Specialized, Why Have You Done This?

[@chrisobyrne5675]

Love the voice of reason and facts from off screen!!! My 2018 Allez Elite has 105, carbon fork and weighs around 8kg ish so yes £1.6k for less is bonkers!

[@PedroGonzalez-ef3zv]

I just want to share with you guys, recently bought the Allez Sport, the bike shop could make some discount and I got it for 1500 euro, I can not be happier with this bike, great groupset, more than an amateur needs, tiagra hydraulic breaks are fantastic and 10 speed cassette with 32 as the biggest plate is more than enough to go up comfortably. I think that for this price is totally worth it.

[@TheLaM17]

Economically it doesn't make sense to me that brands seem to be moving away from designing cheaper/affordable bikes. With the cost of living these days you'd think that top brands would make a killing from a sub £1,000 rim brake bike rather than trying to force the consumer onto mechanical disk. I just bought a Canyon Endurace 7 rim brake and its fantastic, full shimano 105 groupset and weighs in at 8.3kg for just over £1,000, cant believe other brands aren't doing that.

[@maximiliandeisz2961]

It is higher risk because of smaller margins. Also there is quiet a high "hidden base cost" (qc and shipping/distribution). Esp when there wasn't enough capacity it made more sense to focus on higher margin bikes. And while it might no sense on the surface you can be sure it wasn't an uncalculated decision. It might also be becaue they believe that there is quiet a large group of people willing to spend 1.5k or something along those lines but that are also looking for a cheaper bike that still has 105 similiar. Meaning that by not offering something similiar to the endurance 7 you mentioned they might be able to shift more people towards higher margin bikes. And if you are someone heavily affected by cost of living crisis 1k is still a lot of money. and there are stil enough people that are hardly struggeling with increased cost of living

[@WillPower46]

In NZ Specialized bikes cost more than new Ducati's. No bikes are worth what they are asking for some of their bikes, I saw a MTB yesterday for $26 000 NZD a 950cc Ducati with Ohlin's suspension costs about $23 000 NZD. Their profit margin must be something unreal.

[@robbchastain3036]

Thanks for sharing that and I agree, the bicycle v. motorcycle prices don't make any sense and that's always going to be the lens through which lots of us view those prices. And while I was happy to ride my Schwinn Sting-Ray until I finally grew out of it and tired of it at age 15, replaced by a 10-speed and a 50cc Honda Dax that year and then a first-gen BMX bike and a used 250cc Maico in '76 a year later, bicycles were always imaginary motorcycles anyway, we pretended we were riding dirt bikes and we were happy to wait our turn when we became big kids and could earn the money for a motorcycle, except, wow, surprise surprise, all those BMX bikes hit the market, so we had cool bikes and motorcycles to buy and everything was easily affordable, new BMX bikes and used motorcycles. And I don't have a problem with prices these days for many new and most used bikes, but yeah, not feeling it with the new high-end road bikes. We need some sort of super introductory deal, like frame-only at half-price for the first month or so. 😀

[@rachelvasquez7826]

I purchased a Specialized Allez Elite in 2022, it was my first road bike and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, she fell off my bike rack on the freeway and was destroyed. I purchased the Allez Sport 2023 bike and really didn't like it. The bike felt heavy, I didn't like Tiagra shifting system and the fact that there were only 10 cogs in the back, disliked the 30 mm tires etc. Thankfully, specialized has a generous return policy, so I was able to get my money back. Ended up scoring on the purchase of a barely used Cannondale carbon fiber bike for only $1200 (USD).

[@dogukantosun5547]

If you crash badly, no matter what material your bike is, it is unlikely to be rideable. Carbon is repairable but in a crash scenario you will have cracked carbon everywhere and it won't be feasible to repair. Carbon repair does make sense only if the problem is local. On the other hand, you don't even need to think about local issues on an aluminium bike. I personally ride caad13 with Fulcrum racing zero alloy wheels. I know carbon is more comfortable but now I don't mind if I hit a deep pothole or small crash. This makes the ride for me more enjoyable.

