bike headliners - Specialized Bicycles

OUR DEVELOPMENT PROCESSYOUR RIDE STARTS HERESPECIALIZED WAS FOUNDED IN 1974 with the simple guiding principlethat if the company focused on a rider’s need for functional and technicallyadvanced cycling equipment that provided real performance benefits, itwould be successful.OVER THREE DECADES LATER, there are many more ways to ride, but the same founding principleis still the beating heart of the company.But what is a “rider’s need” or a “real performance benefit?” The answer is that a rider’s need stemsfrom the experience that individual wants to have while out on a ride. A bike or piece of equipmentoffers a real performance benefit if it has the right stuff to enable the rider to achieve that experience,regardless of whether it’s winning a stage in the Tour de France or riding without training wheels forthe first time.That’s where our development process comes into play. Once our product manager (who acts likethe president of smaller company within Specialized) develops an acute insight and understandingof a specific experience—for example, whatexperience a performance-oriented femaleroad rider seeks—they figure out whatfeatures are required to deliver it. Then theydevelop them: things like the ergonomics,geometry, tubing dimensions and profilesand specific components. Combined, theseattributes will guarantee that the rider willhave a greater fulfillment of their desiredriding experience than ever before.FOUNDING PRINCIPLESTo fully realize the target attributes of anyproduct involves an incredible amount ofinsight and effort on the part of productmanagers, engineers, designers, fabricatorsand testing specialists. This insight also results in new technology, inventions so novel they are awardedpatents and first-place medals in design contests. While we like medals and pats on the back, all oureffort is in the name of making your time on a bike better.6 | 7www.specialized.com