Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Specialized Globe Brand

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/06/specialized-to-roll-out-cheap-fixed-gear-bikes/

Make those prices 300 and 500 and then you'd have something. But at 600 and 800 I dont see the market being huge for these.

globe is the city/pedestrian brand of specialized, so this is pretty fitting.

and that bike looks waaay nicer than most 600 dollar bikes i've seen. i definitely wouldn't ride a ghost bike though. too hard to keep clean.

That bike shown may be their $800 model for all we know. If it has a frame with higher quality material than 4130 maybe they could have something but I'm thinking this is going to be aluminum to make the steel langster their top of the line frame.

This is the wonderful one piece bar-stem design they speak of, how many are lining up to buy one? Especially if it comes set up like that!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huggerindustries/3620312776/in/set-72157619563678928/

:twitchy:

ha!

That handlebar/stem thing is odd, wonder if they make different sizes of them?

I'd hit it. Even though the one picture is tiny.

Garrett Chow is a member of the world-famous Mash SF Crew and the creative director of the just-launched Globe Bikes.
Interesting.

God all white bikes look stupid.

And from the flickr page.

We don't think bikes should leave a shop without brakes. That's reckless and irresponsible, in our opinion. Few cyclist posses the skills that MASH SF does.
I like how people refer to Mash as if they invented the fixed gear.
People have been riding brakeless fixed gears on the street long before the Mash kids were even born.

looks like a ghost bike... is that on purpose? ... riding a ghost bike? sacrilege?

i do like the break on this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/huggerindustries/3620312776/in/set-72157619563678928/

specializeds marketing is second to none. id like to see how far this brand goes.

i don't think i like the idea of intergrated handlebars and stem, but i like the idea of the internal clamp on it.
also, it is the $800 one.
http://urbanvelo.org/specializedglobe-brand-launch-meet-the-roll/

Some interesting features for the price point. Thanks for the link to the review.

Ghost bike? The bike is blue for goodness sake.

I dig that white.

that's an attractive spring loaded tensioner.
http://urbanvelo.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/globe_roll_02.jpg

if you go through that flickr page you can see how this bike is being marketed as a complete bike so everyone can ride just like the MASH guys without having to put the miles or the experience. They put more emphasis on the design of the bike than actual purpose. The frame is Reynolds 520, whoo-dee-$hit! My Kilo is 520 and came with all the crap they're talking about as upgrades for the $800 price! I can't wait to see these in person at my LBS, I doubt they'll sell as well as they're hoping.

whatever, I like this bike a lot
If I rode my track bike on the street more than on the track I'd sell my s-works to buy this
props to a major manufacturer finally hitting the nail on the head with a legit off the peg fixed gear

Some interesting features for the price point. Thanks for the link to the review.Calling it a price point makes you sound like an ass. just say the price, you don't need to add another word to make it 'legit'. it's as if you said 'colorway' instead of just saying 'color'. it would be like calling a sandwich a 'bread-meal' because sandwich is passe`

it's just another off the peg already 'custom' so you don't have to know a god damn thing about your bike when you buy it mass market bike filling in an already over crowded swimming pool piece of crap.

build up your own damn bike.

Calling it a price point makes you sound like an ass. just say the price, you don't need to add another word to make it 'legit'. it's as if you said 'colorway' instead of just saying 'color'. it would be like calling a sandwich a 'bread-meal' because sandwich is passe`

it's just another off the peg already 'custom' so you don't have to know a god damn thing about your bike when you buy it mass market bike filling in an already over crowded swimming pool piece of crap.

build up your own damn bike.

You're ignorant or stupid, not sure which. Getting angry over such a trivial thing as a colloquial expression makes you sound like an ass.

price point: The retail price of a product, usually when viewed as one of a series of possible competitive prices.

For the 520 frame, those rims, the colour matching, the one piece stem/bar $800 is not that far above and beyond what one could expect to pay. Some people cannot be bothered to build a bike up part by part so don't hate. People on these forums tend to compare every bike with the cheapest possible price out there. The value of something is defined by what people are willing to pay for a product/service. I expect a lot of people will be willing to pay $800 for the bike shown.

Did I blink and everyone forgot that Reynolds 520 is just Reynolds branded 4130 chromo?

Did I blink and everyone forgot that Reynolds 520 is just Reynolds branded 4130 chromo?

can we say that the reynolds brand was leveraged to bring 4130 to a new pricepoint... or does that make us sound like an ass?

Not my cup of tea... especially an all white bike...
Those are for honoring dead cyclists. Seems like bad mojo to ride one.

A little expensive?

... and obviously the target market is gonna be alot of first time fixed gear riders. I feel like it is incredibly irresponsible to sell these without a brake, but I am like that. Take your brake off if you want, but you cant take it off if it was never there.

