The Spec story reminded me of Univega, one of their strongest early competitors. After never having heard of either, all of a sudden they were both everywhere neck and neck. Univega was always about 20% cheaper, but offered credible competition after potential Specialized buyers came to after the sticker shock. One shop owner told me he only kept the Stumpy on the floor to sell the Univega's faster.😄 They disappeared sometime during the huge boom that followed, when it seemed like there were more new brands than magazines to write about them!
Anything and about Tinker, you'd be right on time as he has just started a YT channel with his name. Incredible and wonderful that he is still riding at a high level.
oh man, please do SE. I got my first PK Ripper in 1980. I raced BMX here in Australia. Anyway that first one (black w/ gold anodised parts) unfortunately got stolen, and I got a new (1982?) frame, which was the clear coated bare aluminium colour. I actually spray painted that one duck-egg blue; for day to day riding I had red tuff wheels and tiny little thin alloys for racing. when I joined the navy my mother gave it to my older brother's kid ... years later they sold it. g.d. i wish i still had it. just to comment also on the current situation with specialised. to me, the bike industry is really a parallel to the guitar business. fender and gibson, once the staples of your local guitar store now sell direct, have their own retail fronts, have split labels for made-in-usa and made-in-china, and the market is flooded with cheap clones and imitation knock offs. the only real difference i can see is that most guitarists generally _do not_ want the latest and greatest technology, and the vintage items are worshipped with a heat greater than the core of the sun. to the point where, by analogy, imagine if specialised still had to make that rockhopper to the exact specs of the original, and this model was the _most expensive_ model they sell. and you paid extra to get it "relic'd". ;-)
I remember when Specialized came to the bike shop I worked at. The shop was doing 2 million a year selling specialized. The specialized rep came in and said, "you are no longer a specialized dealer". Then they took back almost 1m in inventory and opened a flagship store 10 miles away.
Pretty much toxic to the cause of having accessible bicycle service. The decent shops that survive at least here in the Midwest almost uniformly have minor brands. The majors have taken, taken, taken.
Bicycle whores , just like Schwinn and Cannondale of the 80's. It is diffently a a cut throat business. Mike Wolf of CT. Back in the late 70's tried to get Ma & Pas to form co ops, and agree on pricing and working together. Haa, never happened, he was ahead of his time and honest coming forth at the Bicycle dealers convention in Orlando that year. One year out in Arizona I visited serval bike shops . In the late 80's and they did just that. Their price were the same, they were happy with the heir competitors as friends all making a decent living. Mike Wolf had his Sh-- together.
@@asifitmatters1are you always this pleasant? Or do you impersonate an a-hole, just on the Internet? Did you manage a Specialized dealership? Cuz, that would make sense.
I remember their first Stumpjumper ads. One inch column in the back of Outside magazine, and Bicycling magazine. Bought my first mtb in 86, a Jamis Dakota. I ride my Specialized enduro every day at 76yo.
I remember those early adds as well and the mtb explosion that followed. So much so that Bicycling ran an article entitled “Does the road bike have a future?”.
yeah, thats a high end alloy hardtail now, or maybe barely enough for entry full sus. Bikes and Video games are to products that have seen huge technical innovations for a significant drop in adjust price.
Thanks for these videos. I was born and spent most of my life a few hours north of the Bay Area (I think the OG guys would ride MT Tamalpais in Marin) and never realized how close I was to the birth of Mtn biking. My first was a Schwinn Sierra, it was a solid bike but I really wanted the Cannondale next to it. My local shop (where I bought the Sierra) let me trade the Sierra in on the 92 Cannondale M800 Beast of the East in red. It was an amazing bike. My wife at the time wanted to ride with me and really loved the M800 so I gave it to her to ride and I bought a 93 Stumpjumper M2. We had a trailer we pulled and my daughter loved going on rides with us. I still have the SJ M2 and the ex wife still has the Cannondale. I will never sell it though I plan to buy a new bike with more modern features to get back into cycling as it is something I really enjoy. Thanks again for rekindling the flame in me.
Thanks for this. You're very fair to Mike and Specialized. I went to a mountain bike event in 1984 with a guy who was working for Gary Fisher at the time and another guy who had raced for Fisher, and later, Ross. They referred to the company as "Special Lies."
This is very silly and essentially this guys opinion , good luck to anyone who takes biking to the next level , he never stole anything he did in fact take a concept and turned it into a marketing product to a mass market , yet silly bitter people would say he stole a idea
Back in February 2022, I bought a Creo SL Expert Carbon EVO from my now Specialized owned bike shop. Price was $9,750, with no discounts. They had to search the USA to find one. Only bought this because my Greg LeMond Zurich would not get me up the steep hill to my son's new home, in Seattle, where I thought I might live. That didn't work out, but I ride it every morning at 87 years old here in Tucson, some 16 miles, up grade half the way, and down coming back, for the most part. I never worried about the price, love the thing, use eco mode only. There is a lot of cheaper bikes I could have bought, but I wanted the best, and could afford it. As an aside, the long comment by @RViscara below brought back so many memories of Santa Cruz, Capitola and San Jose for me. Wow, those days aren't coming back. 🙆♀
Wait... you realize how involved in the world of cycling the Walmart family is, right? Have you ever heard of Bentonville, AR? You know... the mountain bike capital of the country (maybe world?). They also happen to own Rapha, among other bike brands. So I definitely wouldn't assume their involvement in Specialized is going to bring their bikes into an actual Walmart store. I've yet to see any Rapha gear at a Walmart. If anything, they've made Rapha a better brand, with more reasonable pricing.
I have an oversized aluminum BMX made by Specialized. It has Velcro cheetah fur cross bar and handlebar pads. It is tuff as nails. I rode it hard on the millennium park in Calgary Alberta Canada. It is still up in my barn beside my Cheetah banana bike from the 70's. I will take my old bikes out and ride them on clear blue-sky days in the heat of the summer. It keeps me young.
