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I don't think it's coincidence that Charles Murray is racing the SJ Evo instead of the Enduro. My son is about to make the same call to move from a Capra to a Jeffsy (which he will coil and overfork to beef it a bit). He was with GT previously, and he was going to move from a Force to a Sensor (coiled and overforked) this season before moving to YT. More and more racers seem to be moving away from the biggest and burliest bikes on all but the gnarliest tracks. Even then... there's so much more time to...

The lack of transparency is a real bummer. Leaving space for speculation from fans and potential sponsors is a… slippery SLOPE.

Crankworks and Warner Bros are not non-profit, they generate revenue from the athlete's performance. It's up to both parties to define what is the value. Promoters probably want to pay as little as possible and athletes as much as possible. it might take a bit of pushing on each side to figure out the balance. it's healthy that athletes can get unionized to demonstrate their value.. Crankworks could also decide it's not worth the price and not have slopestyle. I would also argue that Bruni or Minnar extract their value from racing against other racers and if not enough racers...

The Oreo money has arrived ....... PRESS RELEASE: Freeride Mountain Bike Association (FMBA) and Crankworx The Freeride Mountain Bike Association (FMBA) and Crankworx have reached an agreement with the male athletes, allowing the men’s Slopestyle World Championship to take place as planned for the remaining 2024 FMB World Tour Season. After having the time to meet for a series of conversations, it became evident that the FMBA, serving as the sport’s governing body, the athletes, and Crankworx as the series organizer, share unified and aligned goals, and are working together to ensure the sport’s sustainability, and making the SWC events...

Makes sense for a bike brand wanting to make it's name as Long & Slack

It wouldn't be awkward at all. That's how people in real life support themselves every day. Why should it be any different for slope riders? It has nothing to do with suffering, and everything to do with life choices. Plenty of us would love to be paid for a hobby, but we realize we could have a better life by working a regular job and participating in that hobby however we want. Some people are fine living the dirtbag lifestyle, but I don't want to hear them complain about how broke they are. Slopestyle is a hobby. If it went...

Statement from the FMB World Tour: "The Freeride Mountain Bike Association e.V. (FMBA), as the governing body for Slopestyle, Dirt and Freeride Mountain biking and the organiser of the FMB World Tour, acknowledges the concerns that the male Slopestyle athletes voiced during the first Diamond Level Slopestyle Event of the 2024 season at Crankworx Rotorua. The FMBA respects the decision of the athletes to boycott the event but we strongly disagree with the process, method and timing of this action. We are committed to seeking viable solutions to uphold a sustainable future for the sport, benefiting both current and upcoming...

People have tried to bring up equivalents like privateer dh and enduro racers. They pay their own way. The issue is the whole bike industry is built around events that pay little prize money and no appearance money for any of the sports(it’s actually the opposite for dh/enduro in a lot of cases where they pay to compete) What the slope guys are asking for would need to be addressed as sport on the whole not just for slope. Where does the money come from is the next question? The sponsors paying the riders already? The event organizer that’s handing...

They're bargaining for pay from people who don't pay them and have no responsibility to do so. If you aren't making enough as a professional bike rider to cover your expenses and make a living you should reevaluate your choice to be a professional bike rider. I'd love to make the money I make now riding bikes. I'll be first in line if someone is cutting checks to cover what I don't make off my ability or marketable value. That's not some hot take, it's economics.

Wow. This thread is fun. Few thoughts I feel compelled to share. 1) I personally am not anti-union. I am however suggesting its important to know "what value you bring to the table" (individually or as a group). Any group of people can unionize, it doesn't mean there is underlying value that will result in pay increases (or pay at all). 2) Wu-Tang said it best. CREAM. This doesn't just go for the riders, but the promoters and anyone trying to get paid off of this sport. Unfortunately, the (free) "cash (flow) pie" is highly unlikely to be big enough...

The riders want a sustainable future for the slope style riders... Fair enough.. However, it's a 2 way street.. Running these events has to be profitable for the organizers to remain sustainable. If these events were to go away, then these riders have to find other sources of income.. You gotta be careful not to price yourself out of the picture.

I don't think anyone is arguing they shouldn't be paid, it's understanding who should be paying them. That's where the NFL metaphor comes in. You get paid by your team, not the stadium, not the town, not the people buying beers, your team. Want more money? Get sponsors, they pay you as well. If Geico sponsors you and also owns the stadium you aren't tracking down the field manager and demanding a payout or you won't play. It isn't about the amounts. People make $20k a year at a desk, people make $10 million a year at a desk. People...

If 2 months before the contest word had gotten out that the original invited riders weren't going to show up, there would have 100 other guys who would been stepping on their own d__ks to get a spot in that contest..

Here's the thing. That rider "protest" didn't screw them. It screwed thousands of people who either planned to work the event to put food on the table (cause nobody working Crankworx is living large). They screwed the town, community, restaurants, transportation companies, food vendors, booth workers, trail builders, course volunteers who gave up a week of their lives to do something cool and fun, thousands of hungry fans who CHOSE to come see them instead of have a fun week/weekend. They built animosity for the tourism bureau, the resort that allowed the event promoter to have it, the freaking bus...

Lets not forget that all of this is a money making enterprise. Everything from the pins on the pedals to the rider standing on the podium. There is someone, or a corporation putting money into it all to make money. Just like any work place if the organisation/shop/company/not for profit does not make money it does not survive. We are more and more seeing people demanding more and more from the ecosystem. There will always be a need to advocate for better conditions, more pay better work life balance but there is ultimately a time where it puts pressure on...