S-Works McLaren Tarmac...

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Philbar72
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Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:47 am

by Philbar72

Collectors and more money than sense people will be queuing up.

It's just a Tarmac. A bit lighter sure, but so what....

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wrenegade
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by wrenegade

$20k is an insane amount of money for a bike with a 966g frame. Although one way to look at it is this is probably the cheapest McLaren you'd ever be able to buy. I'd sooner buy the Trek (and I'm not that big of a fan), but more likely would buy an Evo Black and save $7k.

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prebsy
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by prebsy

Calling this bike a super bike is a flipping joke! Oh you saved a whole 90g on a frame.... 10g on the crank!!!!! I feel as if my intelligence was insulted reading about this bike.

eric01
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by eric01

I bet they sell all 250 of them. Plenty of rich folks out there where 20k is pocket change. Why hate on Specialized for trying to make money?

Like a previous poster said, no one is forcing you to buy it. Don't like it, don't buy it.
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BeeSeeBee
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by BeeSeeBee

Given that Specialized failed to deliver on the lower weight claims of the McLaren Venge (and so poorly explained, and justified why it was okay to fleece the buyers), I wonder if this frame will actually be any different. We've got companies putting out <700g production frames these days; if McLaren's supposed industry leading expertise can't even come close to that for a 'sky's the limit' special edition frame, the collaboration seems pretty ineffective.

I remember when I came into the sport on my first $500 bike and thinking how insane the Giant TCR 100th Tour de France Eddition was at $10k, and now we've gone and doubled that :shock:

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iand12
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by iand12

please let it not be made in China/Taiwan...
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mile2424
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by mile2424

iand12 wrote:please let it not be made in China/Taiwan...


It's not. It's hand made at McLaren (MSO).

wingguy
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by wingguy

Can you link to that information?

As far as I can see they say that the layup was optimised by McLaren, they say that the frames are painted by McLaren, but nowhere do they say it's made by McLaren. If it was I think they'd be pretty keen to shout about it.

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mpulsiv
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by mpulsiv

The only way to find out is to look at the sticker on the frame. Tarmacs and Allez's come with "Handmade in Taiwan" sticker.
Racing is a three-dimensional high-speed chess game, involving hundreds of pieces on the board.

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mile2424
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by mile2424

wingguy wrote:Can you link to that information?

As far as I can see they say that the layup was optimised by McLaren, they say that the frames are painted by McLaren, but nowhere do they say it's made by McLaren. If it was I think they'd be pretty keen to shout about it.


Hmm maybe it was this article that made me think that, but maybe Specialized is just copying their process elsewhere and then McLaren is hand finishing them and painting at MSO.

http://www.bikeradar.com/us/road/news/article/the-new-16000-specialized-mclaren-s-works-tarmac-41582/

wingguy
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by wingguy

Key paragraph from that article : The biggest challenge facing Specialized with McLaren’s take on the Tarmac is actually producing it – Specialized has created a separate production line to build this highly-limited run to the exacting standards required. Only the most highly-skilled technicians will work on it.

Rush
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by Rush

Could still be a separate production line in Taiwan.

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spytech
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by spytech

my friend wu bing, says his cousin in china is a skilled technician in one of the factories that produce specialized frames. he was chosen as one of the few technician to make this mclaren frame. when wu bing told me this, he was laughing - i asked "wassup, why are you laughing?" he said, "because my cousin has a lazy eye and wears the bottom of coke bottles for glasses..."

you spend $20k on this bike, and you've been had. they limit the number so that people think they are actually getting something special, you make the price $20,000 so that people are wow'ed. your buying a Chinese made frame (nothing wrong with that), from the same production line and made by the same person, you are just paying more. but, there is a lot of wealthy people out there, I am 100% positive that they will have no problem selling out of this.

guys who own a mclaren will buy this, guys who cant buy a mclaren but say this mclaren is within their reach.. etc, etc. if you have the money buy it, if thats what floats your boat; i wouldnt even if i had the disposable income to splurge on a $20k bike, i think you could do a lot better in every respect. i just hate the fact they are making this seem as a super radical tarmac, when its the same tarmac made in the same place by the same people, with a nice paint job.

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Brandt
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by Brandt

There was a short feature about the bike on Danish television 2 days ago where they interview a mechanic from Astana and Roche among others. Those bits are in english but the rest is in danish I'm afraid. According to the mechanic the actual carbon fiber has a higher thread count and is specifically engineered by McLaren. I'm not sure that is enough to justify the price tag.

Fuglsang says that it feels different compared to his old bike.
Bjarne Riis claims to know that Specialiazed and McLaren collaborates on the CFD / aerodynamics. He says the price is 20.000€ but without clarifying if it's just the frame set/package or the whole bike.

You can watch it here if you're interested: http://www.dr.dk/Sporten/Cykling/Tourde ... 134115.htm

wingguy
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by wingguy

Rush wrote:Could still be a separate production line in Taiwan.


Yeah, that's my point. It's a Specialized (so, Merida in Taiwan?) production line, not a McLaren production line.

by Weenie


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