Specialized Technology Dominates Tour

July 26, 2010 Morgan Hill, CA Every bike company dreams of winning the Tour de France: Specialized realized its dream and took it one step further, with Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck riding their Specialized bikes1-2 finish Sunday in Paris. This was the first-ever Maillot Jaune for the California company.
Of course there was also a wide array of Specialized equipment in the peleton, with riders on two teams sporting their brand new Prevail helmets, including grenn jersey winner Alessoandro Petacchi, and amy others using their shoes, saddles and various other accessories.

After many years of sponsoring Pro Tour teams, founder and owner Mike Sinyard was exuberant about the success of the teams (Astana and Saxo Bank) and riders with whom he's worked so closely for research and development on these bikes and equipment. He's also pretty psyched for the company!

"Winning the tour is a dream for us that has taken 36 years to come true" Sinyard said. 'It's clear example of successfully following our founding principle to focus on the riders need for technologically advanced products that provide true performance benefits".
With technology playing a bigger part in pro cycling every year, Specialized worked hand-in hand with the pros to dial in the perfect combination of ride feel and efficiency, resulting in the fastest, best-forming, most comfortable bikes possible. And unlike most companies who provide road and TT bikes, Specialized developed three different race-ready bikes for the event, specific to the ride experience of the day: Tarmac SL3 for road stages, Shiv for time trials, Roubaix SL3 for cobbleston- heavy stage 3.


The results speak for themselves:along with the overall podiums, Specialized enjoyed 5 individual stage wins, including two on the Shiv and three on a tarmac. The Shiv's unequalled combination of wind sclicing aerodynamics and road-bike handling allowed Fabian Cancellara to blow away the field in the race's two time trials.


The Tarmac, with its industry leading stiffness to weight ratio and race-proven geometry, helped propel Schleck and Alexandre Vinokourov to three dominant victories in the mountains.


Perhaps the biggest story, though, was the 2011 Roubaix SL3. After its early success this spring with the win at Paris-Roubaix, the riders appreciated its benefits over the cobblestones of stage 3.
"I not going to lose any sleep over Sateg 3" Contador said before the race. "The new bike(Roubaix SL3) Specialized has provided for me will be crucial"


Proving again that "smoother is faster", the Roubaix helped Contador and Schleck float over the brutal roads, gaining valuable time over their main rivals, and laying the groundwork for their eventual head to head battle for overall title.

In the gritty, down to the finish battle for the sprinter's green jersey, Petacchi put the Prevail helmet to the ultimate test....it passed with flying (green) colours! The best complete performance helmet proved its excellence in aerodynamics, fit, cooling-and of course protection-over three weeks of torturous conditions, from wind to heat to brutal, high speed crashes. And it always looked sleek and stylish-especially in full green on the Champs Elysees.


Top all that off with professional BG Fits and our sponsored athletes were able to push themselves beyond their limits, only to come back even stronger the next stage.




Sourced: Matt O'Connor, Specialized Australia.

A Rainy Saturday Morning Ride

The Eager Mountain Bikers on Saturday

Well it was overcast and the threat of rain was there but that did not  stop a bunch of mountain bikers going out and having some fun. Last Saturday our morning ride was full of adventurous people willing to enjoy the local bush even if it meant getting wet. The group was big enough to break up into 3 sub groups: the fast and furious, intermediate and the easy.

The Easy group out on our ride.

Proud Mum and Keely

I went on the easy ride with Keely, my 6 year old and we both had lots of fun. There was a good mix of riders with kids and their mums, adults who wanted to take it a little easy and Jim, our oldest rider, at 80, all riding the tracks in Wooroi. Lester did a great job leading, helping us to explore with enough fire roads and down hills to keep everyone entertained. I was amazed and proud of Keely climbing the hills and riding straight through the mud puddles, picking the good lines and trying everything. By the time we got back to Noosa Outlook we had done 9.5kms and let me tell you, the chocolate muffin she got was well deserved. All five of the kids (3 girls and 2 boys- girls rule) had a great time, challenging themselves with the tracks around the old quarry and some fast fire road downhills.It's a great way to get the family out, have fun and get fit while meeting new people and getting to know your local natural environment.

The Hovea on weetie Bix.

There are some beautiful native shrubs flowering at the moment which brings some great colours to the bush landscape. I have included a photo of the track, weetie bix with the native shrub Hovea. I was riding the track one morning to work and just had to stop to take it in. I love to ride this track fast but sometimes it good to stop and smell the hovea!!! 
If this sounded like fun or if  you are interested in more information about our Saturday ride or have any questions then give the shop a call or drop us an email, we would love to hear from you.
Yours in Cycling,
Mel Long

The Sunshine Coast New Specialized Dealer

We are proud to announce that Cognition has just taken on Specialized. Currently Greg Pott, co-owner of Cognition is test riding these awesome bikes in Keystone, Colorado. He took up the invitation by Specialized to go over and have an great experience riding and learning about the new 2011 range of bikes and accessories while enjoying the Northern hemisphere summer. For our local customers make sure in you come in next week and check out the photos and stories from Greg.
We now have some early release models of the 2011 range in store, so come in and check them out.