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In any case, I'm genuinely gutted for Tinker (he was in all the magazines back in the day), but Kirt Voreis has shown us what can be done if you dust off the bad shit of the past and adapt to the new ways of promoting bikes in the new millennium.
I like the words of Jack Moir when he won the EWS overall: "It's not a bad f*** you to the people who stitched me up, is it?"
What I do know is it seems a lot of athletes struggled to transition from the "results mean everything" racer they may have been in the 90s to the "ambassador" of today.
In a lot of ways, racing is a lot easier, if you have the raw talent. Being an ambassador would be exhausting. A never ending churn of content, where you have to keep reinventing the formula to keep things fresh, interesting and engaging. Where I feel bad for Tinker is that never seemed to be what he signed up for. Then again, things change & shift in all facets of life. You never want to be caught as the proverbial film company in an increasingly digital world. (obscure reference). Its pretty obvious that unless you are winning races at a high level, nobody (literally nobody) cares about results. You can use racing for content, which is a cool angle, but otherwise, its just for you and your close friends.
As others have pointed out, $25K could literally field a team of 18-22ish year old up and comers. I know I could have stretched a free bike and $5-8K as a 19 year old to go to ALL the races, make content for free bla bla bla. It would have seemed amazing, as dumb as it sounds. Pretty hard to not put your budget toward something like that as opposed to a racer who acts as though everyone should know who he is despite doing very little in the sport over the last decade + (as legendary as he is...)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUu-FcCF5QR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Hey all,
Just wanted to introduce you to our new team manager, Walker Shaw!
Hopefully you've crossed paths with Walker before on the circuit or in the pub, but in case you haven't, he's a long-term friend of SCM and a super talented rider himself, having raced at the top level all over the globe since his junior years. Racing on the World Cup DH circuit as a privateer for many years means he already knows what riders need and can relate to the daily happenings on and off the hill, a huge bonus for us. More importantly though, his attitude and personality personifies what the UNION is all about, finding that balance between fun and racing at the top level.
Walker will be the UNION's main man on the ground and behind the scenes in regards to rider management, product queries, orders and managing at all events from here on in.
Stoked for 2022
This could be interesting....
Having watched Martin ride, he reminds me of a Nico-type rider where he is so good with wheel placement he would value precision over brute run-shit-over type technology (that I like
But yeah, totally guessing.
Pros are on another level, they don’t care about high pivot this and carbon that so I’m sure Maes will be fine wherever he ends up going next year.
What Forbidden are doing is a bit different. Or what Zerode was doing with the DH bike.
As for pros don't matter about the gear, maybe, but it seems that's not the right approach. Have a listen to Yoann Barelli's Wyn Masters podcast (he did two, not sure which one covers it more), he talks about riding the Grim Donut and how it would make sense to adapt the bike to the course they are running on a given weekend.
I suspect nobody does that because they want to sell bikes (as in win on sunday, sell on monday), but at least with DH it couldn't be THAT detrimental for the team to ride prototypes every weekend?
By the way, Mike Rose and all the guys on the Dirt team are all class acts and I had met Vanessa and Nigel Page two years before at Kaprun and they were the nicest people; they treated me like a friend, even though I just met them and was just a fan, who hitchhiked to the World. It's something I will never ever forget!
Damn, I miss Dirt so much! Much Love to all of the above!
Mx
Moreover, for the riders who are near the top, they could more effectively negotiate. I can see the argument by not knowing what you are negotiating "against" (amount), the company really is the house and you are the player (vegas reference). They have more information, and see more cards in a way. Maybe a good agent levels this to some degree?
I get its a bit messier than a ball sport, in that a player's statistics are harder to measure. EG, Wyn kind of sucks by top rung racing standards (context is important here; he's incredible) but is very valuable due to his presence, personality and eyeball pulling ability.
Ultimately, as awkward as it may be to have your salary/winnings out there for all to see, it seems it'd be to everyone's advantage to do so.
Just my $0.02.
Those guys are paid based on revenue they generate. Ticket sales, TV deals, etc.. Then come deals like clothing...It's been reported that Colin Kaspernik still has a 7 figure Nike deal..
End of the day, bike sales alone are going to get anyone a NBA sized paycheck..
However, I am suggesting, hiding salaries rider to rider in fact puts the rider at a disadvantage. Its the old Kramer in the coffee corporation office. "We'll give you free coffee for life and...." I"LL TAKE IT!!!
I've thought about it long and hard, and ultimately believe hiding salary information benefits the companies more than it does the rider. This is true in just about anything IMO.
I will agree, hiding the numbers does benefit the companies We see salary numbers on ball players because of salary caps.. That info is out there and everyone knows where every other team stands..
I wonder what the difference in checks looks like between a #1 and #2 rider on a team like the Syndicate? Are Greg and Luca getting the same deal?(Before any bonus for the Worlds win) Doubtful, but they both have the opportunity to get money from a gear company which is a luxury most riders on teams don't get in the MTB world. Would there be friction in under the tend if they knew the numbers? Or Loic and Finn?
If you think about it, most "individual sports " don't throw out numbers... I haven't seen anything on what Eli Tomac is getting paid on his new deal..
But yes, hiding salaries is only beneficial to the employers (okay, and mental health in some cases
Also, when talking about athlete salaries, the relevant part of this podcast is very much on topic: https://open.spotify.com/episode/54VCJ9YCLfXJkTYj4uO0mn
administrator!?
https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/Santa-Cruz-Cannondale-Schwi…
all athletes in new meetings. "what would you say you do here?"
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