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I look at those quotes and see someone who seems to be dealing with depression rather than entitlement. But to each their own.
I think I remember from the post Tasmania hardline OTB podcast that Brook was having issues with the Ari holding up on the jumps , possibly shock mount hardware issues . I would have thought that would of been a relatively easy fix but if he's not confident in the bike and has ended a deal to ride something he's confident on then fair play to him .
On a wider note it must be hard to leave racing behind. I know it comes with pressures but getting paid to travel the world and ride your bike is not a bad way to live your life so fair play to guys like him and Blenki and others who are managing to make it work .
I think with the pace of the young guys coming through and the new format , sponsorship and team spots are going to be hard to come by and you'll need to be good now and not slowly drifting down the rankings.
He is now 35 so he is not going to be picked up for WC DH anymore unfortunately. And that has to be hard pill to swallow knowing what he had on his hands at some point.
The chances to exit like Greg, Peaty, or Gracia are extremely slim and for sure that attitude mentioned above doesn’t help.
Brook has been through a lot with the recovery from his crash but it's hard to not see the sense of entitlement that he has.
It was either in a Downtime or Ride Companion podcast where he was talking about how bad the Mondraker dh bike is (while still being sponsored by them), but he also said that he thinks that he will be a lifetime Redbull sponsored athlete just because he's been with them for 10 years. I'm sorry, but if Redbull can drop Daren Berrecloth, Andreu Lacondeguy, Kyle Strait (& others) to make room for new talent, then it definitely can / will happen to Brook.
I think he lacks the PR finesse that a lot of other athletes have to deal with things when they don't go your way. Completely separate to his history of trash talking bike brands he's ridden for; he also cheated on his partner who would've done an unimaginable amount of caring for him following his crash. If he be that disrespectful to someone like that, as well as being ungrateful to the brands that have paid his salary for his entire career, then he doesn't deserve the fairy tale ending to his career that he thinks he's entitled to.
Not trying to take anything away from what he's achieved, but that's just my take on why he's ended up where he is right now.
If Sam Hill can’t get a fairy tale ending then no one can (Some people can, and do)
I can understand Brook not wanting to stay with a brand it the bike couldn't deliver what he's looking for.. However, like others have said, he's not gotten any younger and the level has gone up while he was recovering. Not many companies have the budget to fund a feel good story that might make for good press releases...
Who does have a lifetime RB sponsorship? I would assume probably Gee and Rachel Atherton, Semenuk, Goldstone maybe?
I don't think any athlete is really untouchable in that regard. RB cut Jill Kintner not that long ago. She's not racing nearly as much as she used to, but she's still a threat when she does line up. Not to mention her continued involvement in the sport through coaching, clinics, events, etc.
I've heard some folks in the pits saying that the Ari DH bike isn't a great "race bike." That being said, Nick Nesteroff certainly put down a scorching quali run this last weekend at Solitude on it.
Well, Nik was on the prototype DH bike.
Nik has grabbed some good finishes on the current bike, too... But, Nik and Brook probably have different preferences when it comes to the bike setup..
Honestly, nobody really has a lifetime sponsorship deal... Your sponsorship will only last as long as the company sees value in what you are doing... So, if you aren't getting coverage via race or contest results, you'd better get good at being a content creator...
Possibly Gwin
I hope in the future there is a 63 year old gwin ripping windrock in a rb helmet. 😂
If Hans Rey and GT can part, Bulldog has no chance with redbull moving forward.
Maybe they're just waiting out a respectable amount of time after his crash before cutting ties... unlike him with his ex-fiancee who stuck by him throughout that ordeal only to be cheated on.
That's the thing , once you're not racing you're competing for sponsorship with all the other non racers , ambassadors, you tubers , influencers etc etc and being a good racer doesn't necessarily mean your going to be any good at that stuff and in any case , hasn't the YouTube sponsorship stuff dried up now to a certain extent ?
Yes, valid points.. At least he has the advantage of a decent fan base to start with if he found a niche for himself.. But, to your point, that may not even be a gig he is not comfortable trying to do..
I don't want to go and say he seems entitled, but I think he feels he still has the ability to win, even though the reality most likely says otherwise, especially at a WC level..
If anyone has a lifetime sponsorship I have to imagine it would be Gee. When he finally can't ride anymore, he is an ambassador for the brand and will certainly continue being a face of events like Hardline. I see him moving to a different role, but his impact on MTB and the Redbull brand within the sport is so great that I think it is still worth it to them to keep him on.
Hans and GT parted because they are going out of business. If GT were still a strong brand I don't see a reason for them to part. Redbull is not going out of business any time soon so I imagine they will keep their high profile athletes for the long term as ambassadors for the brand within their respective sports.
There are definitely some "lifetime" Red Bull athletes. Some that are still involved in their sport (think, Travis Rice, Parks Bonifay, Daron Rahlves), but some have moved away from sports (think Jon Olsson, who is basically just in business development and real estate and social media). Gwin or maybe Semenuk could be the closest in mtb, and I could see them continuing to be solid ambassadors. But I also would have thought the same for Berrecloth, so who knows how they decide these things.
I can see Semenuk staying for a while with the views his videos get and his rally racing. Gwin is still going well in the US national series and has been improving on the WC level. Plus, I still think that a Hardline event could possibly happen at Windrock. They don't need the same space and resources as a WC race, so it could be feasible. I'll throw the Athertons in.. They are heavily involved with Hardline and Gee gets good numbers when he puts out a video..
Jon Olsson is a good social media example.. I haven't looked at his stuff, but I'm sure when he drops a video, it's bad ass and gets views..
Agree on Semenuk. Top-tier two sport athlete with humility and epic content.
The Jon Olsson one is interesting, because his presence has changed and evolved so much over the years. Went from skiing, to cars car stuff (with some travel) to travel (with some car stuff), to boat stuff with some real estate stuff, to mostly family and business development/start up stuff, with no skiing, not much car/boat stuff. Outside of maybe occasionally wearing a Red Bull hat, you'd never know he was sponsored by them. I suppose he still has a huge audience and (I'm guessing) is great to work with and still brings some value. Or he signed the most insane sponsorship deal ever when he was young. Ha ha
I will always have a soft spot for Jon, and people are supposed to evolve and mature. But, young skiing/party Jon will forever be cooler than real estate mogul Jon.
I also just wanted to post this picture. Sorry for the continued derail.
I think the biggest difference between brook and Greg and gwin is Greg and Gwin are possibly the two best to ever do it. Brands will put up with a lot more if you're the goat.
Not sure where this belongs but just in case anyone missed it on the other site
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/spanish-dh-and-edr-racer-edgar-carballo-g…
Matt Walker just announced he's retiring, we gonna read into this as the first domino falling towards PFR shutting down after a hellish first half of the year?
I wouldn't read to much into it , he probably has just had enough. He's been on the circuit a long time and had some pretty big injuries and maybe he just wants a change .
What ever happens this season is imagine PFR will be racing next year on wildcards at least .
People seem to have taken against BK recently , can't think why 😁
I think his comments about hardline TAS being unfair really were the nail in the coffin for a lot of people
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