ive heard of similar dealings in respect to specialized being a huge pain in the ass. A fella' i work with, who works at 2 bike shops was looking to employee purchase a langster for city commuting, and was sent through all this crap just to be put on some buyer pending list, and then took another 4 months to have his order finally honored. \

All this shop aggrevation is not going to help speialized, first thier loosing shops, and im sure that this constant attacking of bike shops carry competiors bikes will not cause any added motivation for bike shop sales assosiates to sell/push specialized stuff.

I call BS unless you can cite something. I've toured the Trek factory in Waterloo WI. The only brands there were Trek, Klein, Lemond, and Gary Fisher.

that company could be the one that makes their craptacular aluminum stuff over in taiwan. Trek only makes the 2000 series roadbikes and madones in waterloo anymore at least hte last time I checked. My 05 Maillot Jaune was made there as well although i have no idea what comes out of waterloo that has a lemond name on it anymore

That's true, those are the only brands you'll find in Waterloo. However, the vast majority of the bikes sold by Trek are not actually manufactured there.
Check the annual Bicycle Retailer issue where they list the vendors manufacturing bikes for each of the larger "manufacturers."

To be clear, many Trek/Fishers are now coming out of China in addition to Taiwan (5000, anyone?).

For road bikes as of 2006...only the 5200 and Madones are hand-made in Wisconsin. They rest are now made overseas to Trek's specs.

My lbs is in a rather unique market area - just outside NY City in a VERY affluent area - and they can afford to dump Specialized. The fact that they're not so dependent on sales of $300-$400 bikes helps them with this move. The vast majority of bike shops could never drop Specialized and then say the 'replaced' them with Scott - because Scott only makes very high end bicycles. But they sell enough of the high end - and their sales are mostly accessories like clothing and shoes anyway, which is WAY more lucrative than selling bicycles.

I firmly believe Specialized is shooting themselves in the foot with this attitude. After this I'm not buying anything big from them. I'll buy another saddle, but that's about it. And I'll be buying a new high end road bicycle every 2-4 years. The last one was a Cannondale, the next one could be a Trek or a Specialized. But Specialized is pretty much out of the loop after this. I'm pretty loyal to my lbs. And if Specialized is a pain in the ass they can screw off. Frankly that nonsense with their new high end frame bicycle having a list price of something like $8,000 this year was a HUGE turn off. Trek was selling a $10K bike that WON the Tour de France. What the hell is Specialized's rationalization for THEIR idiotic price point on that sled? If some bike weenie want to shell out $10K to 'be like Lance', right on. But what weenie is going to shell out the big bucks to 'be like Levi'? To which the correct response is 'who the hell is LEVI?' Oh yeah, that great American cyclist who once finished fifth, oops, I mean SIXTH at the Tour de France. Not exactly the stuff Tiger Woods/Lance/Michael Jordanesque legends are made of if you know what I mean. And no knock of Levi who IS a great American cyclist. Long walk from that status to having the star power to inspire the sales of bicycles overpriced by several thousand $.

Like I said in another post, the idiots at Specialized will have to find a new poster boy to sell their overpriced high end road bikes now. Levi will be riding a TREK. And after hearing all this bad juju about Specialized, that strikes me as a beautiful thing. Specialized's own 'Waterloo' perhaps?

Made in China is not Made in Taiwan.

The bike shop that I go to, isn't really local, there in stamford, but they carry specialized, trek, bmc, time, and look. Specialized and trek being what takes up there floor space. It's too bad to hear bad things about specialized, it makes me not want to own there products, but I do love my stumpy!!!

Hmm! ...Not so sure about that. I don't really care anymore where the bike was built. But, I had a whole list of questions that I asked the Trek rep over the phone when I ordered my alu/carbon 2200 from the factory through my LBS. One of the questions was "where is my frame being manufactured?" He told me "Waterloo". And of course that is where they shiped it from. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Taiwan but, for what it's worth, that's what I know.

Which Salt lake do you live in?! Of the six shops I frequent two of them carry specialized. Bicycle Center and Spin Cycle. And it seems at Spin they've only got about 30% of the floor. ...I just called Golsan and they don't carry Specialized either.

I have a specialized MTB. An OLD rock hopper and it's okay. Personally I think Specialized is much better with their accessories and clothing than with bikes. Back when I bought my last road bike I tested about 15 other bikes. The Specialized was clearly the least comfortable, and not due to the fit. It was just less responsive and more harsh feeling. Cannondale R2000 was the only bike that was more harsh with road viberation but I'd have taken the R2000 over the roubaix because it felt VERY snappy and responsive. Ultimately I went with Trek. But, I love my Specialized shoes and saddle!

haha nice ^_^ Glad you got that sorted out!!

Specialized tires are lousy.

I like the saddles.

Absolutely. Best saddles on the market. Those I'll keep buying. And those nifty water bottles. But no bicycles.

Specialized reps are notorious for being total a**es. Worked in two shops that were Specialized dealers and as soon as someone new opened a shop they were the first to go after the "brand new pre-season" account. Soured me forever on Specialized and my first ATB was one of theirs.

I guess we should start a thread styled, "Levi dumps Specialized" lol. Though of course he joined Disco rather than ditched Gero. it seems that the brass at Specialized did not take it well.
I feel for them.:)
I really do.:D

Only time will tell, but it seems like the corporate direction they are taking leaves a lot to be desired.