2025 Team Rumors

Technically I don't get paid by SRAM either. They support the Canyon factory team that I am a part of, who pays me. That isn't to say they don't support me, but I don't have a contract with them. Factory teams are generally bolstered by sponsorship deals to increase the budget they have. 

YT went the route of 'uncaged' which meant they were fitting the whole bill and allowing their riders to run whatever they wanted, not taking any sponsorship money so the riders weren't forced into anything. Or so I understand it. So Jack would still get paid as much on a YT self-funded team as on any other sponsorship funded factory team. 

With regards to Chris, I am vouching for myself and my ability to work with him to help steer Enduro in the right direction. 

What is the right direction in your opinion? I don't think any of us want enduro to fail but there are clearly issues that need to be addressed. 

At the end of the day, no problem is ever solved by simply throwing money at it.

Just to add some fuel to the fire, it's long been my opinion that nobody should feel entitled to make a living from sport.  If you happen to be very good at a sport that also happens to be very popular, you stand to make a lot of money, and bully for you!  But that's not a right.

If, however, you're very good at an unpopular sport, just enjoy being good at something.  If the sport is also dangerous, you also have a risk/reward equation to balance in your head before competing.  But nobody's forcing you to take those risks.

I feel a lot of people haven't encountered Bizutch before. He is never wrong and your the idiot for thinking otherwise 😂 

butch is just mad because he's got exponentially more excuses than podiums.

I just have a hard time telling if the guy is serious or just trolling. 

More on topic to this forum, does it seem like a lot of teams who were running Hayes brakes have made a switch to TRP? Frameworks comes to mind. 

The other site has an article about Vanderham going to Transition 

Assume it's because Hayes has almost zero luck getting speced as OEM & without OEM spec, it's hard to catch enough attention to sell their brakes retail.  Love their stuff. But they've been battling a decade of anonymity, even though they make great stuff.

TRP throwing out more marketing budget towards racers.. The Dominions do seem to get great reviews for the most part.. I'd give them a try.

The amount of marketing Moir did for SRAM—starring as the guy who chose to run a full loadout of their parts (including that aforementioned way too-short dropper) on YT’s uncaged team—and he’s not also getting a check? In-kind payments are definitely payments but come on: the dude karate chopped a shark in half during a bottom turn, from what I understand. Slanging merch like that without coming off as a chump isn’t easy and the guy is too funny not to be sharp. Upon reading your reply…yeah…I don’t believe it!

But you’ve changed my mind on VP of Cycling Events at WBD Chris Ball. He certainly does have your best interests at heart and is committed to combining cutting-edge AI technology with leading production expertise, setting new standards for how mountain bike events are brought to life for viewers around the globe. 

Definitely. 

Tenderberries: I respect fast bike riders for riding bikes fast. Never done it, always wanted to. This guy rips bikes, no doubt. The Champ! I also think he’s funny and he absolutely knows how to messageboard. But he came in here volunteering to talk about another man’s money. And the credulous thunk of the Chris Ball mention remains jarring. Come on. We’re all messagboarders in here, that’s what it’s all about. 

and shout out Bizutch, hope you make it through the downvotes era and we can all be together when the lights go out. 

This was the only acceptable option to be honest. I'm sad he's off Rocky since it sounds hopeful that there will be an announcement soon but I think Transition is a great other option. He already did that short "Follow Me" era stint on Evil, and having Rocky, Evil and Transition on your CV for a 25 year span is pretty nice. 

Moir was definitely getting financial support from SRAM. If he wasn't he would have stayed with them for '25. 

YT is 'uncaged' letting them run whatever they want. But it doesn't mean they can't have deals with component suppliers, on the side. 
As Jesse pointed out, normally, the component brands like SRAM and Shimano sponsor 'the team'. So, in Jesse's case, SRAM money flows to Canyon and then the team pays Jesse. With the YT Uncagged thing, the team pays the rider and they will support their riders by buying the components they want to run on their bikes. 

In the case of Jack, SRAM would have had a contract with him and paid him directly. Once they decided not to renew their contract, Jack could have had YT buy him all SRAM parts for '25. But he understandably wanted more income, so he brokered a deal with new brands for brakes and suspension. Then YT will be purchasing the drivetrain as his current stuff wears out. 
 

