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MS Intense seems to be happening and could be beneficial for all sides. The signs are there, the throwback Markus Stöckl on black M1 Insta post etc. My bet is on Intense becoming a frame sponsor for MS and running their US-based youth program, that Jeff was talking about. Could Gwin be running the frame that he developed and is finally good with different financial backing? Why not? Dak was linked to Mondraker here is this thread, as in ”the new Mondraker factory team”. Interesting he runs that DJ bike, though... Regarding Mondraker, as far as I know they are...

Gonçalo Bandeira seems to be riding a trek, he announced that he'd share big news for 2024, his sister has been riding a trek and i've never seen her riding it, seems new too. Any thoughts?

Yes, I fully agree. I'd love to see more rounds in different countries, but as Kusa says not much can be done if venues aren't bidding.

The euro centric WC can be simply for the reason that EU rounds are wiling to place money for it while US doesn’t. At the end it is always a business, just in case you thought there is some other reason. No one is doing it for love of bikes in the first place no matter how much you think they do - money poured into venue come also from different resources and in EU its often to support local travel business and it is funded by government. Is that the same in the US? I doubt that since a...

More like I finally have the option of a downhill bike so I want to see what all the hype is about. I am plenty happy with Enduro and from what I've heard internally, contrary to rumours, Enduro isn't going anywhere. But just wait till you see my latest bike, new year new me.

His float x2 probably just blew up and fox is ignoring it so he’s trying to blame CC now lol.

Ride 4/9 and the adjustable chainstays are the whole reason I ride their bikes. Being able to dial in the geometry and progression level to what suits you best is mint in my opinion.

I went back to mountain biking as an adult to fill the time between snowboard seasons, but now I would have a hard time picking between the two. A good snow day in the mountains is amazing, but is so difficult to attain regularly while living in Kansas.

Keep in mind a manufacturer can’t really void a warranty. They can disclaim damage due to particular things. A warranty covers a lot of stuff. If your BB starts falling out that’s not related to fork and should still be covered. But if anything starts happening to the head tube you may be out of luck. Personally I’m a fan of dual crowns because it’s really the best solution to CSU creak. Have run them on bikes that weren’t really supposed to have one and would do it again. Especially if there was a slightly lighter option. Under normal circumstances...

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...

Just 'cos I don't follow the trend of hating on all things world cup means it's a conspiracy? I'm just another clown with an opinion, like the rest of you.

If the lack of teams and money demonstrate anything, its that the cycling industry is appalling at marketing itself to attract massive outside sponsorship. Having bike companies fund their own race teams is a model doomed for failure. If anyone has been into mtb long enough, theyll know that at the end of the 90's we had big race teams rolling up to events in their 18wheelers with a team all getting paid over $100k. And the teams were all backed outside. Volvo-cannondale, specialized-mt dew etc. The series was titled sponsored by an electronics firm (grundig) then tissot. It was...

How exactly could WDBsports organize to pay riders for their appearance on TV based off of new subscribers? Many fans probably already had a gcn subscription. In year one, the data and plans just can't be in place to pay riders for their appearance. It just makes zero sense. Especially when WDBsports likely operated at a loss seen as they would have had to invest heavily in infrastructure/staff/branding etc.... I'm all for the riders on TV making more dollars for their hard work but expecting WDBsports to dish out big money in a season that they only half oragnsized is...

Yep! The December world cups and super prestige events are big news in the benelux countries. DH could certainly follow suit in the future with appearance fees etc.. But the cyclo-cross world cups in December are getting 77 elite men entries. Not 199 like the world cups. If the fans want to see more money for the riders the entry field will have to be cut! And it seems the most vocal fans on here and on social media comments do not want privateers cut from the WC DH series.. so ??

Yes and the plan they showed the board probably included multiple scenarios of different viewership figure and on site attendance. Not sure the board are aware of just how tight fisted and entitled the gravity fans seem to be though

"where's the money going" makes no sense. WDBsports didnt make a special platform for streaming MTB races They put the broadcast in with gcn/Eurosport or whatever you had here in the US. You couldn't expect them to give them away for free. Their other customers subscribing for road cycling etc. would not be stoked. Subscription for 6-9 months or even a year was less than some people pay for an MTB tyre. The argument that the money is not going back to MTB because the riders ain't getting it is silly. WDBsports are now covering all areas of organisation that...

Most of the DH races this season had over 300 entries. With XCO & XCC it's close to 700. Screen grab of DH only entries for you. As for the stats. Those 5.5% or more (pinkbike data isn't gospel and I doubt all pros replied) that get the big salaries general get the lions share of results too. Ideal scenario is good prize money down to about 25th place in men's and top 10 in women. With salaries stating strong and most importantly bonus structures. As you said. Riders on love stream either getting a guaranteed sum or progressive scale...

How the money gets dispersed is key though. 300+ riders at every world cup. There would need to be serious thought about how it gets distributed to ensure fairness. Talking about "riders having a cut" just as a tool to beat WDBsports with is childish. DH world cup has always been a salary and not a prize money sport. Which is almost always to the benefit of the riders. They get good salaries and strong bonus structures for race wins. So while good prize money would be nice. It would likely be a factor in some teams reducing salaries and...

Hey Jeff, the stick and ball sport comparison is good. If you play for the New York Yankees, your job with the Yankees really is as simple as winning ball games. You win, they pay you more. You don't win, they pay you less. Yeah, there are some exceptional players in stick and ball sports that bring value to their team beyond the win/loss record (team leadership, big name player, great interviews, etc), but a team will still drop or trade that player in an instant if they think they can bump the win/loss ratio by doing so. I've heard...

In my experience as a sponsored athlete, I found a surprising amount of sponsorship and financial support by being a familiar face at regional races, where I was able to consistently be at or near the top of the results sheet. By contrast, chasing the national series or the World Cup dream was EXPENSIVE (like 5-10x more expensive) and getting anything less than a podium at a national was effectively meaningless to sponsors. As a sponsored athlete, it's important to remember that your job is not to be fast or win races. Your job is to sell bike products. If...