Specialized Bicycles and their many lawsuits
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ค. 2024
- #specialized
Specialized Bicycles and their many lawsuits
Today we are going to be discussing the history of Specialized Bicycle Components and the many lawsuits they have been involved with. They seem to have calmed down over the past few years but for a while it seemed as though their main business practice was to threaten court action.
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What do you all think I should do in the next dive into cycling history? The Schwinn saga is super interesting but there are a ton more that I've had my eye on.
To follow up on your Trek and this vid. How Ritchey bikes survived where Fisher, Klien et al did not. Cheers
I’d love to hear about Fuji and maybe comparing market control of bicycle brands in the US. I’d also love to learn more about your bike shop if you’re interested in showing it to the world! Thanks for the awesome videos!
How about a deep dive into Yeti history?
Schwinn sounds good. I also would like to see some research done on late 80's to early 90's small MTB makers from the USA and Canada. I'm still searching for more info on my Canadian made TECH Nova from late 80's early 90's.
@@RobDavis1966
YES !
Kenny Foraker (signed as DH star after losing his left leg due to a f¥cking drunk
Frank FTW Wadelton, Herting
The city of Roubaix should sue Specialized for trying to trademark their city.
Just think of the lawsuits if Paris decided to sue every city in the US for calling themselves Paris. 23 cities or towns according to Google.
Imagine what could be accomplished if companies put questionable legal funds into actual product development
That's un-American.
I threw literally every single Specialized component in the dumpster after Mike Sinyard's lawyers attempted to sue the owner of Cafe Roubaix Cycles in Alberta. I had been a customer of that extremely cool shop, even though i lived 3 hours away.
I replaced everything i threw out with Thomson, Race Face, Nitto, Chromag, PNW etc.
I currently own 3 TREK, a LeMond, a Cannondale, a Bianchi, 3 Colnago, and a Wilier. If everyone else stopped making bikes but Specialized, l’d take up golf.
I'd agree with that other than TREK
I've worked in a bike shop that turned away specialized just because it's a specialized. I enjoyed that part of the job.
Wow! I had no idea about any of this. When I bought my most recent bike, the bike shop was really pushing Specialized as the creme-de-la-creme. In a corner, I found one single Giant bike that met all my requirements, and it was very reasonably priced. I absolutely love my Giant bike, now even more than previously!
Ironically maybe a larger brand than S. And yet Giant aren't in the news for suing everybody for everything. Specs are great bikes. I doubt I'll ever buy one.
I believe that shops are like "Specialized dealers", they do a deal, they get the bikes in cheaper, they are only allowed stock a certain amount of other brands, they have to push all specialized stuff, from bikes to water bottles to the clothes. In Europe I see Giant way way way more than specialized. The biggest american brand we see here would probably be trek. Usually the cheaper end stuff, that I don't rate highly at all, can usually get a nicer entry level giant, raleigh, boardman, decathalon bike
I used to work for a Giant dealer. That company makes over 70% of the world's bike frames. Best bike for the money. Rumor has it they make Trek's frames, for example.
Their treatment of their dealers also sucks!
Dude. You missed the biggest two, imo. They stole Brain from Stratos and sued them out of business. AND FSR was not fairly acquired from Horst Leitner. Not to mention: There is a long list of small bike shops that they have gone after for complete nonsense.
They also broke dealership agreement with shops, opened their own Specialized stores and compete directly against those same shops.
THIS!
Picked up an old Specialized Globe a few years ago to get back on the bike and it’s been great. But know knowing how they got started there will not be another in my garage.
Thanks for the info.
My first nicer bike was the M2 Stumpjumper. Ive had several Specialized bikes since. Ive considered them one of my favorite bikes for years. Learning what a Greaseball the owner is really puts a stank on all of that
Didn't like them before, after this i feel good😁🤟
I bought 1 new 4000.00 Specialized Roubaix in 2014. That's the last one ever.
