UKC

A lot of people I speak to give the impression that Specialized although a good brand is over-priced for what you get.
Is that a fair appraisal?

In reply to Indy:

They don't look bad to me, if you want overpriced then have a look at Pinarello and Colnago........

In reply to Indy:

They certainly seem expensive compared to Focus or Canyon, who can offer the same sort of pedigree.

Cheaper than some of the Italian names mentioned, but you are buying more than the bike in those cases.

In reply to Indy: looking at most big name complete bikes they seem to all do the same thing - decent frame, then add a groupset to give it a price point, then make everything else as cheap as possible (wheels, bars, finishing kit) a so with Spesh or Trek or Colnago etc you get a frane you could buy for £1,000, a groupset you could buy for £600 and wheels your could buy for £150. Then they charge you three grand for it...

The germans (Rose and Canyon) tend to skimp less on wheels etc, or buy a frameset, a groupset and some wheels and build it yourself.

In reply to Indy:
That's the difference with Rose or Canyon - you can't go to the shops and buy one,so that's a layer of cost saved there.

I see some Spesh's I'd like but don't know that they're any pricier than Trek, Scott at rep. I have heard it said before tho' , but on that occasion it was pooh-pooh'ed

In reply to wbo: to be fair you can go to a shop in Germany and buy a Rose, but obviously not here. I think there might be a Canyon rep here who'll let you try bikes.

In reply to Indy:

I don't think Spesh are any different from the other "big Name Brands" e.g. Cannondale, Giant, Trek, Pinnarello LaPierre etc. They have a more expensive distribution model (although its changing) you do tend to get better service though (with a few notable exceptions) for example a friend broke his 7yr old rock hopper frame, and they replaced it with the latest version as the no longer had the old one for no charge in about a week. It also gets you closer to your local bike shop if you buy it through them which is always a good thing if you need a favour or something.

I find the mail order companies YT, Canyon, Rose Bikes etc annoying, because it is so tempting, but you can't test ride easily which i think is vital for getting a bike that suits you. Having said that I know people that are very happy with what they've bought without seeing

In reply to balmybaldwin:


A riding friend got really frustrated with waiting for bike-specific spares on his Canyon (eg suspension bearings kits) .

In reply to wbo:

I'm by no means an expert and its seriously hard to compare 2 different bikes when theres so much mix & match of OEM and propriety components going on but Specialized did seem to be a bit pricier compared to the other north american brands which is why I've been asking the question.

In reply to balmybaldwin:
It also gets you closer to your local bike shop if you buy it through them which is always a good thing if you need a favour or something.

Now thats question 2.
I went to a local general Specialized dealer and asked them if they could supply the bike. I'm 90% sure the bike I want is a Roubaix but its possible I might go for the Tarmac equivalent . He said he could supply either bike but warned that I'd need to pay a 100% non-refundable deposits up front so I'd need to make sure I ordered the correct size/colour/spec etc. He wasn't able to offer any test rides or meaningful advice etc . The conversation then turned to price as I asked if there was any movement. He said no full RRP but maybe he could throw in some free extras (with conditions) and then recited the normal I've got bills/mortgage etc to pay.

Now, I know some people get a bit funny when it comes to haggling and that you should just pay the ticket price and be glad. But my gut feeling is that he wasn't doing much more than emailing an order to the distributor and then sitting on a substantial amount of cleared funds and so he could have done something on the price. If I'd gone to the Central London Specialized concept store and got test rides, top spec advice etc etc then fair enough. I suspect that taking VAT into account his profit would be in the £1500-£2000 range for doing nothing more than processing my CC, placing the order and setting up the bike. To be honest I strongly suspect that Specialized is behind this in 'frowning' on unauthorised discounts to the point that the dealer would let me walk out of the door rather than upset Specialized.

Anyone have any thoughts on haggling on the price of a new bike?

In reply to Indy:
Find a different LBS would be my advice.

Spesh dealer near me is more than happy to get a bike in for you to sit on. £50 (With a full-value reservation on credit card) will let you test ride the bike over a weekend with the £50 coming off whatever you end up buying. Manage to get a £750 discount off the last bike I bought from them (not a spesh) by essentially saying look x can get me the bike for £1000 under list price, but I'd rather buy from you... don't ask for credit as they have to pay fees for that (and you should expect a discount if you aren't buying on credit)

Wait unitl August/Sept if you want a decent discount

I don't know what the Spesh concept stores are like, but I imagine they have better access to test bikes, but are probably no such a good shop for general use and help - they strike me as being modeled on a high end fashion shop rather than a proper bike shop

In reply to Indy:



One of my local bike shops is a Specialized dealer and used to do all of their bikes 10% off the list price - not sure of that's still the case, as I haven't been in any of their stores for a while.

In reply to Indy:

With bikes you can generally expect at least 10% discount with a few bits like bottle cages. The rest of the movement will depend on stock/ year of release / how often you are in there. My LBS gave me 30% discount on my bike at the start of least season. I suspect that didn't leave them without profit.

As for testing a specialized, you should be able to find somewhere near you which has them in and not need to pay a non-refundable deposit so I would walk away.

Original statement I would say is fairly accurate, I own a tarmac but I bought the frame and built it myself.

In reply to Indy:

don't think their bikes are more over priced then any other brand recently bought a new full suss mountain bike of theres very good spec for the price.
What they are poor at is customer service .shocking is the only word to use and ripped off.

In reply to neil0968:


Also very poor at public relations. A history of aggressive trademark infringement cases, but suing Cafe Roubaix in Canada was a particular own-goal.

I'm pissed off that they have stopped doing their Tahoe MTB shoes - I've had about 4 pairs.