Specialized made a name for itself early on with its in-house helmets. Now comes their latest head protection from Morgan Hill - the "Ambush" all-mountain helmet. The deep-drawn helmet combines proven technologies with new features and weighs just 247 grams.

Together with slopestyle pro Martin Söderström, Specialized shows in this funny video how it turns out when a mountain bike company hires their contract rider as an employee - the work colleagues are also highly enthusiastic.

Peter Denk was the mastermind behind the development of suspension concepts and carbon layups at bike manufacturers Scott and Cannondale. A Pull Shock damper was always on board for the rear triangle. Now Denk is moving from Cannondale's parent company to Specialized - and may also have shocks in his luggage that process impacts by pulling them apart.

The aerodynamics specialists Chris Yu and Mark Cote from Specialized test the influence of wide shorts and shirts on aerodynamics in mountain biking in the wind tunnel. Marathon riders who can't do without their baggy shorts in a race had better not watch the video.

Yes, to the extent that Specialized is now also focusing on the golden mean in terms of wheel size. Two Stumpjumper models mark the start of this paradigm shift. The Californians had long resisted seeing the advantages of the 27.5-inch dimension in terms of products and marketing.

Specialized is now also stepping on the gas in the lighting sector and is presenting a mountain bike light for the first time with the "Flux Expert". It casts a wide beam of light from the center of the handlebars. It is easy to mount and operate.

The Northern Californian bike brand has almost traditionally avoided the Swiss Bike Days, and now it's the turn of the world's largest bike show: Specialized will not be exhibiting at Eurobike 2014. Specialized is focusing on its own in-house events, following the example of its competitor Trek.

Specialized has been training its specialist dealers in the sports science and medically supported Body Geometry Fit bike fitting system since 2007. Now the US bicycle and component manufacturer is going one step further and awarding qualified specialist dealers from Switzerland and Germany an official Body Geometry Fit diploma for the first time.

The cult brand with the capital S is bringing some innovations to its tried-and-tested models for 2014. In addition to some interesting detailed solutions for the endurance models, the Americans are also introducing interesting changes in the Gravity department.

For the 2014 season, the "Camber" is getting wilder, Specialized presents the trail bike as an Evo version with more suspension travel, a lower bottom bracket and in carbon. The new carbon frame will also be available as an "S-Works" version.

For Specialized, the Cape Epic 2013 comes to a close with strong emotions. They were able to win the race with their two team riders Christoph Sauser and Jaroslav Kulhavy, but the memory of Burry Stander, who died in a fatal accident in January, hovered over the whole scene. Specialized captured every day of the Cape Epic on video, providing a wonderful and worthwhile look back at the last eight days of the race.

The birds have been whistling from the rooftops for a long time that something is stirring at Specialized. The Californian bike manufacturer does not like compromises. Their new enduro bike will not be rolling around on 650B wheels, but on 29-inchers. Specialized is doing something that is otherwise frowned upon in the gravity segment. 29-inch wheels are generally considered to be sluggish in terms of handling.

Czech rider Tereza Hurikova signs a two-year contract with Specialized. The 2005 junior world champion is leaving the "Sabine Spitz-Haibike Team" to become the new team colleague of Christoph Sauser and Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy.

There's fire under the roof in downhill racing: American Aaron Gwin is switching from his long-time sponsor Trek to Specialized with immediate effect. The deal has not yet been officially confirmed, but credible statements about the surprising coup are circulating in the USA. As recently as last summer, he actually extended his collaboration with Trek by three years. Their reaction was correspondingly harsh.

Although the "Enduro" has not been reinvented, it has reached the next evolutionary stage with new details and specification adjustments. The new S-Works top model weighs just 11.8 kilograms with 160 millimetres of suspension travel on the fork and 165 millimetres on the rear triangle.

In contrast to many of its competitors, Specialized is deliberately taking a different approach. The Californians have not presented any 650B bikes for the 2013 model year and are clearly committed to big bikes for everyone. The Epic and the Camber are now only available with 29-inch wheels and the S-Works version of the Stumpjumper is also only available as a 29er bike.

When Specialized started working with carbon for downhill use, the focus was not on the lowest possible frame weight, but on building "the best demo ever". As the Americans already belong to the top league in terms of downhill bikes with the existing top frame, the use of carbon was only a matter of time.