[@Andy-co6pn]

An aluminium frame can be welded by a decent tig welder . I've seen it done well on full suspension mtb chainstays

[@maxmeier532]

These guys' notion "You cant repair aluminium but can repair carbonfibre" is news to me. You could always weld AL if you wanted to, but if your carbonfibre structure is effed, that's it. You can put gum on it or superglue, whatever, but the structural integrity is history.

[@JoshuaTootell]

I've been riding my carbon roadie for years and tens of thousands of miles, I'm never afraid of "a deep pothole or small crash".

[@rosomak8244]

@@maxmeier532 Yeah... you can supposedly weld aluminium. Good luck with finding out the actual alloy used on your bike and then checking if what the manufacturer declared matches with reality. And I wish you a lot of fun and entertainment trying to patch hydro formed tubes. BTW. The labor cost will relatively quickly exceed the cost of a new frame.

[@nerdrosh]

Find it crazy a bike with a Claris groupset can cost so much - considering you can get a Triban RC520 with (sort of) hydraulic discs, Shimano 105 and a carbon fork... for significantly less. Why would you buy this?! 😂

[@onegrapefruitlover]

There’s more to a bike than it’s groupset, though. I think it’s a really solid endurance road bike. Good tyre clearance for road, lightweight frame and relaxed geometry.

[@grdn33]

I would love to buy a new bike as I wanted to take my riding more seriously this year but I just can’t afford it. I settled for an older Soecialized Allez Sport off EBay for £200 and spent about £150 upgrading and general maintenance and it’s fantastic. Maybe this new ‘entry level’ pricing may push people like me the same way into 2nd hand. The RC520 is certainly great value for money though and might look to that kind of area for a new one in future

[@EMBIKES]

Carbon is still way more likely to be damaged than aluminum in a crash tho…

[@nicojar]

No, really not. That is one of the main reasons we make carbon bikes: they're more resistant. In a crash, aluminium is just the worst. That's why it's cheap: it's stiff everywhere the same way, it doesn't give so it snaps in a crash and no one can repair it. And it gets fatigued after 3 to 5 years. I've got a few carbon bikes, including one that's more than 11 years old, still stiff where needed (around the bottom bracket), still wonderful all around (vertically resilient in the seatstays). No, what you say is simply, factually wrong, sorry.

[@utube7930]

I've still ride my giant defy 2014 aluxx (aluminium) all winter every winter. I have broken 3 carbon 'summer' bikes in the intervening years

[@EMBIKES]

@@nicojar you understand that carbon is far more brittle than aluminum, and in a crash scenario with high impacts carbon is much more likely to be damaged. The scenario you described is a bike destroying crash, I’m talking smaller crashes are much more likely to damage carbon when your frame hits the asphalt

[@JCW86]

@@nicojar You don't want to ride a carbon bike if you crash it during a race, this is coming from someone who has owned and crashed 2 carbon bikes. It's not worth the worry and trouble inspecting every millimeter of the frame. There's a difference between a 45+ kph crash and dropping a bike or some other minor incident. I trust aluminum a lot more, and so does every friend that competes in racing. Most people don't have the cash lying around to replace a carbon bike either.

[@ulrichr.487]

It's not only a question of material. There are some very sensitive and brittle aluminium frames out there and some very sturdy carbon frames. I owned some very stiff and light frames from Principia in the early 2000s, made of aluminium, great frames, but got dents very fast, because the were very light, with extremly thinwalled tubes. One crash and they were done... Construction is the key, not only material .

[@johnschofield3586]

I bought an E5 Diverge last year. I guess that this has the same disk brakes - cable operated Tektro. They were terrible! Rim brakes would be better, particularly with some upgraded pads. I fitted chinese hydraulic / cable brakes, with a larger front disk and the bike was transformed. However this upgrade cost over £150 whereas a set of decent rim brake pads would be £25 or so.

[@todd92371]

Which Chinese hydraulic/cable brakes did you put on the bike?

[@johnschofield3586]

I bought the Juin Tech F1 Hydraulic Flat mount Road CX Disc Brake set, but needed to also buy a 180mm rotor for the front. So far I have only fitted the front one as the original back brake is good enough, whereas the front just didn't feel powerful enough.

