specialized have finally lost the plot.

foy

not only is the rockhopper only available in 29 wheel format, they have now increased the price from £800 for the 2012 model to £1000 for the 2013 model. the frame has also been downgraded from M4 aluminium to A1 aluminium. rockshox xc 30 forks for a grand you are having a laugh. the spec is pathetic compared to a cube for around a grand with fox forks and a lot more xt as well. also trek do one around the same price with a reba fork. even a decathlon rockrider has a better fork and that bike is £500

bennett_346

Another specialized bashing post. I swear i've seen something just like this pretty much every year for the past decade.

There are plenty of alternatives.

supersonic

It looks like it is going to be a bad year. Though are some decent(ish) bikes about at full RRP, the new GT looks ok compared to the other 'top' brands:

http://cyclesolutions-shop.co.uk/p56179 ... -Bike.aspx

Adotparker

Isn't every manufacturer bumping up prices??......... due to the likes of Apple and Nike.... many manufactures are finding it as economically depressive to build in cheaper countries..... with the increase of wages in poorer countries........ orrrrrrrrrr as the Halfords posse may say........... i could be just full of it!

Giraffoto

On the plus side, they've gone back to vivid bright red for the Hardrock - last year it was grey.

lm_trek

End of the day it speshi's choice how the come to there range for 2013 and the price stucture if we don't like it just don't buy it. Look at the canyon range loads cheaper for a great well spec bike.

If you want a speshi look at there sale range, i picked up my camber its a great bike and this is why they will succeed doesn't matter what we think people buy them due to the fact of the name and the fact they are also just great bikes, well tuned and everything just works. I can't remember the last time someoone said they had a bad one??

benpinnick

Its a bit crazy - a spindly 30mm fork on an £800 bike? Its not going to be a pretty year for the MTB industry, thats for sure.

mcnultycop

Just give someone else your cash if you don't like what they are selling; they'll soon learn.

Northwind

lm_trek wrote:

i picked up my camber its a great bike

And now, I think, discontinued? I've read in a couple of places there's no 26er camber next year

lm_trek

Yep there is no camber 26er this year, thats why i picked my expert up in the sales, worth every penny!

paul.skibum

Its funny I look at Spesh bikes in one of the local bike shops and they are no more expensive than competitor bikes

Like for like with Giant they are comparable - some spec ups and downs but the like for likes (Trance and Stumpy, Reign and Enduro) dont seem that different, just that the spesh's look better. Dunno what the diference is in pricing from here to the UK.

paul.skibum

Oh but if you want to get bent over a barrel for the price of a bike - get a Devinci Dixon top level bike - its an alu frame for something over 6k canadian (3600 quid to you guys) plus taxes - I like the look of the bike a lot and it was on my maybes list. It is not on it anymore.

sigorman85

I have a 2011 camber comp been a brilliant bike I brought it June 11 and have done 1865 miles on it so far on and off road it is a shame that they have followed the yanks and gone to 29er. I don't think they will go back to 26 any time soon. But it's nice to no that I got the last of the 26 inch camber..

The bike is on the shop getting the rear shock bushes replace and that is the only thing that has worn on the bike so far aprt from pads and tyres 9/10 woul have had a 10/10 if the bike didn't have tektro Draco brakes but hay it's bottom if the range

Northwind

Aye, I'm really liking my Pro, though tbh I wish it was, oh, let's say 2 degrees slacker. Or had a proper headtube so I could fix it myself instead of a damn silly internal headset. But still, it's very good indeed.

Anonymous

Pretty much the same for a lot of brands, and the issue of higher price and lower spec is true throughout the industry. Been noticing that when browsing through the likes of Evans for a possible cheap hard tail. Can't get one with what I'd consider a decent spec for the money! Budget bike components even on £800+ bikes. Ended up building a C456 instead.

