I went to my local Spesh dealer yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. Their shop was PACKED full of bikes. I quickly noticed that there were only one or two bikes from the other brands they sell and 99% of the inventory was Specialized. I sat down to chat with the owner (I’ve know him 10+ years) and he told me that they were no longer independently owned and would be exclusively Spesh now. My hope is that this means he will now ALWAYS have a shop full of bikes. Obviously, that’s not good for other local Specialized dealers (I live in a large city), but I guess we’re now seeing Specialized making the same moves Trek made with LBS’s.
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I’m guessing if more LBS’ transition to manufacturer owned shops, that’ll push more brands to do the same or just transition to DTC type of business model. I don’t know how many bikes a brand like Bianchi sells in the US (and yes I’m aware the US is probably more of a secondary or third market for them), but I rarely see them when I’m out on rides.
I do believe in the next several years, or less, we’re going to see the bike manufacturing business contract. Just my Starbucks coffee infused opinion.
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I got to see just how impactful these business model changes are yesterday. The reason I went to the shop last week was to tell him I’d found a bike I was interested in online in a shop a few hours away. He told me he understood, but if i could be patient, he could order the bike for me and have it in June. I decided to wait and order local to support the shop. On Friday, I was on the specialized website (helping someone else find a bike) when I noticed that Spesh now had the exact bike in stock and it could be ordered online. I called the shop to see if he could get me that one earlier, but he can’t. Even though they are a Specialized shop now, they still don’t have access to the corporate online inventory. Essentially, that means there are now 3 tiers: Online inventory, Specialized stores, and unaffiliated Specialized dealers. I can’t imagine how frustrating that is to the LBS owners.
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Yup….that is the rub that is bugging some Specialized dealers.
But you could order it and have it delivered to your LBS and then he still gets a cut of the sale, although not as much as if he had brought the bike in himself. But at least he would know you are trying to support him.
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He actually told me that, but I told him I would wait because I wanted to support him.
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Good thing you don’t need the new bike now. You’ll be lucky if you have it by June. They’ll take care of their own shops and online division first.
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My wife has had a non-Specialized bike on order from a local shop since October 2020, yes 2020. I’ve done business with them for years and my wife didn’t need a bike so we were OK being patient. Also, she’s only a hair over 5’ tall so finding an alternative in her size is always challenging.
When Specialized announced this model, a comparable bike in her size was available. I called a local Spesh dealer and they couldn’t get it. I ordered it online and less than 2 weeks later the bike showed up.
I’m still not sure of my opinion of direct to consumer models, but my wife is happy she has a new bike.
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A friends wife got screwed over Specialized yanking distribution thru Mikes Bikes in August 2021. They ordered a Tarmac SL7 from another dealer, checked the direct inventory, considered driving hundreds of miles to pick up the one bike at a non-LBS, etc. In the end, without an expected ship date and no inventory on Specialized site, she bought a used Dogma F10.
Online inventory appears to be increasing … ever … so … slowly. Still frustrated at the large markup relative to lesser-named brands. For example:
Specialized Roubaix Sport / Fezzari Empire Elite
- Cost - $3500 / $2900
- Groupset - Shimano 105 / Shimano Ultegra R8000
- Cockpit - Not Integrated / Integrated
- Suspension - Yes / No
The frames, wheels, and most other features are a wash for me. Hard to justify $600 for Future Shock 1.5 on the Roubaix Sport. The Roubaix Comp has Ultegra but is $4200. Ugh.
You only live once is my philosophy.
Unless you’re Jesus. Then you’re coming back for more.
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Agree that inventory seems to be getting better all around…
Also regarding specialerized, value isn’t really part of their proposition imo. If you are thinking about their bikes that much, idk what to say as their prices aren’t gonna go down next year lol
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Or Buddhist.
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Yeah … I know 
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Are specialized more expensive than its typical competitors, Trek Cannondale et al?
I want to emphasize that I don’t know much about Fezzari specifically, but R&D has a price. I would think that the engineering a brand like Specialized puts down to optimize geometry, stiffness/compliance, strength, carbon lay-up and so on, is quite different to a lot of the “uniform carbon lay-up, open mold” frames from some, smaller DTC companies…
True, but for me (a middle of the road cyclist still trying to consistently hit 4 w/kg with no sprint whatsoever) the bike isn’t the limiter - I am (and my wallet).
It’s about fun, not your power to weight ratio. I’m 3W/kg and would rather be on this SL7 or Aethos than the other bikes I’ve ridden.
We have one car, a 2007 SUV. If her work car disappears we will buy a used reliable car for $10-15k. I’ve owned a couple 5 series, tons of fun. I do almost all the maintenance around here. I didn’t think twice about dropping $5k on my SL7.
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You and me both 
But I do recognize the value in the engineering, especially for a full suspension bike where a typical pivot point is replaced by controlled flex of the frame itself.
Or the legendary Cannondale CAAD aluminum bikes praised for their ride feel/flex etc
I disagree with what you’re saying in the comments here - and I’ll say specifically that bringing up MTBs shows how much of a poor value road bikes really are (broadly). 
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They sure seem like it. I’m comparing:
Trek Emonda SL7, Ultegra di2 12 speed, carbon wheels $5930
Specialized SL7, Ultegra di2 11 speed, carbon wheels $7800
Specialized SL7 Expert, Ultegra di2 11 speed, carbon wheels $8300
The only difference I see is that the SL7 has an integrated stem which could be added to the Emonda for not much money.
In other news I’m actually seeing Tarmacs in stock in my size. Both on the Spec web site and I also found a SL7 frameset a couple hours away at a shop. I’m still thinking that $3300 for their 2nd tier frameset is kind of steep. I’m on the fence after wanting one for a while. The whole Emonda for over $3k less looks pretty darn good.
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