannot really go buy a dual sus 29er with carbon rims and bits etc etc from silverback, or even Giant for that matter.

 

They offer many choices and I like that.