Not to bragg or anything but I'm probably the biggest Melamed fan here - and perhaps in the whole world; but I have to side with the owl on the Sram/Moir Matter. Dont know the first thing about WC money bizness but I find It hard to believe that Sram just supplied MoiMoi with a "couple of forks".

Erik Irmisch, aka "IRM", is launching a new development team with the support is his long-standing sponsor, YT:

YT Racing Development: A new chapter begins after ten years of success for the Racing Dudes

After an exciting decade full of highlights and challenges for the YT Racing Dudes, a significant chapter is coming to an end. Over the past ten years, we have supported outstanding athletes such as David Trummer, who reached 9th place in the overall World Cup rankings, and Oisin, who successfully moved up from the Junior to the Men's World Cup. Our team has also made a name for itself with several national titles in Enduro and Downhill, as well as numerous podium finishes.

The accumulated experience in material development and testing, as well as our deep roots in the bike industry, will continue to foster close partnerships in the future. Now it's time to pass on our technical know-how and the Racing Dudes' racing experience to the younger generation, helping them enter international racing. Thanks to the support of YT Industries, DT Swiss, Schwalbe, and other great partners, we are laying the foundation for comprehensive youth development.

YT Racing Development will be represented at the UCI Mountain Bike World Series World Cups as the development team of the successful YT MOB. The young athletes will gain experience and demonstrate their skills at International Continental Series Races, IXS European Cups, and at the national level. 

"It's a big dream for me to be part of a team and to have the opportunity to develop myself in such a professional environment. The team is very cool, we have a lot of fun together and I have been able to make some progress in a short time. The Tues is really a mega bike. I'm looking forward to the season with the YT Racing Development." – Matyas Povolny - Rider

In addition to the technical foundation, the personal development of the athletes is also supported through targeted training plans. With the support of Racing Skillz, individualized training plans are developed for all athletes and evaluated together. Thanks to our fantastic sponsors, we are able to further expand our program and provide important impetus for the sport. Despite the high level of professionalism, the fun never falls by the wayside. The unique team spirit for which the team is known remains our top priority.

"We are committed to not only giving young athletes access to racing, but also to imparting a solid understanding of their bike and athleticism. They should learn to perceive changes, properly assess their bike, and provide constructive feedback." – Erik "IRM" Irmisch - Team Mentor

We are looking forward to the upcoming season and the many learning experiences, especially the first European Cup in Portugal. The team includes Tristan Stadlbauer, Matyas Povolny, Hannes Lehmann and Delia Da Mocogno, who will represent the team in the Enduro World Cup. Erik "Irm" Irmisch and Johann "Pottie" Potgieter will accompany all riders both on and off the track, taking on the role of mentor—and that won't slow them down on the racetrack!

Loving the idea you guys think you know more than the dude who literally makes his living from sponsorships and has actually negotiated a contract. But yeana yea, you're probably right. Everyone's just lying to you for fun.  

Nice pickup for Scott...Vaea is a bad ass..

excited to see what she can do with a real DH bike

I've tried to stay out of this one in general because I'm far from knowledgeable on the subject but here goes.  Okay, so expressing doubt isn't claiming to know better.  Meanwhile, none of the comments attacking that doubt have added any useful detail or information to the discussion, i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority.

Hopefully this will be my last "well ackshually" post on this matter, but you never know!

Read Marmalade's messages carefully and you'll see he's not denying the matter explicitely and just making an educated guess based on his own contracts. Or course, Jesse's guesses are worth a lot more than ours, him being in the midst of It all. Halfjokingly I have expressed my utmost respect for him as a rider and a person ( I am posibly his biggest fan in the world) and yet, going with nothing but "common sense" i still find It hard to believe that Rockshox wans't paying something to MoiMoi; and as such I'm expressing my surprise at the whole thing.

Just an opinion on a forum, no one is lying to no one. I have been wrong many times in the past and this might be another one of those instances, Its no big deal, dont worry about it

I don't know, but what are the odds that Jesse's post might be based on information that he may have received directly from MoiMoi?

