I appreciate what Sinyard did for MTB back in the day, Stumpjumpers pretty much revolutionized MTBing.
Doesn't change my views regarding the way he chooses to do business.
I still own my Stumpy, matter of fact most of my bikes are Spesh now, followed by Kona (3-2), & the rest all have their roles.


Big thanks to Giant!!! :thumb:

It's the ******* corporate behavior.

Oh, and the stupid curved top tubes. Ugly.

What part of Florida?
Pretty dreary in Tampa the last few days. Last weekend was awesome.


S

I've heard there's some real harsh winter riding down there. Like the low 70's! Eek!




J/K :)

They're overly hyper litigious and sue anyone who has a name remotely similar to one they claim ownership of (even if it's not a related product). The thing is, they're super hypocritical in the process given that they got their start when Mike Sinyard (the owner who'd been around for a decade or so selling parts he'd imported from Italy out of the trunk of his car) got Tom Ritchey to make him a custom mtb frame. Sinyard then flew with the frame to Taiwan, got some guys there to make a bunch of frames with the exact same angles and specs, slap the name stumpjumper on them and, boom, specialized was born as an mtb company out of "a lot of research" (or stealing someone else's intellectual property).

Too bad he straight up stole the design for stumpys from Tom Ritchey after he'd asked Tom to build him a custom mtb.

My bike is better that yours!!!!!!! and my Chevy is better than your Ford!!!!!!! blahblahblah waste of time....and energy jajaja

This is why Sinyard is quick with the Trademarks/patents.
:lol:

I find it interesting how so many people get caught up in business politics...as if there is some Lilly white large company.

LOL@that.com

When it comes to my LBS scene, I have three main local dealers:

1- Specialized/Felt

2- Trek/Cervelo

3- Giant/Specialized

My choice? Simple...shops 2 & 3 are out of thier F'ing minds and tack on 10-15% on top of listed MSRP and actually will make you work to get back to base line. 1 on the other hand knocked a new from Specialized (aka not floor model) $2750 MSRP '12 Tarmac down to $2099. I could get the Tarmac or drive 3 hrs either north or south to try other bikes.

I bought the Tarmac and love the thing.

I got a bike brand new on discount direct from Specialized for 25% off...and the bike is lively and a blast to ride. This what I care about...how they conduct thier other business is not my concern. If many of you currently casting rocks in this thread dug into 90% of the companies you purchase products from...you'd probably be shocked at what goes on behind their closed doors...

Hope he didn't give the silly putty back to his kids to play with

They're okay, I don't like some of the business practices but I'll ride on nothing other than a Toupe. I don't think they make the best frames, but like the other companies, the differences aren't necessarily big enough to justify not buying them.

How do you feel about Pinarellos or Williers?

Personally. I love their bikes and my saddle I bought. Their corporate behavior can be questionable, but isn't that all big business?

Doesn't really matter- Fuji owned the rights on the name first ;-)

Think I'd rather just ride than waste time on all the angst about big bad evil specialized and it's CEO, who appears to be either the antichrist or satan, or perhaps both. Just too funny for words.

The corporate world is what it is, specialized is no better or no worse than other companies. I'm riding, and enjoying the bike, couldn't care less about the company as en entity.

Exactly how I feel. If I discriminated against all the companies I like because of corporate practices that get wildly distorted anyway, I wouldn't own anything including a car or any Apple products.

I don't tend to buy bikes new (or most parts either), so I don't have to worry about lining their pockets no matter what I own. But you were the one who asked. People hate the big red S (another name they've trademarked) because they're the Monsanto of the bike world.

Williers I don't like. Pinarellos... the ones I'm used to seeing have straight top tubes, and the wavy forks don't bother me. Notice I don't have one, though.

I hate them because I want a roubaix pro dura ace so bad and they have not come out with the 2k rebate to get the price where it should be. No hate from me I think the have some of the best looking bike out there. Just wish they weren't so proud of them.

They are costly.

I intentionally went "down" the line knowing I wanted to upgrade the components myself.

I went with a 5700 105 bike because I knew 6700 wasn't that big of an upgrade (I plan on going to 6800 by years end). I was also uninterested in a SL-K crank or Fulcrum Racing whatever wheels the more expensive model offered.

So far I've been extremely happy with my bike...

I thought the Cafe Roubaix incident was totally unnecessary. Sinyard did the right thing by trying to smooth things over with the Canadians. I wonder if he'll reign in his legal team or replace them.

I got rid of my Tarmac Project Black because (a) no amount of wrenching could permanently eliminate bottom bracket squeak, and (b) I'm a bike snob and got tired of being surrounded by the same brand. Same illogical reason I hate Trek.

The wavy forks look dumb.

+1...the wavy forks used to bother me until one of my riding buds got one, and I spent more time looking at it...don't like the Pinny quite enough to let me buy one, but I no longer consider them the fugliest thing out there...

My first visit to the road bike forum. I'd heard things, but I had to see for myself. Creepy.