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You forgot Vali to Commencal... Or back to Trek.. And, of course, Frameworks..
The one thing I notice about this spreadsheet is how Norco doesn't really have a viable Elite Male. Has this changed since last year? Without citing the Men's personnel, specifically, it's worth noting that Gracey was maybe THE most exciting new Elite female. Aren't there some available top 20 men out there that should be slotting-into this suddenly successful team?
I saw their line up as kinda like a 'rebuilding hockey team'. They got some really young guys who showed a lot of potential. And they had 2 veterans heading the team to help them get there. All without having any huge contracts that they maybe can't afford regardless.
That said, I don't think it panned out and I'm not sure how often that concept works in MTBing, given the inherent independent nature of the sport.
Would love to see a Norco male rider in finals, and I'm sure they'd love to see it too... But the big question is how much is a top 30 rider right now? Who is the 'cheapest' top 30 rider? How much are they paid at the moment or how committed are they to the environment getting them into the top 30 right now?
If it's a rider on the cusp, chances are a bike change might not be what they want right now. Whereas a mid pack rider may feel more confident switching things up, still making it to finals, and maybe working into a slight boost from the new bike.
uhhh Laurie? seems like D Mapes is already accounted for elsewhere but who knows. is Pinky committed to Mondraker? also OO, guess hes confirmed to Trek but that would have been a great pick up for Norco but maybe not financially in the cards?
I'd actually love Tuhoto on Norco. was anything confirmed about... MS and Zerode?
As far as Laurie is concerned, his insta shows many SC pics in the last time. Looks like he will stay. Nice.
Norcos female gang ist just insane, esp. When Erice returns: three bomber girls/women is quite unique. That said, there is maybe no money left for a established male at the moment.
Peatys latest instagram with syndicate ride doesn’t tag Laurie in it. If anybody on the team could make it to Sheffield it would be him surely.
It's more likely that Laurie will be on the "new" Nukeproof team run by Breeden.
From earlier when Joe was in Scotland testing ”stuff”
Anyone ID the unmarked bike? Looks like it’s a chain and not a belt
Thats Dale McMullan of Nukeproof with the prototype Dissent they are working on.
Sorry, I realized I had set it to view only. Everyone should be able to edit now.
That's a Dissent with a 4 bar rear end, made using the same alloy tubing as the Vitus Sommet and VT-01 proto
thanks, I've started but just not sure which points to take ? Uci points or world cup ranking points ?
UCI points, except for UCI points earned in world cup qualifying. Go here and scroll down to the appropriate category until the list of riders shows. You can tally up their points by clicking on their name to see how many points they got from qualifying and subtract it. To be honest, it doesn't really matter what their points are this year, because points stay with teams, and all the big teams are probably going to work out deals with WBD to be elite teams for this year anyway. The spreadsheet is just a good way to keep track of rumors and their validity. We don't need to count points.
Interested to see if any of the gearbox teams who aren’t endorsed by Gates keep running a belt now that the purse chase is over. It really does sound like the belt is the weakest link in that system.
Is the purse chase over?
Saw pics of him beeing in medical care because of the last bail, that could be a reason for not showing up.
It seems more presumable that they had no fast riders....
I do not know, but the website that hosted the rules appears to have vanished.
However Gates didn't announce this year's prize until mid-January, so we probably shouldn't read too much into it unless there's an explicit statement either way.
Vali stirring the pot again?
At the side of the Whiteface DH track I overheard a guy in Gates apparel talking about their commitment moving forward to DH so I don't expect them to disappear, but Gates is a huge company so priorities can shift. I bet the "purse" is an insurance policy that is written against the odd's of someone actually winning. From the marketing side the more you do the same thing over and over it looses its impact, so they may be putting their spend in other places.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prize_indemnity_insurance
She’s literally been seen riding a commencal
Exactly, Thom Weisel / Lance Armstrong engaged in some pretty amazing insurance fraud in that manner, betting for and against themselves by rigging the game.
I love re-watching the tapes from those depositions!
But Gates, while they make decent parts for excavators and automobiles, has been trying for more than 15 years to get traction in the bike world. They never will though, because belts are incredibly stupid for the application, and universally despised by anyone who has ever dealt with them.
Gearboxes with a chain? sign me up though!
Sorry for having fun
I think it's highly likely she'll end up on a commencal, but we can't rule out the possibility that she's doing test rides for multiple brands at the moment.
Yes you can rule out that possibility sadly as all UCI teams are now registered for 2026. Sorry to ruin the fun 😊
Yeah with no logo, maybe as free agent she is trying some bike for fun? Why cover the logo when it’s obvious…
Lock the tread then, UCI has everything why keep taking about RUMORS.
Until they're all confirmed and announced, its still silly season. Some riders aren't officially on a different bike until its public and lets be honest, for the DH crowd who actually cares, the drama of the off season is free advertising for all these brands and riders. Vali and any new brand she's with may want to hold off to build anticipation deeper in the offseason for a bigger boost at that time and she might ride a different bike in the meantime since she doesn't have a contractual obligations to YT. Otherwise why not just announce it like Kolb did?
Do we know if the UCI/Teams will announce rider line ups before new years with the new deadline or will they hold off until the end of the season
Agreed. But Vali will not be testing other bikes now. She will be riding her commencal already in prepartion for the 26 season. Hence my reply to the previous post. She ain't "testing" other bikes for fun. She's prob focusing on 2026.
And unlike the Kolb situation where he just hopped on over to Syndicate. Vali going to commencal probably requires the Les Orres team to change a load of their existing contracts and maybe even cancel some?
As far as les orres contracts are concerned, i could very well imagine, that Höll has individual contracts that add onto these and don't disturb the current ones.
Schladming/lesOrres??
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