[@StephanieHughesDesign]

I previously owned a Specialized Allez Sprint Cipollini model in AL w/ Zebra stripes. Great bike and it was super affordable then and seems to be now. I would buy again for sure.

[@mikeymike1792]

I know it was five years ago, but I got a new 105-equipped Cervelo R2 for £1700. Compare that to the price of an Allez now!

[@bee_whisper]

There should be a rim break bike tbh and cycling brands keep pushing for pricy bikes when the markets kinda saturated now

[@larisonjohnson]

During COVID I picked up a used Allez Comp E5 frameset for $200, used Easton EA90SL ($150), and used Ultegra 11 Speed group ($300). Bike is light, fast, and fun to ride. Would I buy a new entry model with lower specs and more weight?….No!!!! ROTFL But I’ll happily pick up more used bargains!!! Get those hands dirty!

[@fredbecker607]

I bought a bike with that setup just before covid (the plandemic hasn't change much of my behavior). It was fun but too big. I gave it to my son in law when I could buy a newer bike. He is much taller and can ride it.

[@Andy_ATB]

There are still a few old model Allez Elites online.....I'd be going for one of them rather than the new version.

[@flipper2gv]

Surprisingly, Specialized is the cheapest option in Canada in the range of Aluminium, Tiagra, Hydraulic brakes from the big brands. It's sold over here for 2300 CAD tax incl (which is ~1350 GBP).

[@marcgtsr]

The Tiagra one is 53% more expensive here in Brazil! congrats specialized!!! 53% more for hydraulic disc brakes!!!!!! Man, this thinks have to be magical. 53% for that and only that!

[@huntingsynth]

7kg Trek Emonda ALR with SRAM red rim brake and Aeolus XXX 60mm rims

[@TypicalGuy84]

Maybe off topic but I can't find a bike under $1000 USA, everything in that price range is sold out. Manufacturers need to stick with the lower price ranges. Most people don't want to spend more than $1500 imo

[@Zzyyxx22]

Vs a Specialized rockhopper mountain bike the Allez is very expensive in terms of what you get for your money.

[@richf.7845]

There’s no bike company that’s lost it’s way more than Specialized.

[@piotrkosewski8940]

Lost it's way in good or bad way? Because I read this as: they don't cater to traditional customers who want a bike like the one they had before. Specialized was never such a company. They've always been experimenting. And they had a massive impact on how bikes look today. Being perfectly honest, whenever I've looked for a bike for specific case in my life: tourism, commuting, fitness, road/gravel (I usually write down all bikes easily available where I live, compare details), a Specialized bikes came on top or not far behind. These are really good bikes. Designed for a customer, not an idea. It's the same story with accessories. Many brands just put their logo on random Chinese products. You end up with something really awful that you just want to throw away. Over the last 10 years or so I was using non-Spec bikes, but had Spec's gloves, shoes, saddles, tyres, handlebars, bags and even tools. They know what they're doing. :)

[@markdavidedwards]

@@piotrkosewski8940 no

[@maxgrass8134]

Mechanical disc brakes should be illegal. Even the good ones don’t get close to decent rim brakes!

[@blackflamesolutions526]

Sure, cheap carbon is as affordable now as good aluminium, but if you buy the whole carbon bike it will have a low level groupset (especially if it has disc brakes), whereas spend a similar amount on aluminium / rim brakes and you should get 105 / Centaur.

[@MerlinMan1579]

It amazes me to see how the big brands give the bird to the past 100 years of development by dropping Quick Release axles and Rim Brakes.

[@AndrewTSq]

Discbrakes ARE just a way to inflate prices. I mean a 105 brake caliper for discbrake cost more then to my car. That makes no sense, since the carpart needs to be regulated and fullfill various standards which the bikepart does not have to. There are even brake calipers for mopeds that cost $20 each, and they are much beefier than for a bike. Makes no sense that shimano takes $70 for their then. Brake lever for a motorcycle with hydraulic can $20... entry level shimano brake lever XT for my bike $60... ok....

[@izmael_kneafcy]

It took almost 10 mins to realise that the entry level Allez is mechanical disc and that it should be a rim brake bike. “I’m disappointed.”