I was getting back into bikes after finally getting a new knee installed and didnt check close enough as to what I was doing. It was the last year for 10 speed shimano, it never worked right on my bike.
The wheels were crap and made noises, the bike wobbled at speed no matter what was tried.
It rode like kiln dried 2 x 4's..................Not only did I spend the extra 1500.00 for the name on bike?
It was a POS that was un-sellable until covid came along and then it sold.
Specialized told me to go piss up a rope, I had bought it and it was mine, both halves.
WOW, I started MTB with a cannondale red shred. I have always been treated like crap by the specialized group of consumers and retailers. I vowed to never own that brand because of this treatment. It seems like I am not alone.
A brand history series would be great! Deep diving into some of the big brands and any innovations, scandals, etc that they’ve had!
I totally agree with your feeling about Specialized . Great products, but I refuse to buy stuff from them over these issues.
Specialized and Lance Armstrong should do a collaboration. A perfect dream team this would be.
True, they would be a good matchup, but another shameless corporate shark, Trek, rose to the occasion first. Their war against Greg LeMond bicycles, inspired by Lance’s thirst for revenge after Greg (rightly) accused him of doping, is another ugly saga of a huge company steamrolling over a small business “just because”.
Armstrong and Trek were together and Trek is 100 times worse than Specialized. They do no warranty their bikes at all.
Wow, great info. Glad I didn't buy a stumpjumper. Hate supporting a company like this
You should do a video on the discrimination lawsuits against Specialized. Only a few are public as they have settled the majority privately.
I have an 86 Rockhopper and remember being confused about the RockShox when they first came out thinks it was related and a Specialized product. I thought this for years.
FYI Cafe Roubaix was located in Cochrane, Alberta, not Calgary. Dan has shut the shop down now, and IIRC is building wheels from home. Dan is also about the nicest human you'd ever meet. And for Spec to pick on him was an absolute outrage and poisoned me against. Specialized for life.
Dan is retired military as well
@@realalbertan yep
Do a deep dive into the Orbea issue between your shop and them.
The dumbest part of this is that the only market utility of brand names/trademarks is to differentiate your company from others. There’s no reason to sue unless you’re really concerned that people will confuse the product with yours. Somehow I doubt a small Canadian bike cafe will be confused with a big bike manufacturer just because they both reference a town in France
Good Video - There are two bike shops near me One sells Specialized stuff. Good people at that shop, but the Specialized stuff seems high priced. Your video has convinced me to go to the other bike shop and I'm thinking a lot of lower priced off brand stuff is adequate.
I've passed on Specialized many times in the past, but went with a Specialized Fuse on my last hardtail as it had everything I was looking for spec wise. I don't have brand loyalty, but I won't dismiss a particular item simply because of the brand either. Fundamentality, the engineering/cost/quality is the most important thing for me as a consumer as well as availability of parts. As far as their monopolisation of the market goes, they suck big time and is just one of the reasons why as a brand they are not on my list of first choice brands.
Robert and I were classmates at Penn State , petroleum engineering. We often went caving in Central Pennsylvania, going after class a returning the next morning . I hope he has mended from his training accident.
Again, stoked on your content. Real historical bike information stacked with fine tune adjustment style details.
It’s hard to believe that Spec is now considered a top end brand
To be fair you can hate their legal (and marketing) department but don't hate on their engineers. The Aethos, Crux, Tarmac, Power saddle, Evade helmet, Torch shoes, and Purist water bottles are all leading their respective fields for their engineering. It's been years and there still isn't a frame as light as the Aethos. The purist is the standard water bottle. Everyone copies the short nose power saddle. The Evade is arguably the fastest road aero helmet.
I could be wrong and I'm open to it but I still respect their engineers pushing the industry forward and not in gimmicky ways like some other brands.
