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Makes sense. Gotta milk those marketing dollars 😂
1) they see themselves as a technology/consumer electronics company now. When they brought in a Dyson guy to the c-level I knew we were going to see a different speci.
2) they’re way more conservative. Sinyard is older, economic pressures intensified, and the types of people who work there are dramatically different than 10 years ago. This is all mostly for the better but eventually you start to feel a lack of life from the bikes.
I used to really want speci to become a more relevant and saavy company, but now that they are I realized how much funky coolness they lost. There were things I was embarrassed about the old speci, but at least it was EXCITING. Here’s to hoping that economic pressures subside and give the brand more room to explore again…
I'd think that if they released one or two more generations of duds, they'll find themselves losing a bunch of market share. Their target demographic won't stay ignorant forever.
The thing is, I'm not sure they are releasing "duds" per say.
In my main riding group, about 1/3rd of people are on current gen Epics. I also see a large number of SJ15s around the trails, too. And then when I start counting e-bikes, Specialized is the brand I see the most of at my local trails.
Even when I traveled to bike recently, saw some more SJ15s and a Levo.
Edit: when I was back visiting my parents last month, I saw a group ride with 8 people and to my recollection, all but 2 were on Epics (very XC trails)
From what I could tell, no. More focus was put into the new titanium bikes and downcountry one. Everything else from the E-Druid to Supernought only saw new colourways.
Don't forget the dreadnought-e !
I see the same thing in South Orange County, and I think we (myself included) may be overestimating the overlap between VitalMTB readers/contributors and the typical Specialized customer these days.
I think a lot of people look at a bike now and if they don't like it, it's a dud.. Even though Specialized might sell out of the bike, someone will say it sucks. Every one has different tastes...
For the record I think they’re making extremely smart decisions. But by playing it so safe and hitting everything down the middle they are losing a little bit of their edge (and I mean attitude edge not business edge…) the Levo R doesn’t excite us but I’ll be damned if that doesn’t become a ubiquitous sight at low-grade trailheads and greenways around the world
As others already pointed out it's perfectly placed for the average Levo 4 buyer. In addition, it's likely a genius move to churn through pre-committed manufacturing volumes, components, motors, and get these all out before the ultra-hyped next gen amflows arrive. Even if you don't like the product, I suspect it'll help Specialized move on to the 5th gen Levo much faster...
Thomus Avinox
Based on the soundtrack for that ad they should call the adjustable shock mount '...change my pitch up...' (for the ageing Prodigy fans out there).
I think the epic was kind of the end of a really good era for specialized. Some people like the stumpy but I’ve know some people that didn’t get along with it at all, and their recent e-bikes seem like a huge miss, but even considering price.
They still do some things great. I’ve owned handful between my wife and myself, and they hold up great. Their pivots hardware never come loose which i really do t understand compared to every other bike I’ve owned. Good stuff in the details soon, but the recent overall packages kinda miss.
There's no way the Levo R becomes "ubiquitous" at $9k+ starting price.
Spoken like someone who hasn't spent any time on Marin County fire roads
We don't have any Marin County fire roads in VT.
Totally agree and I have a stumpy15. It was on my list, but not near the top. I was very hesitant to buy a ‘middle of the road’ bike.
Well fuck that because not only is it extremely capable and a great all around bike it is the best put together bike I’ve worked on. All bearing and frame spacers are well thought out. It is one of the only bikes I’ve had that has t eaten bearings and had linkage loosen. That’s after a full year of riding in all conditions. It has been put away wet too many times and other than the shit headset it’s been great.
That helmet have the vents different than a Stage and a more pronounced fin . So it's not just a cut-down Stage and is something new .
Anyone have spy shots of the inverted cane creek
push air shock?
Can't tell, it's all blurry but PUSH has usually said they're coil dudes through and through.
unreleased shock in a test of the push fork, with a silver dial with blue anodized adjuster inside. now where have i seen this before?
Just noticed the ShockWiz page no longer has a product on it, are SRAM killing it as a standalone device? https://www.sram.com/en/quarq/series/shockwiz/shockwiz?filters=&sort=Relevancy&page=1
You can still buy parts tho: https://www.sram.com/en/search?t=shockwiz
I don't think there's any way how you could reasonably argue that anything in Specialized's current line-up is a "dud". On the contrary, everything they released within the last couple of years has been very well received.
The Epic is considered to be the de-facto benchmark in its category - even by other manufacturers. The Stumpy 15 has won multiple bike-of-the-year awards and basically every reviewer loved it. The Chisel is basically the only actually good and worthwhile budget XC bike on the market. The road bikes are all considered to be top notch, so is the Diverge gravel bike. The only bike you could reasonably call outdated - the Crux gravel bike - will be updated this year.
I don’t think the SJ15 is a dud but it’s not a very sexy bike. Compare it to a Druid or something with a little more ‘tude and you’ll see where detractors might be coming from.
If you’ve work in a shop you’ll get where this Levo R came from: there are tons of customers who want to ride a sick ebike even if they don’t have the skills. It’s like people who drive jeeps…
Have had both. Druid v1 quality was sub par compared to the sj15. The Druid v2 is put together better and many of the tweaks made to frame, layout are huge long term improvements.
The finish on the forbidden frames is top notch. Can’t say the sj15 is a sexy bike, it’s my current bike and I do t particularly like the look, the large downtube is dumb. The hardware however is the best I’ve worked on.
Put the CC HP setup on the SJ15 and fight both sides of the aisle
Also ya, that shock looks suspicious with the dials...
I'm not sure I'd put the SJ15 as a success, perhaps it's my own dislike of the special shock stuff, but the wireless only on the carbons and then the alloys being quite a bit later put a bit of a downer on it, felt like a step backwards vs the previous generation.
Chisel is great tho, I love my chisel evo, there does seem to be a hole in the lineup between a chisel and a stumpy on the alloy front.
From what I’ve heard the SJ15 has been the opposite of a success as far as sales have gone….
I haven’t used the genie shock, from out of the box I put an EXT Storia coil on it. I bought a mid tier alloy (no alloy frames available) and built up with parts I had swapped and got some new.
It isn’t light, but I don’t care, the ride quality and durability are more important to me.
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