[@pureblood5903]

Who worries over the ecological aspects for a bicycle? There is no way cheap carbon is better, stiffer or lighter than aluminum. Claris and Tektro mechanical brakes make it entry level, not the price.

[@rosomak8244]

I can attest to the contrary. You know: people buy them and compare. BTW> I did buy it because the stiffness of aluminium is what is making the ride harsh.

[@pureblood5903]

@@rosomak8244 What was the seat tube angle? Today's geometries are terrible. How was it fit?

[@JakeMartin-qi1by]

Remember our Cervelo S1's. Sick.

[@TieuBachBach]

I got my aluminium bike with 105 groupset for 750$ and my bike at 8.5kg. This one is poor setup and too heavy for that price 😊.

[@BRMCaptChaos]

We need more cyclists, this pricing is now becoming a barrier to entry. Claris and cable discs for £1k+ 😅😂😂 Disc brakes on road bikes suck.

[@JoshuaTootell]

And a new rider is going to know the difference between Claris and Ultegra and mechanical vs hydraulic?

[@derekhobbs1102]

Where did this extra channel come from?

[@MrInvolved11]

I got my wife an allez rim brake with 105 for £1000 back in 2021

[@markanderson7412]

Nice one lads 👍 who’s Zach? the ferns will grow haha But ‘a new bike’ to market What company is producing new rim wheels brakes systems?

[@ralphmartinez8616]

Don’t be fooled. I repaired my damaged down tube in my canyon ultimate rim brake and it was 1k$ ?!?! It’s not cheap. Almost better to buy new frame for 1400$

[@aragorn318]

The older Allez tires and wheels were much lighter and faster on pavement.

[@jb6879]

mechanical disc brakes make me sad. I had a Lemond Poprad years ago and it was a great bike other than the mechanical disc brakes which i was always having to adjust or mess with.

[@New-ye2fl]

1100 and getting Claris, aye so I will, get a triban with sora for 600

[@WhoCares-wo2oc]

You guys should test a polygon

[@therealSIRBOOM]

Specialized: specialists in overcharging.

[@DaveNoakes]

love these!!

[@rosomak8244]

You forgot guys. There exists a material which is even worser than aluminium for racing. It has basically the same properties for a multiple of the price. Titanium!

[@daveronz]

I know I wouldn't buy cheap carbon, like complete Chinese brand carbon frame. You will struggle with any warranty claims + aliexpress quality carbon handlebars crack like eggs, which shows that carbon can be and still is manufactured poorly.

[@craigrichardson-smith2534]

Are your laptops actually on?

[@deanrickvalsky7586]

Consumers, even newbies, no longer want rim brakes. That’s all there is to it.

[@noodles0101]

it is over 10kg

[@andyhodge9703]

They charge it ,you buy it , they'll charge it again. Consumer power is the most under used resource . Buy second hand .

[@rosomak8244]

There is another way out: go chineese and stop paying through your nose only for fancy decals and marketing departments.

[@marcgtsr]

If you crash an aluminium you will look at it and know if you can ride, with carbon you X ray it? Really, do you thing is a good material for a crit?

[@rosomak8244]

You can knock test it.

[@byc1013]

£1000 for CLARIS. good god.

[@sleepdeprived9181]

Thought they said Specialized LA. Thought WTF was that.

[@worldofameiso5491]

Why would you bother spending £1100 on a new bike? There are so many great second hand bikes for sale for a lot less than that.

[@hcw199]

Exactly... Especially as cycling is exercise and a lot of people will buy new bikes thinking they are gonna ride them. They might ride up one hill and get sore legs and never use it again. I bought a 2022 Giant Contend with 105 for £385. Looks new.

[@kool_thing]

Agreed. My brother bought a lovely CAAD12 with Shimano Ultegra for $700. Amazing value.

[@New-ye2fl]

Because I’d rather own something from new than second hand tbh

[@worldofameiso5491]

@@New-ye2fl And that is your prerogative.

[@New-ye2fl]

@@worldofameiso5491 I know, I’m just answering the question you asked.

