Blacked Out Limited Edition Specialized Tarmac SL4 Coming in May – New SRAM Red, Zipp Wheels

Oh quit your hating. That thing is pure sex and you know it.

If you had my personal experience with that company, you’d hate too. Nice looking bike, sure, but it’s nothing that any other company in the industry hasn’t offered already. Let’s be honest, Specialized has built their brand around creating fan-boys who wan to ride carbon billboards. Good for them. Now they are flipping the script and following a design initiative that was started by the boutique companies and custom builders.

The Roubaix tagline goes something like, “Nothing is smoother and faster?”

The Tarmac is, “Nothing is lighter and stiffer.”

What’s the tagline for this going to be? “Nothing is stiffer and blacker?”

Wilt Chamberlain might argue that.

Hungry4Shht for president

Dude speaks the truth

haterz gonna hate

as stated above, it’s actually kind of a steal at that price…

You haters are more Bozo’s than anything else! Specialized has fantastic support for local grass roots racers! They have helped out our Team for the past 5 years! Maybe if you guys spent more time riding, racing & spreading the good word, someone my support you!

John, talk to anyone in the biking industry….profit margin on bikes is low, especially on high-end bikes.
They make most of their profit on volume sales of their lower tier bikes. Second, material cost has gone up (way up), as well as labor cost overseas.

That’s the best looking Specialized since Ned’s M2 w/ Duralcan red / yellow paint.

Hey Hungry, what bike do you ride? What color is it? Does it have a brand on it that you feel proud to be affiliated with? If so, why? I am curious what our savior of cycling rolls on and how it compares to this bike.

You actually nailed it with your first post. They don’t claim it to be any advancement, only a limited edition color scheme with a few cool components, and what’s wrong with that? Are you upset about the price? Everything is is pointless BS. You’d be about as successful in a presidential campaign as Sarah Palin…

There is more that goes into the price of a frame than manufacturing cost… So what does landed cost have to do with anything? Unless you ride a TIME, your carbon frame is built in the same region and costs a similar amount to build by delicate Asian hands. You must ride a steel bike that you had custom built by a builder in your town who you have a good relationship with that sources his steel from the local mill. How ethical of you. .

I think these guys think all companies pay to make a bike is whatever the materials cost them for the frame. That is the easiest part. All the research and development that goes into even the smallest things like a stem is enough to start setting the price point of a bike way higher than just 9k. If you knew the figures of how much a mold of only a helmet costs, I think your view on the subject would change. You try spending literally millions a year on only molds alone and than tell us your going to sell that bike for only $2,500. Not only that but the price of patents so that something like an updated linkage is covered. These bikes and the equipment or tested and proven and I know that for a fact and no matter what Wikipedia quote you use as a counter-argument, it doesn’t change the fact that the cost of a bike is most certainly not just materials of a frame. Sure these guys are making some money out of it, but you are doing the same thing at your 9-5pm job. Doing hopefully the best work you can do, hoping to not only do a good job but make a good living off of it. I doubt you would spend your life savings on charities with no chance of seeing that money again just so people could have great bikes for nothing. Also the price of living to have people living in Taiwan, just to oversee every product. In that respect, bikes are cheap.

@Fred

I have no problems with Asian bikes, all of my carbon frames, with the exception of my steel mountain bike are from Asia. So, it’s not a geographic biased argument whatsoever. If you actually read my posts, you would know that. In fact, I work with a lot of these Asian manufacturers, they are the best when it comes to carbon. Period. Most of what I’ve said has been very tongue in cheek until people started throwing the “hater” term around or making claims that weren’t rooted in truth, only influenced by marketing lingo.

Personal tidbit, I work in the bicycling industry, in fact in the marketing and product development fields. I appreciate good marketing. Specialized is one of the best. Point being this article and the wake of comments that have followed.

I happen to have several problems with Specialized as a business, not just the prices or the branding. Some things they did to friends and acquaintances were just raw. People that worked for them or sold their products at the dealer level. If you have been in the business as long as I have or knew the personal side behind the business, your feelings might change too. That being said, most businesses have their skeletons, in the bike industry or not. Live in Northern California long enough and you’re bound to hear the stories. At first, you think it’s just disgruntled former employees, but you see it too often to be coincidental.

Fact is, Specialized makes some of the best products around. I just don’t see why their name garners a higher cost than any other carbon racing bike. Notice I didn’t say “high-end” because too many people think high-end is congruent to high-price. There are plenty of bikes around that perform just as well if not better than any of their products, for a thousand or two less. And I can say that because of my “privileged” position in the industry because I have ridden most of these bikes. In fact, I’ve ridden every iteration of the Tarmac.

My spite gets the best of me in the early mornings when I make my rounds on the web sites. If you love the brand, by all means, love it. As long as you’re supporting the industry and the IBD I am a happy camper because you are supporting cycling. I’ll try to keep my opinions to myself, or better yet, you can actually read my posts and not derive off the wall claims about ethics and delicate Asian hands because what I had to say about Merida having majority shares of Specialized had nothing to do with bashing Asian manufacturing, Fred. Don’t assume.

Oh, and by the way, I had a Time. Great f****** bike.

It’s all love. Because we all ride. World peace and chain grease.

Hungry, I don’t work for Specialized or race in any form. But thanks for assuming.

brave haters on the internet who seem to be upset becuase they are a competing manufacturer. lol.
proabbly one of the companies that specialized dominates in testing or something.
thing look sgood in all black, and it’s not the first time they’ve done it. nor are they claiming it. not sure what the hate is for. tubulars aren’t my bag though. sold specialized for years, very nice comapny to deal with, as long as you stand behind them in return. and they support the ibd unlike other bike companies like santa cruz that sell thier bikes on chain love for less than dealer cost.

keep it going specialized!

All you guys talking crap about this bike are just pissed because you cant have one. I got this bike last week and is the best bike I’ve ever ridden. Mine has the zipp stickers on the wheels though which I think looks better.