What happened to Specialized Bicycles?

What happened to Specialized Bicycles?

As per request, we are taking a quick look into the history of Specialized bicycles and what led to them becoming one of the biggest bicycle brands in the world.

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[MossieRidesBikes]

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

[ewxlt]

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.

[walkerbikes]

I worked at a directly owned specialized store. To say the least... what a shitshow

[tedecker]

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.

[anielyantra]

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.

[johntotten]

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.

[cxbkpmf]

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.

[georgekrpan]

$750 1981 dollars is $2647 2023 dollars according to the CPI Inflation Calculator. For what it was the 1981 Stumpjumper was expensive.

[MickeyCh]

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. 🙆‍♀

[DanFraser]

Hey, that was a pretty cool video and thank you for taking the time to share it. This showed up on my suggested videos and you earned a new subscriber!

[alexanderlawson]

I own Surly, Specialised, Ridgeback and Cinnelli, bikes, every frame is made 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.

[MrHongleberry]

A blue Stumpjumper Comp HT was my first mountain bike, rode that thing until the frame cracked at the BB. Fun times!

[bigchungus]

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 😅

[biggkoz]

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 😄

[brandonhoffman]

My one and only specialized bike was a BMX bike 15 years ago.

They are in contention for my next bike.

[asonetuh]

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!

[IsraelMagalit]

Good vid. Thanks for the history lesson 👍🏻

[keithhunter]

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.

[sarufal]

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.

[floydblandston]

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....🤣