[@GAINtalksAboutS]

The brand that is all about inclusion hahaha god damnit this brand is such a joke nowadays. Throw more money at influencers and make your bikes less affordable thats the right choice for sure.

[@matthiaswarlop2316]

what are you complaining about? they just added a model, if you rather have rim brakes on the allez, buy the rim brake version for 100 less

[@brettbaker3991]

They haven’t just added another model, it’s a whole new line of updated bikes and the rim brake model has been removed. The rim brake models still on sale will eventually get phased out within the next year or less

[@markwells8798]

Aluminum doesn't crack as easily as these pathetic (plastic) carbon fiber frames 😂

[@AndysAverageAdventures]

Get Ti bikes.

[@tmayberry7559]

If I were going disc brakes I would go mechanical center lock disc all the way

[@brandonk2606]

Why would you want mechanical disc? They kind of suck, you’d be better off going for rim brake and saving the weight. For discs - hydraulic all day

[@tmayberry7559]

@@brandonk2606 rim brakes yes indeed. Why mechanical simplicity of maintenance and might I add easier to switch between road and mountain levers at least that what I've read

[@bennetthasty7886]

Disc break only makes sense in this century 😂❤🎉

[@danielhertercasagrande1686]

For me totally useless

[@YuichiTamaki]

Cheap mechanical disc brakes should be banned. Give a bad name to discs.

[@jamesmckenzie3532]

Specialized has been making disc brake bikes for a decade. It makes sense to go to disc only now.

[@Tilemason1]

Made me laugh that you're surprised that HELLFORDS setup was wanked off🤣😂😀🤏

[@Andy-co6pn]

Nuts that they attach a premium to hydraulic disc brakes on a road bike.. you can buy a decent Trek aluminum mtb with a suspension fork, 1x12 gruppo and hydraulic brakes for around £1100. Where is the money going in a road bike of equivalent spec ?

[@JCW86]

I'd rather buy a good quality aluminum bike from a reputable bike shop than a cheap carbon chinese frame.

[@JCW86]

@Charles Man What happens if there's an issue with one of those frames and the company who sold it to you doesn't stand by their product? I've had friends who have bought Chinese frames that were absolute trash and the company basically stole their money. It's not worth it IMO to buy from a faceless company that's thousands of miles away from you. If you buy local you can actually physically get assistance or exchange or return if you need to, and not get scammed. I don't know any serious racers who ride Chinese bikes.

[@BrianRPaterson]

@Charles Man It's a tough call because you don't know what you are getting, and customer service from Chinese firms is extremely variable. That's exactly why Joe from China Cycling is launching Panda Podium. I expect the prices will be higher than going direct, but it might be worth it for the peace of mind in case you have a problem. It'll be interesting to see how that goes. Either way, I''d rather have alloy (Alu or Ti) than a carbon frame, but that's a personal preference. And disc brakes please. I like being able to stop when it rains. Cheers

[@BrianRPaterson]

@Charles Man I find that discs stop my bikes pretty quickly and very reliably no matter how heavy the rain. I can't say the same about rim brakes on road bikes or MTBs. The one exception is Magura hydraulic rim brakes. Adjusted property and with decent pads, they work an awful lot better in the wet than regular rim brakes. There is still a bit of a lag, but they’ll slow you down. And they aren’t noisy. But you need a frameset with canti-posts to fit them. I have Magura’s on a CAAD3 cross bike I use as a road/gravel machine. It’s 20 years old, and a bit of a heavyweight (12Kg) compared to modern bikes, but it’s got clearance for 35mm tires so it’s a good ride. But, if I was buying a new bike today, I’d pick one that can take discs. Resin or Organic pads wear out faster, but they are much quieter than the Sintered or Metallic ones. Cheers

[@maxmeier532]

@Charles Man it is general consensus that hydraulic disc brakes are way superior in wet conditions, compared to basically anything else available on the market.

[@JoshuaTootell]

I have a Chinese carbon frame bike. It is totally fine. I don't see myself buying another one. At least this one I didn't buy direct, so I had a chance to interact with it first. Something is seriously wrong with your brakes ​@charlesmansplaining