@@spartanville212I hate that I have to agree. I’m not usually one to rep the biggest brands, but their shoes fit me like a glove, the bib chamois is the most comfortable I own, I could ride the power saddle for hundreds of miles, and the Future Shock on my Roubaix is just great technology. They have excellent engineering and produce great products. Just wish they weren’t such dickheads in the industry.
Exactly. You bring up another great point too that they also know when to yield to/collaborate with an industry-leading company to engineer their product even if it means a smaller profit margin. They see it will net benefit them to pick the best company to produce that part better than they could. E.g. DT Swiss hubs on their Roval wheels and elastic interface on their bib chamois rather than “in house designs” or poorly implemented copies.
You like your specialized bib and part of that is because they acknowledge elastic interface’s product and they want specialized branded products to be as good as possible.
The end consumer can then just go to their specialized store and get a great product in basically every category either by their design or from them commissioning the industry-leading brand.
Like I said originally, not a fan of their legal and marketing but I respect that the product itself is undeniably so high quality in so many different areas of biking needs.
I’d watch a deep dive into the $2million/$1 case.
Just checking in here before the lawsuit! 🤙🏼
Cool dude👍...nice to see the history of mtbing being showcased and recognized.....keep up the goid work. Why not start showcasing the iconic hard tail and early F/S bikes and components of the 90's as well🤔
I've been on the same Trek y-33 since 1995. Downhill, it's a Carbon Demo. This is the first time hearing about the big S attack dogs. I didn't know they behaved like Starbucks.
Love these history lessons!!
I had a new Specialized mtb in Fort Worth in 1998 with a crooked rear brake bridge, Specialized wouldn't cover it as a warranty defect. Never again.
Back in 2010 Choi & Farley were frequenting the CA double century circuit; many distance riders basically boycotted the Specialized brand; there were even t-shirts with the Specialized S logo with a byline “sue me” on it😂
I would love to know more about this, that's hilarious!
Mahalo for this different yet pertinent video and the time it takes to make it. Aloha.😎🤙
This is the one and only reason why I choose not to buy Specialized anything. 😤
How about Jamie with Airborne Cycles (Wisconsin) and his attempt to sell the first mail order titanium bike that was manufactured in China. His business model would work today but not back then. Great bicycle frames regardless of what happened to the business after the first few years.
Great video. What is the history on Detroit Bikes? How many us-made bikes are still in priduction?
Yes - they seem to fill a niche in that they do not sell high end bikes but rugged practical bikes. It may make an interesting video.
@2:12 The first Stumpjumpers were crap. I remember seeing, in a little San Anselmo bike shop, a Stumpjumper frame was hung from the ceiling with a sign, "Why we don't sell Stumpjumpers," and you could see that the head tube was traumatically ovalized as a result of landing a jump. They were cheap road bikes that had fat tires on them. Fisher, on the other hand, had Fred Wolf (RIP) in his test department, a big guy, a piano mover, who was told to ride the products hard, try to break them.
Specialized reminds me of Volkswagen: another predatory company with greed as their prime motivation. Let’s not forget the Diesel Gate fiasco VAG got caught red-handed at. I donated my last Specialized helmet to a Thrift shop. Note:, I also sold my 2006 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, when it started behaving like a VW.
I still have a 90s specialized bmk frame. My dad has it hanging in his shop next to my schwinn predator frame
I remember in the 70s they came out with the first high pressure clincher tires, before that we all rode around on expensive "sew-up" aka tubular tires. I think at first that's all they sold, maybe water bottles and cages.
Finally a video of yours that convinced me to sub
This SS should sue Specialized for stealing their logo.
Yes i will never give specialized any of my $. Just because of how shity they treat their dealers
Love this, never buying a product from Specialized. This was really informative :-)
Specialized, Giant, Trek … never really had a particularly good thought about any of these 3 companies. Never had any inclination to consider Specialized or Giant and while I historically wanted to like Trek, I could not convince myself to consider buying one.
I told myself 15 years ago I would never buy a specialized again and I haven’t. Since then I have probably spent around 30 grand on bicycles. Specialized did not get a dime.
