Charles Murray Also Appears to Have Signed with Specialized

Mar 17, 2021 at 4:05
by James Smurthwaite  
Charlie Murray finishes on top after Day One of the Emerson s 3 Peaks Enduro

Just a day after we spotted Kevin Miquel riding in Specialized gloves and kit on a road ride with Loic Bruni, we also noticed Charlie Murray riding on a Specialized Status at the Emerson 3 Peaks Enduro in New Zealand.

Charlie was one of the breakout riders of 2020 as he dominated the Trans NZ Enduro and crowned the year with a sixth-place finish at the Finale Ligure EWS in his first full EWS season. He also ended the year as the sixth-highest rider in the EWS men's global rankings.

Charlie Murray rolling through buffed berms on the first stage of day 2.

We suspect that both Charlie and Kevin Miquel will be forming part of the new Specialized enduro team that was hinted at when the EWS released its team list in March. Specialized didn't enter an EWS team in 2020 but in 2019 they supported Killian Callaghan, Maxime Chapuis and U21 rider Francescu-Maria Camoin on the circuit. Those riders are all still riding Specialized bikes according to their social media so we will wait and see how they fit in with Charlie and Kevin when an official announcement comes.

Charlie was racing a Specialized Status at the 3 Peaks Enduro with Ohlins suspension, Deity components and Poc protection. We've reached out to Charlie for more information and will update you when any becomes available.

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78 Comments
  • 101 0
 Specialized enduro team must be managed by the same person who was in charge of the status bike release.
  • 13 2
 I keep waiting on some big Status reveal documentary/video to come out where they pull back the curtain on the grassroots/guerrilla marketing campaign for it. Where they show them “awarding” them to people and the stoke and then a shreddit.

I really hope there is something like that, or it’s going to kind of be an anticlimactic campaign.
  • 3 0
 What enduro team?
  • 7 0
 @Hogfly: Did you guys peep when PB accidentally released their videos/article like a month or two ago then redacted it? Bike looks sick, don't know why their keeping such a tight lid on it now, unless they're having MAJOR production/inventory issues.
  • 2 0
 @pbfan08: yep! I saw that. My son actually has the shorter travel Status in an S3 and loves it.
  • 1 0
 @pbfan08: is it not for sale? There’s already a used one on CL in my neck of the woods.
  • 1 0
 @gotohe11carolina:

They are available at some specialized dealers.
  • 28 1
 @gotohe11carolina: Yeah they exist in real life, but not on the internet. Sorta the opposite of sick bike co.
  • 3 1
 @pbfan08: Lol, the short lived Mike Levy review, yes. The most ridiculous product launch in history.
  • 1 0
 @gotohe11carolina: i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/028/596/dsmGaKWMeHXe9QuJtq_ys30PNfTGnMsRuHuo_MUzGCg.jpg
  • 1 0
 The new status is only available at a few shops around the county. No plan to have a status release as of now.
  • 1 0
 @gotohe11carolina: Sycamore and lightning cycles are the two dealers for them in NC
  • 3 0
 @Hogfly: here is the NZ status video

youtu.be/1A7qTDIbth8
  • 3 0
 @Hogfly: I know a couple people who worked with S on being "ambassadors" for the bike and from what I can tell, they don't even know what was going on. They also released this website that does absolutely nothing lol statusmtb.bike. Seems like corona may have squanched the original release as all the spy shots came from Aprilish but who knows. Weird they'd make an really affordable mtb to encourage people to get into the sport that no one can actually get
  • 1 0
 @Jackhowser: that’s been my experience. Someone I know received one and was basically told to not explain how he got it and not identify it as a Specialized bike in social media posts.
  • 1 0
 @pbfan08: saw that too! lol. I have the Status and LOVE IT!!!!!! FYI, they run larger. I have an S3 enduro and and an S2 Status.
  • 1 0
 @kcy4130: I thought the same and Kazimer then replied with this link statusmtb.bike
  • 1 0
 @Jackhowser: Specialized amabassadors have always confused me, theres alot of them, many of which are the fledging semi-pro pro category which makes sense. But I know several local riders on that program that really don't have a future nor is there any way they are bringing more eyes to the bikes, just doesn't make any sense to me.
  • 2 0
 And not sure who all is following it, but now there's this "Human Amplification Test Project" guerilla marketing effort they're doing. If you're on Instagram, you've probably seen various Specialized ambassadors posting pictures of these psychedelic looking boxes they're receiving in the mail (they're filled with stickers and swag, I think).

