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They have cut around half of their employees and almost the entire rider roster to make room for the GOAT. Going for broke is an apt way to describe it.

afaik, greg isn't a protected rider going into the season. qualifying will be a must for the first race. his ability shouldn't hold him back from qualifying, but a crash, a mechanical a small injury...anything can happen.

Aggy off YT such a boomer to see a lot of athletes getting dropped off...

I was talking about on the commercial side. Both disciplines share a lot of the same brands. Also, one half of the season the motor folks run outdoors on "natural" terrain tracks much like DH does. So, again, commercially whether it's the television/streaming side or venues and attendance maybe there are some things both could learn from each other. Amazing how ignorant and closed minded people can be about what they love. Personally, I would love to see and maybe this does happen and I do not hear about it. I would love to see some of the past folks...

Thanks Spomer, sadly while I do think Chris Ball/ESO/ex-ESO people (whatever they are now) have nothing but the best intentions for growth of WCDH. The scary part of this is the WB and Discovery merger. Discovery/Europsort, have a track record of keeping niche sports on Tv in Europe (I used to watch lots of speedway when I lived in Germany). WB on the other hand probably couldn't care less. So if, down the line, they see WC mtb as a financial/staffing burden then they'll drop it. I've no idea how the UCI/WBDsports contract looks, but I can imagine UCI would...

Photo from IG and Google maps

Angel Suarez posted a story from a rather bland looking field in North Carolina. That field just so happens to be the parking lot for Ride Rock creek, confirming the rumor of his frameworks ride. Im betting we see an old YT mob reunion soon with Gwin at Windrock.

I don't remember Red Bull doing much other than just having the replay available to watch and posting winning runs? There wasn't a stand-alone recap show as far as I can remember, although I didn't really seek it out. The other video you're talking about wasn't GCN.

It'd be interesting to know what Isabeau's getting from her sponsors - she's fairly dominant which you'd hope would come with a reasonable renumeration. Related to that, the same goes for Melanie Pugin. Riding weird brands with non-endemic sponsors would suggest it's for the money, but I wonder how much that really is.

proper spy geekery

I don't think there really is an 'average' to say they're paying below, or at, or above. There are so few riders being paid in MTBing--especially enduro right now that the 'averages' mean little. Last season, there were a handful of men racing EWS that are making good cash... Like Rude, Jesse, Moir, Hill, Maes and maybe a couple others all making $150k+, maybe $200k+ with other sponsor salaries. Then it drops off quick. Probably less that 20 other riders making actual salaries of $50k or more a year. Going into 2024, we've seen a ton of cutting. I'd bet...

That’s a fair point. I didn’t think about them going their own ways. But that could make sense. It would be weird to not see John pulling wrenches for Gwinn though.

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Gwin and John Hall going their separate ways. Gwin on a new bike and based in Windrock full time. John staying on in a formal role at Intense in California. Edit: but I’d personally love to see Gwin hang around and get a win on that intense.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1WcZ72LIxe/?hl=en If Nukeproof is as dead as some are speculating, then what happens to Nukeproof-Sram? I know there's some speculation Mr. Hill takes a bit of a step back, but Elliot Heap, Kelan Grant, and Dan Booker are each quite competitive. Another factor is that team has good management via a well-connected Nigel Paige. Helps a lot to have a guy like that around when shopping sponsors.

Precisely. I think a very, very smart move for Forbidden. She’s got a very strong following on the U.K. Instagram/YouTube bike scene (if you’re into that sort of thing). She posts regularly, engagement is high and she comes across as very friendly and approachable. All great attributes for a brand ambassador and it won’t be costing Forbidden much more than a couple of ‘free’ frames a year. They know exactly what they’re doing.

i think you bring up some legit points, @Mr.Nally. points that aren't fun to think about, but could be reality. sorta-related-but-def-derail, louis rossmann has an interesting video up about a recent move by sony and discovery and "purchased" content. (i think louis is fun to listen to. sometimes i agree, sometimes i don't but it's usually interesting stuff) definitely some adult language in the vid...fyi

Gwinn’s mechanic just posted this story. Maybe Gwinn doing his own thing just with Intense frames? I can’t imagine John would buy a new Intense e-bike if he was going to be wrenching on different frames for Gwinn next season. Or maybe I’m reading his comment the wrong way. Still seems strange he promote a bike they woollens be using in a week.

Like Brendan Fairclough has been doing for several years now. It's definitely a model for the future.

Probably just got a good deal on a bike. A lot of "sponsored" riders don't actually get paid at all.