It's become like cars - don't buy new. Get last year's top end models in the sale, or a nearly new / ex-demo from the LBS (so you still get warranty), or with some care a private sale second hand.

chez_m356

sigorman85 wrote:

I have a 2011 camber comp been a brilliant bike I brought it June 11 and have done 1865 miles on it so far on and off road it is a shame that they have followed the yanks and gone to 29er. I don't think they will go back to 26 any time soon. But it's nice to no that I got the last of the 26 inch camber..

they haven't quite put all there eggs in one basket though, they are still doing the stumpy fsr in 26 as well as 29er, will be interesting to see which wheel size they move the most of, i remember they did a 29er stumpy in 2011,but it seemed to disappear from the 2012 line up

oscari

I bought a 2011 rockhopper sl just as the 2012 bikes came out.I think I got a bargain,£100 off the retail price and better spec than the latest 2012/2013 model.
Well happy with it,I bought one for my son too and he's happy.As has been said it's your money in your pocket buy what you like and don't buy what you don't like.

lawman

bennett_346 wrote:

Another specialized bashing post. I swear i've seen something just like this pretty much every year for the past decade.

There are plenty of alternatives.

There are many, many better priced, specced, looking and riding bikes other than specialized. The general fact is the likes of spesh/trek/giant are over-priced and under-specced for the money. The reason they don't have to do anything about it is because of the name of the brand, they will sell bikes because people know the name and some will believe they are the best, because of said name. The bigger brands are very much into taking more and more money from the public and taking the piss on the actual product the consumer gets. Spesh will not be getting any of my money thats for damn sure.

bennett_346

Name one?

supersonic

Depends what price level you are looking at. The Hardrock/Rockhoppers are comprehensively beaten on spec, weight and performance. Then throw Canyon/Rose/YT and the raft of reduced Anthems/Trances and Baordmans into the mix and most the middle end stuff is beaten too (and winning test after test). Only the carbon stumpies have caught my eye this year.

warpcow

I know it's somewhat subjective, but when testing bikes how often is the 'winner' not necessarily the 'best riding' bike? I mean, say it miraculously turns out that the Orange 5 Pro is the best riding bike on earth , but it's in a grouptest with the Canyon AM X (whatever blingy -spec., direct-sales bike that is sort of similar in intended use and price), which rides pretty well and is fully loaded with every top-of-the-range part. Is the Canyon then the 'best' bike? I can see how spec. counts a lot in the lower price-ranges, where a flexy, undamped fork can kill a bike, but in a price-range (I don't know, say around £2k) where every component is pretty much guaranteed to 'work' it wouldn't appear to be anywhere near as important.

bennett_346

I blame hipsters (lawman).

I don't think he realises but converse to his entire point he's more of a brand snob than anyone else on here.

supersonic

warpcow wrote:

I know it's somewhat subjective, but when testing bikes how often is the 'winner' not necessarily the 'best riding' bike? I mean, say it miraculously turns out that the Orange 5 Pro is the best riding bike on earth , but it's in a grouptest with the Canyon AM X (whatever blingy -spec., direct-sales bike that is sort of similar in intended use and price), which rides pretty well and is fully loaded with every top-of-the-range part. Is the Canyon then the 'best' bike? I can see how spec. counts a lot in the lower price-ranges, where a flexy, undamped fork can kill a bike, but in a price-range (I don't know, say around £2k) where every component is pretty much guaranteed to 'work' it wouldn't appear to be anywhere near as important.

It still can be important - especially where weight and adjustability are concerned. Geometry is somewhat subjective, the 'ride' certainly is. Still quite a few 2k bikes coming with long travel forks with no compression damping, or heavy finishing parts.

warpcow

supersonic wrote:

It still can be important - especially where weight and adjustability are concerned. Geometry is somewhat subjective, the 'ride' certainly is. Still quite a few 2k bikes coming with long travel forks with no compression damping, or heavy finishing parts.