This is the site for the project: unbelievable.specialized.com

I'm assuming the ambassadors will go out and spread the swag around at the spots highlighted on the website. Anyway, it's kind of interesting that they've gotten into all this strange guerilla marketing strategies.
  • 1 0
 @Hogfly: Especially since you can't buy the bikes(or any bike) really anywhere, seems like a waste of money to market a product you've already sold out.
  • 31 0
 Charlie Murraaayy (in Dave Chappelle's Rick James voice)
  • 4 0
 DEITYYYY
  • 3 0
 lol this is exactly how i read the title
  • 3 0
 so I'm not the only one...
  • 12 0
 Slow motion footage of Rick James kicking a Specialized rig with dirty platforms:

F YOUR BIKE!!!
  • 8 0
 Get on this bike b**ch! Enjoy yourself!
  • 2 0
 brother darkness ... legendary!
  • 4 0
 @ullsen: oh so u saying this was before wesley snipes
  • 2 0
 "What did the five fingers say to the face .... SLAP!!"
  • 4 0
 As great as Rick James was... Prince ballin' and serving waffles...LMAO
  • 1 0
 Cocaine's a helluva drug!
  • 8 0
 try to google specialized status and get this

www.specialized.com/de/de/status-i/p/65205?color=187204-65205&searchText=93715-5301
  • 7 0
 They build their own website just for the one bike. Don't expect much though.

statusmtb.bike
  • 5 0
 @Rooivalk16: Ah, you too read the article when PB accidentally published early. lol
  • 2 0
 @pbfan08: That article is now fully taken down, can't reach the site anymore via the original link
  • 5 0
 @Rooivalk16: That is a very, very odd website.

For those feeling out of the loop, Pinkbike had a review of the Status that never made it to the front page. It was full of strange things, like Mike Levy saying it was the 160mm, but complaining about the DH performance, but the bike in the pictures was clearly the 140mm version. It was then completely removed from pinkbike.
  • 1 0
 I got your back

www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/mountain-bikes/full-suspension-mountain-bikes/2021-specialized-status-160-review

and this piece of marketing crap disguised as a chat between editors:
enduro-mtb.com/en/specialized-status-160-base-2021-the-shortest-review-ever
  • 1 0
 @iiman: good lord that fake text thing is gross. So painfully fake.
  • 7 0
 Pretty. sure he raced the NZ national on a demo as well, surprised no one caught this then
  • 1 0
 Yeah and there were multiple comments on it. I think this is some sort of "prompted release" like when they tease a bike that has been spotted that everyone behind closed doors at pb knows. I tend to take their supposed tight lipped ness that they talk about on the podcast in regards to embargoes with a grain of salt. Yeah sure only the person riding the bike won't say in a professional setting any of the info on it, but do you really think levy and kazimer or any of the others at ob, who are friends in real life are gonna not talk about these things?
  • 6 0
 Little out of context but hoping Katy Winton ends up on Specialized too... it's been so quiet around her so the low key sign-ons would check out...
  • 5 0
 Also: my kid says that is David McMillan's bike he is on. But he was also spotted on the podium of the DH series with a Specialized jersey.
  • 4 0
 This bike was borrowed from David Macmillan. He did ride a demo at the NZ Nationals and the NZ Open as well as McGazza fest however
  • 4 0
 The Status instead the Enduro? Is the Status still or now on sale?
  • 5 0
 I would have thought the Enduro riders would be on a stumpy evo...
  • 27 0
 @hamncheez: I would have thought their other bike, the one with the same name as the type of riding they are doing
  • 1 0
 You can get the Status at select shops... also check Pinkbike classified.
  • 11 1
 @mtbforlife4: nah the enduro is for normal folks pretending to do enduro, the evo is what pros will probably race in actual enduro. Very confusing...
  • 6 1
 @mtbforlife4: Never in the history of the EWS have I seen a sponsored rider actually racing the Enduro. Even back in the day, when Brosnan would play around and do a few Enduro races he would be on the Stumpy with a longer fork, not even the Stumpy Evo. Jared Graves never raced the Enduro. Even the Rocky Mountain boys never raced the last gen Slayer or the current Slayer.
  • 2 0
 @hamncheez: actually yeah, wtf...?
  • 10 0
 pretty sure Cody Kelley is racing enduro's on an Enduro
  • 4 1
 @jaydawg69: There are videos/photos of Kelley riding the Enduro, but I have yet to see him racing one.
  • 4 0
 @jaydawg69: Enduro or Stumpy Evo?
www.instagram.com/p/CMhjm3tn974/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

