Specialized Bicycle Components

Specialized Bicycle Components

Type	Private
Industry	Bicycles
Founded	1974
Headquarters	Morgan Hill, California, USA
Key people	Mike Sinyard, CEO
Products	Bicycle and Related Components
Revenue	US$200,000,000 (est.) (2000)[1]
Employees	300 (2002)[1]
Website	www.specialized.com

Specialized Bicycle Components, more commonly known simply as Specialized, is a major American manufacturer of bicycles based in Morgan Hill, California. It was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard.

Contents 1 History 2 Products 3 Use 3.1 Sponsored teams and athletes 4 Notes and references 5 External links

[edit] History

Specialized was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard,^[2] a cycling enthusiast who sold his Volkswagen Bus for $1,500 to fund a cycle tour of Europe, where he bought handlebars and stems made by Campagnolo and Cinelli to take back to the US.^[3][4][5] Sinyard started out importing Italian bike components that were difficult to find in the United States,^[2] but the company began to produce its own bike parts by 1976, starting with the Specialized Touring Tire.^[4] Specialized introduced the first major production mountain bike in the world, the Stumpjumper, in 1981.^[2][6] Specialized continue to produce the Stumpjumper, which, like mountain bikes in general, has evolved significantly since 1981 and now comes in full suspension and hardtail options.^[7] An original Stumpjumper is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.^[4][8]

In the early 1990s, Specialized introduced the Globe line of urban bikes. The line was the subject of a major relaunch in 2009,^[9] which sees Globe become its own distinct brand.^[10]

In 1995, Specialized launched the Full Force brand.^[11] Full Force was a lower-end mountain bike brand sold through sports stores and discount retailers such as Costco.^[4] The move angered some Specialized dealers. In 1996, Specialized withdrew the Full Force line and Mike Sinyard wrote a letter of apology to dealers.^[4][12] By the end of 1996, Specialized had lost 30% of its bike shop sales and, according to Sinyard, "came within a few hundred dollars of declaring bankruptcy".^[4]

In 2001, Merida Bikes of Taiwan bought 49% of Specialized for a reported US$30 million. Mike Sinyard remained majority owner and CEO of the company.^[13][14]

[edit] Products

The company produces a variety of gear, including clothing, helmets, and parts such as tires, in addition to over 25 lines of bikes.

Specialized is well known in the cycling world for it's in house development of new technology. Most notable are the carbon fibre program called FACT and also the development of suspension systems including Futureshock forks, FSR systems which feature Horst links with gas shock suspension and more recently DW link/gas shock suspension.

FACT

Fact stands for Functionally Advanced Composites Technology and is Specialized's propriety carbon process for bikes. In the 2009 Specialized brochure Mike Sinyard describes FACT. "FACT is more than just a type of material we use to build frames and equipment. FACT is the process of combining disciplined engineering, cutting edge fabrication techniques, appropriate material selection, round after round of prototyping and an endless cycle of testing to create composite (carbon) bikes that are perfectly suitable to the way people ride". FACT fabrication has been applied to a variety of products mostly featured on top end and S-Works series bikes. Applications include Frames,handlebars,cranksets, overends, seatposts, handlebar stems, shocks and bicycle forks.

The benefits of FACT carbon are high strength and low weight, but as with all carbon composite bike components the user should be aware of delamination of the plastic surface and creaking which are early indicators of part failure before snapping, normally due to accidental impact or overloading.

BRAIN

The company has also pioneered a unique oil flow inertial valve damping system which enables the suspension system to 'firm-up' for increased power transfer during pedalling and 'soften-up' in order to take the sting out of rocks, logs and drops. This system is known by Specialized as BRAIN. Newer systems allow for fine tuning that Specialized call BRAIN fade adjustment.

