There's a bike shop sorta near the campground I go to, and have had to go in there on a few occasions for things...and 90% of the stuff they stock in the shop is Specialized, which is a bit annoying, since there's not much of a selection. One time I had to buy a floor pump since I forgot mine at home, and got the "this is the same one we use in our shop". Yeah.....basically because it's all you sell, dude.

The funny part was when I had to go in there for tubes, and they didn't have any road tubes (but they had 27"...go figure). That was great.

Guitar Wizard...I have a Silica Pista and a Specialized Air Tool Pro and I much prefer the Specialized pump...very well built and it works great. The Pista is good for some wheels but I still prefer the Air Tool.

Weird...I don't know what it is, but it's big and yellow. But it feels very cheesy compared to my other pump....which I forget what it is, but it's nothing special....whatever my LBS had at the time.

The term used by my LBS's staff to describe the personell @ Specialized was 'real scumbags'.

Ouch.

There is only one Specialized shop within any kind reasonable driving distance to me. No great loss IMO.

The LBS I deal with carries Trek, Fuji, Raliegh, Klien, Giant, Masi, Lemond and one other brand I can't remember. He's been in business for over 20 years.

I do have to admit I agree with your LBS on this one...if the Specialized Rep said to give the equipment away then Specialized should cover the costs. I know my LBS has only had very good expierences with Specialized and they think very highly of them...but in the situation you describe I can see how they think otherwise.

I think it was Jessica that dumped Nick?

A friend who owns a small LBS here in Minnesota that carries Giant and Specialized said their long time Specialized Rep. was fired and replaced with a guy who on his first visit to his shop told him Specialized is looking to do business with Bike shops that would carry the Specialized bike line exclusively. My friend told him "Dream on".

Maybe my local shop is an oddity, but they carry an excellent selection of both Trek and Specialized.

But Specialized really does make beautiful products. Best damn bike saddles I've ever owned. That Toupe 143 is a piece of art - that fits snugly in your bike weenie crotch.

I'm in Specialized country. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Specialized dealer in the Salt Lake Valley.

That being said, I've alwasy been partial to Specialized bikes but from what I've heard, they're really putting the squeeze on LBS in regards to how much floor space, exclusivity from competing brands, etc.

We'll see if this actually benefits the big S or begins to alienate their distribution chain in the long run.

And yet, it's happening! A specialized-only "concept" store opened a short while back in Mountain View. I haven't stopped in yet (since I'm not really looking to get a new S-works at the moment), but their vision is certainly coming to pass.

Same here. Total metro area of about 2 million people & none to be had. A clue as to why you get charged $12 shipping for a small item from their mail order - you get about 6 pounds of catalogs.

I am at a loss as to why Trek and Specialized think they are going to make their retailers survive with the all or nothing idea? Last time I visited the Trek place I saw plenty of Made in China stickers on their low end bikes. How long til the mid level stuff is the same?

>>Last time I visited the Trek place I saw plenty of Made in China stickers on their low end bikes. How long til the mid level stuff is the same?<<

It wouldn't be a turn-off to me. Stuff made in China includeds some of the highest quality products in the world.

Really? What stuff is that?

Is it me or almost exact post was made few month back. Something about Specialized not honouring their rep promise about giving out 2k worh of stuff to a sponsored team?

My LBS carries of all things....Schwinn, Raleigh, Cannondale, QR, Marin......and they have been listed as one of the top 100 bike shops in the USA.

Trek and Specialized are nice........FOR ME TO POOP ON!!!

Is a Trek 5000 road bike mid-level stuff? At $1,700 and change? I think it is...

Made in China...

All of their hybrids and comforts, most of their flat bars, and MTB's up to about $700, plus all the entry road bikes up to the 5000 are made overseas. The exception is the 2300 as I recall, that one's done in Waterloo.

I chatted with my LBS owner on a ride last night about this very subject. He is a friend of mine and longtime trek dealer and said even though they would prefer he stock a higher percentage of treks he doesn't HAVE to. He also told me that the two years he was a Specialized dealer...they were nothing but pains in the *ss! to deal with and they are much worse now, so he would never bring them in again, unless they totally changed their business practices. Like I said before, there is only one Specialized dealer anywhere within driving distance of my area. Guess that shows what most LBS around here think of them.

Trek is made by the Ideal bicycle company in the same factory that makes bikes for Fuji, Scott [I think], and many others. Fuji is the largest made under the Ideal name. Specialized bikes are good, but for the money, Fuji MTBs use the same swingarm design as Specialized [it was a trade-off where Fuji allowed specialized to call their bike 'roubaix' for the permission to use Specialized MTB suspension geometry] As for Scott, they've been big into the MTB scene, and are at LEAST as well off as Specialized. Their road bikes have better, lighter frames than many comparable Specialized bike. You do pay for them though.

I'm really a big fan of Fuji for their quality and cost. The Fuji reps are awesome to work with.

The bigger issue with Specialized and Scott is the alleged patent infringement of the Genius on Specialized's various 4-bar patents.

The situation with Trek or Specialized being very demanding is more a function of local sales rep than anything. I used to work at a 2000 square foot shop that sold Cannondale, Specialized, Fisher, LeMond, Bianchi, Raleigh, and the odd Schwinn. Not exactly a lot of room for each brand. Never had an issue with the Specialized guy, and the Trek guy was cool with the Fishers and LeMonds not being a huge portion of our business.

LBS here dropped Specialized too after Specialized wanted them to carry too many models they wouldn't be able to move. They carry Giant and Cannondale and now Bianchi so another full spectrum brand wasn't really needed.

These companies seem content to let the shop order what particular models they want.

Somebody may pick up Specialized around here soon. Too big of a brand to not be represented in this area.

How do you know all this?!:eek:

Did you ever get that sticker sorted out with Specialized/yourLBS ??

I ordered my Specialized Armadillos from my lbs. They took a month to come in because Specialized wanted a minimum order. I was mad at my lbs because they weren't being straight with me and there were rides I couldn't go on because my tires were pretty toasted.

Yea it came in about a week from the CS rep.

See it's on there (and one on the other side as well):

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeej440/s.../roubaix_3.jpg