That's from Windrock race. Looks like an Enduro to me.
  • 3 0
 @Hogfly: First for everything I guess
  • 3 0
 @hamncheez: Well.. his results weren't great there, so maybe that's why!
  • 3 0
 @hamncheez: Curtis Keene used to ride the enduro at EWS...
  • 1 0
 @Hogfly: results aren’t a factor but what he chooses is the fastest. Keene had better results on his Enduro than his Stumpy. I think he came second in a Whistler EWS?
  • 1 0
 @jaydawg69: he was third in 2014 I think. But he almost always raced the Enduro during his EWS days
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: Jesse was fully prepared to though but the early races got cancelled and they were able to release the altitude in time
  • 1 0
 @zanda23: Point being, the altitude is being raced, not the Slayer. Almost every time, racers reach for the shorter travel bike.

A 150mm travel and a 170mm travel bike with the same tires and a simple lockout switch will climb with close enough efficiency (assuming a good STA on the longer travel bike). Racers are choosing the shorter travel bike because they must think they perform better on the timed stages.
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: Oh I agree with you as an avid enduro rider who plans to do 3 or so races a summer I think a 150 bike will be my next bike because of how it performs. sometimes a huge plowy bike is just too much. Just saying that Jesse did do preseason races and planned on early ews rounds on the slayer. He mentioned in his downtime interviews that he quite liked it in races but the altitude fit the bill just a biut better (because its design is obviously only to be a race rig)
  • 1 0
 @zanda23: I've never raced an enduro, so I'm baffled still. I've had many convos on pinkbike and in real life about it, and to me a smashy smash 170mm bike is going to be faster when you're fatigued and riding trails you're not familiar with. But like I said I've never actually raced an enduro. Maybe I'll do the Scott Enduro Cup this summer.
  • 2 0
 @hamncheez: Most enduros have at least 1 or 2 pedally stages or pedally sections of stages. The idea of them just being a DH stage race isn't really accurate.... and you can make up A LOT of time in those pedaling sections with a bike that pedals more efficiently.
  • 2 0
 @Hogfly: And I'm guessing the flatter, pedally sections don't make it into the highlight videos....
  • 2 0
 @hamncheez: exactly. Watch some of Jesse Melamed’s POV vids from complete 13 minute stages, and that will give you an idea.
  • 2 0
 David McMillan and Charles Murray will be a force to be reckoned with on the EWS. Having seen McMillan corner in Whistler I know that he’ll be a podium threat.
  • 1 0
 crazy style - but not a podium threat, he raced 2019 and only got into top 50 once Excited to see Murray's progression considering he's still relatively new to the sport. Wouldn't be surprised to see him fighting for podiums eventually
  • 1 0
 Bike shops have no bikes, except the status as no one knows about them! All very odd. Picked mine up on monday. It's a park fun bike apparently, no good for enduro so the reviews go, as the chain stays are too short..
  • 3 0
 spesh boys are not good at this thing called keeping secrets
  • 2 0
 Not really a secret if you watched the VANZACS videos
  • 1 0
 Something must be wrong with bike as it's sold on it's special page, with these under the radar going riders and so on
  • 1 0
 I am pretty sure the Status became better than they would have expected seeing how many pros ride them.
  • 1 0
 Damn that status geo looks pretty good. Custom build with a coil and a 38 could be a serious freeride bike again.
  • 1 0
 Saw this ages ago, with Charles riding a demo in the VANZACS video.
  • 1 0
 And he said in a downtime podcast 3 weeks ago that he had been riding his new sponsors bike. Slow pinkbike.
  • 2 1
 Everyone is on specialized this year it seems...
  • 14 0
 except for me Frown
  • 1 0
 @newbermuda: i got my stumpy evo last week







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