And the Stumpjumper Trail Crew is announced!
Finally after weeks of waiting, Specialized announced which 8 lucky people got the honour of being on their trail crew and I was pleasantly surprised… The team is international! We have a rider from Whistler, BC and another from Australia (both named Matt). So there goes my theory about it being an Amercian team…
The riders that got past the initial selection by the panel of judges were then subjected to a “trail test”. Each went riding with a person selected by Specialized to see if they really could ride and from there Specialized narrowed their list down to the final 8. From what I could see from reading the blogs of those who made the initial cut, the competition was fierce. Sadly none of the women made the crew. There was at least one woman who made the initial cut and I was sad to see she didn’t make it to the end. (Hmmmm… Maybe they’ll have a Safire Trail Crew??)
Congrats to those that did make the team! Looks like a fun group of guys. To read who did make the cut and what they’ve been up to, please visit http://trailcrew.specialized.com/.
On a totally different note, I found myself being cross referenced in another blog today and it appears one of my posts was taken out of context. I’ve made the following comment on my post, but wanted to make sure it was clarified since the blog I was referenced in didn’t allow people to make comments:
For those of you who found this blog via http://specialized-trail-crew.blogspot.com/ I just wanted to say a few words.
While yes, Colin and I were initially disappointed by not being chosen, we in no way feel that this contest was a waste. In fact, this contest created opportunities for us! It’s all in what you make of it. Both of us now have established contacts and made friends across North America and beyond for what could be some fantastic mountain biking adventures, including contacts at Specialized in California. I never would have started this blog had it not been for their contest and have somehow amassed a following (who knew?!). Better yet, I’ve been invited to be a guest blogger for an adventure magazine (to be announced when I finally write something for them!).
This has been an awesome journey and I would encourage Specialized to continue this contest in the future and I’m sorry that some people feel gyped by the experience.
Thanks Specialized!
Teresa
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Wow. I don’t know how they went from your rather innocuous post to that. Pretty big leap. I never got the idea that your bran loyalty wavered. Neither did mine - but I barely have any brand loyalty to begin with! I’ll pretty much ride anything that fits and is relatively light, reliable and affordable!
I just wanted to make sure others didn’t take my post out of context. The contest was a lot of fun and I’m sad that not everyone saw it the same way we did. Personally I thought it was a great marketing ploy of Specialized! They saw the power of social media and what a fantastic way to experiment with it… I sat back and watched them closely to see how effective it was for them and watched their followers grow on both Twitter and Facebook.
The reason I’m loyal to Specialized is because I ride my 2007 Stumpjumper FSR A LOT and it takes a beating with the terrain we ride here. It hasn’t failed me yet and I’ve ridden many miles on it, including terrain it wasn’t designed for. Plus the bike fits, a huge bonus when you’re only 5’3″ It’s hard to find a bike that fits when you’re my size… It didn’t take a marketing ploy to sell me on this bike, the bike sold itself.
Heh, heh … I said “bran” loyalty.
I hear ya. Go with what fits and what works. Specialized stuff works for an awful lot of people, and I really liked my day in Whistler on a Stumpjumper.