What you are saying about the stump jumper putting specialized on the map is totally not true! I used to race with the San Jose bike club in the South Bay were specialized two owners would sell those very cinelli bike parts along with other parts to us as San Jose bike club members at our races out of their white van. Then what really made special famous or business take off was their newly designed specialized water bottles which you could open and close one handed which was a huge deal at the time. Next what put them sales or making a lot of fame and money was their design of the first folding clincher rim tires! Which was huge as you could train with these tires and carry a spare folded tire under your seat which before was impossible with clincher tires. At this time Specialized bikes was operating in a new small building next to the San Jose mercury newspaper in jury court street. I myself actually road the very first stump jumper which was not even painted at the time and was the first test example of the bike which they had available to look at at one of their annual open house distributor sales at their jury court headquarter. At the time they sold long sleeve t-shirts that said “fat tire flyer” on it referring to the mountain bike culture. When they came out with the stump jumper they also had their touring bike the Sequoia and then about a year later the Japanese equipped “Allez” bike “which you actually miss pronounced. It’s a French word. Also my good friend Brad worked at Specialized hence my invites to these special open house slash annual headquarters discount sales deals. I still have that fat tire flyer long sleeve tshirt. So there final word is it wasn’t the stump jumper that put specialized on the map it was first their water bottles they were mass producing those bottles bike time and every shop or team was buying and using them then they really exploded when they had the first folding 700c road tire. That’s what made them big. I am that era of road racing and grew up all around the cycling scene from Eric riding with us when when he was going to Stanford university to my best friend who u grew up with becoming the head machinist at rockshocks making their top fork crowns. I was lucky enough to see a lot of innovation like Jim Blackburn to slim gunk for punctures in tires which was from Santa Cruz to even seeing what we know now as Santa Cruz biker. So when giving your history lessons be sure you get it right. And a final word yes Mike was a sort of a jerk and also a bit of a snob. He also made a lot of money basically steeling the logos of many companies like Cinelli and campagnolo and putting them on t-shirts and cycling painters hats selling tons of them with no royalties going back to those companies. A inside secret also you think Mike was bad you should have learned about his daughter who lives in capitola near Santa Cruz she was a piece of work she was a very entitled acting brat and not very nice to law enforcement folks I know this as my sibling almost arrested her over a dispute and her being extremely entitled a demanding. It’s funny as I never tried to hang out or be near these people it all sort of just happened around me by chance. The Silicon Valley was a very interesting place in the early 80’s . If anyone has any questions about that era and place let me know and I will answer your questions. There is also a story behind the Allez road bike.
Specialized is great for people who can’t work on their own bikes or know what a bolt is. My local specialized dealer just got bought out to be a specialized factory store ( it used to be a fantastic place when a human being used to own it). I went there to have my wheel trued, you know drop it off and let me know when it gets done… the guy at the counter says you can’t just drop it off, you need to make an appointment to drop it off. WTF is up with that. What a bag of dicks!!! I won’t be going back to those idiots again. Yeah, bikers edge Bristol, Ct. what a shame.
Hearing this story for the first time and considering the timeline when they rolled out the first Stumpjumper, it all makes sense and i agree the inception was shady but it did bring it to the masses by sidestepping the founders but I'm sure they themselves were inspired by people like Gary Turner who founded GT bicycles in Santa Ana, CA 1972, i get they were modifying Cruisers AKA klunkers but the geometry of the first real MTB borrowed heavily from BMX, everybody just kinda improved on an idea and his was bringing it to the masses by taking their design and making it slightly different, sounds slimey to say but its cool to know their origin story, funny enough i refurbish bikes and the Specialized bikes I've done sell faster than anything else, go figure.
You'd pretty much have to mine your own ore, make your own alloy, and forge all your own components to ride a bike that passes the ethical purity test.
@@robbiddlecombe8392 I have not looked into all that much. From what I can tell, Specialized did a lot when it comes bringing mountain to the masses, but they also did some shady $hit along the way. At the end of the day, I want a decent bike at a decent price. I'm not going to be preachy or judgy about brands. I currently ride a specialized but will probably never purchase another because their prices have become ridiculous.
@@robbiddlecombe8392 Who said anything about "release from responsibility"?? You are projecting and assuming. Read what I wrote, not what you think or hope I wrote.
I almost bought one of their entry-level hybrids last week because they are very cheap, but they are just... kind of ugly. offputtingly ugly in a weird way
I own Surly, Specialised, Ridgeback and Cinnelli, bikes, every frame is made in......Taiwan. All those big name brands are just that, a name on a frame, invariably made in Taiwan . On top of that nearly all the components are made by Shimano, in the far East. Most of us are riding Chinese bikes equiped with Japanese stuff, with an unrelated name on the downtube.
people riding blue trails with 23mm tires with 0 compliance. Meanwhile today: "guys, do I need a full suspension for my city park?" Hate being an elitist but most bikes today are over-specd for what people are riding and they're wasting their money.
We started riding Kleins in the 80's in NorCal and still ride them here today even though they stopped making them years ago. Specialized never did it for us and hand built Kleins were the best you could buy.
After riding over 30 years and using all kind of brands, I must say my 2022 Specialized Epic HT is one of the best bikes I have ever ridden. Even the tires and the Power and Phenom saddles they make are really good. I used a lot of bike brands that werent that good. Never met Mike S. and I am also no fanboy of any brand…
this year i was planning to get a super bike, so i went to one of the specialized flagship store in my city. however their staff doesnt seems like they really wanna sell things. Asked for size 61 sworks tarmac, dude just tell me oh we just sold out the last 2 in the country. i asked if i order it now, whats the time phase it gonna take, like i mean, give me a rough time like maybe 2 months or half year or something, im happy to pay the top money and buy things from here, please. they told me, we dont know, good luck for that. good luck for what, good luck to get a specialized bike? i left confused and little mad about it. went to the trek shop 7 kms away, ordered their trek madone SLR9(gen8), they gave me free upgrade, bike fitting and gifts bla bla, im really happy with it. i wish specialized knows they are selling products, they are selling bikes for cyclist, not a gucci bag or rolex watches, you are not selling a dream.
never bothered to learn the history of Specialized so this was enlightening. the Specialized name always had a certain panache. over-hyped maybe but still panache. I grew up with icons like John Tomac, Ned Overend (team Specialized), Greg Herbold, Hans Rey, Tinker Juarez, and Missy Giove. Ned Overend (now ~64yo) is still out there doing his thing. godspeed on his race tomorrow May 25th, 2024 - the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. he was there last year and placed only 3 minutes off the lead in the open-class men's race. inspiring to stay fit regardless of your age!
Specialized bikes were awful from the get go. Quickly spiralled into simply a brand name with crap quality. Trek and Giant and Cannondale were the legends. Compare Specialized to Univega if you want to.
My nephew used to laugh when he was at the factories in Taiwan seeing specialized being made, then listening to the guys going on about how they only ride stuff built in the USA while looking at out British bikes " also Taiwanese ' 😂
I love my Specialized bikes. I think they make premium products but I know part my the $$$ is due to the name alone. It's too bad that they've had and seem to continue to have questionable ethical practices. I'm tacking this up to another "Don't every meet your hero's."
