kingston 

Exactly. The service interval on the future shock is only an issue for people who weren't going to buy one anyway.

aplcr0331

So it’s a consumable like brake pads, tires, chains and cassettes?

What’s the problem?

Marcus_Ti

It is a proprietary part that probably won't be available for love or money in 5 years?

OldTryGuy

I enjoy the ride A LOT and besides, I'll stock a few, NOW.

My prostate cancer treatment was for Gleason 10, I might not be alive in 5 years but I'll ride the ever loving crap out of it while I'm able. In 3.5 weeks I have Bike Sebring 400 mile in 24 hour RAAM Qualifier attempt. Well, there goes 23 hours......

TakingMyTime

It seems rather strange that they've stated the interval in hours rather than miles, no? I would think the wear and tear would also be contingent upon the quality of road one rides on and the amount of vibration the unit experiences.

badger1

Incorrect. I was about to order a Specialized bike w/Future Shock (carbon Sirrus, in my case) as an update of/upgrade of/replacement for my current bike, an older Sirrus.

If this news is accurate, I'm glad I hadn't got round to placing the order and will now be looking at other options.

johngwheeler

500 hours? That's less than 21 days, and I bought my Roubaix last July! It must be toast by now!

But seriously, what is it that wears out exactly? The cartridge seems to be a fairly solid lump of metal, and provided you keep the spring covered in grease, I wouldn't expect any undue wear. What are the signs of excessive wear that indicates a replacement is needed?

Makes me glad I don't use it for commuting, which is where I rack up the miles....

Dean V

I would imagine that the 500 hrs is quite variable depending on rider and road surface.
Also alot of the people that want the latest suspended wonder bike (Future Shock) will find another "latest and greatest" bike they want to replace it with long before parts availability becomes an issue.

memebag

No one told me I would need to buy chains every 2,000 miles when I bought a bike.

trailangel

Third time... Future Shock = Future Slop

Sullalto

If I had the money, I'd probably find a way to justify a lauf fork.

kingston 

That's sort of silly. Just get a dozen cartridges if you're so worried about it, and you'll be set for life. Who knows, the shop might even give you a volume discount. For the Sirrius in particular, I'd bet that the vast majority of people spending $2k on a hybrid will never even have to replace a chain let alone the future shock cartridge. The guys at Specialized aren't idiots.

joejack951

If Specialized sells these bikes in the hundreds of thousands AND these cartridges are a real wear issue (time will tell) AND become NLA while people still care about these bikes (the big 'if'), I'll be one of the first jumping on the bandwagon to produce a replacement unit/service parts.

Racing Dan

You may want to stock gear hangers as well. To my knowledge, they are the most proprietary part of modern bikes, Through axles seem like a contender for the runner up position.

badger1

I've no idea what "the vast majority of people spending ... " do or don't do, or how they ride. Neither do you.

I do know roughly how many hours/year I spend on my bike, and I don't like the idea of having to replace a proprietary component of the frameset every year. No thanks; simple as that.

scotjonscot

I only rode 3200 miles last year, or 200 hours. I replace my chain every year, tires sometimes more than once per season and my cassette and chainrings about every 4000-5000 miles. All of those items are more money than the FutureShock. Having to replace parts is just routine maintenance. No big deal.

kingston 

Let's assume I don't. Specialized does. Do you think they would design a bike that people don't want to buy? Specialized is a big company that invests a lot of money in market research and new product development. They usually have a pretty good idea how many bikes they are going to sell before they make the first one, and they have a very good idea of the profile of the target market for each model.

Then you are not their target market for that bike. They are looking for customers who are willing to pay a premium for the latest technology and don't really care how long it will last. It's like getting mad at apple for not putting a headphone jack in the iphone X. They have to come up with some new gimick every couple of years or people won't be willing to pay premium prices for the latest thing.

Jean_TX

Love the irony, thanks for brightening my morning with a good laugh

Costco hot dogs

psssst!


80% of the people who bought a Roubaix or Diverge will never even ride their bike for 500 hours.

kingston 

and 19 of the 20% who do will replace it with the next latest thing in a couple of years anyway so replacement cartridges will never be an issue for them.

WalksOn2Wheels

Regarding the hours vs miles recommendation, it's a carry over from offroad service intervals. Like my Cannondale example earlier, resetting the needle bearing cages in the lefty was recommended every so many hours. Even things like dirtbikes and 4 wheelers are typically measured in hours regardless of how hard you're riding the engine.

Honestly, as much as I don't think the future shock is a great idea (I'd rather buy a Cannondale Slate and I already own a Trek Domane) I do wonder where this 500 hours recommendation is coming from. Because I just pulled up the S-Works Diverge service manual from their website and in the very lengthy section about installing the future shock cartridge, there was zero mention of any replacement interval. So if Specialized does actually recommend it, they are not at all being up front about it. You assume a service interval for any suspension mountain bike (which is typically in the service manual), but I don't think the average road cyclist is expecting it.

robbyville

I agree with you on that, annual check ups, replacement parts, etc. are par for the proverbial course. My only challenge with this is the proprietary nature of the piece, at least for now. It would be good if they eventually allowed others to manufacture (just like almost every company has done with BB's, bearings, and such), or at the very least commit to support for a determined amount of time like most tech companies do.

This wouldn't be a deal breaker for me from a purchase stand point but it could play a role if I was aware of it at time of purchase (which we also know a large percentage of people won't be). And yep, I am in their target demo.

vinuneuro

I talked to a few other Specialized stores, some of which are large specialized concept stores, and none of them had been told by Specialized that this is a maintenance part. When they got in touch with Specialized, both the stores that called their dealer tech line consistently got the 500 hours figure.

The unforgivable fault is that they seemed to have concealed this from customers and dealers alike. This is what leaves a bad taste more than anything else. It's a moving part- had they been upfront, it would've been pretty understandable that some maintenance is required (though this interval seems excessive). But the impression the world is left with is that they tried to pull one over on the stakeholders.

There's more to it than most people think.

It's a series spring assembly with a sleeve, piston or two, set of needle bearings and a bumpstop. The bearings being the main point of concern.

WhyFi

So what happens when it's shot? If it's anything like aging suspension on a car, I would think that it could be hazardous on a bicycle. It'd be weird for a lawsuit-happy corporation to open themselves to that kind of liability.

dmanthree

Based on how widespread the use of FS is in their line, getting parts won't be an issue for the life of the bike. I have it, really like it, and I'm not worried.