I bought an Epic expert this way a few weeks ago. I had signed up for in-stock alerts. There was the option of having them deliver directly to me or have it sent to the bike shop. I talked to the LBS and they still get paid by Specialized if the bike is sent to them. There was a dropdown menu when ordering that allowed me to choose my shop. So, I went that way. It was more expensive than straight from the shop (because there wasn’t any haggling), but it’s 2022. I didn’t want to wait until next year for a bike to be available. I won’t do this in the future when the supply chain returns to normal, but it was nice for now.
- This will likely vary by region, but “haggling” is not much of a thing with the current state of inventory from all I can tell. MSRP is the expectation from what I see.
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More details continue to come out re: the program…
But now, Specialized will not only consider itself to be a top-end Tier 1 dealer, but it will also be withholding 15% of its bike stock for its own direct-to-consumer inventory.
Man, if I was a dealer, this would p*ss me off given the current supply issues.
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They did the same in Houston. Bought out the biggest local chain, Bike Barn. That’s actually why I heard the rumor that we were getting a new Spesh Concept store. We used to have one of the original ones, but they are a small shop and had to start selling other brands.
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Yes I had received an email from specialized…went to site…and no bikes to order so no bikes available. Kind of pointless to send me an email when you cant buy a bike or even put it in a queue.
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I think Specialized is also doing that though. Like here in AZ we have Bike Masters which sold Specialized, Giant, Pivot and some other stuff. I see Specialized’s LinkedIn now has a bunch of job openings at these Bike Masters(I’m assuming they bought them). Not sure what will happen to the other brands sold there.
That is 100% true. I really enjoy my lbs and the owner which is know really well.
Would never buy and get it direct as he gets some credit if I buy online and ship to his shop. I have the tools and can do it but I do get it and is pretty genius from a business perspective from Specialized.
WTH happened?!?! $8k for Expert? It was $5500 last year!
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@Cory.Rood That and the Tarmac are the hot bikes so prices went as you can see. Prices wont go down so buy it if that is what you want. Just trying to help you find one.
I have been on Spec a decent amount as I am in the market for a Epic Evo pro to go with my Tarmac.
That is completely bonkers. I mean, free market, supply and demand, charge what the market will support… I get it. But bonkers.
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As someone who is desperately trying to buy a Specialized bike and failing miserably I’m cautiously optimistic this may help me out. I don’t feel great about bailing on a LBS that has been bending over backwards for me but if they can’t get what I want before May (and that’s a maybe) I’m not sure what else to do. At least part of this new “direct to consumer” involves the shops so they’ll get something and I suppose I can use it as an excuse to buy some extra accessories from them. 
Of course with how this bike buying experience has been there will be no stock on Specialized’s site either.
They are making bikes available online before filling existing orders from Tier 1 shops. That undermines their retail shops and people like me who have orders in through their local shops because they want to support them.
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I’ve been able to find mountain bikes pretty often using their “find nearby” functionality. You have to check frequently, but stuff shows up. Then it’s just a matter of arranging to ship it to your LBS.
We will see what changes tomorrow if anything but I was online today ordering a pair of ares and a mirror saddle with my discount coupon and this came up.
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Anyone notice any changes in stock? Or is this going live mid-day or something?
Was hoping that I’d get lucky with some increased stock launching but my frequent site refreshes have up till now been fruitless.
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I saw some surprise mtb’s show up in stock on Friday. They went low stock on Sunday and out of stock Monday.
Definitely more of the Aethos Expert in stock. They only had the green last week, now the other color is back in stock.
Not too much yet
As a former small business owner, I get the “why” on Specialized’s “Direct to Consumer” purchase platform, as it relates to competing with Canyon (and maybe a few others). However, I’m not a fan. Part of the process of purchasing a bike is the touch/feel and QA you get from an LBS. Granted not all LBS’ are created the same, but you do have the opportunity, especially as it relates to test rides and shopping around. The second aspect is although you can have the LBS put the bike together for you, it’s still a loss in revenue for them (despite Specialized giving them a percentage of the online sale), which means potentially a reduction in qualified staff. I’d imagine this entire process will work better for people who know what they want, but to the average consumer - given the price of bikes, I’m not dropping $5k-8k on a bike I haven’t seen in person. Much less $13-15k for an S Works model.
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