As far as I know, Specialized makes excellent bikes. But they way they behave as a company, the prices, and frankly the fact that almost certainly more than half of all the bikes I see out on the trails are Specialized (at least here in NorCal), gives me absolutely no desire to own a Specialized. Also, I haven't been impressed with their other products. I bought a $100 shock floor pump from them (I was frustrated with the hand pumps), and it filled the shock up really well, but it let off like 100 PSI when you detached it. Their system that was supposed to prevent air loss in this fashion did not work at all. And then I had to shell out like $20 to return it via FedEx.
I already knew the details myself, but I'm very pleased about you educated others. No passion for bikes, just money. So many Dorklized coming into the shop nowadays because their mechanics suck and they don't do fittings. I feel sorry for these folks about to own a "War-Mart" bike. Ford comparison is what I use all the time.
Not a great fan of Specialized as a company however I do own a Specialized bike (Roubaix SL8). Reason I got it was it suits the type of riding I do (mostly road with a bit of light gravel), the fit is right for me, the future shock makes longer rides a lot more comfortable (actually more than that, it makes them achievable). On my last bike (Giant Revolt) I'd get numb hands after about an hour of riding. I don't have this problem with the Roubaix. The Roubaix is also lighter and better spec'd than the Giant, albeit at a much higher price. I brought it from an independently owned store, who have been great to deal with. However I still view the store where I got my Giant as my LBS and it's where I go to get most of my parts and accessories.
Full cred to the Spec machine for bringing mtb to full maturity with the first Stumpjumper. My friends and I had been abusing old Schwinns and Raleighs since the mid-70's when- lo and behold- the bike of our dreams showed up in every lbs. It had the rugged rims, giant rubber, perfect bars and massive stem we'd been scrounging for, but there all together in one rtr package! It also came with a frickin' eye wateringly astronomical price tag- about 2x the price you'd pay for a legal, running, reliable "beater with a heater" actual car. 😳 I guess some things never change....🤣
I mean, the essential inception of Giant Bikes as a major brand (not as a company) was unethical. After Schwinn pulled their manufacturing contract, Giant introduced its own line of Giant-branded bikes for sale to retailers carrying Schwinn bikes. Giant used the dies, plans, and technological expertise from Schwinn to greatly expand the market share of bicycles made under the Giant label, first in Europe, and later in the United States. The only difference between what Mike did with the Richey and what Giant did with Schwinn is that Giant had been the producer. However, both got wealthy using other people's intellectual property. So all being fair, Giant is no better than these ripoff Chinese companies selling blank Pinarello's, far undercutting the profits of the company who invested so much in designing the initial product.
Thank you! One of the most accurate telling of the story! RUMOR has it… the bike Tom and Gary gave Mike (they knew he would copy to make the Stumpjumper) wasn’t quite right…
@@rlsedition The key word was ethics in my comment, Ibis was at the beginning also, A fella left Specialized early on and joined the founder who was a Klunker rider and formed Ibis.
Here in New Zealand many bike shops no longer stock Specialized products, presumably because Specialized are trying to do that consumer direct model. Regardless of what you think of the company, they do make some excellent products including bike clothing. I would rather buy from my local store and continue to do so. But I feel like the company is not supporting their stores I am not sure the consumer direct model is working out for them.
Since 1984, I have owned four Stumpjumpers, three Tarmacs, and a Langster. The last bike I purchased was a Surly Krampus, and the next bike will be a Canyon Neuron CF.
My first bike (after my dinky bmx i had as a small child) was a specialized stumpjumper from 1995-8 (idk the exact year). Its my favorite hardail and has had multiple owners but still has held up great. Glad to be in on the specialized craze without spending thounsands on their new bikes 😅
It is more important these days to sponsor/market a pro team than develop quality products. Marketing is everything. You can sell defective products but as long as you pay a pro team to push your brand it wont matter.
I think you got the history about right. I got my second year (1982) Stumpjumper from a Specialized dealer at UC Davis for $1000. I loved that bike, I took it everywhere. In 2020 I bought 4 bikes, 3 of them Specialized and they are all great bikes.
Specialized bikes still needs outside components to work - shifters, brakes, cranks, chains etc. so their frames need to be compatible with those. Apple does everything to make outside components not work with its devices.
I don't understand the Walmart rumors. Why would Walmart want such a deal just as their own house brand, Ozark Trail, introduces a decent entry level MTB and gravel bike? Plus, the Waltons own Allied for the high end stuff that competes with Specialized.
There are a lot of videos saying that this $248 G1 Walmart trail bike gives rather good value. It sells for about $250 in today's dollars. The video showed a similar bike from back in the last quarter of the last century from Specialized that sold for $750 in the dollars of that time. Big Box stores may be encroaching on the Bike shop stuff.
I've ridden the big red S since the mid 90's. I know Mike, raced with Ned, and Shaun. I currently have a Stumpy, Epic, Roubaix, and Diverge in my fleet. Nobody in America makes a product that can compete. Who's better? Cannondale with their proprietary tech? Trek, with their overpriced crap? I raced on the factory team when we were sponsored by Mountain Dew in 1997.
I wish I still had my '84 Stumpjumper XT. Braze welded lugs. 1st XT groupset. 32 lbs. Specialized got the real Mtb craze going by making cheaper, but great Mt Bikes. Fischer and Ritchey were so expensive. Immediately after Specialized success, lots of other companies did the same thing. So don't fault Specialized for being the first.
I would be interested in a video about Marin bikes and or Kona. Marin was BIG when i was a teenaged MTB Enthusiast in the 90s when i came back in 2014 there where a shadow of their former self’s. Just now they start to make a name for them self’s again with some more recognizable Names under their sponsoring. With Kona it’s kind of the same Story once the leader of the north shore free ride movement now kind of a 3rd row brand.
The "anti-culture hippies" comment about Joey Breeze and Tom Ritchey is totally true. It was Marin. There's a very good chance they actually knew that guy Waldo Dave, who literally started the whole 420 thing and not once ever tried to make money off of it.
Arrogance took them down. I was a dealer since 1983. In that time they went from our favorite, most profitable line to the polar opposite. They made superior bicycles & were great innovators. They were also greedy & did not allow their dealers to be profitable. Quel dommage. It breaks my heart to see their transition from the #2 IBD Brand to virtual obscurity, overnight! They pissed on enough people that when push came to shove, it was easy to say, Bye. I miss a hand full of products, and celebrate the lack of pressure. Our industry is changing & they are leading that change. LoL
Thanks a lot - for destroying my love for my old Specialized bicycle. Edit: It's a ~ 1999 Hard Rock Comp, that has original wheels that run almost perpetually when you spin them. - Despite the fact that the bike was quite apparently NOT maintained by its original owner. Same for the still original bottom bracket. Smooth turning - I can't decide whether to take them apart for a first greasing, or not.
Greed in the name of "just doing business" is an interesting topic and, for those on the small end, is unfortunate. Not to worry, when folks become more empowered, over time, critical thinking will be a part of the process and the ways of old marketing practices, will go by the wayside.