If Jesse had said "Jack told me...", or "I have info that...", then the chance he got info directly from Jack would be high. However, he said "I think..." several times, as well as "my guess is...". I'm not industry connected, so I have no personal experience in rider contracts. But my understanding is that most are pretty secret, and nobody really knows what anyone else getting. Jesse is entitled to his opinion, and he (hopefully) has very good experience with his won contracts, though you would be surprised how many people don't know what's in their employment contracts. But his assumptions are still open to question, just like everyone else's, because he is not on Jack's contract. 

But my recollection and understanding of the Uncaged team idea was that the team does not have components sponsors. So the riders can choose to run whatever they want. Why does everyone assume that means that the riders can't sign their own contracts with component companies? Many athletes have sponsorship deals outside of their team. Does Vali get paid by Sram? Sure, she chose to stay on Sram/Rockshox with YT because she likes them, but are we saying she also doesn't get direct sponsor money from Sram just because YT has their Uncaged philosophy?

If I remember right Gwin started the whole uncaged thing at YT, specifically because he thought it was most beneficial for riders and himself to be able to have their own kit and component sponsors. He made it sound like he wasn't exactly happy with some of his previous contracts for kit and components, but that was ages ago so I could be wrong.

On the other hand super cool to have pros here.

I'm blown away by the engagement by world level pros on the major MTB websites in general and certainly don't want to take it for granted!

There's a professional New Zealand cricketer who's known to lurk and occasionally post on Reddit, but I can't think of anything else like it in any of the sports I follow.  Social media doesn't count, obviously.

Edit: And I bet Jesse Melamed never expected his observations to lead to a shitshow...

Look at some of Jesse's posts.. I'm pretty sure he knows what he can and can't say as well as what he should or shouldn't say..

I was going to say something similar: there's enough vaguery (not a real word, right?) in his word choices to make me feel like he knows a lot more than he's saying and that those specific words were measured twice and cut once to keep him in the clear.

I'm just annoyed I'm getting notifications 4 months into a season about "Team Rumours" & it's 10 pages of:
"Interpretations of Jesse"

haha you are right and I am sorry, I didn't mean to derail the thread so much. All I really wanted to do was defend Enduro as I agree with a lot that has been said above, it's mainly a perception issue, so I am trying to shift perception and bring some positivity into the discipline. That was the reason for the Jack/Sram comment and trying to make it less about Sram pulling Enduro funding, and also the Chris Ball comment, which did not go over well, but that one I'll accept and I will keep trying with him. 

I'll try to shore up as much as possible in here so we can get back to rumours. Most things I know as fact I would not post in here because I respect my position and the sensitive information I have. So if I do post, it is as a Vital user primarily who wants to engage in the forums like the rest of you, with opinions, guesses, and banter. 

One more detail I'll mention(that I just scientifically researched) is that Vali does have Sram/Rockshox logos on her kit while Jack does(did) not. Further implying Vali maintains a sponsorship directly with them and Jack was just being a good ambassador like we all try to do for our sponsors and those that support us. Support goes beyond product and money, Sram/RS provide a huge amount of help and support with setup and product. I would agree that Jack is a huge asset for all of his brands, he is incredible at what he does and I have a hard time not cheering for him even though he's more-likely-than-not to beat me when he doesn't have bad luck. We love what we do and our promotion of brands and product does not always align with who pays the most, sometimes it's just who supports(read: cares) the most. 

@jessemelamed Derail?  You are single handedly keeping this thread alive!  With no racing this week other than sea otter I need something to do to distract me at work ;p

That said, If I may throw my hat into poop that is this forum, I think the key word that most people are misinterpreting is support.  Sram said they no longer wanted to support Jack.  Meaning he was just going to get off the shelf products. If you notice, for the last several years Jack has had access to Black Box RS products.  This shows that he had a close working relation with Sram.  He was able to get new stuff early, do lots of testing and ultimately end up with a setup that he thought gave him the edge over his competition.  Ontop of that, having access to techs that can either help with setup or make changes to internals.  There is a huge jump between that and just pulling some suspension off the shelf.