So far, the Californians have steered clear of bikes with an auxiliary motor. Now the manufacturer of the first series-produced mountain bike is presenting an independent e-bike. The "Turbo" electric bike is all about pure speed, as the electric bike comes exclusively in a 45 km/h version.

Christoph Sauser has extended his partnership with Specialized for a further two years with the option of a third year. The rider from the Bernese Oberland wants to concentrate fully on the Olympic Games and the Cross-Country World Championships next season and then only compete in marathon races.

The owners of the established bike store Schmid Velo Sport in Rohr are going one step further and opening a Specialized Concept Store opposite the existing store. The opening will take place on Saturday, October 01.

After relaunching the "Demo" this year, Specialized is launching the "Status", a successor to the "Big Hit", for the coming model year. Technically, the "Demo" has served as a template, but the price is far below the World Cup downhiller.

Even after thirty years, the Stumpjumper doesn't seem to be getting tired. The fully version has been revised again for the coming model year. As in the current year, there is a 26-inch and a 29-inch bike, but the big one will be available as a carbon bike for the first time.

In addition to locations in Germany and the Netherlands, Switzerland is now getting its turn: the American bike manufacturer is opening a new development center in Cham in the canton of Zug. The new "Crossover" and "Source" bike families will be presented at the same time.

On 27 May, Specialized will open its second concept store in Flawil in the canton of St. Gallen. The Bikecenter Flawil, which emerged from the specialist store Bikesport Ebneter, will in future
all about the Californians.

This year's test ride last weekend in Lenzerheide also showed that 29ers are on the upswing.

Specialized is bringing three existing bikes into the range in a tuned form with the Evo line. The "Enduro Expert", the "Stumpjumper Expert" and the "Epic Expert" are available for the 2011 model year with the addition of "EVO", which generally stands for more comfort.

For the coming model year, Specialized has significantly revised its "Demo" downhill bike. The frame has been redesigned. It has become visually slimmer and weighs 300 grams less than its predecessor.

As one of the few mountain bike manufacturers, Specialized has specialized in the design of women's bikes with specific geometry and is one of the pioneers in this field. The Americans have completely redesigned the "Safire" for the 2011 model year.

After the Stumpjumper was increased from 120 to 140 millimetres for the current model year, space was left for a new four-link suspension with 120 millimetres of travel. This will be filled by the new "Camber" for the 2011 model year.

After only two years of use, Specialized is also revising the "Stumpjumper" for 2010. As with the new "Enduro", the shock now runs parallel to the top tube, with the shock linkage also being routed around the seat tube. The frame has also been slimmed down and, according to Specialized, should be the lightest in its class but also one of the stiffest.

The Specialized team with world champion Christoph Sauser will be greatly expanded for the coming season. Following the addition of downhiller Sam Hill, it is now also known that South African Burry Stander and American Todd Wells will be riding in Specialized's colors. Together with Christoph Sauser, Specialized should become one of the strongest teams in the cross country discipline.

The Specialized Epic is regarded as one of the lightest and most efficient mountain bikes in the full-suspension class. The first pictures of the 2009 model have now appeared on the Internet and Christoph Sauser will also be using the bike for the first time at the World Championships in Val di Sole. Specialized has completely redesigned the bike and the shock will no longer run parallel to the seat stay.

The first Specialized "concept store" opens in England in November: a bike store with an exclusive range of Specialized products. This system has already been successfully implemented several times for Specialized in the United States and is now set to prove itself in Europe. This store concept has long been familiar from major sporting goods manufacturers such as Nike and is now present at the best addresses in the world's major cities.

Specialized is considered one of the most innovative bike manufacturers - as is their marketing department. The Californians are now one of the first to offer their own weekly podcast line with information about Specialized. It is presented entirely by good old Bob Roll.

Christoph Sauser is switching to the Specialized Factory Team for the coming season, ending a seven-year collaboration with Cannondale. The rider from the Bernese Oberland signed a two-year contract with the Californians on Monday, with an option to extend for the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008).

As our German colleagues at bike sport news have just published, the German Olympic bronze medallist Sabine Spitz is now riding for Specialized. After becoming world champion in Merida colors in 2003, Spitz switched to the German Team Fusion last season.