Do Ford, GM, Chrysler, American Motors, Hupmobile, Studebaker, etc. this is America, good for any company that makes it in this enviroment..and they give buttheads something to talk about, so they can make money too, the bigger you get the more people want to bring you down to their level, so they won't feel so bad about being the buttholes they really are.. ;) !!!! and maybe they can make some money too.. Happy Trails..
I actually have an green 87 Stumpjumper that I ride as a road bike with no gears and freewheel. Its probably the funnest bike I've had and I also get a many looks while riding it 😄
Personally ive always found Specialized bikes rather ugly looking and are my last choice, but now after watching this video I dislike them even more haha
I rode a Stumpjumper for a few years and switched to Santa Cruz more recently. I got a deal on it, I know they’re overpriced… but I do dig the company more.
Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth about my love for bikes and disdain for corporate greed. Specialized makes great bikes even though I hate some of their business practices. I’ve tried to support small boutique brands but that didn’t always pay off either. I currently own a Specialized and put all my personal beliefs aside because it’s just a bicycle.Too many other bigger problems in the world to worry about. The brand of bike I ride, really doesn’t matter as long it rides well…
My favorite tires in the late 70's were the Specialized (they were known as Specialized Bicycle Imports then) tires with the raised center ridge. I have a mid-90's Stumpjumper. These days I think they have gone too high end and the only Specialized items I still buy are the helmets.
Thing is, have been riding Specialized since the mid 80's from early rockhoppers, stumpjumpers, SWorks metal stumpies (the coolest), and multiple Tarmacs on the road- and while being fully aware of their slightly controversial practices, nothing changes the fact that those bikes predictably ride exceptionally well compared to the alternatives... which is why among my riding buddies who got hooked on mtb in the 80's there will always be a Specialized or three in the collection. Agree though that the Sworks brand was actually cooler decades ago when they offered top performance at a reasonable pricetag, think SW M2, Tarmac SL2... they used to be the thinking mans utilitarian race bike, now they've gone all unnecessarily boutique they are actually not so hot in my antiquated mind.
We owned rei-branded Navaro MTBs from the ’80s, made by specialized. In 2024, Specialized has reprised the aqua/pink paint theme from one of the Stumpjumper from that day with their factory mtb teams. We had that bike until last year.
Thanks and I'm curious about early buyers of those mountain bikes. I rode both BMX and road bikes into '81 when I bailed on 20" BMX after a wild tumble down a massive drop to avoid flying into a dirt biker gassing it up the face toward me. But in '82, I bought a 26" single-speed Mongoose made for the BMX Cruiser Class. With bikes and frames and parts and gear and everything, the BMX marketplace set the stage for mountain biking, and I'd be curious about the road v. BMX percentage of early buyers.
I've been riding bikes for 62 years. When I got into mountain bikes, most of my friends had Specialized Epics. I was on Rocky Mountain. I've yet to swing a leg over a Specialized, currently I've got for myself a Pivot trail 429 and an Ibis Mojo Slr for friends to borrow to see if they enjoy MTB riding.
This has "I've only driven Mercedes and Jaguar my whole life and I have a Cadillac for guests to borrow, I've yet to set foot in a plebeian Honda" nose-raising energy.
Thank you all for the support! Who should I cover next? I'm thinking of either doing SE or potentially cover a couple of athletes like tinker or missy
Tinker is THE legend who doesn't get enough coverage... Views on his channel are ridiculous, he's go so many interesting stories...
The Spec story reminded me of Univega, one of their strongest early competitors. After never having heard of either, all of a sudden they were both everywhere neck and neck. Univega was always about 20% cheaper, but offered credible competition after potential Specialized buyers came to after the sticker shock. One shop owner told me he only kept the Stumpy on the floor to sell the Univega's faster.😄
They disappeared sometime during the huge boom that followed, when it seemed like there were more new brands than magazines to write about them!
RITCHEY
Anything and about Tinker, you'd be right on time as he has just started a YT channel with his name. Incredible and wonderful that he is still riding at a high level.
oh man, please do SE. I got my first PK Ripper in 1980. I raced BMX here in Australia. Anyway that first one (black w/ gold anodised parts) unfortunately got stolen, and I got a new (1982?) frame, which was the clear coated bare aluminium colour. I actually spray painted that one duck-egg blue; for day to day riding I had red tuff wheels and tiny little thin alloys for racing. when I joined the navy my mother gave it to my older brother's kid ... years later they sold it. g.d. i wish i still had it.
just to comment also on the current situation with specialised. to me, the bike industry is really a parallel to the guitar business. fender and gibson, once the staples of your local guitar store now sell direct, have their own retail fronts, have split labels for made-in-usa and made-in-china, and the market is flooded with cheap clones and imitation knock offs. the only real difference i can see is that most guitarists generally _do not_ want the latest and greatest technology, and the vintage items are worshipped with a heat greater than the core of the sun. to the point where, by analogy, imagine if specialised still had to make that rockhopper to the exact specs of the original, and this model was the _most expensive_ model they sell. and you paid extra to get it "relic'd". ;-)
I remember when Specialized came to the bike shop I worked at. The shop was doing 2 million a year selling specialized. The specialized rep came in and said, "you are no longer a specialized dealer". Then they took back almost 1m in inventory and opened a flagship store 10 miles away.
In business terms it is called dominating the mkt since no one is going to try to compete against them.
Pretty much toxic to the cause of having accessible bicycle service. The decent shops that survive at least here in the Midwest almost uniformly have minor brands. The majors have taken, taken, taken.
Giant opened a store less than a 1km a away from the only Giant dealer (and only bike shop) in my city
How shallow for Giant !
Bicycle whores , just like Schwinn and Cannondale of the 80's. It is diffently a a cut throat business. Mike Wolf of CT. Back in the late 70's tried to get Ma & Pas to form co ops, and agree on pricing and working together. Haa, never happened, he was ahead of his time and honest coming forth at the Bicycle dealers convention in Orlando that year. One year out in Arizona I visited serval bike shops . In the late 80's and they did just that. Their price were the same, they were happy with the heir competitors as friends all making a decent living. Mike Wolf had his Sh-- together.
I worked at a directly owned specialized store. To say the least... what a shitshow
Well maybe that was because YOU were working there…
@@asifitmatters1are you always this pleasant? Or do you impersonate an a-hole, just on the Internet? Did you manage a Specialized dealership? Cuz, that would make sense.
😂
I remember their first Stumpjumper ads. One inch column in the back of Outside magazine, and Bicycling magazine. Bought my first mtb in 86, a Jamis Dakota. I ride my Specialized enduro every day at 76yo.
