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

[rouxtjie]

Mr Miaggi

I know right....quite deep.

 

Rouxtjie and the art of spez servicing. 

[Patchelicious]

I know right....quite deep.

 

Rouxtjie and the art of spez servicing.

"He who had not endured 1000 paper cuts of Hub posts, has not earned the level of Brainshock Master and will need to do 1000 thumb push-ups daily to strengthen his left thumb so as to wax their RL trigger on and off with the elegance and speed of a koi dodging Van Damne's hand".

[CAAD4]

F&$k me. Rootjie it almost sounds like you are endorsing Spaz man. Explain yourself. Just this week it seems that they lost another court case.

[rouxtjie]

F&$k me. Rootjie it almost sounds like you are endorsing Spaz man. Explain yourself. Just this week it seems that they lost another court case.

lol CAAD....look all I am saying is they are getting flack for the wrong reason. The "brain" stuff is proprietary, needs special training / materials / tools to be worked on(I am not saying you can't service your own spez brain shocks and fork...I am just noting that maybe you shouldn't). They want to guarantee the same experience / performance from their bikes to the public, for that to happen they need to apply some "governance" ito their proprietary technology. 

 

If you buy an epic, you make peace with it...rather embrace the fact that you will have somebody with the right skills, tools, contacts and materials looking after that huge investment you made...rather silly to fight it and be determined to "show them spaz shops"

 

For this luxury you pay a premium.

[Hairy]

lol CAAD....look all I am saying is they are getting flack for the wrong reason. The "brain" stuff is proprietary, needs special training / materials / tools to be worked on(I am not saying you can't service your own spez brain shocks and fork...I am just noting that maybe you shouldn't). They want to guarantee the same experience / performance from their bikes to the public, for that to happen they need to apply some "governance" ito their proprietary technology. 

 

If you buy an epic, you make peace with it...rather embrace the fact that you will have somebody with the right skills, tools, contacts and materials looking after that huge investment you made...rather silly to fight it and be determined to "show them spaz shops"

 

For this luxury you pay a premium.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

With the Brain rear can for example.

 

You send yours in for a service and they give you another rear can .... yours gets serviced and goes into the system to be given to another rider who sends his/hers in for a service....so the shocks get rotated through the client base.

 

So essentially the rear shock is just a "lease item" of sorts?

[Showtime]

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

With the Brain rear can for example.

 

You send yours in for a service and they give you another rear can .... yours gets serviced and goes into the system to be given to another rider who sends his/hers in for a service....so the shocks get rotated through the client base.

 

So essentially the rear shock is just a "lease item" of sorts?

You can request your own shock and wait a bit longer. Personally I don't mind another one for the quick turnaround. I have never received one that looked worse for wear.

[Hairy]

You can request your own shock and wait a bit longer. Personally I don't mind another one for the quick turnaround. I have never received one that looked worse for wear.

Would be nice if this was clear before people bought the bikes though 

[Showtime]

Would be nice if this was clear before people bought the bikes though 

 

With my Epic being stolen this weekend I am still in two minds as to whether I want another one with the hassle and cost of servicing the brain. Living 200km from the nearest city it is a nuisance while I can service everything else myself. 

 

My only dilemma is that damn bike just felt right the moment I rode it for the first time, coming from an Anthem that just didn't. It is definitely not a twitchy racer only, dirt roady bike.

 

I need to first investigate the new breed of slacker head angle, shorter stem bikes like the PYGA and Camber and take it from there. Perhaps my current feeling that a 4" 29er is still the best all rounder for my riding will be changed but if I go 4" it will definitely be an epic again.   

[V12man]

With my Epic being stolen this weekend I am still in two minds as to whether I want another one with the hassle and cost of servicing the brain. Living 200km from the nearest city it is a nuisance while I can service everything else myself. 

 

My only dilemma is that damn bike just felt right the moment I rode it for the first time, coming from an Anthem that just didn't. It is definitely not a twitchy racer only, dirt roady bike.

 

I need to first investigate the new breed of slacker head angle, shorter stem bikes like the PYGA and Camber and take it from there. Perhaps my current feeling that a 4" 29er is still the best all rounder for my riding will be changed but if I go 4" it will definitely be an epic again.   

I bought an Enduro last week to add to my Epic.... lets just say I am a fan of long travel bikes now....

 

Perhaps not ideally suited to racing XC marathons, but it would be possible for sure, but what a confidence inspiring ride - still smiling after only a couple of rides. (including an uphill strava PR)

 

You should really consider a slightly longer travel bike for general riding unless you are a competitive racer - the upsides in comfort and fun factor may well be worth it - Camber or Stumpy FSR are much more general purpose than the Enduro, and are well worth a look.

[Showtime]

I bought an Enduro last week to add to my Epic.... lets just say I am a fan of long travel bikes now....

 

Perhaps not ideally suited to racing XC marathons, but it would be possible for sure, but what a confidence inspiring ride - still smiling after only a couple of rides. (including an uphill strava PR)

 

You should really consider a slightly longer travel bike for general riding unless you are a competitive racer - the upsides in comfort and fun factor may well be worth it - Camber or Stumpy FSR are much more general purpose than the Enduro, and are well worth a look.

 

Thanks   

 

Yes I have pretty much made that decision now. The camber with stock 29mm rims looks like a sorted good value option. 

[Headshot]

Had an interesting revelation this morning.

 

My 2011 carbon Enduro has been feeling very much more harsh at the back than I remember it was initially. Particularly bad on square edged obstacles and riding too high in its travel. I went back to the manual for the bike and read the shock set up instructions. I discovered that contrary to the standard RP23, the Spaz custom version allows three different compression damping settings in the open or descend mode which is pretty cool actually. I had it set in the stiffest mode - 3 because  I had read the standard RP23 instructions on the Fox website which describes how the three settings only apply in pro-pedal mode..

 

So yes, owning a Spaz can be confusing and irritating at times...

[Hairy]

Had an interesting revelation this morning.

 

My 2011 carbon Enduro has been feeling very much more harsh at the back than I remember it was initially. Particularly bad on square edged obstacles and riding too high in its travel. I went back to the manual for the bike and read the shock set up instructions. I discovered that contrary to the standard RP23, the Spaz custom version allows three different compression damping settings in the open or descend mode which is pretty cool actually. I had it set in the stiffest mode - 3 because  I had read the standard RP23 instructions on the Fox website which describes how the three settings only apply in pro-pedal mode..

 

So yes, owning a Spaz can be confusing and irritating at times...

[Headshot]

 

Had an interesting revelation this morning.

 

My 2011 carbon Enduro has been feeling very much more harsh at the back than I remember it was initially. Particularly bad on square edged obstacles and riding too high in its travel. I went back to the manual for the bike and read the shock set up instructions. I discovered that contrary to the standard RP23, the Spaz custom version allows three different compression damping settings in the open or descend mode which is pretty cool actually. I had it set in the stiffest mode - 3 because  I had read the standard RP23 instructions on the Fox website which describes how the three settings only apply in pro-pedal mode..

 

So yes, owning a Spaz can be confusing and irritating at times...

 

 

 

Also had me wondering why the bike was pedaling so well in descend mode. Oh well...

[Ryan physio]

Thanks   

 

Yes I have pretty much made that decision now. The camber with stock 29mm rims looks like a sorted good value option. 

I got the camber last year Nov. Absolutely love the bike - Change the front chainring to a 36 though. Much better power

[Hairy]

I got the camber last year Nov. Absolutely love the bike - Change the front chainring to a 36 though. Much better power

36t ...... no hills where you live?

[V12man]

36t ...... no hills where you live?

Jhb - only downhills on the spruit....