The 1995 Vintage S-Works Ultimate - Final Edition
If you've been around the shop for a while, you have probably had your bike worked on by Jackson. Marking 9 years at MCC in 2024, Jackson started out washing bikes and now sits as our head service lead and vintage bicycle enthusiast. He is also MCC's tie dye artist who creates all of our team's tie dye shirts. He is a huge wealth of knowledge around the shop with both vintage and current bicycle tech. Below is one of the shop's stunning vintage bikes that Jackson has written about and wanted to share. Read all about it below!
"Feast your eyes on the 1995 S-Works Ultimate Final Edition #14 of 60. Produced between 1990 and 1995, this is the last year Specialized made the Ultimate. A painstaking combination of titanium and carbon. Although this bike looks like it’s only one frame, it is actually two frames in order to be built. First a titanium version of the frame had to be welded together by the craftsmen at Merlin, and then it had to be chopped up into the lugs that hold the S-Works frame all together. Back in Morgan Hill at the Specialized HQ, Brian Lucas fitted each of these bikes together himself; at a rate of one every two days. The frame comes in at a nice 2.7lbs, and in its current form: 21lbs 12oz (lighter than most of our new bikes)
Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon for the shop to pick up cool bikes more for posterity or as an investment. The previous owner recalled that these framesets were being blown out, which made the decision even easier. After the frameset sat around in a box for a few years, it was built up with a mix of XTR, XT, Avid, and Specialized components and put on display. My favorite bit on the bike is the S-Works stem. These titanium stems were manufactured for Specialized right here in Groton, Connecticut.
One of the many super cool bikes we have hanging up on display from our ceiling. Next time you come by to say hi, take a moment to look up. We love talking about the cool stuff up there, so don’t hesitate to ask about any of it. If any of you have a cool old bike that belongs in our museum (and more importantly; isn’t being ridden), we’d love to hang it up on loan for us and others to appreciate."
- Jackson