 The company was founded in 1974 by Mike Sinyard, a cycling enthusiast who sold his 
Volkswagen Bus for $1,500 to fund a cycle tour of Europe, where he bought handlebars and stems made by Cinelli to take back to the US.Sinyard started out importing Italian bike components that were difficult to find in the United States, but the company began to produce its own bike parts by 1976, starting with the Specialized Touring Tire.In 1981, the company introduced its first two bikes, the Sequoia, a sport-touring design and the Allez, a road bike.