I remember those early adds as well and the mtb explosion that followed. So much so that Bicycling ran an article entitled “Does the road bike have a future?”.
$750 1981 dollars is $2647 2023 dollars according to the CPI Inflation Calculator. For what it was the 1981 Stumpjumper was expensive.
yeah, thats a high end alloy hardtail now, or maybe barely enough for entry full sus. Bikes and Video games are to products that have seen huge technical innovations for a significant drop in adjust price.
@@johnlowkey359 An Intense 951 XC is $2299 at Costco online. Carbon with Fox fork and shock.
That’s a ridiculous statement. The 1983 Stumpjumper was the answer to many prayers. Worth “any”
Price
Yeah but now $2647 for the best available mountain bike on the market is cheap!!
@@raddkahnengels In Feb I got a Intense 951 XC for $1799 at Costco online, carbon, Fox full susp, 4 piston, dropper, tubeless, 1x12.
I still ride a 1984 rockhopper as a single speed commuter to this very day. The next best choice is a Wabi thunder for 10X the price.
Seems like a whiney, butt-hurt take.
Thanks for these videos. I was born and spent most of my life a few hours north of the Bay Area (I think the OG guys would ride MT Tamalpais in Marin) and never realized how close I was to the birth of Mtn biking. My first was a Schwinn Sierra, it was a solid bike but I really wanted the Cannondale next to it. My local shop (where I bought the Sierra) let me trade the Sierra in on the 92 Cannondale M800 Beast of the East in red. It was an amazing bike. My wife at the time wanted to ride with me and really loved the M800 so I gave it to her to ride and I bought a 93 Stumpjumper M2. We had a trailer we pulled and my daughter loved going on rides with us. I still have the SJ M2 and the ex wife still has the Cannondale. I will never sell it though I plan to buy a new bike with more modern features to get back into cycling as it is something I really enjoy. Thanks again for rekindling the flame in me.
Thanks for this. You're very fair to Mike and Specialized. I went to a mountain bike event in 1984 with a guy who was working for Gary Fisher at the time and another guy who had raced for Fisher, and later, Ross. They referred to the company as "Special Lies."
This is very silly and essentially this guys opinion , good luck to anyone who takes biking to the next level , he never stole anything he did in fact take a concept and turned it into a marketing product to a mass market , yet silly bitter people would say he stole a idea
Back in February 2022, I bought a Creo SL Expert Carbon EVO from my now Specialized owned bike shop. Price was $9,750, with no discounts. They had to search the USA to find one. Only bought this because my Greg LeMond Zurich would not get me up the steep hill to my son's new home, in Seattle, where I thought I might live. That didn't work out, but I ride it every morning at 87 years old here in Tucson, some 16 miles, up grade half the way, and down coming back, for the most part. I never worried about the price, love the thing, use eco mode only. There is a lot of cheaper bikes I could have bought, but I wanted the best, and could afford it. As an aside, the long comment by @RViscara below brought back so many memories of Santa Cruz, Capitola and San Jose for me. Wow, those days aren't coming back. 🙆♀
Wait... you realize how involved in the world of cycling the Walmart family is, right? Have you ever heard of Bentonville, AR? You know... the mountain bike capital of the country (maybe world?). They also happen to own Rapha, among other bike brands. So I definitely wouldn't assume their involvement in Specialized is going to bring their bikes into an actual Walmart store. I've yet to see any Rapha gear at a Walmart. If anything, they've made Rapha a better brand, with more reasonable pricing.
Trek is doing the same. Screwing shop owners.
I have an oversized aluminum BMX made by Specialized. It has Velcro cheetah fur cross bar and handlebar pads. It is tuff as nails. I rode it hard on the millennium park in Calgary Alberta Canada. It is still up in my barn beside my Cheetah banana bike from the 70's. I will take my old bikes out and ride them on clear blue-sky days in the heat of the summer. It keeps me young.
What you are saying about the stump jumper putting specialized on the map is totally not true! I used to race with the San Jose bike club in the South Bay were specialized two owners would sell those very cinelli bike parts along with other parts to us as San Jose bike club members at our races out of their white van. Then what really made special famous or business take off was their newly designed specialized water bottles which you could open and close one handed which was a huge deal at the time. Next what put them sales or making a lot of fame and money was their design of the first folding clincher rim tires! Which was huge as you could train with these tires and carry a spare folded tire under your seat which before was impossible with clincher tires. At this time Specialized bikes was operating in a new small building next to the San Jose mercury newspaper in jury court street. I myself actually road the very first stump jumper which was not even painted at the time and was the first test example of the bike which they had available to look at at one of their annual open house distributor sales at their jury court headquarter. At the time they sold long sleeve t-shirts that said “fat tire flyer” on it referring to the mountain bike culture. When they came out with the stump jumper they also had their touring bike the Sequoia and then about a year later the Japanese equipped “Allez” bike “which you actually miss pronounced. It’s a French word. Also my good friend Brad worked at Specialized hence my invites to these special open house slash annual headquarters discount sales deals. I still have that fat tire flyer long sleeve tshirt. So there final word is it wasn’t the stump jumper that put specialized on the map it was first their water bottles they were mass producing those bottles bike time and every shop or team was buying and using them then they really exploded when they had the first folding 700c road tire. That’s what made them big. I am that era of road racing and grew up all around the cycling scene from Eric riding with us when when he was going to Stanford university to my best friend who u grew up with becoming the head machinist at rockshocks making their top fork crowns. I was lucky enough to see a lot of innovation like Jim Blackburn to slim gunk for punctures in tires which was from Santa Cruz to even seeing what we know now as Santa Cruz biker. So when giving your history lessons be sure you get it right. And a final word yes Mike was a sort of a jerk and also a bit of a snob. He also made a lot of money basically steeling the logos of many companies like Cinelli and campagnolo and putting them on t-shirts and cycling painters hats selling tons of them with no royalties going back to those companies. A inside secret also you think Mike was bad you should have learned about his daughter who lives in capitola near Santa Cruz she was a piece of work she was a very entitled acting brat and not very nice to law enforcement folks I know this as my sibling almost arrested her over a dispute and her being extremely entitled a demanding. It’s funny as I never tried to hang out or be near these people it all sort of just happened around me by chance. The Silicon Valley was a very interesting place in the early 80’s . If anyone has any questions about that era and place let me know and I will answer your questions. There is also a story behind the Allez road bike.
Well, dont stop there...
👍
wall of text bludgeoned me into submission
You don't say.
I was also racing with the SJBC in the early eighties, what years were you racing?
spoiler alert: nothing actually happened, it's just a clickbait
Starting of by naming "the big 3" while there are plenty more big, older brands around..... red flag, I'm out.