Future Shock

Designing suspension forks and rear shocks for bikes is currently big business, with the major players Fox Racing Shox, RockShox, DT Swiss(formerly Pace) and Magura all devoting vast resources and funding to research and development. Specialized's program is equally involved. The core idea behind the Futureshock suspension forks centres around the 'buddy system' where the spring and hydraulic damper are placed in the same fork leg thereby reducing effective weight of he component. Specialized claims that this can be as much as 100g lighter.

AFR Shock

Specialized has also had some success with rear gas shocks although these did not perform as well as competitors models and in 2009 Specialized took the bold step of enlisting the help of Fox Racing Shox to produce a hybrid of the existing Specialized shock and the Fox RP23 called the AFR (Active Functional Response) shock.

Specialized is distinctively known for placing many of their own parts on their bikes as stock, which is not a common practice among mountain bike companies. They range from less expensive models such as the Hardrock, P series, and the children's Hotrock, up to the expensive S-Works models for road and cross-country riding, and the Demo for freeride and downhill mountain biking. Specialized's current line-up of bicycles is as follows:

[edit] Use

Many riders in recent years have used Specialized bicycles in the North American and European professional cycling circuits. In 2010, Specialized is the bike supplier to Team Saxo Bank and Team Astana on the UCI ProTour, the latter deal being announced in January 2010 as a result of team leader Alberto Contador's demands.^[15] Specialized has previously supplied teams including Quick Step and Festina.^[15][16] Until 2008 the disbanded Team Gerolsteiner was using Specialized. Specialized bikes also sponsors the University of Georgia and Colorado State University Collegiate Cycling. Two-time world downhill champion, Sam Hill, rides for Monster Energy Specialized. Richard Hammond raced a Specialized Sirrus Limited bicycle against a Mercedes GL500 car, a motor boat, and public transport across London in an episode of the TV series Top Gear and won.

[edit] Sponsored teams and athletes

Specialized sponsor the following cycle teams:

•  Team Astana (KAZ)^[15]
•  Team Saxo Bank (DEN)^[17]
•  Team Specialized Designs for Women (SUI)

Specialized sponsor the following riders:

•  Matt Hunter (CAN)^[18]
•  Darren Berrecloth (CAN)^[19]
•  Lene Byberg (NOR)^[20]
•  Fabian Cancellara (SWI)^[21]
•  Cadel Evans (AUS)^[22]
•  Brendan Fairclough (GBR)^[23]
•  Sam Hill (AUS)^[24]
•  Dan Hugo (RSA)^[25]
•  Liam Killeen (GBR)
•  Chris McCormack (AUS)^[26]
•  Gavin Noble (IRL)^[27]
•  Graeme Obree (SCO)
•  Alberto Contador (ESP)^[28]
•  Ned Overend (USA)^[29]
•  Peter Reid (CAN)
•  Christoph Sauser (SUI)^[30]
•  Burry Stander (RSA)^[31]
•  Conrad Stoltz (RSA)^[32]

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Brief Company History
• Specialized Concept Stores UK
• S-Works UK
• Designs For Women UK

v • d • e Mountain biking in the United States Races 24 Hours of Adrenalin · Breckenridge 100 · Endurance 100 · Leadville Trail 100 MTB · Lumberjack 100 · Mohican MTB 100 · Montezuma's Revenge · Red Bull Rampage · Sea Otter Classic · Shenandoah 100 · Wilderness 101 Mountain Bicycle Race Organizations Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists · National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) · Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) · Triangle Off-Road Cyclists (TORC) Locations Lambert Park · Maah Daah Hey Trail · Porcupine Rim Trail · Ray's MTB Indoor Park · Slickrock Trail Manufacturers Bohemian · Cannondale · CHUMBA · Clark-Kent · Cortina · Ellsworth · Fat City · Felt · Fox Racing Shox · Fuji · GT · Gunnar · Haro · Ibis · Indy Fab · Iron Horse · Jamis · K2 · KHS · Kestrel · Klein · Kona · Litespeed · Marin · Merlin · Mongoose · Moots · Ross · SRAM · Sachs · Specialized · Surly · Trek · Turner · Wilderness