Emonda definitely became more value after I bought my SL7 Comp AXS Rival for $4800 in July 2021. At that time a comparable Trek was more $$ if you could find one (only one I could find then was a Checkpoint). I already had carbon wheels and didn’t want a bike to come with them.
Yup and you know Spec is gonna reserve their bikes for their own online inventory first… smh… this is gonna be a pain for LBS’…
Or the year after that, or after that…
Yeah, lets see how it plays out. Right now I can buy a replacement for my SL7 Comp Rival from 3 different bike stores within 100 miles, but I can’t order direct from Specialized (when direct to consumer/LBS was announced, Specialized was going to reserve 15% inventory for online sales).
Meh…only for 40 days.
Just got an email that they have several mtb’s on the site right now if anyone needs to pull the trigger.
Welp, my local bike shop was just bought out by Specialized. Over the last few weeks it seemed something was up - new systems, closed for a few days, veiled comments from employees, among others. The good news for near term is the service folks seem to be the same. However, I can see the writing on the wall in terms of losing their non-specialized inventory. I used to tolerate typical bike shop stuff like higher prices on parts or inability to get parts, all in the name of supporting owners who I know and like. Now, not so much.
This is weird. Three of the shops around me got bought out by specialized. Same scenarios, closed on random weekends, but after talking to some staff sounds like it’s a good thing for them.
My only issue will now be a lack of diversity among bike brands for consumers unless another shop steps up and stocks them.
Wanted to buy a new frame, but really wanted to go through my LBS. They didn’t have it available, although it was available on the website as D2C.
So I had to order it there, deprive the LBS of 30% margin and still have it build up by them. Can’t say I like that.
I think the shop gets a smaller cut if you have it shipped to your local dealer. On the plus side, they don’t have to put out money to buy it, and stock it.
It seems clear though that if you are a specialized shop in at least a medium sized city, Specialized will probably buy you out or cancel your contract after they buy out a competitor or build their own concept store. They obviously want to follow the Apple model - flagship stores in most larger towns and cutting out the middleman profit as much as possible.
The store is a concept store and the city is among the largest in the EU. But the owner of the store is still a private local who carries a lot of the risk.
I’m still waiting for 1) Specialized’s online inventory to increase and 2) prices to get competitive with other direct-to-consumer brands. For example, there still are no Tarmac SL7 Comp (Ultegra mechanical with basic wheels) available and $8300 for the Tarmac SL7 Expert (Ultegra mechanical with Rovals) is more than twice the cost of comparable direct-to-consumer bikes - absurd.
Specialized pricing has become ridiculous. I see #1 happening. I saw an SL7 frame in stock near me and I was very tempted.
#2 - they aren’t ever going to lower prices to Canyon prices. Their version of direct to consumer is convenience.
I’m comparing that $8300 Tarmac to the Trek Emonda SL 7 (ultegra di2 & carbon wheels) and the Emonda is only $5999. I guess when you pay Sagan and Alaphilippe to ride the Tarmac, you can charge a lot more.
Is the more of an issue with specialized as the ceo stepped down
No relation between the two steps…moves like this are months / years in the making. Sinyard stepping down as CEO (but still actively engaged in the business) has no bearing on this.
I’m also looking at the Emonda but the SL 6, and a couple of other brands, but am heavily leaning toward a DTC brand. They also don’t have any Ultegra mechanical group sets in stock and no estimated delivery date, though. I know there are supply shortages but R8020 seem exceptionally scarce.
I thought that when 12 speed Shimano was announced that mechanical ultegra would be discontinued and that 105 would be the top mechanical groupset? Maybe that hasn’t fully played out yet?
Ugh, I hadn’t heard that but I guess that explains why no one seems to have Ultegra mechanical anymore. I had generally been opposed to 105 in favor of Ultegra (probably for no good reason) - maybe I need to rethink that.
Ultegra 11 spd is to continue as a mechanical group. Whether anyone specs it or not is a different question.
The only place I’ve found R8020 is Merlin Cycles in the UK. Roughly $1200+, not including shipping. That’s not cost effective for my price point and I really don’t want to build my own bike yet when I could get so much more for the same price.