Hello Vital MTB Visitor,
We’re conducting a survey and would appreciate your input. Your answers will help Vital and the MTB industry better understand what riders like you want. Survey results will be used to recognize top brands. Make your voice heard!
Five lucky people will be selected at random to win a Vital MTB t-shirt.
Thanks in advance,
The Vital MTB Crew
This is pure magic and I hope it’s working... we’ve recently had the pleasure of being toured around the trails of Phoenix by Darch. One of the most kind folks you could bump into on a bike and kicking A$$ on a new sentinel at 75 years young.
Keep doing what you’re doing Transition!
Yes, the best racers dedicate their entire lives to racing bikes. Hours in the gym, laps on laps on laps. . .etc. Computer influenced training. All the stuff. But maybe we are talking about an evolution where - the fastest/rowdiest/gnarliest - riders also own and manage their own social media profiles. If we are talking about a cutthroat scenario where average riders with lots of followers are actually taking funding from racers who make their livelihood from results , then I feel like the next progression of the next world champions will also be really really good and dynamic at the social game. Sucks to admit but maybe the best of the best will also have to take time to make their social profile better than everyone elses??
I would make the argument that Palmer was. . . . .. .. .. .ahem........as much a pure talent on the bike/skis/snowboard. . . . .. .. . As he was at creating a scene. Causing a buzz. Being in the limelight. Vouilloz, clementz, Barel, peaty, Minnaar were much much much better riders but they didn't get the ink that Palmer got from his gold tux and his gold hearse.
Honestly I feel like the next generation of factory riders and/or factory teams will have to do it all.
Gt does it and their channel is cool. Specialized was doing it with Keene. Syndicate channel is awesome.
The best is yet to come.
And yes, of course Downhill bikes are only for a small group of people and are not sold as much as other categories, but this is mainly too to the very limited availability of Bikeparks in most region of the world. With the growing number of parks I expect an increase in the sale of DH bikes, especially among the younger groups of riders.
- Seagraves: the rumors about them and Canyon are most likely true. Canyon will soon present a revised or a new version of their downhill bike: The Sender. Having a top female rider and one of the young and upcoming free-racers on board is definitely very compelling.
- Nico Vink: little bit disappointed that he leaves as Scott just introduced their new Gambler. I can see him joining the YT family (the ultimate brand of the freeriders, but can they afford another top star?), Transition (why not?), Trek (they might have a free spot after TvS left them to join Hyber, but it’s not a perfect match in terms of marketing in my opinion), Canyon (unlikely if the above is true, but never say never, new bike is coming...), Propain (unlikely, they just hired C-Dog), other brands (your turn
- Moir: no opinion, but please stay in the DH scence!
As for DH, you could say it's the F1 of the sport. But to be the proper F1 of the sport, race bikes need to get custom, unlike anything offered for sale on the market. Think RN01. And that's hard to achieve with brands trying to push their product through racing.
DH racing, currently, is more like touring car racing. But EWS is just as well, both being something akin to the GT4 category, where the race cars are hardly modified compared to the road going counterparts. Yeah, money is a big issue, i understand that, but think of the progress that would be made in MTB if the manufacturers could go wild and have a different concept of a bike for every race? We'd have race proven gearboxes, suspension designs, linkage forks and bike geometries. Not stuff driven by marketing departments.
what's the bike in the pic above w/ gamux crew? looks clean.
Should start a boycott
There was a podcast somewhere where the brand being interviewed was working off social media numbers rather than sales information. 🤯
I can’t remember who or where right now. Also are ig followers the biggest spenders? The ones I know certainly aren’t.
My wife has a poor social media 'following' when it comes to numbers, but she is a MTB legend and currently has a career teaching people how to ride MTB's through one on ones and events. I've seen the human interactions work with her, people show up to the next event with some product she endorses, its unreal actually. So, yeah, props to Lars and Transition for seeing that important, I do as well in my job at TLD.
Anyway-Team Rumors!!
This week was heavy with brands parting ways with athletes and vice versa, cant wait for the 'new connections'.
I am most curious about Jack-worked with him for 4 years at TLD, he is a class act---cant wait to hear where he ends up
Did I miss in this thread if Sam Hill is making moves? or Isabeau?
Think anyone is signing EWS Emtb only contracts?
Is GT DH program completely done?
please....
-Canyon: There is a new sender coming and it is going to be FAAST. plenty of testing at national level events, you had to be eagle-eyed to spot it.
-FMD- could they be on Cannondale after the team is no longer and they have been clearing house?
- Rumour has it HUFFY has offered Gwin 10000 yen more a year to race for them so he is keen.
- The denim Destroyer has signed a contract with marvel and is the latest member of the Avengers
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