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SPECIALIZED’S FOUNDER MIKE SINYARD STEPS DOWN AS CEO, APPOINTS FORMER DYSON EXECUTIVE


Page Turner

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"Sinyard has held the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) position since founding the Californian bicycle company 48 years ago. He’ll now step into a new role as “Founder, Chairman, and Chief Rider Advocate.”

“I have been looking for the ideal leader for Specialized for years; Scott is perfect because he integrates design thinking, engineering capability, supply chain expertise, and operational excellence to drive meaningful innovation to customers and employees. On top of that, Scott brings together and leverages the strengths of diverse people and cultures to create simplicity out of complexity,” Sinyard said in a statement earlier today.

Maguire was previously at the household appliance titan Dyson for 18 years,..."

 

 

...so my question in all of this is whether a former Dyson executive can follow the same strategy at Specialized, and start marketing their bicycles at five times the price of their competition ? What's the top price you can sell a bike at, when it's already priced at $14,000 ? (Some guy rode past me on the bike trail yesterday on one of these.  At 14,000 bucks, I would have assumed he would have ridden past me faster.)

 

S-Works Aethos - Dura-Ace Di2

$14,000

97222-00_AETHOS-SW-DI2-CARB-CMLNEYRS-CHR

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7 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

Some guy rode past me on the bike trail yesterday on one of these.  at 14,000 bucks, I would have assumed he would have ridden past me faster.

Yeah, I see lots of bling bikes ridden at normal speeds. Of course, I see countless non-blingy bikes ridden at a snail's pace.  You'd hope someone who invested in a nice bike (boat, car, tennis racket, golf clubs, etc.) would be using it closer to its potential, but in that slowish rider's defense, an Aethos with Di2 is gonna be one sweet ride at any speed. Or it was a rest/recovery ride? Or base miles? Or some other "training for something" sort of nonsense.

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3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

 an Aethos with Di2 is gonna be one sweet ride at any speed. ...

...in all honesty, I look at the picture of that bike, and all I can see is a long list of proprietary repair parts, many of which are "temporarily out of stock."

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Just now, Page Turner said:

...in all honesty, I look at the picture of that bike, and all I can see is a long list of proprietary repair parts, many of which are "temporarily out of stock."

Yeah - probably true.  But, you also might not be the target audience for that bike.   :dontknow:   Sort of like seeing that Porsche 911 roll by driving the speed limit and thinking about finding a replacement part for the retractable wing.  Not really relevant in 99.99% of the life of the car.  

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36 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Yeah - probably true.  But, you also might not be the target audience for that bike.   :dontknow:   Sort of like seeing that Porsche 911 roll by driving the speed limit and thinking about finding a replacement part for the retractable wing.  Not really relevant in 99.99% of the life of the car.  

...they remind me of Henry Ford, and his all black car choices.

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7 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

Mine is a custom paint job.  It's exactly what I've wanted for many years.  I suspect if I paid enough I could request that color scheme.

...I did not know they were offering custom paint now. That is more blingey, therefor I approve. :)

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2 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Yeah - probably true.  But, you also might not be the target audience for that bike.   :dontknow:   Sort of like seeing that Porsche 911 roll by driving the speed limit and thinking about finding a replacement part for the retractable wing.  Not really relevant in 99.99% of the life of the car.  

Might?!?!?  We all know Page is the retro grouch we all know & love! 

Might he says! 😂

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7 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Well, there is plenty of CF from the late 80s and early 90s now.  He could embrace that era????

F3D18D6C-29E4-4318-9A4F-1FAB86C14FD8.jpe

3A5D6DFA-73CB-49A9-83A0-A1202C319259.jpe

C3BF6750-558F-4393-8DE6-E985F6525703.jpe

 

I think @Page Turner is allergic to plastic bikes though.

TBH I’d rather have that Cinelli over any of those.  A mature technology arguably at its pinnacle or an emerging technology with many bugs still to work out.  

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...here is a video stolen from the TOP SECRET SPECIALIZED/DYSON DESIGN LAB, located in a bunker in Silicon Valley. 

Eyes Only, Mr. Phelps. This video will self destruct in 30 seconds, after it finishes. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop this Specialized/Dyson merger madness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Page Turner said:

...this is the first plastic bike I've seen that sort of makes sense to me.  Therefor, I wonder how it will appeal to the plastic bike buyers ?

Why does it make sense? The way the bike is constructed?  I think, like any custom bike, it should fit a niche market with all the other custom builders out there.  

I've luckily still had good results with off the shelf frames, but at an average size of 5' 11", I should expect that to be the case. If a brand can't build a great bike for someone my size, they need to give up :)  I feel for the folks at the margins where a standard 54, 56, 58, 60, 62 type of range ain't gonna work.  My feeling is that I would like this bike - either in a standard 56 or custom dialed to my dimensions - but I doubt it would be noticeably better than a comparably prices big brand.  

The best part of the whole story is that it is a small business building stuff and seemingly in a competitive way with the big brands.  We need as much competition and innovation as we can in bikes, cars, appliances, entertainment, restaurants, etc..  I hope he continues to refine his process, and others pick up on its viability and copy/improve his process. 

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