If you’ve ever stumbled on to one of your favorited brands’ international sites, you’ve probably noticed that the bikes look a little different. Often times there are spec changes to represent what’s popular in each given country, but sometimes there are color differences as well. Depending on your preferences, that may leave you wondering why you can’t get that certain color at home.
That was the case recently as a reader picked up on a few Specialized Allez models that were provided in our photo pack from the recent launch that weren’t on the U.S. website.
The reader asked, “Hello and thank you for the June overview of the Specialized Allez. I noticed in the pictures of the different Allez models and color options there were a few that I could not find on the Specialized website (like the radioactive yellow, and the blue/white with yellow decals). Are these country specific or do you know if specialized will roll these out in the US as well? Thanks again for the review and having a great site!”
To get the answer, we reached out to Specialized’ Global PR manager, Sean Estes who replied,”Hey, so your reader is correct; those colorways were not picked up in the USA. What you see on our website is what is available in USA.”
That got us wondering, just how does a brand like Specialized determine which color ways are destined for the U.S., vs globally? Are there noticeably different color trends based on countries? Or is there more to the equation?
Sean went on to clarify that, “Each market/country chooses color ways based on what they feel is most likely to resonate with riders in that region. Usually feedback is gathered from field reps, retailers, rider insights, etc. Bear in mind that sometimes tough decisions have to be made such as keeping the overall number of SKUs in check or picking the one color that will likely sell best overall. Unfortunately, there are lots of factors to consider aside from just ‘hey, that’s a cool color!'”
So while there may not be an official formula to what colors are chosen for what countries, there are a lot of factors that go into the decision. Ultimately, the safest colors are a sure thing for retailers and more polarizing options like super bright, flashy paint schemes are a little more risky in terms of sell through, so you may or may not see those in your region.