I can dig it

whatever, I like this bike a lot
If I rode my track bike on the street more than on the track I'd sell my s-works to buy this
props to a major manufacturer finally hitting the nail on the head with a legit off the peg fixed gear

Clearly you're just a fan of Specialized but I think you've missed plenty of fixed gear completes over the past years by major manufacturers that don't look like they're trying to fit into a fad. Schwinn Madison has been consistently a good value and priced well below anything being offered here. Surly Steamroller an even better built bike with great components at a very competitive price. It goes on and on with bikes that are built with the same material as these things without looking like they were made specifically for an American Apparel photo shoot either.

Not my cup of tea... especially an all white bike...
Those are for honoring dead cyclists. Seems like bad mojo to ride one.

A little expensive?

... and obviously the target market is gonna be alot of first time fixed gear riders. I feel like it is incredibly irresponsible to sell these without a brake, but I am like that. Take your brake off if you want, but you cant take it off if it was never there.
I read that the bikes come with a brake but it doesn't come with it installed.

I like it a lot. wow. and it's not really all white.

Riding a ghost bike really raises the bar for tastelessness...nevermind actually mass-producing and selling one.

Riding a ghost bike really raises the bar for tastelessness...nevermind actually mass-producing and selling one.

and itll sell and sell.

is everyone really that blind that they can't tell what color a bike is?

moral of the story, everyone is just bitter that this bike is produced by a major brand
if that bike was posted here and listed as being made by a small boutique custom builder for $1,200 everyone would be super stoked and think it was great

People need to calibrate their monitors if they can't see that the bike is light blue.

http://urbanvelo.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/globe_roll_03.jpg

is everyone really that blind that they can't tell what color a bike is?

moral of the story, everyone is just bitter that this bike is produced by a major brand
if that bike was posted here and listed as being made by a small boutique custom builder for $1,200 everyone would be super stoked and think it was great

No one is hating on the bike because who manufactures it, we're all discussing how ridiculous the price is with the components it comes with. Specialized makes great bikes but since the introduction of the themed langsters they have yet to get it right with the fixed gear crowd. What they're doing is designing a bike aimed towards the hipster who wants a bike as an accessory to their wardrobe. Its an assumption that is insulting to the rest of us who want to see new bikes introduced into the market that don't make all of us who ride fixed a huge caricature based on a company's perception.

if it sold as a frame set, i wouldn't mind. but if a bike has features i don't like, i'm not going to buy it, and more over i'm not going to say much about it. i don't care how the public perceives the fixed gear crowd.

it's a nice almost baby blue, and i'm really curious about the internal clamp on the stem.
does anyone else make a stem with that feature?

it's not dark enough to be a baby blue. this is a baby blue.
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:bCM8EKrXMTPK1M:http://www.actionenvelope.com/images/products/detail/81211-c-08.jpg

it's a blue white. hint to the non-color inclined: with paint, most whites are not actually white. you have thousands of different whites that all have pigment of some sort in them.

and the black one is not as attractive.
http://sfgfc.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/ike1173-400x266.jpg

No one is hating on the bike because who manufactures it, we're all discussing how ridiculous the price is with the components it comes with. Specialized makes great bikes but since the introduction of the themed langsters they have yet to get it right with the fixed gear crowd. What they're doing is designing a bike aimed towards the hipster who wants a bike as an accessory to their wardrobe. Its an assumption that is insulting to the rest of us who want to see new bikes introduced into the market that don't make all of us who ride fixed a huge caricature based on a company's perception.

How is $600 any more than what you'd pay for an IRO (generally considered on BF to be a legit purchase)?

EDIT: And this is from Specialized ... great brand rep.

wonder if these get the specialized lifetime frame warranty

How is $600 any more than what you'd pay for an IRO (generally considered on BF to be a legit purchase)?

EDIT: And this is from Specialized ... great brand rep.

I think you missed my point, the IRO I would pay $600 for because it is a reputable bike without all the weird bells and whistles this bike has that serve absolutely no purpose to the rider other than eye candy.

Specialized does make great bikes don't get me wrong, the issue here, at least IMO is that they're making bikes to fit the fixed gear fad instead of making a purposeful bike for the rest of us who don't care about bike design collaborations by people who epitomize the negative stereotypes of fixed gear bikes.

Its an ok bike, give people a choice other than that silly one piece handlebar setup and lower the price on an otherwise run of the mill frame and you got a winner. I know some people care about the brand on the downtube but as long as I can get their $800 model for less than $500 elsewhere I'm gonna go with the cheaper and I'm sure most of the people riding are gonna want to save money especially right now.

For the 520 frame, those rims, the colour matching, the one piece stem/bar $800 is not that far above and beyond what one could expect to pay. Some people cannot be bothered to build a bike up part by part so don't hate. People on these forums tend to compare every bike with the cheapest possible price out there. The value of something is defined by what people are willing to pay for a product/service. I expect a lot of people will be willing to pay $800 for the bike shown.

That is about $300 more than I would pay for this bike. At this price level, it is in diect competition with bikes with very nice modern frames and parts. For $100 more I'd take a trek t1 over one of these any day.