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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...

We don't have any Marin County fire roads in VT.

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...

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...

comes probably with the new ZEB.

Looks like the new Vivid air with all same changes as vivid coil(externally at least) exists. But just wasn't launched for some reason?

Sexy

Indeed in fact the new downcountry bike. Saw the colourways for that, the Druid, dreadnought, the whole lineup. Should be coming sometime middle March possibly. Most shops have received the emails in regards to this.

Arent there that many of those over there? Im genuinelly asking, maybe is a "euro" thing, but people buying huge trail/enduro ebikes with loads of suspension travel just to be "comfy" is real. Not dificult to see high end model, although I concede most of them or low to mid tier models

On Vital no one is going to understand the use case for that Levo R, but greater than 50% of the buyers (totally made up percent) are middle aged men that cruise some very mellow trails, and it makes perfect sense for them.

Are there really that many casual greenway riders/commuters that will spend $9k+ on a bike? No prob with that crowd, more people on "real" mountain bikes the better but I'm not seeing it with these prices. Edit: new Giant Stance E+ just dropped and starts at $4,700 so here's your greenway commuter for almost 1/2 the price. Who's picking the Levo R over that?

The craziest part of the Levo R is the redesigned front triangle, this means spesh bothered to build new molds for a bunch of sizes just for this bike to save a few hundred grams? I could have totally understood if this was just a new linkage and shock to help move unsold frames... To their credit I will say the geometry looks great, and having it on sale today is a good move, because I think come April there will be half a dozen Avinox powered bikes that will be 2kg lighter for €2k less per build that will...

That assumes you can trust Hambiniweeny

The XX chain or any of the transmission chains are insanely hard wearing and very strong overall. I have 3 seasons on one that came with the XX groupset and still can't measure any hint of wear using the latest gauges. Probably close to 160,000+M in vert and thousands of kilometers on the MTB. I think they really meant it when they say this system will last the lifetime of the bike.

The Pivot is definitely a bit of a surprise, considering I don't think they have ever specced a bike from the factory with RockShox.

Gotta say, while not a huge specialized fan, there was a while there where i had to be like, don’t love em, but no denying they are doing good shit, but i think the stumpy and all their recent e-bikes have really missed the mark. I’m sure the new demo will be good, but that was developed back when all the good shit was being developed. Wonder if there were big changes over there, or they just missed.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/shop/bikes/mountain-bikes?search=turb… 9K base build LOL