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Spy shots: 2009 Spesh Trail SX and... Big Hit Proto???

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
Ugly for sure, but more importantly, why the swoopy mess.

Correct me if I am wrong here.....bicycles are in general designed in a way to make things as light as possible and as strong as needed for the application. Lots of things are done (milling, butted tubing, gussets, exotic difficult to work tubing, F-ed up headtube sized, etc, etc) all in the persuit of the best combination of light and strong. Specialized has the $$ and technology to truely push this trade off to its utmost and deliver something above others (and delivers in some ways to a fault)....

YET


They continually make this kind of stuff. Do they really hire engineers to figure out how to design a TRIANGLE to both use more material AND make it weaker..WTF???
 

Demomonkey

Monkey
Apr 27, 2005
857
0
Auckland New Zealand
I like that new SX frame, I never did like the bike having that hole in the seat tube for the shock to go through.
I agree.

Not sure about the big hit though.

I can't see the big S coming out with a bike that isn't better than its previous incarnation. Swoopy DT allows for front crown clearance, rear shock position and weld area of the HT/TT/DT junction.

Its a case of form following function.

That SXT will rip. If FSR is your thing.
 

pelo

Monkey
Jun 11, 2007
708
0
Looks like someone lost the prototype on their car rack and it got ran over by a truck.
 

pelo

Monkey
Jun 11, 2007
708
0
Some engineer entered the world champion track without brakes and hit a tree. Really hard. He got a concussion too, but liked the lines (curves) he saw.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
I can't remember who it was that had a complete meltdown over the 1 1/8th - 1.5" compound headtube on the new Trek 88 a few months ago, but whoever you are - it seems that Spesh is out to destroy you as well...
This isn't the first application of e2 on Specialized MTBs. Specialized already makes an single crown e2 fork with a carbon steerer tube:clue: They had their MTB offering out long before Trek did.

See "FutureShock S120 Fork"

http://thisjustin.bicycling.com/2007/07/specialized-2-1.html
 
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wiscodh

Monkey
Jun 21, 2007
833
121
303
Ugly for sure, but more importantly, why the swoopy mess.

Correct me if I am wrong here.....bicycles are in general designed in a way to make things as light as possible and as strong as needed for the application. Lots of things are done (milling, butted tubing, gussets, exotic difficult to work tubing, F-ed up headtube sized, etc, etc) all in the persuit of the best combination of light and strong. Specialized has the $$ and technology to truely push this trade off to its utmost and deliver something above others (and delivers in some ways to a fault)....

YET


They continually make this kind of stuff. Do they really hire engineers to figure out how to design a TRIANGLE to both use more material AND make it weaker..WTF???
Its called industrial designers. They try to make it look purdy. Its then the engineers struggle to keep the original design intent and make it up to snuff. If an engineer had its way it would all be all simple shapes.
 

Ithnu

Monkey
Jul 16, 2007
961
0
Denver
Its called industrial designers. They try to make it look purdy. Its then the engineers struggle to keep the original design intent and make it up to snuff. If an engineer had its way it would all be all simple shapes.
I agree on that one, I can't imagine an decent structural engineer would let all those huge bends fly, too many stress concentrations in tight corners, those are not 90 degree bends, but its getting there.

I bet some marketing person was saying "hydro forming is Grrreat! Look at all those internet people who say its sexy!" Then this happened.
 

mobius

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
2,158
0
Around DC
I'm not a big fan of bent downtubes and this bike definitely doesn't do it for me. I've wanted an sxtrail forever and will finally take the plunge on a frame soon. Thank god I can still find an 08 somewhere.
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
Hey look!
Its the annual "Those new Specialized bikes are ugly as hell!" thread.

Ha, knowing good and well they are gonna sell a gazillion of them.

Oh, let me guess, its because of the marketing.:rofl:


The ride.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Wow. Everyone wants low cg, low standover, an accessible (and low) shock, clearance for big fork crowns, pretty good seat post extension, and no holes in the frame. Funny how some of you think that can easily be done with straight tubes.

Ya'll should quit your day jobs and go work for specialized, because you are clearly superior to their current engineering team.

:plthumbsdown:
 

Whoops

Turbo Monkey
Jul 9, 2006
1,011
0
New Zealand
Don't you know?.. Engineers can do anything (or at least they think they can).

The thing is, Designers are even worse, as they think they are engineers. :-)

Function over Form. Always.
 

Demomonkey

Monkey
Apr 27, 2005
857
0
Auckland New Zealand
Don't you know?.. Engineers can do anything (or at least they think they can).

The thing is, Designers are even worse, as they think they are engineers. :-)

Function over Form. Always.
Nearly always true, but that doesn't take into consideration marketing, focus groups, and need to create meaningful diversification synergies within the market construct (our product must 'look' different).
 

P.T.W

Monkey
May 6, 2007
599
0
christchurch nz
Some engineer entered the world champion track without brakes and hit a tree. Really hard. He got a concussion too, but liked the lines (curves) he saw.
No no no this is the big esses new marketing ploy...theyre making all their bike look like big S's...for instant identification on the trails

Seriously tho...why do spesh allways make their bikes look like an explosion at a tubing factory????
 

?????

Turbo Monkey
Jun 20, 2005
1,678
2
San Francisco
Because design sells, and a good design is engineered well enough. Specialized makes better bikes than just about every boutique brand out there; and while it can be fun to tweak your bike to make it as light and responsive as possible, there are only a handful of top pros that would notice that last 5% of performance possibility and then it doesn't really matter because they're forced to run their sponsors parts that aren't always the lightest.
 

Rigger

Chimp
Jul 29, 2004
76
0
NV
I think its a great looking bike... I bet it also rides better than the previous models. Looks very Demo'ish which I think is a good thing.
 

1453

Monkey
looks like shiat.

I wish they would just make a danged FSR bike that doesn't cost 3-6k to buy. I thought building things in Taiwan was supposed to save us money? Now we have 1700 dollar frames and 1200 dollar single crown forks made in Taiwan and people are still paying for it. Weird stuff.
 

Cave Dweller

Monkey
May 6, 2003
993
0
You must be an enginerd, or maybe it's just the designer in me realizing how boring everything would be if left to the engineers.
I am an engineer.

And it is a mountian bike. Used for riding down and up hills.

Not an ipod, or a toaster, or a remote control or an ergonomic widget of some kind. It won't get you any roots from women. It should be built light and strong, not heavy with excessive tube bending to make it look like a wave break at Hawaii with a hot female surfer riding a malibu board at 4.35pm with a beautiful sunset in the background.

Function over form. It looks freaking ugly and heavier then what it needed to be.