@@yspegel thank you
Thank you
@@yspegelwhat’s brands are bigger than these? Huffy?
Still a good video 🤷🏽♂️
Sounds like Bill Gates!!!
Specialized is great for people who can’t work on their own bikes or know what a bolt is. My local specialized dealer just got bought out to be a specialized factory store ( it used to be a fantastic place when a human being used to own it). I went there to have my wheel trued, you know drop it off and let me know when it gets done… the guy at the counter says you can’t just drop it off, you need to make an appointment to drop it off. WTF is up with that. What a bag of dicks!!! I won’t be going back to those idiots again. Yeah, bikers edge Bristol, Ct. what a shame.
Sounds weird to be so upset about needing an appointment. It has "god my coffee is 5 degrees too cold" energy
@@Millicente Seriously? It's generally accepted that you don't need to call ahead to drop off a bike at a bike shop. It's weird to require that.
Hearing this story for the first time and considering the timeline when they rolled out the first Stumpjumper, it all makes sense and i agree the inception was shady but it did bring it to the masses by sidestepping the founders but I'm sure they themselves were inspired by people like Gary Turner who founded GT bicycles in Santa Ana, CA 1972, i get they were modifying Cruisers AKA klunkers but the geometry of the first real MTB borrowed heavily from BMX, everybody just kinda improved on an idea and his was bringing it to the masses by taking their design and making it slightly different, sounds slimey to say but its cool to know their origin story, funny enough i refurbish bikes and the Specialized bikes I've done sell faster than anything else, go figure.
Concept stores are the death knell of the industry
If you look closely at almost any company in any industry, you will find something to dislike or something they did that was not cool.
You'd pretty much have to mine your own ore, make your own alloy, and forge all your own components to ride a bike that passes the ethical purity test.
@@robbiddlecombe8392 I have not looked into all that much. From what I can tell, Specialized did a lot when it comes bringing mountain to the masses, but they also did some shady $hit along the way. At the end of the day, I want a decent bike at a decent price. I'm not going to be preachy or judgy about brands. I currently ride a specialized but will probably never purchase another because their prices have become ridiculous.
@@robbiddlecombe8392 Who said anything about "release from responsibility"?? You are projecting and assuming. Read what I wrote, not what you think or hope I wrote.
yes. hate videos are so lazy
There's no ethical consumption under capitalism.....
I almost bought one of their entry-level hybrids last week because they are very cheap, but they are just... kind of ugly. offputtingly ugly in a weird way
I own Surly, Specialised, Ridgeback and Cinnelli, bikes, every frame is made in......Taiwan. All those big name brands are just that, a name on a frame, invariably made in Taiwan . On top of that nearly all the components are made by Shimano, in the far East. Most of us are riding Chinese bikes equiped with Japanese stuff, with an unrelated name on the downtube.
Wait, you literally said they are made in Taiwan. How does that make them Chinese bikes?
Not mine. I have a Lynskey TI. Shimano components, yes, but there are no USA based component manufacturers.
@@adogswimming1474 You know Taiwan is called Republic of China right?
@@martinbogadomartinesi5135 Taiwan is a democracy. China is not. Therefore they have a conflict.
@@j.schaefer5622 wtf does that have to do with anything related to this comment?
people riding blue trails with 23mm tires with 0 compliance. Meanwhile today: "guys, do I need a full suspension for my city park?" Hate being an elitist but most bikes today are over-specd for what people are riding and they're wasting their money.
Much prefer Cannondale/Scott
Nothing happened to them, theyre still here
We started riding Kleins in the 80's in NorCal and still ride them here today even though they stopped making them years ago. Specialized never did it for us and hand built Kleins were the best you could buy.
After riding over 30 years and using all kind of brands, I must say my 2022 Specialized Epic HT is one of the best bikes I have ever ridden. Even the tires and the Power and Phenom saddles they make are really good. I used a lot of bike brands that werent that good. Never met Mike S. and I am also no fanboy of any brand…
this year i was planning to get a super bike, so i went to one of the specialized flagship store in my city. however their staff doesnt seems like they really wanna sell things.
Asked for size 61 sworks tarmac, dude just tell me oh we just sold out the last 2 in the country. i asked if i order it now, whats the time phase it gonna take, like i mean, give me a rough time like maybe 2 months or half year or something, im happy to pay the top money and buy things from here, please.
they told me, we dont know, good luck for that.
good luck for what, good luck to get a specialized bike? i left confused and little mad about it.
went to the trek shop 7 kms away, ordered their trek madone SLR9(gen8), they gave me free upgrade, bike fitting and gifts bla bla, im really happy with it.
i wish specialized knows they are selling products, they are selling bikes for cyclist, not a gucci bag or rolex watches, you are not selling a dream.
Specialized have the cool factor that other big brands are missing. The marketing definitely helps, but their bikes def look sleek and modern.
never bothered to learn the history of Specialized so this was enlightening. the Specialized name always had a certain panache. over-hyped maybe but still panache. I grew up with icons like John Tomac, Ned Overend (team Specialized), Greg Herbold, Hans Rey, Tinker Juarez, and Missy Giove. Ned Overend (now ~64yo) is still out there doing his thing. godspeed on his race tomorrow May 25th, 2024 - the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. he was there last year and placed only 3 minutes off the lead in the open-class men's race. inspiring to stay fit regardless of your age!
Specialized bikes were awful from the get go. Quickly spiralled into simply a brand name with crap quality. Trek and Giant and Cannondale were the legends. Compare Specialized to Univega if you want to.
My nephew used to laugh when he was at the factories in Taiwan seeing specialized being made, then listening to the guys going on about how they only ride stuff built in the USA while looking at out British bikes " also Taiwanese ' 😂
I love my Specialized bikes. I think they make premium products but I know part my the $$$ is due to the name alone. It's too bad that they've had and seem to continue to have questionable ethical practices. I'm tacking this up to another "Don't every meet your hero's."
Marin!
There are a few brands that I won't buy because of their business practices. Specialized, Apple, and Nike are a few
😂 Ok so you still buy from the alternatives who use chinese and child labor factories across the road from their factories…😂
I won’t buy from Amazon. Pointless I know. Also won’t use Starbucks, their coffee sucks.
I don't know when you have last been in China?
Monsanto
Shitmano. I refuse
As far as I know, Specialized makes excellent bikes. But they way they behave as a company, the prices, and frankly the fact that almost certainly more than half of all the bikes I see out on the trails are Specialized (at least here in NorCal), gives me absolutely no desire to own a Specialized. Also, I haven't been impressed with their other products. I bought a $100 shock floor pump from them (I was frustrated with the hand pumps), and it filled the shock up really well, but it let off like 100 PSI when you detached it. Their system that was supposed to prevent air loss in this fashion did not work at all. And then I had to shell out like $20 to return it via FedEx.