I see what you mean. I guess I'm just imagining some bike that is 'naturally awesome', but with a lower, but still entirely functional, spec. versus a bike that could be adjusted to suit more riders and perhaps be as good. All a bit too vague and subjective in the end though.

supersonic

Sometimes they can feel like they have an X factor - but I firmly don't believe you can get a poor frame these days (unless it is weak or massively heavy for the use/price), or there is some universal 'good' geometry. Some people like a bit of flex, others view it as a weakness. Some like pedal feedback, some don't mind bob - it has got to the stage where there is always going to be something you like, and unless it has some superb weight/strength ratio i don't see why some cost a lot more than others.

To me if it fits, and you like the geo, the frame puts all the performance parts in place.

lawman

bennett_346 wrote:

I blame hipsters (lawman).

I don't think he realises but converse to his entire point he's more of a brand snob than anyone else on here.

My point being a s-works stumpy frame costs £2599.99... are you calling me a snob because of the bike I own? Because of course it has nothing to do with the fact that my bike was cheaper, had geometry and a suspension I preferred and is a bit unusual rather than something that you see everyday? :roll:

The point is these days the big brands are on the whole ripping the public off at many levels of the market. those such as cube, canyon, yt etc offer much better spec for the money and the geometry and suspension on alot of these bikes is pretty much up to standard, so why would you want to go for a more expensive bike with a worse spec which is likely to ride no better and in some cases perhaps worse? An equivalent trek, spesh or giant would have cost more than my bike (just as another reference, the trek remedy 9.9 frame retails for £3000...), for what gain? Apparently very little.

bennett_346

lawman wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

I blame hipsters (lawman).

I don't think he realises but converse to his entire point he's more of a brand snob than anyone else on here.

My point being a s-works stumpy frame costs £2599.99... are you calling me a snob because of the bike I own?

No, i'm calling you a snob because you care what other people ride :roll:

Anonymous

lawman wrote:

My point being a s-works stumpy frame costs £2599.99... are you calling me a snob because of the bike I own?

Living in Surrey I have to snear at such a cheap bike and especially Specialized. In fact I shouldn't be talking to you. :P

lawman

bennett_346 wrote:

lawman wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

I blame hipsters (lawman).

I don't think he realises but converse to his entire point he's more of a brand snob than anyone else on here.

My point being a s-works stumpy frame costs £2599.99... are you calling me a snob because of the bike I own?

No, i'm calling you a snob because you care what other people ride :roll:

I couldn't give a shit what you ride. You could ride a gold plated unobtanium mega bike or a BSO and I wouldnt care less.

Northwind

lawman wrote:

There are many, many better priced, specced, looking and riding bikes other than specialized.

Camber is a very nice riding bike, quite impressed with mine- manages to be very confidence inspiring and capable on tougher stuff without losing too much of the XC edge. But yep, the spec these days is often ropey (mine is a Pro and had some mad spec choices- X0 carbon cranks, XTR mech... SLX shifters? Doh!) and they're not always good value.

And yet, they keep winning tests... Probably because the whole's more than the sum of its parts. The basic Cambers are really surprisingly low quality in places but they work well and ride well, so people forgive the Ario shocks and other such rubbish, because it doesn't really seem to matter that much.

lawman

Northwind wrote:

lawman wrote:

There are many, many better priced, specced, looking and riding bikes other than specialized.

Camber is a very nice riding bike, quite impressed with mine- manages to be very confidence inspiring and capable on tougher stuff without losing too much of the XC edge. But yep, the spec these days is often ropey (mine is a Pro and had some mad spec choices- X0 carbon cranks, XTR mech... SLX shifters? Doh!) and they're not always good value.

And yet, they keep winning tests... Probably because the whole's more than the sum of its parts. The basic Cambers are really surprisingly low quality in places but they work well and ride well, so people forgive the Ario shocks and other such rubbish, because it doesn't really seem to matter that much.

I have no doubt that some of the bikes do ride well, ride so much better as justify the higher price and poorer spec? Not so sure. For example, spesh no seem to exclusively use PF30 BB's on there high end bikes, which can be notoriously troublesome, I mean MBR tested the stumpy evo a few years back, the BB fell to bits and the fork went wrong, and yet it still scored a nine... is it honestly that good that the time it takes to fit said faults is worth it? Nah, not in my book.