Specialized dropped their latest version of the Specialized Turbo Levo in two new carbon versions. The price tag?
$15,000 for the S-Works / $12,000 for the Pro
No…that is not a typo. That is real USD dollars there and it is A LOT of money for a mountain bike. There are a couple of things going on here so let’s try to explain it a little bit.
These are the high end carbon models
The S-Works line for Specialized has always been their top tier, best of the best. There are zero compromises on components and materials. It is the best of what they can build at the time and they are not ashamed to go for that top tier. They do not sell many S-Works bikes but they do grab a lot of attention and bring a lot of marketing to the brand by having that really high end offering.
So while people will make fun of the pricing, a small percentage of people will actually pay that much and Specialized gets a lot of benefit as a company by having these high end bikes in their lineup. Believe or not…it actually helps sell lower end models. Car companies have been doing this for years with specialty, high end models that they know they are going to sell a limited amount of. They are called “halo cars” and they fill a very specific brand and marketing purpose that has broader implications for the company as a whole.
I would expect to see lower end models made out of aluminum to come in the up coming months. They still might carry a premium…but not to this extent. This is also an e-bike but at the same time…mountain bikes creeping up over that $10k mark is nothing really new at this point. E-bike or not…
The market has change…get ready for higher prices
As we start to see 2022 models being released. Do not be surprised to find higher pricing. I went into depth into why in this article/video if you want all of the ins and outs. Bottom line…raw material pricing has doubled since 3rd/4th quarter of last year. It hasn’t hit pricing yet at the retail level but it is coming and this might be the first sign of price increases in the mountain biking industry.
Part of the reason the retail level hasn’t seen the price increase up until now is that prices were locked…and there was no inventory. It’s easy to keep your pricing the same if you don’t’ have anything to sell. Once you start building back up inventory at the increased raw material pricing, the manufacturers will have to increase pricing at that time on new 2022 models.
Now, whether you are actually able to buy one will be another issue. I am hearing that dates have been pushed out to 2022 or even 2023 in some cases so these releases might be a little bit of a let down if you can’t even buy one. If you follow the computer industry at all, you will see they have the same problem. There are a ton of really cool releases of products you can’t even buy. That makes for a very strange time in the industry and it doesn’t look to be letting up any time soon.
So what do you guys think about the new Turbo Levo and where do you think the industry will be heading in the short term on pricing of mountain bikes?