The Big S

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by scan, Apr 20, 2018.


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  1. siata94

    siata94 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    lake forest
    Name:
    siata
    Current Bike:
    lazy goat
    Did you brand the new cultists near saddle?
     
  2. rossage

    rossage iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    East Sacramento
    Name:
    Ross Lawson
    Current Bike:
    Highball
    I tain't allowed to tell you where the big red S goes.
     
    Grassblade23, herzalot, Mikie and 2 others like this.
  3. mtnbikej

    mtnbikej J-Zilla

    Location:
    Orange
    Name:
    J
    Current Bike:
    SC Chameleon SS, SC Hightower
    Phew......good thing I was riding them in 2000 before they became the juggernaut they have become.
     
  4. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    I have decided not to dislike any brand anymore. What’s the point? Like politics you ain’t gonna change folks. In fact, I’m going to get a Huffy!
     
  5. scan

    scan iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    fran allas
    Current Bike:
    Scott Spark
    But you don't just slap together these....a 3D printing lab, a CT scanning lab,

    Yeah don't like that they don't play well with their neighbors!

    Yet I think the Brain technology was very original (some of you may have had anywhere from great to so so performance from it) . Their design and making their bikes light e.g. epic S works, and even the new stumpjumper frame design looks original , and if you believe their numbers, 20% stiffer.

    Kinda re hashing what others have said, although I admire their "engineering" and innovation.
     
    Cyclotourist, Mikie and LLPoolJ like this.
  6. LLPoolJ

    LLPoolJ iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Moreno Valley
    Name:
    James Johnson
    Current Bike:
    Specy Epic, Stumpu and Enduro
    I hope there is no sarcasm in this statement. I have been purging negativity from my life little by little. Life is becoming better by the minute.
     
  7. Mikie

    Mikie Admin/iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    NW Arkansas
    Name:
    Mikie Watson
    Current Bike:
    Ibis DV9 / SC Hightower
    Nope! No sarcasm what so ever. I meant it.
     
  8. LLPoolJ

    LLPoolJ iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    Moreno Valley
    Name:
    James Johnson
    Current Bike:
    Specy Epic, Stumpu and Enduro
    Me likie Mikie
     
    Mikie, rossage and Cyclotourist like this.
  9. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    I was gonna write something negative about being negative to be ironic, but I'll just say..... cool.

    So is all critical commentary tantamount to negativity?
     
  10. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    Didn't the Big S get sued once for using the name "Carve" on a hardtail frame and subsequently, they changed it to "Crave"?
     
  11. rossage

    rossage iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    East Sacramento
    Name:
    Ross Lawson
    Current Bike:
    Highball
    Shhhhhhh! Don't dilute the hater narrative. It works best when it is a one-sided argument...so sue me.
     
    DangerDirtyD, Faust29, Mikie and 3 others like this.
  12. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    Oh, I wasn't done yet...

    Next, it's Santa Cruz bikes. If you recall, they had to change a frame name as well (from SOLO to 5010).

    My point is, nobody is perfect. :p
     
  13. Runs with Scissors

    Runs with Scissors iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    West Anaheim
    Name:
    Mark Whitaker
    Current Bike:
    Giant XTC with pedals
    SC got sued by the Big Red Cup??:x3:
     
    DangerDirtyD, herzalot, tick and 3 others like this.
  14. Cyclotourist

    Cyclotourist iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Redlands
    Name:
    David
    Current Bike:
    Don't fence me in!
    8e856101013ea2f5b6f4c2d7f4d4a875.jpg
     
  15. doublewide

    doublewide iMTB Rockstah

    Name:
    Mark
    Current Bike:
    Santa Cruz Tallcan
    Beer Pong Solo??
     
  16. jimbowho

    jimbowho Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Podunk KS
    Name:
    james jim jimmy
    Current Bike:
    GT sensor
    Didn't you recently get a Rat-Rod bike with warranty? We still want the rr on that bike! "first things first"
     
    DangerDirtyD, Mikie, Faust29 and 2 others like this.
  17. siata94

    siata94 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    lake forest
    Name:
    siata
    Current Bike:
    lazy goat
    the big red S stands for Smallville, right?
     
    Mikie, SnakeCharmer and rossage like this.
  18. Cyclotourist

    Cyclotourist iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Redlands
    Name:
    David
    Current Bike:
    Don't fence me in!
    Hope!
     
    Mikie likes this.
  19. Rumpled

    Rumpled Well-Known Member

    Location:
    OC
    Name:
    Jim Martin
    Current Bike:
    2018 Specialized Epic Carbon C
    Pretty sure that she is Han Solo Red Cup; would be a good one for Jeopardy
     
    Mikie, doublewide and Cyclotourist like this.
  20. HBkites

    HBkites Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Huntington Beach
    Name:
    Sharone
    Current Bike:
    Why S7, Revel Rascal, Spark RC

    There is more to R&D then winning DH races.
    DH bikes are a very small niche of the overall bike industry.

    They are a big company that funnels their R&D $ to many different aspects of biking. On the XC side of it, Specialised has a very strong podium present (along with Scott).
    Most companies are not Black or White. I mostly see different shades of Gray.


    I don't own a Specialized and have no plans on getting one either.
     
    DangerDirtyD, Mikie, LLPoolJ and 4 others like this.
  21. Runs with Scissors

    Runs with Scissors iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    West Anaheim
    Name:
    Mark Whitaker
    Current Bike:
    Giant XTC with pedals
    Han's disreputable kid brother.
     
    Mikie, Rumpled, doublewide and 2 others like this.
  22. Cyclotourist

    Cyclotourist iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Redlands
    Name:
    David
    Current Bike:
    Don't fence me in!
    Han's beer-loving sister!
     
