The Ledger
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Specialized Founder: Future of EV mobility is two-wheeled bicycles, not cars
“More and more, I see the activity of cycling, the whole mobility, the EV of the future is the two-wheel bike. Not the 8000 pound vehicle. I see that that's the future.”
Selling low-cost bikes in a commoditized market diluted the Specialized brand
“When you get into those things of just offering something in the Red Sea, a commodity, you can never be low enough, and it also diluted what the brand specialized was, so that was a big mistake.”
Specialized founder: Long-term outlook for cycling is more positive than ever
“I think it's a natural adjustment, and at the same time, the long-term outlook for writing is more positive than ever.”
Sinyard: No production touring bikes existed when Specialized began making bicycles
“At that time, touring bikes were very, very big, and there was custom bikes being made that were appropriate for this, but there was no production bike.”
Sinyard: Specialized Supplied Parts to Early Mountain Bike Pioneers
“So there were a few makers around, and at that time, because I imported the different parts, the frame tubing, and brakes, and that, so I supplied all of them, a number of parts.”
Sinyard: Bike Shops Initially Rejected Specialized Mountain Bikes as BMX
“When the first bikes came out, the first ones that we made, most of the stores said, well, Mike, what are you doing with the big kids BMX bikes? We don't want that at all. We are only interested in selling serious adult bikes.”
Sinyard: Specialized Sold 500 Stumpjumpers in 1981 Amid Skepticism
“We sold 500 the first year, but it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy, and the sales were not, it was slow, and people were very skeptical.”
Sinyard: Specialized Moved Upmarket to Avoid Volume Competition
“A lot of people came in, and then at that point, I thought, you know what, we don't have the money to compete with all these volume guys. Let's just move up and make better and better bikes.”
Sinyard: Specialized reached roughly $60 million in annual revenue in the 1990s
“I think in the nineties, it was probably sixty million or something.”
Specialized Founder: Company Reached Negative Net Worth Around 2000
“Well, we had a negative net worth.”
Sinyard: Specialized Bank Transferred Company to Workout and Bankruptcy Division
“We had got into such a trouble, we were in the workout group of the bank. That's when the bank transferred me to kind of the bankruptcy group, and they make you report the information every day.”
Sinyard: Merida's Ownership Stake in Specialized Was Reduced to Roughly One-Third
“We took that investment from Merida at that time, and they were a good, trusted partner as far as a manufacturer, and they made that investment in us, and, you know, since that time we bought down that investment, and so now they're a minority, more like a thi…”
Quality European bikes were scarce in the US in the early 1970s
“What I discovered as I started getting into bikes, there was like the basic bikes that were made in America, you know, swim bikes and other things that were not very inspirational. And then there were bikes from Europe that were to dream about. And there weren…”