My understanding as many of all 2nd &3rd party bikes of different names, including Trek,,,,,you are buying a "Giant".
@@algould7878 Sure. Giant is great!
I already knew the details myself, but I'm very pleased about you educated others. No passion for bikes, just money. So many Dorklized coming into the shop nowadays because their mechanics suck and they don't do fittings. I feel sorry for these folks about to own a "War-Mart" bike. Ford comparison is what I use all the time.
I like Specialized. I own a few of them. Their customer service is great.
Not a great fan of Specialized as a company however I do own a Specialized bike (Roubaix SL8). Reason I got it was it suits the type of riding I do (mostly road with a bit of light gravel), the fit is right for me, the future shock makes longer rides a lot more comfortable (actually more than that, it makes them achievable). On my last bike (Giant Revolt) I'd get numb hands after about an hour of riding. I don't have this problem with the Roubaix. The Roubaix is also lighter and better spec'd than the Giant, albeit at a much higher price.
I brought it from an independently owned store, who have been great to deal with. However I still view the store where I got my Giant as my LBS and it's where I go to get most of my parts and accessories.
They are starting to sell the local bike shops that they acquired. They are reversing course on the path they were following of Trek's.
Dude how you gonna do a documentary on Specialized, and not mention the "Fat Boy"?!🤔
Full cred to the Spec machine for bringing mtb to full maturity with the first Stumpjumper. My friends and I had been abusing old Schwinns and Raleighs since the mid-70's when- lo and behold- the bike of our dreams showed up in every lbs. It had the rugged rims, giant rubber, perfect bars and massive stem we'd been scrounging for, but there all together in one rtr package! It also came with a frickin' eye wateringly astronomical price tag- about 2x the price you'd pay for a legal, running, reliable "beater with a heater" actual car. 😳
I guess some things never change....🤣
Specialized, the most soulless bike company run by the most soulless man.
Santa Cruz and Ibis also make very good top quality mountain bikes.
Not true. First mountain specific bike was Joe Breeze Breezer 1 made from scratch
I mean, the essential inception of Giant Bikes as a major brand (not as a company) was unethical. After Schwinn pulled their manufacturing contract, Giant introduced its own line of Giant-branded bikes for sale to retailers carrying Schwinn bikes. Giant used the dies, plans, and technological expertise from Schwinn to greatly expand the market share of bicycles made under the Giant label, first in Europe, and later in the United States. The only difference between what Mike did with the Richey and what Giant did with Schwinn is that Giant had been the producer. However, both got wealthy using other people's intellectual property. So all being fair, Giant is no better than these ripoff Chinese companies selling blank Pinarello's, far undercutting the profits of the company who invested so much in designing the initial product.
Went from a great innovative brand to the true evil empire.
Thank you! One of the most accurate telling of the story! RUMOR has it… the bike Tom and Gary gave Mike (they knew he would copy to make the Stumpjumper) wasn’t quite right…
Thanks for the vids. A companies ethic history is the number one factor when I decide on buying a new bike
If you buy secondhand off co-ops, that'll rarely be an issue. 🧠
Then your choices today are basically ZERO!
@@asifitmatters1 bout right, I hope I've bought my last bike for a long while. Ibis is the brand I go with, check out their history, it's interesting.
Your "history" ignored the fact that Specialized has always been in the forefront of mountain bike technology.
@@rlsedition The key word was ethics in my comment, Ibis was at the beginning also, A fella left Specialized early on and joined the founder who was a Klunker rider and formed Ibis.
Makes me want to deny that brand even more.
Here in New Zealand many bike shops no longer stock Specialized products, presumably because Specialized are trying to do that consumer direct model.
Regardless of what you think of the company, they do make some excellent products including bike clothing. I would rather buy from my local store and continue to do so. But I feel like the company is not supporting their stores
I am not sure the consumer direct model is working out for them.
Since 1984, I have owned four Stumpjumpers, three Tarmacs, and a Langster. The last bike I purchased was a Surly Krampus, and the next bike will be a Canyon Neuron CF.
2:25 what's the source of these interviews?
My first bike (after my dinky bmx i had as a small child) was a specialized stumpjumper from 1995-8 (idk the exact year). Its my favorite hardail and has had multiple owners but still has held up great. Glad to be in on the specialized craze without spending thounsands on their new bikes 😅
It is more important these days to sponsor/market a pro team than develop quality products. Marketing is everything. You can sell defective products but as long as you pay a pro team to push your brand it wont matter.
If you don't like it , don't buy it. We do have choice. There better things to do with your time
Shut up and RIDE YOUR BIKE.😊
why are you spending time on here giving advice that you don't appear to follow yourself ?
The richs kids had specialized bikes, when I got a GT the specialized boys tried to ridicule me with my "ladies bike" ... Elitism isn't new 😂
My faviourate a early 1990's gt hybird bikei prettu took is every where i biked in ottawa canada. Incluing light to medium offroading.
G. Fisher ties so hard to be a Dr. Seuss character.
What about the BMX division?
I had a rock hopper in this era that I paid 650 for in 1996ish.
It was a great bike.
Would probably not ever own a Giant bicycle
A blue Stumpjumper Comp HT was my first mountain bike, rode that thing until the frame cracked at the BB. Fun times!
I think you got the history about right. I got my second year (1982) Stumpjumper from a Specialized dealer at UC Davis for $1000. I loved that bike, I took it everywhere. In 2020 I bought 4 bikes, 3 of them Specialized and they are all great bikes.
truth.
I feel like the cycling culture in Davis is waning. But I’ve bought many a bike at the Freewheeler over the years.
@@dorseykindler9544 Ever heard of a guy named Steve Tracey?
Haro
Haro has always been awesome
Way too expensive at normal prices. Even at 40%, not always a good option.
This is why I ride a Chromag.
specialised is the apple of the bicycle world
Specialized bikes still needs outside components to work - shifters, brakes, cranks, chains etc. so their frames need to be compatible with those. Apple does everything to make outside components not work with its devices.
I don't understand the Walmart rumors. Why would Walmart want such a deal just as their own house brand, Ozark Trail, introduces a decent entry level MTB and gravel bike? Plus, the Waltons own Allied for the high end stuff that competes with Specialized.
There are a lot of videos saying that this $248 G1 Walmart trail bike gives rather good value. It sells for about $250 in today's dollars. The video showed a similar bike from back in the last quarter of the last century from Specialized that sold for $750 in the dollars of that time. Big Box stores may be encroaching on the Bike shop stuff.
