I thought I should update the story that I wrote about a few days ago, to wrap it up, but also to give credit where credit it due…sort of.
Social media has proved once again that it moves quicker than a Cavendish sprint (thanks for that one, Rob!) and also that ‘justice’ can prevail once in a while.
Mike Sinyard, founder and CEO of Specialized Bikes, braved the cold Canadian winter to travel up to Cochrane and have breakfast with Dan of Café Roubaix, apologizing in person. This was the first official word from Specialized, I think, and the crisis team definitely came up with a great way of finally saying something. I couldn’t find the video on YouTube yet, so here’s the post from Dan’s FB page.
Pat yourselves on the back while you’re at it. This is a rare victory for the Great Unwashed.
The Vicious Cycle 
With the wind chill factor at about -47C in Calgary area this past weekend, it was definitely a monumental gesture by their CEO to defrost an ill advised move by Specialize’s legal team.
My mom said it was -16 yesterday morning when she went out (that’s near Toronto), but ‘it didn’t feel that bad’. I sometimes find it hard to believe I used to live in that.
See? No worries.
All’s well that ends well. Dan can probably close up and retire now from the t-shirts he’s sold over the past few days!
Huzzah. An in-person apology is a very nice touch, probably about the only thing Specialized could do snuff out this dumpster fire of a PR mistake.
Very well played, I agree. There’s nothing like the personal touch.