Review: 2021 Specialized S-Works Epic

[Eldron]

All my bikes are Specialized, but that’s not out of loyalty, more a matter of finding good deals.

 

I was out a work meet an greet and we started talking cycling. The usual question ‘what bike do you ride’ came up. So I tried to pass on that I ride a Specialized, without drawing too much attention to it, as so often mentioning that name results in some snide comment. Too my surprise, the response was very different, I heard ‘fantastic bikes, good service and support’. And the more I look around Canada, the more Specialized bikes I see.

 

Maybe it’s just South Africans that love to hate Specialized. There is a lot less hate for the brand when you leave the confines of SA

 

/places face firmly in palm.

[Wayne pudding Mol]

This is true, but the demographic and bike types change a lot too.

 

I think most people hate on Spez because at one stage it had cornered the market with all the wannabe pro's with bat attitudes wearing specialized everything prancing around like they owned the place.

 

Outside of SA the Epic isn't popular and the fun bikes are ridden by a different breed.

 

I'm not sure if it's still the case now, but it's the same as people who rode the 2014 brain hating on the 2021 version. The stigma stuck so the perception will be incredibly difficult to shift.

I won't make a generalised comment but I can comment on what I see - Spez make great product and do seem to attract a certain kind of person.  And I don't think they hide from it with their pricing

 

Not everyone riding them is a douche

[NotSoBigBen]

I assume none of the 'haters' drive BMW's or ride Harley's or wear Salomon's...as I've said before choose any demographic and you'll find 'douches'

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

All my bikes are Specialized, but that’s not out of loyalty, more a matter of finding good deals.

 

I was out a work meet an greet and we started talking cycling. The usual question ‘what bike do you ride’ came up. So I tried to pass on that I ride a Specialized, without drawing too much attention to it, as so often mentioning that name results in some snide comment. Too my surprise, the response was very different, I heard ‘fantastic bikes, good service and support’. And the more I look around Canada, the more Specialized bikes I see.

 

Maybe it’s just South Africans that love to hate Specialized. There is a lot less hate for the brand when you leave the confines of SA

"I ride a spaz"

 

Yeah, earth-shatteringly painful to admit, I'm sure. 

[slickjay007]

"I ride a spaz"

 

Yeah, earth-shatteringly painful to admit, I'm sure. 

  

 

so do many others...me included

[MTBeer]

so I recently bought a Spaz because it was on a massive discount. Previously rode a Giant. Awesome bike, but when I swing my leg over it I can feel my doucheness quotient increasing exponentially with every pedal stroke. Oh well, what can one do? If the shoe fits...

[roodie]

change to threaded BB - good

[ChrisF]

All my bikes are Specialized, but that’s not out of loyalty, more a matter of finding good deals.

 

I was out a work meet an greet and we started talking cycling. The usual question ‘what bike do you ride’ came up. So I tried to pass on that I ride a Specialized, without drawing too much attention to it, as so often mentioning that name results in some snide comment. Too my surprise, the response was very different, I heard ‘fantastic bikes, good service and support’. And the more I look around Canada, the more Specialized bikes I see.

 

Maybe it’s just South Africans that love to hate Specialized. There is a lot less hate for the brand when you leave the confines of SA

 

Possibly it is a cultural thing in SA, certainly not restricted to cycling.

 

Out on a 4x4 trail the very same "attitudes" and snyde comments abound .... and it is NOT restricted to a single brand.  

 

 

In February I was looking for a new bike, Spez was top of the list.  Even discussing the option of buying a Spez invoked emotional responses, both for and against.  Very few technical comments ...  The primary reason I went a different route was that Spez seriously downgraded the model that I was looking at from 2019 tot 2020 spec.  IF I could have gotten a 2019 spec in my size I probably would have bought it ....

 

sadly I experienced the "buy whats on the floor" attitude from Spez Tygervalley ...  And frankly this is an attitude which is rive through the cycling industry, across most brands.  Turns out the ONE shop that took the initiative to order in a bike in my size got my business ... this hours after another shop down the road confirmed that the bike I was looking for was out of stock, without even picking up the phone to check.

 

 

 

wow, went on a bit of a tangent there .... 

 

 

LOVE my Spez 2FO shoes.  May well buy a Spez bike one day.  IF, and only if the price and specification levels makes sense when measured against 2 or 3 of the other well represented brands in SA.

[DieselnDust]

Mercedes has done the same. Many years ago when Mercedes was under the Cargo Holdings distribution, my father used to have his car serviced at a mechanic (everyone called him Josie), with his business registered as Daimler Benz (he was located in the JHB CBD, near Marshall/Main Street). He was a specialist in Merc gearboxes. When Mercedes took over the distribution, he was forced to change his name. Think in the end he changed his name to Terarro Motors.

 

And I hear rumors of Orange launching (relaunching in SA - they had a presence of sorts before). They threatened many companies who had orange logos, forcing them to change.

