xak1 Posted June 19, 2008 Share Here is Sauser's bike for the weekend, plus another photo of the new Epic 2009. http://www.dirty-pages.net/images/nieuws/14_1213803492.jpg Link to other pic: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/download.php?id=26079xak12008-06-19 03:53:12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted June 19, 2008 Share Wow - she is a beaut! I want one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowbee Posted June 19, 2008 Share what brakes are those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xak1 Posted June 19, 2008 Share Magura Marta SL Magnesium - new for 2009. Weighs in at less than 600g for pair, inlcuding rotors and hoses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoBigBen Posted June 19, 2008 Share Hey xak1 I can't see the second pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xak1 Posted June 19, 2008 Share Updated it with link to other pic. Looks similar to Cannondale Scalpel, but has Horst link. Sauser's bike rumored to be 8.3kg - not bad for a Horst link bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonW Posted June 19, 2008 Share 8.3kgs is not bad for any bike! Any idea what spec the fork is? Its obviously a Spes proprietry shock, but wouldn't be surprised if its based on someone else's technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xak1 Posted June 19, 2008 Share Stock production top-of-the-range model will probably be around 9.2kg. Fork and shock are both Specialized. Specialized owns the Terralogic patent, which they licensed to Fox in the past. That is why Fox do not have this anymore. Specialized also employed Fox's top design guy two years ago and pulled the patent from Fox. I think the designs are probably good, but manufacturing quality is probably bad compared to Fox - there are many problems on these products. It is rumored that they contract Suntour to manufacture forks and shocks - as you know they are not really high-end manufacturers. So the technology is probably very much based on that. They save weight in various small ways - new Specialized crank with oversize BB (same as Cannondale's BB30); check the oversize headtube at the bottom, and narrower at the top, rumored that production model will have an integrated FD, etc. If I look at what they think it will price in the US, the top model will probably in excess of R80000 in SA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_BBi Posted June 19, 2008 Share ... they think it will price in the US' date=' the top model will probably in excess of R80000 in SA.[/quote'] A bit out of my budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTB Kid Posted June 19, 2008 Share 8.3kg - that is impressive, would like to see the complete build spec. That frame can't be lighter than a hardtail ..... Gonna be interesting to see if he actually races with the S fork, as he has been using the new SID although S have had a fork in "production" since 2008 model year. Oh, and the forks are outsourced to X-Fusion ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linnega Posted June 19, 2008 Share It is rumored that they contract Suntour to manufacture forks and shocks - as you know they are not really high-end manufacturers. Does anyone know who manufactures the Specialized frames. I know they are made in Taiwan (always have been) and my understanding is that most production was at the Merida plant with Giant doing some of the high-end frames. Could just be that peope assumed the two biggest bike manufacturers around were producing Specialized? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singletrackmind Posted June 19, 2008 Share Whats so special about this bike? Its just a specialized...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MintSauce Posted June 19, 2008 Share Someone posted a link to an article a few days ago that stated it as you said it. It claimed that the Merida factory bought a stake in Specialized but some manufacturing was done by Giant. Will see if I can find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xak1 Posted June 19, 2008 Share Merida owns 40% of Specialized. They do manufacture Specialized aluminium frames. I am not so sure about carbon frames, but the carbon frames by Specialized is of high standard, backed up by lifetime warranty. Most companies outsource their manufacturing, so it is no problem. Merida traditionally was a frame manufacturer. Believe me there are only 2 companies that I think are good with their warranties, ie. Specialized and Giant. I had a very small issue on a 2006 S-Works Epic frame - send it in for assessment and received a brand new 2008 Epic S-Works frame within 1 day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linnega Posted June 19, 2008 Share Specialized is basically a brand managment company in that the real money is made by "clever" marketing. An integral part of creating that brand would be warranty support. Pricing is another area that is particularly important and is where Specialized falls down in SA. The markups through the chain to the customer are too high and their retail pricing is not as competitive as it is in other parts of the world. It would not surprise me if either Giant or Merida manufactured the carbon Specialized frames as by now both are pretty competent at producing high quality carbon frames. They certainly spend enough on R&D and produce enough frames to make them experts. linnega2008-06-19 06:20:03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MintSauce Posted June 19, 2008 Share Specialized -Started in 1974 by Mike Sinyard, Specialized has enjoyed along-standing reputation for being a leading bicycle design andmarketing company. Several years ago, Merida (a Taiwanesemanufacturer) bought a substantial interest in Specialized. AlthoughSpecialized is still headquartered in California under the leadershipof founder Mike Sinyard, all bikes are made in Asia. Key Asiansuppliers are Merida, Ideal, and Giant http://allanti.com/page.cfm?PageID=328 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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