Went in to the LBS to service my Cervelo a few days ago, and noticed a great looking bike sitting out for display, new. This is a fairly high end store, that sells more Cervelos than nearly anyone in the area, so I expected it to be some new Madone or other hi-end bike.

It's was a $1100 Specialized Secteur. Looked friggin' great. I think the components were 105, but everything else about it looked legit. I think I actually preferred the look of it vs the Cervelo R5 hanging on the wall behind it (!)

Not bad for entry level nowadays.

idk if you've been reading all the Specialized threads but nowadays purchasing specialized is akin to throwing a starving african baby off a cliff.

Specialized is the devil.

And besides, the Sectaur is a Aluminum version Roubaix.
Why do we hate Specialized again?

Nah. It's no different than what any other big corporation does. If you actually saw the employment conditions of some of the workers who crank out low cost bike frames components and etc at factories, it would be a lot worse than suing a small company for infringement. Not that I condone it, but gotta put things in perspective.

Pics!

I don't think the pics do it justice. I was going to pull one from the SPecialized web page, but it really looks like any old bike there. Up close and personal, I was impressed with the curves and shapes on the bike, as well as the finish. Nothing Fredly about it, for sure.

I seriously felt that it made the Cervelos next to it actually look stodgy. (And I own a friggin' Cervelo.)

If it was 105, that seems like a pretty good deal at $1100. Already knowing it's no where near me...where was it?

If the LBS was selling it at a special price, that is a good price for that bike. According to their web site the $1,100.00 MSRP bike has Sora components.

Probably a left over 2011 model. With 105 components, it probably has the better grade E5 aluminum frame, too.

Specialized is the new Trek?

No, they are still well behind trek in the devil department and miles ahead on design and quality.

^^^pass me the popcorn!!

How many of you own Apple products? Check out Mike Daisy and trip to China. He was on "This American Life" today.

yeah....or the actual computer they're using

99.9% of riders dont really care about what Specialized is or is not, for $990 /$1400, the secteur series is pretty good. Specialized owners shop at Wallmart also...Evil meets the devil LOL

When I had to replace my CAAD9 frameset, I bought a 2011 Allez E5 frameset, and I like it pretty well. Had the Secteur been available as a frameset, though, I would've taken it over the Allez. The Secteur is probably the best aluminum "relaxed" geometry frame out there, IMO.

I've tested both the entry level Roubaix and the nicest Secteur and couldn't tell the difference. Very nice bike imo...

If you really think there's a significant difference in any of those parameters between Trek and Specialized, you are utterly and completely deluded.

or a Specialized owner him/herself....

Or just stirring the Trek fanboy pot...

Yeah, they're rampant in the 41.

Don't forget the thin skinned one in Minnesota.

I'm sure there's one somewhere.