 

These things have and will happen again.

 

Specialized is not the only bully. It's not the brand who sues, it's some box sitting in a position of power. These people come and go - holding the brand accountable for these actions is a bit short sighted.

 

 

 

actually it is the brand that sues. Company lawyers don;t act in isolation, they act at the behest of the CEo or the Board of Directors. The upper level management make a decision that determines how the lawyers approach trademark infringement. If its a small player that can be swat out of the way then they'll have a process that says a snot nosed junior legal council can send a letter signed by the CEO. If its a larger organisation that can fight back then it gets referred up to the management team.

There's generally a blanket decision that small players just get bullied out of the way because the corp isn;t going to spend money on being nice.

 

The cafe Roubaix and Veloagi cases blew up in their faces and cost them a lot more than they bargained for hence the apologies. Trust me they don't feel remorse, they felt the bottom line and that was all that drove their behaviour.

 

in Closing, its not about being the only bully. Its about being the biggest bully in an industry that is actually just a leisure passtime. The brand names they defned with vigor aren't their brand names to begin with and are names that have been used by many players in the industry for decades before Specialized came along. The fact that a court in the USA says they can own a name of a town that predates teh USA itself is ridiculous. 

Its the defensive attitude that people who buy into the Specialized business principals that is most  distasteful. Defending the indefensible (except in a USA court of law)

Edited June 30, 2020 by DieselnDust

[Wayne pudding Mol]

I assume none of the 'haters' drive BMW's or ride Harley's or wear Salomon's...as I've said before choose any demographic and you'll find 'douches'

Some may have all of the above

[DR ◣◢]

I assume none of the 'haters' drive BMW's or ride Harley's or wear Salomon's...as I've said before choose any demographic and you'll find 'douches'

 

   

 

My household ticked all the boxes.

[Hairy]

   

 

My household ticked all the boxes.

you can be forgiven for riding a Harley .... the rest I am not so sure about

[DR ◣◢]

you can be forgiven for riding a Harley .... the rest I am not so sure about

 

It was a Z4 too. hahaha

 

Now it's Suzuki GS, and a Suzuki Grand Vitara. 

The Stumpjumper remains unchanged.

Edited June 30, 2020 by Mr Dampf

[Eldron]

I read the head line (How Specialized Is Building the Future of Mountain Biking) and thought "ah maybe Spesh aint bad - maybe they're building trails and stuff". Nope - it's a frikkin advertorial for their new ebikes       

 

https://gearpatrol.com/2020/06/28/specialized-levo-sl-e-mountain-bike/?fbclid=IwAR3mgc45Q8oNN_x2MDtSK8_fR5VxiYqE6NwA1tc0hO81YbfvbB36FtfnhaA

[DieselnDust]

I read the head line (How Specialized Is Building the Future of Mountain Biking) and thought "ah maybe Spesh aint bad - maybe they're building trails and stuff". Nope - it's a frikkin advertorial for their new ebikes       

 

https://gearpatrol.com/2020/06/28/specialized-levo-sl-e-mountain-bike/?fbclid=IwAR3mgc45Q8oNN_x2MDtSK8_fR5VxiYqE6NwA1tc0hO81YbfvbB36FtfnhaA

 

[Eldron]

actually it is the brand that sues. Company lawyers don;t act in isolation, they act at the behest of the CEo or the Board of Directors. The upper level management make a decision that determines how the lawyers approach trademark infringement. If its a small player that can be swat out of the way then they'll have a process that says a snot nosed junior legal council can send a letter signed by the CEO. If its a larger organisation that can fight back then it gets referred up to the management team.

There's generally a blanket decision that small players just get bullied out of the way because the corp isn;t going to spend money on being nice.

 

The cafe Roubaix and Veloagi cases blew up in their faces and cost them a lot more than they bargained for hence the apologies. Trust me they don't feel remorse, they felt the bottom line and that was all that drove their behaviour.

 

in Closing, its not about being the only bully. Its about being the biggest bully in an industry that is actually just a leisure passtime. The brand names they defned with vigor aren't their brand names to begin with and are names that have been used by many players in the industry for decades before Specialized came along. The fact that a court in the USA says they can own a name of a town that predates teh USA itself is ridiculous. 

Its the defensive attitude that people who buy into the Specialized business principals that is most  distasteful. Defending the indefensible (except in a USA court of law)

 

For me it's the complete futility of it. Roubaix Cycles in no way, shape or form claimed to be anything but a bike shop. People were never going to mistake Cafe Roubaix for Specialized. There was need whatsoever to sue. But they did. And kept doing it.

 

The really silly part is that Spesh only have the name Roubaix through license. They don't actually own it.

 

I really hope it was just a thoughtless corporate decision but the consistency of sue sue SUE says otherwise. On the upside Sinyard went to Cafe Roubaix and apologised in person.