Case Study: Specialized Bicycle Components achieves 20–30% faster development and lighter, higher-performance bikes with PTC Creo

Specialized Bicycle Components - Customer Case Study

Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc. (Specialized) is a leading maker of competition and recreational bikes that needed to accelerate and optimize its women’s performance line—developing lighter, more comfortable, higher‑performance frames and components while reducing time‑consuming physical prototyping and better integrating supplier data. To do this, Specialized adopted PTC and its PTC Creo design software to explore more concepts, simulate real‑world conditions, and bring innovative ideas to the engineering floor.

Using PTC Creo, Specialized fully designed, tested, and optimized new components (including the COBL GOBL‑R seat post, a carbon leaf spring, FACT Triple Monocoque frame, one‑piece fork, and Zertz dampers), cutting development time by 20–30% versus traditional prototyping. The 2013 Ruby achieved a 34% improvement in torsional stiffness and a 75 g (8.9%) weight reduction, delivered superior comfort and handling, and benefited from easier supplier data integration—outcomes enabled by PTC’s virtual prototyping and collaboration capabilities.

Specialized Bicycle Components

Robert Egger

Creative Director