Somebody at Specialized's PR dept has a sense of humour!"Specialized Demo 8known for its ......... killer good looks"
Somebody at Specialized's PR dept has a sense of humour!"Specialized Demo 8known for its ......... killer good looks"
I was told today that the actual race kit was not yet ready and it would be a month or 2 before any photos were available to the public/media.More bike info from http://bikemag.com/features/onlineexclusive/team-news-sam-hill-and-brendan-faircloughs-new-ride/
Hill and Fairclough will both be aboard Specialized Demo Eights, with custom geometry per each rider's preference, for the 2009 season. The bikes will be kept stock except for Hill's, as he is on the SRAM Black Box program.
Uniforms?
Figured those were stand-in jerseys.I was told today that the actual race kit was not yet ready and it would be a month or 2 before any photos were available to the public/media.
Those are stock TLD jerseys, the golf shirt deals are the Monster Army moto pit shirts with added graphics I believe.
hahaha...Specialized's MTB Sports Marketing Manager Scott Sharples can't wait to get started with the new team and bring some much-needed focus back to gravity racing.
"Sam and Brendan are brilliant riders with great track records. They are a perfect match for the Specialized suspension engineering team and their top-notch innovative bikes," Sharples said. "Sam has a reputation for pushing his bike to the limit and ripping up the most demanding track like nobody else. Lucky for us, he's chosen the Specialized Demo as his weapon to win back World Championship status. With Brendan also on-board, ready to regain the podium for himself, this will be an awesome combo deal."
Everybodys doing it. Its a hit.What's with the marketing photos being taken in some little hotel room/apartment with a point and shoot???
They look like some myspace fan photos taken with a phone.
you laugh at the "Sam Hill chose the Demo as his weapon" bit, but he tested dozens of frames up at Bromont this summer between Worlds and the Ste. anne World Cup. He was pretty quiet about his impressions, and was rarely seen on a test bike (usually Sean was on it in line or when people were looking), but that didn't keep some of his comments from leaking out. Word on the street back in July was that he really liked the feel of the Demo (and the Sunn, but thought the Orange made too much noise). And while Specialized surely helped sweetened the deal, i don't doubt his initial impressions helped him make a decision; he probably could have ridden any bike he wanted and tested just about as many.hahaha...
The article said they would get custom geometry. Besides looks I don't see the problem besides looks is secondary. I think he made a great choice signing up with one of the really big companies and with Scott Sharples on in marketing Specialized he also has somebody who really understands down hill.The demo is a solid bike, its light, the geo is not that bad and the FSR Suspension works good too - but it looks s*** imo.
Good Luck to the boys though, they both had not their best season.
Actually i know that at least Herndon, if not Bangert were running some prototype Specialized tires at the Snowshoe DH series this year, rode up the lift with them once and they were talking about which they prefered, names were 1 and 2 haha. Herndon said he had been running the exact same set for all 3 races!I'm assuming it's the same program as the past few years. Specialized just supplies the frames and a bunch of other sponsors do the rest (Hill was on Maxxis tires at the Aussie national a few weeks back). Monster/IH worked this way, as did Decline/Specialized, Santa Cruz Syndicate, Chain Reaction/Intense . . . you get the idea.
I'm sure there are plenty of details yet to be released.
Is that Scot Sharples the Australian DH coach?"Specialized's MTB Sports Marketing Manager Scott Sharples"
We'll I never heard that before? Scotty gonna be managin' the race team? Sam would be stoked to be working with him again on a more full-time basis.
Yup - look at the Tarmac SL2 and the Roubaix SL2 that Boonen helped them pen down. I didn't like the Roubaix, but don't know that a road bike gets nicer than the Tarmac for a competitive feel.I am sure specialized will use all of its racers to help perfect its products behind the scenes. They woudl be silly not to. Whether they race on them or not is another matter entirely. Sponsorships help foot the bills, not just provide product.
The article said they would get custom geometry. Besides looks I don't see the problem besides looks is secondary. I think he made a great choice signing up with one of the really big companies and with Scott Sharples on in marketing Specialized he also has somebody who really understands down hill.
Excellent, excellent point.Just look at how many different designs can be found in a world cup top 10 (303, Commencal, Sunday, 223, Sunn, Mongoose, Intense, morewood, scott, trek, turner) and none of them is the holy grail of performance. Anyone with the requisite skills, and a bike that they feel comfortable on, should be able to ride around or adapt to a frame's shortcomings.
Is that Scot Sharples the Australian DH coach?
Ok...Not maybe the official jersey for 2009 season. But I liked it.More bike info from http://bikemag.com/features/onlineexclusive/team-news-sam-hill-and-brendan-faircloughs-new-ride/
Hill and Fairclough will both be aboard Specialized Demo Eights, with custom geometry per each rider's preference, for the 2009 season. The bikes will be kept stock except for Hill's, as he is on the SRAM Black Box program.
Uniforms?
When monster is paying your bills, you wear black and green.Ok...Not maybe the official jersey for 2009 season. But I liked it.
I'd like to see something different than that black/green, they are using for years.
Isin't blue and red, some other energy drinks colours? Good choice for the press release! Haha!When monster is paying your bills, you wear black and green.
Blue and Red for the big one, and blue and orange for a few of the smaller ones. Good times.Isin't blue and red, some other energy drinks colours? Good choice for the press release! Haha!
Spot on Lee - from what I've heard, Sammy worked fairly close with Weagle and the guys at I.H. to get his Sunday dialed into the custom-geo bike he had near the end of the 07' season, so having that again with Spesh would be no different. DIRT did a pretty good write-up of the dimensions of Sammy's bike with the cust.-geo and it was really more of a "large" than a medium. WB was around 46" and change whereas a Med Sunday is 45.25". TT and DT lengths were also tweaked to put more bike in front of him.I really don't think the importance of having proper geometry can be understated. For a guy like Sam (or for anyone who really knows what they want), getting a bike to fit and feel right might be more important than suspension performance, weight, pedaling etc. Just look at how many different designs can be found in a world cup top 10 (303, V10, Giant, Tomac, Mondraker, MSC, Kona, Commencal, Sunday, 224, Sunn, Mongoose, Intense, morewood, scott, trek, turner) and none of them is the holy grail of performance. Anyone with the requisite skills and a bike they feel comfortable on should be able to ride around, or adapt, to a frame's shortcomings. I rode a 223/24 for years before getting a Sunday and i'll be the first to tell you that the Sunday feels like it has a lot more cornering traction and is a lot more comfortable to ride and pedal, but i don't think it has helped me go any faster. pretty much the same can be said for the top guys when they switch bikes; their results stay the same. I think it was Gracia at the Andorra WC who said "we're all riding the same stuff now." But getting a custom frame certainly can't hurt.
I say the BB is a tad too low and the HA could do with a little slackening to be called race worthy.This one?
if the 2010 demo looks anything like that, the sales on that bike will skyrocket! Although that is a drawing, somethings should be corrected, ie: getting a higher seat tube and some other tweaks, but it looks amazing! Probably, and knowing specialized, the link that links to the shock would have a bearing to smoothen out the shocks performance.
couse in that way it could be an excess, draw a perimeter in the shaft of the wheel.. its almost the same height than seat tube, (anyway, i prefer it low too, but it´s just an sketch.. if the real frame looks anything like that, i hope it get better weight than the sketch looks like..Why would you want a higher seat tube ? It's a DH bike...