When the Specialized-McLaren Venge was released a couple of years back to huge fan fare – intentionally capitalizing on McLaren Car’s experience and expertise in aerodynamics, its rivals didn’t really have a response of their own; they had “aero” bikes, but with the credentials of McLaren?  Nada.

Until earlier this year when Giant announced – or claimed – that it’s new Propel Advanced SL is the fastest and most aerodynamic bike, period.

Well, last week Specialized publicly announced that it had just built a wind tunnel (hour-long video) specifically designed for their bikes with a bold tagline (or hashtag) “Aero is Everything”.  Utilizing social media, the bike giant (no pun intended), announced it on Facebook and Twitter, with a live Q&A session.

Not to be outdone this time, Giant immediately shot a challenge across Specialized’s proverbial bow by posting on Specialized’s own Facebook page (May 23) a mixture of congratulatory praise, tongue-in-cheek corporate ribbing, and subtle seriousness, “Congratulations on a beautiful wind tunnel. How about you put it to a true test by accepting Giant’s challenge to test our Propel Advanced SL 0 against your Venge S-Works Di2? Let’s see which bike truly is the most aero….once and for all. You pick the time, we’ll bring our bike. Do you accept? #aeroiseverything #ridelife”