According to a report in the industry magazine Bicycle Retailer, Specialized is expanding its already comprehensive range of accessories to include a line of eyewear. This news was leaked even before the official presentation of the new 2005 models. The glasses are to be equipped with interchangeable lenses that automatically adjust to the intensity of the sunlight in just a few seconds.

Bike pioneer Specialized has been at the forefront for 30 years. It is only logical that the Californians' racing commitment is also running at full speed in the 2004 Olympic year. In addition to the international CC racing team with world champion Filip Meirhaeghe, Barbara Blatter and Paola Pezzo, Specialized also equips a national and an U23 team in the States. There is also the Lunatic team, which focuses on freeride events and filming with its "Demo 9" bikes. This means that the curved "S" will be highly visible on the world's race tracks in 2004.

According to the industry newspaper "Bike-EU", Specialized must pay the former French distributor Ets. José Alvarez over half a million euros or 660'000 dollars because the bike manufacturer "suddenly and abusively" terminated the business relationship with the long-standing distribution partner.

What Specialized had announced from the outset is now official, according to the US trade newspaper "Bicycle Retailer & Industry News": The Californians are appealing against a ruling by a French court. The court had ruled that Specialized had acted unfairly in terminating its business relationship with long-standing French importer José Alvarez SA and therefore ordered the US bike manufacturer to pay 600'000 US dollars in compensation.

As soon as Scott decided to tackle the US market under the leadership of Scott Montgomery, they were hit by the patent laws. This is because Specialized has held the intellectual property rights to the "Horst link" in the US since May 1998, the pivot point on the chainstays of real four-link bikes that allows the suspension and drive to be completely decoupled.

After twelve years of change at Specialized After twelve eventful years, Specialized and Stefan Götz are going their separate ways. Most recently, Stefan Götz worked in marketing and sales and was responsible for the German-speaking markets. Mike Sinyard, founder of Specialized: "We would like to thank Stefan for his extensive collaboration over this long period and wish him the best for his future career. Stefan was a colleague who worked for us with great enthusiasm and enjoyment of cycling."

In the USA, the UK and Germany, the bicycle manufacturer Specialized already runs so-called "concept stores", in which almost exclusively in-house products are available. Now Specialized is also implementing this strategy in Switzerland: "Ivan's Velo Sport Shop" in Davos is repositioning itself as a "concept store" following a move to new premises.

The US bike manufacturer Specialized is recalling 2200 Enduro models after 39 seat stays broke on the rear triangle. Affected are 2002 models of the Enduro Pro, Expert and Comp versions, which were sold between September 2001 and February 2002.

Christoph Sauser rode the bike to the world championship title in Val di Sole on its maiden voyage, and now Specialized has officially unveiled the bike. For the 2009 season, the US manufacturer is revising its full-suspension race bike from the ground up. The only thing that has remained is the patented four-bar geometry and the "Brain" technology, which is now also used in the fork.

The press camp for the European media is not due until mid-July, but the first pictures of the new full-suspension bike from Specialized have already appeared online. The highlight of the new development called "Epic": a Fox shock called "Brain", which can differentiate between drive influences and uneven terrain thanks to its sophisticated valve technology.

Specialized is recalling all bikes equipped with the Alloy Riser 31.8 mm handlebars as a precautionary measure. The handlebars can be replaced free of charge at your local Specialized dealer.

Specialized is recalling the 2004 Enduro models: According to a report in the online edition of the specialist magazine "Bike Europe", the large 200 mm brake discs from Hayes fitted to the "S-Works", "Pro" and "Expert" Enduro models have proved to be too much of a good thing: They direct too much force onto the brake mounts of the Fox "Talas" forks, which can cause damage to them. To eliminate any risk, Specialized has decided to take action, and the solution is simple: the large discs are replaced with standard 160 mm discs. The conversion is carried out at the point of sale, so enduro riders don't have to do without their steed for long.

Specialized has completely redesigned its Enduro model. Compared to the "Enduro", which was last developed three years ago, the new bike is hardly recognizable. Thanks to improved climbing characteristics, the rider no longer has to compromise between climbing and descending, according to Specialized.