  23. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    My point was not about a DH bike, but you highlighted something very important - DH bikes are a very small niche of the industry - so they truly weren't trying to make a design to sell a billion bikes. They wanted to win some races. The profit motive wasn't driving the R and D.

    My point was that such boots-on-the-ground, intimate R and D between a company owner/welder/engineer and a top rider is aimed solely at putting out a great bike for a great purpose, and not just some clinical R and D to find the next gimmick or claim to market and sell. The promo piece that kicked off this thread was slurping the corporate cocktail pretty hard.

    And yes, Specialized has a huge presence in road racing and XC. Yay!
     
  24. evdog

    evdog iMTB Rockstah

    Location:
    San diego
    Name:
    Evan S
    That seems to be the MTBR specialty.
     
  25. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    Getting sued is not the same as suing... Just saying.
     
  26. SnakeCharmer

    SnakeCharmer iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Front Range, San Gabes
    Name:
    Mike, aka "Ssnake"
    Current Bike:
    YT Izzo
    My point was, what comes around, goes around. It's not necessarily a "one way street" all the time for the "Big S".
     
    Mikie, Grassblade23 and Cyclotourist like this.
  27. Grassblade23

    Grassblade23 Member

    Location:
    Fullerton
    Name:
    Dan
    Current Bike:
    Surly Karate Monkey
    I was a Specialized fan boy way back in the 80s. They made neat gloves and other parts. My first mtb was a GT Hybrid, (Not a hybrid in the sense of a 700c flat bar bike, but a MTBMX.) Essentially, a GT 24" BMX cruiser with a rear derailleur. It was 1x6 and I loved it. My first "real" mtb came a couple years later, an 88 0r 89 Stumpjumper with some weird Ritchey parts that had been S branded. The previous owner put a Marzocchi XC300 suspension fork on it. As I grew up and life got in the way, I got into and out of BMX freestyle and MTB over the years. I owned a few other GTs and Specs, and until Rich Long died and GT was sold to Pacific, (turning them into PRC-made garbage,) I had a positive image of both brands. My esteem for Spec faded as they abandoned US and ROC manufacture for the PRC. Then came the lawsuits.

    When I got back into cycling for good about a decade ago, (And mtb in 2014,) Spec had pretty solidly sullied their image in my mind with sub par bikes, (The ones I experienced,) and dubious behavior, (Litigiousness, their move to chain stores and overnight abandonment of faithful dealers.)

    But most of the brands I liked in the 80s and 90s changed or went away. Yeti makes good stuff, but they are nothing like the company that made the Ultimate. Who knows what happened to Klein? Trek was kind of the New Balance of bikes, but they quit making stuff in the US, started gobbling up and neutering other brands, and they Sh!t all over one of my bike heroes, (LeMond.) GT makes some rideable stuff now, but they still seem very Huffy-esque. Mongoose preceded GT to shitheap. Giant went from a company that made bikes only slightly better than department store to actual quality that I would ride. When Schwinn was gobbled up by the borg-like Pacific, Giant stepped in and saved a LOT of LBS' (But the Maestro/Weagle thing sullied their image.) Cannondale is still a weird company with good stuff that is more complicated that it needs to be, but they quit welding alloy frames, (And grinding the welds smooth to mimic filet brazing,) in New England. Salsa went from being a quirky framebuilder to being QBP's house brand, (Though I love their products.) A lot of the small companies making trick anodized parts went out of business or got purchased and turned into something else. A guy I associated with a skateboarding company got into mountain biking, called his company the same name, and now they are the predominate brand of Brohs across the state. They got sold to PON, and somehow in spite of forecasts of doom, Santa Cruz is still making good stuff. (Their shift to 100% PRC production means I won't buy one, but they make excellent bikes.)

    I guess the point of this long ramble is that things change. Some of us remember how a company behaves and will choose a bike based on factors other than pure performance features, and others don't. I don't look down on people who just pick a bike because they like that bike. As several riders on this forum evidence, SC riders aren't all flat bill wearing, trail-roosting, douchebrohs; and people who ride Specs often don't fit the stereotype of angry, self absorbed, Stravasshole, dentists.

    My loathing for big S has faded. I would ride one, but I doubt I would buy one. I was fortunate enough to get a hand-me-down Horst bike, (My Chumba) and while I love it, I can't imagine paying money for another Horst bike. They have some neat "innovations" (For lack of a better word) Their bikes are definitely good and sometimes quite pretty, but they just aren't for me.
     
    Mikie, tick, HBkites and 5 others like this.
  28. herzalot

    herzalot iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Laguna Beach
    Name:
    Chris
    Current Bike:
    2020 Revel Rail,Yeti SB 130 LR
    For the record, my criticism is about the company. Not the bikes, nor those who ride them. I've never heard nor seen those stereotypes of Santa Cruz or Specialized riders mentioned by @Grassblade23 and would never stereotype a rider based on a brand of bike.

    I prefer to stereotype riders based on the number of gears on their bike. ;)
     
  29. tortoise

    tortoise Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Cave Creek, AZ
    Name:
    Tom
    Way ahead of their time...

    20180930_194033.jpg
     
    UPSed, Mikie, rossage and 2 others like this.
  30. Cyclotourist

    Cyclotourist iMTB Hooligan

    Location:
    Redlands
    Name:
    David
    Current Bike:
    Don't fence me in!
    He liked fat tubes as well:

    file.php?id=176441.jpg

    Can you spot what's wrong on that bike?
     
    herzalot, Grego and rossage like this.


As a former Amazon Associate I continue to get screwed trying to stay qualified as an Amazon Affiliate. So I quit!


Want to donate to imtbtrails?