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Ed Masters will be taking on a new role at the marketing department of Pivot according to the recent Stay on your bike Podcast with BK
I just checked, and he no longer follows me either. Bummer, I thought I was somebody.
I asked in the Trek tent at the worlds - Illness/injury was the short response…
Pivot sponsored by Dharco according to BKs insta this morning
I think Adidas being a title sponsor of the Norco team is pretty big news. They are a huge and well recognised brand, so it's a great thing for mountain biking.
Adidas still owns 5.10, right?
There’s been rumours of them dropping the 5.10 branding and replacing it with Adidas for years, maybe this is the start?
We’ve seen this before on collabs with Brendog where they remove 5.10 branding apart from a small detail on the heel pull.
Hope they do all of the track walks in full balkan style three stripes tracksuits! (we all know this is probably related to the Adidas owning 5.10 but there might be more to the story, anyways it is indeed great news to get such a big name as a sponsor)
Ellie Hulsebosch’s little bro Cole is listed on Orbea FMD for this year, which seems like a solid choice. Current NZ U17 national champ.
There’s a few siblings coming up, kinda cool to see! You’ve of course got the Alrans. Hulseboch, I think Jenna Hastings’ sister has a ride, Zanna Logar is a junior in Frameworks and her sister Raina is now listed on the team. Of course the Pierron’s, the Atherton’s, Seagrave, Lachie Steven’s-McNab has a younger brother Sterling who is a junior this year…
I bet I’m missing some obvious ones. Lots of siblings out there racing!
i think part of the angle on this (aside from the obvious mentorship for the younger racers) is earning points. Gwin consistently made finals last season (5 of the 7 races). that could potentially make the difference of consistently being a top 15 team, so they don't have to rely on getting a wild card.
yeah, I'd imagine this is a great opportunity for Asa to get some really great mentorship and maybe help him hone that skillset and mental game.
oh absolutely. there's also the fact that Neko & Aaron have a long history back from during their time together on both TWR and YT
I think you are all under estimating the need for Aaron to get dragged up to Asa's speed. He can mentor him on everything else, but he needs the young speed and young line choices. He knows exactly what he's doing Mr Gwin. Why do you think he is so wealthy, no one would choice kenda tyres for no reason.
This is all shaping up perfectly for Neko/Asa. As you're alluding to, Neko has said he tries to keep it light and not put pressure on Asa--BUT he mentioned that many times in the same conversation as Asa being a JUNIOR. He's not a junior anymore. Neko knows that for him to go to the next level and consistently be there for wins, he needs mature--mentally and physically. Gwin is the perfect guy to do that. Moving to elites will be harder mentally for Asa than physically. And Gwin was/is a mental assassin and will likely bring some of that energy to a young Asa.
Dragged up to speed? Hah. Have you been trackside at a US or International race when Gwin & Asa come by? A full time multiple business owning 30+ dude who barely touches his DH bike outside the race itself doesn't lack for speed.
I'm betting on AG to snag a win this year, despite only racing 7 of 9 World Cups. For any not able to listen to his pod w/ Vital, he goes into great detail how he hasn't been able to train anywhere near the level he did when he was winning WC's & this partnership has allowed him to drop everything & commit full time again to all day every day fitness building that he states he had to forego for any number of obligations the past few years.
And I have it on good authority he's got WindRock Bike Park operating smoothly so he doesn't have to be involved in the day to day. One less massive mental & physical distraction.
If it keeps my post on topic, South Korea race is being analyzed by the teams like crazy already & I'm shocked how many local ties teams have that are casing it, getting the intel & prep done. Teams are getting ahead of the game on that venue. Post race interviews revealing what was done to get the secret sauce on it are gonna be a great listen. If I was a talk show host, I'd write my top 5 down & keep it hidden til afterwards to reveal who I think top 5 will be.
@sspomer any chance we could set up a top 5 picks poll that is only revealed AFTER South Korea?
I may be biased with my Czech/Slavic roots, but the TLD | Adidas collab from a while back was some of the best looking kit around. I'm all in for more Adidas riding gear...
The funny thing is that Aaron mentioned that riding with Asa is going to help him, too...
The Mallen Twins on the Outlaw MTB Team out of Utah. Both had good results as first year Juniors last year.
What about Randy Lawrence and his son Ryder on Intense Factory Racing?
Randy was on IFR in the 90's, now his son is on the same team. That's pretty cool. 🤘
I mean, we can argue all day about if gwin or asa is faster or who is pulling who of at speed.
But let's get serious, who's dad would win in a fight?
Is that confirmed? He was on Intense previously, then was on the YT-sponsored HSC racing last year. I had thought he would end up on Intense again this year, but I've been told that isn't the case, and he has a different frame sponsor (not yet announced).
Aside from them taking over and gutting the core 5.10 MTB and Climbing product lines. But I guess injecting some of that trendy soccer shirt, tracksuit and 2" foam soled running shoe money into the sport could help a few riders.
3 stripe adidas tracksuit / skinsuit
Not gonna lie the clipless Sambas go pretty hard.
Its an interesting one with Bernard and sort of the hate around him, even if he is a lot different off camera obviously he’s still well respected and good to be on a team with otherwise i’d say a lot of the long term riders on PFR wouldn’t have renewed contracts and all that. Just my thoughts.
Great to see Adidas getting more involved. All of the FiveTen riders have been wearing and marketing a lot of Adidas Terrex clothing these past few years. As well as some of their freeride athletes. Vali, Amaury, Myriam and maybe some others stand out as big promotors of the Terrex stuff.
Although I am Curious to see though what helmets, armour and other gear Norco Will wear this season. Or whether riders can have personal deals in those areas?
I for one did stop watching his youtube channel. It started to feel too much like an info-mercial trying to sell you something. I really enjoy about 50-60% of it, but difficult to sit through the rest. Very much self-promoting but I also get it. He has a great thing going and I respect what he has built. Almost like he turns on the camera and has a different personality that is pushing his product. His riding style is amazing though.
it's my favourite kit, still wear it to this day (well the shirt atleast) with TLD skyline shorts.
I'll get home from a ride, riding socks still on, slip on the adidas slides and take the dogs for a walk like a slavic gangster lol
not sure why I like adidas so much, just sort of gravitated towards it. Simple designs with usefulness in mind.
Interesting that on BKs YouTube it shows them raiding the Dharco facility for kit, and then he was sporting a TLD helmet riding the rut track afterwards.
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