Good vid. Thanks for the history lesson 👍🏻
I've ridden the big red S since the mid 90's.
I know Mike, raced with Ned, and Shaun.
I currently have a Stumpy, Epic, Roubaix, and Diverge in my fleet.
Nobody in America makes a product that can compete. Who's better? Cannondale with their proprietary tech? Trek, with their overpriced crap?
I raced on the factory team when we were sponsored by Mountain Dew in 1997.
I wish I still had my '84 Stumpjumper XT. Braze welded lugs. 1st XT groupset. 32 lbs. Specialized got the real Mtb craze going by making cheaper, but great Mt Bikes. Fischer and Ritchey were so expensive. Immediately after Specialized success, lots of other companies did the same thing. So don't fault Specialized for being the first.
I would be interested in a video about Marin bikes and or Kona. Marin was BIG when i was a teenaged MTB Enthusiast in the 90s when i came back in 2014 there where a shadow of their former self’s. Just now they start to make a name for them self’s again with some more recognizable Names under their sponsoring. With Kona it’s kind of the same Story once the leader of the north shore free ride movement now kind of a 3rd row brand.
The "anti-culture hippies" comment about Joey Breeze and Tom Ritchey is totally true. It was Marin. There's a very good chance they actually knew that guy Waldo Dave, who literally started the whole 420 thing and not once ever tried to make money off of it.
Without even watching I can say: overpriced, underspec’d, overhyped, obnoxiously marketed.
Arrogance took them down. I was a dealer since 1983. In that time they went from our favorite, most profitable line to the polar opposite. They made superior bicycles & were great innovators. They were also greedy & did not allow their dealers to be profitable. Quel dommage. It breaks my heart to see their transition from the #2 IBD Brand to virtual obscurity, overnight! They pissed on enough people that when push came to shove, it was easy to say, Bye. I miss a hand full of products, and celebrate the lack of pressure. Our industry is changing & they are leading that change. LoL
GT is leaving the box store market....
Thanks a lot - for destroying my love for my old Specialized bicycle. Edit: It's a ~ 1999 Hard Rock Comp, that has original wheels that run almost perpetually when you spin them. - Despite the fact that the bike was quite apparently NOT maintained by its original owner. Same for the still original bottom bracket. Smooth turning - I can't decide whether to take them apart for a first greasing, or not.
Greed in the name of "just doing business" is an interesting topic and, for those on the small end, is unfortunate. Not to worry, when folks become more empowered, over time, critical thinking will be a part of the process and the ways of old marketing practices, will go by the wayside.
Do Ford, GM, Chrysler, American Motors, Hupmobile, Studebaker, etc. this is America, good for any company that makes it in this enviroment..and they give buttheads something to talk about, so they can make money too, the bigger you get the more people want to bring you down to their level, so they won't feel so bad about being the buttholes they really are.. ;) !!!! and maybe they can make some money too.. Happy Trails..
Same shitshow when Shimano rolled over Hammerheads ass and withdrew the Di2 license.
Therefore I pay more to avoid Shitmano products.
Specialized stole the design for the Stumpjumper... but would later sue other companies to the ground for bs reasons. I hate specialized.
I actually have an green 87 Stumpjumper that I ride as a road bike with no gears and freewheel. Its probably the funnest bike I've had and I also get a many looks while riding it 😄
Personally ive always found Specialized bikes rather ugly looking and are my last choice, but now after watching this video I dislike them even more haha
My one and only specialized bike was a BMX bike 15 years ago.
They are in contention for my next bike.
All the time talking of Giant,Trek and Specialized like they are the holly trinity,like Scott,Canyon and KTM dont exist...
Is it about bikes or making a buck? Both, but one will always predominate. Their law department is hilarious.
Specialized bikes rip!! I have a sworks stumpy I love it best bike I’ve ever owned. Next I’m looking at a specialized road bike.
Did or do specialized actually make their own frames? In which country is-was assembly done?
I rode a Stumpjumper for a few years and switched to Santa Cruz more recently. I got a deal on it, I know they’re overpriced… but I do dig the company more.
Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth about my love for bikes and disdain for corporate greed. Specialized makes great bikes even though I hate some of their business practices. I’ve tried to support small boutique brands but that didn’t always pay off either. I currently own a Specialized and put all my personal beliefs aside because it’s just a bicycle.Too many other bigger problems in the world to worry about. The brand of bike I ride, really doesn’t matter as long it rides well…
My favorite tires in the late 70's were the Specialized (they were known as Specialized Bicycle Imports then) tires with the raised center ridge. I have a mid-90's Stumpjumper. These days I think they have gone too high end and the only Specialized items I still buy are the helmets.
Thing is, have been riding Specialized since the mid 80's from early rockhoppers, stumpjumpers, SWorks metal stumpies (the coolest), and multiple Tarmacs on the road- and while being fully aware of their slightly controversial practices, nothing changes the fact that those bikes predictably ride exceptionally well compared to the alternatives... which is why among my riding buddies who got hooked on mtb in the 80's there will always be a Specialized or three in the collection. Agree though that the Sworks brand was actually cooler decades ago when they offered top performance at a reasonable pricetag, think SW M2, Tarmac SL2... they used to be the thinking mans utilitarian race bike, now they've gone all unnecessarily boutique they are actually not so hot in my antiquated mind.
We owned rei-branded Navaro MTBs from the ’80s, made by specialized. In 2024, Specialized has reprised the aqua/pink paint theme from one of the Stumpjumper from that day with their factory mtb teams. We had that bike until last year.
Great info- thanks man
Thanks and I'm curious about early buyers of those mountain bikes. I rode both BMX and road bikes into '81 when I bailed on 20" BMX after a wild tumble down a massive drop to avoid flying into a dirt biker gassing it up the face toward me. But in '82, I bought a 26" single-speed Mongoose made for the BMX Cruiser Class. With bikes and frames and parts and gear and everything, the BMX marketplace set the stage for mountain biking, and I'd be curious about the road v. BMX percentage of early buyers.
Love my 2021 Status!
I love my 2018 stumpjumper comp ally
The Stumpjumper was basically a copy of a Ritchey. Interesting as to how today most bikes are mostly copying the Tarmac SL7
I've been riding bikes for 62 years. When I got into mountain bikes, most of my friends had Specialized Epics. I was on Rocky Mountain.
I've yet to swing a leg over a Specialized, currently I've got for myself a Pivot trail 429 and an Ibis Mojo Slr for friends to borrow to see if they enjoy MTB riding.
Big Deal.
@@Kendubious So big you had to make a post about it.
This has "I've only driven Mercedes and Jaguar my whole life and I have a Cadillac for guests to borrow, I've yet to set foot in a plebeian Honda" nose-raising energy.
$pecialized…