I’ve also noticed throughout the years that any shop that Carrie specialize has some shop maintenance issues. Now I’m not the biggest fan of trek bicycles either but if you notice at a truck dealer there tech areas are somewhat sublime looking and the work is guaranteed. At any given particular specialized dealer the tech area usually looks like a bomb went off
The Volagi story has a sad ending. Barley left the company to go to Yuba cycles. Robert stayed on and continued to run Volagi on his own. Moved the company to Utah. Not long after, Robert was hit by a car while riding his bike near his office, and suffered some irreversible brain damage. The company ulitimately went out of business. I still own a Titanium Volagi Viaje, and other than being a little dated (QR with post mount Disc Brakes), its still one of my all time favorite bikes.
Another great video
They aren’t any better now. I bought a carbon stump jumper during covid. I had the classic sram brake lever failure and my dropperpost had issues. Couldn’t get the shop to warranty diddly and specialized was no better. Couldn’t even order parts directly from specialized. Tried to force me to use the worthless bikeshop that wouldn’t warranty anything to begin with. Absolutely crap customer service.
Cafe Roubaix is acutually in Cochrane a small town NW of Calgary, down the road from Garmin Canada and 4iiii
To follow up, I got an Allez when I was working at The Bike Peddler and it was a fantastic machine. Raced and rode thousands of miles on it. I miss it to this day😭
Felt’s theft of Kavik’s suspension design.
Trek’s theft of DW link.
Thanks for highlighting cooperate bullies.
Which Hybrid bike to buy and from which company should buy from.
Marin Bicycles makes some of the best hybrids. They’re light and comfortable. Giant also makes a solid hybrid bike too. If you want a totally upright position and aren’t looking for a ton of performance, the Electra Townie is a great pic.
Ew Specialized. Great vid Mossy
Please do a video about the Trek lawsuit with Dave Weagle over “split pivot” suspension design.
Notice in the video the man mention's copying "Tom's" bike - guessing he means Tom Ritchey. The lawsuits made me boycott all Specialized products years ago. I will never buy a Specialized product again.
You should do some research into the way Specialized bullies bike shops. Ever wonder why you don't see shops carrying Specialized and one of the other big bike brands anymore, to be fair Trek does this also, but not to the same extent. Bike n Hike and Mountain View both quite caring Specialized because they were too difficult to work with.
Dang I could’ve saved money if you posted this in the early summer
Totally agree
I'm having a nightmare trying to get Specialized to honour a warranty for a frame that was missing a part from new, which has since damaged the frame itself. They just lie lie lie deny deny deny, change their reason every five minutes. I would not buy another Specialized bike expecting to have a "lifetime warranty" because they don't honour it!
You should do a deep dive on the ISIS drive system & a few small to mid size companies attempt to standardize the industry only to get stomped out by Shimano. Chris King & Race Face are good resources to reach out to in regards to this.
I bought a 2023 Epic Evo earlier this year. Love this bike. Definitely better then my 2021 Giant anthem. Yes i would buy another bike from Specialized. I will however never buy a Cannondale again. They don't honor there warranty. .
Couldn't agree more. I've been asked why I don't like S. I always say, they're the Apple of bicycles. Happily suing competition and trying to drown little bike companies. Not willing to buy into that ethic.
I bought specialized bike long time ago. Tbh i like the bike very much, it's not some fancy 10k one but its still gorgeous and runs smoothly.
A great story, tells me that you never know who's gonna bite you in the ass!
Thanks so much. I’m in the bike market but now I don’t want to give a penny to Specialized.
Which company is not backed by bad people?
well you just put me off getting one!
