Originally Posted by rdtompki

Most of us are rooting for the little guy, but with what seem to be few exceptions we are laypersons with respect to the legal issues, even those of us who have signed various types of employment agreements. I'm rooting for the little guy despite the faint possibility that my Volagi would become a priceless heirloom if they were to cease production.

I'll offer my HI Express opinion, however: how could the two former employees working in the capacity indicated be exposed to "trade secrets". See wiki for what probably is a reasonable definition. The trade secret can't be in the design of the Roubaix, for example, because there is no prohibition against reverse engineering a trade secret. And so what if the Volagi looks like something else unless a) there are patented features inherent in a Specialized design that Volagi has copied, or b) the Volagi design was aided by proprietary information to which the former employees were exposed.

It's just as likely that Specialized is concerned not by the direct competitive threat, but by the interest in higher performance, light weight, disc brake-equipped road bikes. Volagi has received some very good press and while Specialized is more than capable of offering such a bike, doing so will cannibalize their current product line in which they have a sizable investment (tooling, R&D, advertising, etc.). It may be that one or more of Specialized competitors is closer to release of a disc brake road bike and Specialized desires to slow down market interest.

Should be interesting to see what the court decides. It is a great bike.