My Canadian blogging buddy Teresa (aka Mountain Biking Girl) is trying to snag a spot on the north-of-the-border edition of the Specialized Trail Crew. Specialized needs to pick Teresa. Here’s why:
Specialized Trail Crew
How Specialized Can Build its Brand with the Trail Crew
You might remember that, awhile back, I applied to get on the Specialized Trail Crew. I guess Specialized already picked the crew, and now they are trying to figure out how to evolve the Trail Crew for its next incarnation. I have some ideas, some of which might seem bare-knuckled. Check ‘em out.
1. I know this might seem like blasphemy since the chance to ride a $6,000-plus wonder bike was part of the draw. But I think Specialized should equip the Trail Crew with more “everyday rider” sorts of bikes. That’ll cut the cost down, and give a more realistic idea of what their products can do. Also, they need to make the Trail Crew bikes visually different. I’m seeing a special color scheme along with a full Shimano SLX group – I’d suggest a choice between a Stumpjumper HT (29 or 26) and the Epic. Promote the notion that you can have well-maintained, workaday bikes and still enjoy riding to its fullest. It’s the experience, not the bike. I would love to see what Shimano SLX on a quality frame can do.
2. Figure out which members will get the word out. The current Trail Crew has been weak on spreading the word. I’ve searched Google Blogs to see what the lucky few posted about being selected – barely anything. One guy posted about the arrival of his bike. I haven’t seen any substantive posts since. Specialized needs to figure out which bloggers are syndicated, which ones have real readership, which ones hustle for those readers [...]
Why I Should be on the Specialized Trail Crew!
I’ve made a decision: I want to be part of the Specialized Trail Crew.
If you’re reading this and you don’t work for Specialized, the Trail Crew is essentially a bunch of brand ambassadors that gets out there, riding, doing trail maintenance and generally being cool to other riders so they forward that coolness to others.
Well, that sounds a lot like what I do now (though I could use some motivation to do more maintenance).
This has me all written over it. Right now, I’m the guy who loans you his pump when you forget yours. I’m the guy who gets along with horses and their riders. I give directions to the nearest water fountain. If they ask -and only if they ask- I’ll help newbies pick the best line to clean a section of trail or select a good gear for climbing the local nasty hill.
Ex-shop mechanic, published bike mag writer (Mountain Flyer), bearer of crash scars, once-and-future epic racer … sounds like the right match, eh?
So why do it? Well, it’s another reason to get out and ride. It’s belonging to part of something, which appeals to the hockey goalie in me. And because we need mountain bikers out there getting people excited about mountain biking and mountain bikers.
One confession: I’ve never owned a Specialized bike (shoes, helmets and gloves are another story). My shop never carried ‘em. So why would I now? Three reasons:
-When I visited Whistler during the Crankworx festival, I got to demo a Stumpjumper 29. The [...]