Will never purchase a Specialized product. Wonder if they feel these lawsuits were a good idea.
there are prolly 65 mtn companies. i by that i mean Frame makers.
keep shopping, the LBS only scratches the surface of what's out there. and believe me, some of the best bikes are the ones that "you've never heard of"
Yes
So I don’t know the particulars in these cases but quite typically in US civil suits, if someone is successfully sued for any amount…they at fault party can be on the hook for all of the winner’s legal bills…hence the $1 award is not just one dollar. If you do a dive into this, be sure and do your best to determine if this was the case. It’s a little know dark underbelly of these lawsuits many are missing. If Specalized lawyers hand a small upstart company a bill for $2 mill…that is effectively the end of that company and Special-Ed really wins with no downside.
Plenty Heaters out there on Specialize :)
I like their tire pumps, i wonder who did they steal the design for those from ?
3:20 To be honest both got some similarity to the "sig" rune of the infamous "SS" (the worst nazi organisation of all), it's such scorched in Germany that that symbol is forbidden and together with "SA" (the "storm department"), "NS" (national socialism), "HJ" (Hitler youth) and "KZ" (concentration camp) these aren't allowed in number plates, also AFAIK Chevrolet officially sold their Camaro for a few years in Germany (same goes for the Mustang, it wasn't officially sold by ford for a long time but they officially sell it in Germany since 2015, you could otherwise get them via importers) and they either removed the badges from the SS version or renamed it to "GT".
You're not going to mention their ruthless control over the 'Horst link'?🤨😑
LOL, No mention of Trek, Canyon, Scott, Giants numerous lawsuits a quick search shows you they litigate more then specialized.
good stories --- but nothing uncommon. Common tactics of most companies looking to protect their territory -- and everything in the bike industry is copied/influenced from others -literally everything. Does SRAM or Shimano try to protect their IP -- always, etc.
OMG! I will never buy a Specialized product again, and our DC/Store (factory Direct Sales) here in Houston is Awesome! Amazing Staff, but to learn this….
Merida Bikes saved their bacon anyways, which is Taiwanese manufacturer. Like someone has already pointed out, there's other Taiwanese made brands out there including Giant which manufacturs its own bikes and cheaper than Specialized and Trek, depending on which range you're looking at, i.e. mid range / high end.
I knew there was a reason I don’t own one…
Why did Performance Bicycle Shop dissolve? They had the best prices on parts anywhere
They have bankrupt Bergwerk, and German-a company that in cooperation with Merida have constructed epic suspension.
All the way down to the "s works" ti bolts. They are common grade5 ti. How about the name s works which is a complete copy of Lockheed Martins skunk works division
Now I know why Specialized products are the most expensive, it's to pay for the costs of proceedings.
I believe if a dollar is awarded, then legal fees get paid too.
Portland is Stumptown. Thanks assholes! BTW, Red is Richard Sachs. I do like my Epic but can’t afford a new one. Wonder if I could sue somebody…
I would never own one of their bikes, no matter how good they are.
I want know how specialized patented the four link when every drag racer has been has been using it for nearly 100 years.
Clap emoji X1000. I too, have a strong distaste for the brand, and I'm sure it started with the Roubaix episode. Now their marketing department and it's cozy, uncritical relationship with cycling media is the source of my disdain.
Its because of how they are i wont get on a spec.
Haha, I have Volagi bike.
This clip opened my eyes. I never knew about any of this. However, I'm afraid other big bike companies are probably not any better. Sigh.
Giant doesn't do this.
Great products made by a horrible company. I have owned two Specialized bikes in the past, but I'll never buy another one.
Specialized deserves all the bad press they get. They crapped all over smaller IBD's, who made Specialized the brand it is, by deciding to go only with larger bicycle dealers, and also shutting out the smaller IBD's by putting their e-bikes in motorcycle shops (which in some markets has proven disastrous for them). I hope they "go tits up." (No, I'm not a IBD)
At the height of my love for mountainbiking I always owned Cannondales. Cannondale also had accessories that were of good quality. I wouldn't ever buy from Specialized, their pricing is not in line with the spirit of cycling.
Wow. That makes me not want to support any products from specialized. Shame on them
Trek is eating everything