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there was one race where the Zwar brothers (I think both Privateers at the time) had their bikes not show up on the flight. they were both sharing Cathro's V10 for practise.

Watched practice and qualies right by the most awkward spot on the course, where Jackson threw it away in both Q1 and Q2. He also seemed to crash within +/- 6ft of this corner on every* practice run, though each time in a different way (*not on the course preview run though). One of his practice crashes can be seen at 0:50 in the sleeper shreddit, here: https://youtu.be/-cgVrAie3Vo?t=50 . I was a bit shocked that he seemed to be insisting on trying to win the race in this one awkward turn, and completely refused to slow down enough to make...

Actually, the latest round of retail bikes were the Genio versions from Taiwan which is also what the whole team started out racing with this year. During one of the breaks, Asa rode one of Neko’s bonded prototypes and liked it so much he raced it for the last few WCs.

@mnp6 no, you've not missed an episode like that from me. I'll keep that in mind for when I get to speak to marketing leads at that scale.

With all the Asa talk, just props to Neko to making it happen. I know most people, myself included, were stoked when he showed up on his own frame out of the blue, especially after all the weird bikes he built with intense and Scott in the last fews years, but it was never a sure thing. Dude built a world cup winning bike in 5 race seasons starting with him showing up solo from scratch, hope and experience and had more wins than any other bike this season save for Vali's Supreme this season. Absolutely wild. Hoping Asa and...

Mullaly has said that nobody offered Vermette more money than they did. I’d imagine that trend will continue. Frameworks has massive partners in Fox and Red Bull…Specialized is proud to give them eebs, they’re in the wind tunnel as much as Syndicate…Aaron Gwin is a player / line coach…three elite wins and an overall, they’re big time!

Also don’t forget how many racers lose their magic when they change teams. Asa is super talented and hard working, sure. AND he has Neko and Gwin mentoring him. Bad idea to mess up the soup.

The biggest factor in determine top racers is a strong local race scene for juniors to come up through, not having bike parks or mountains. Australia's most successful athletes have come from WA and Adelaide, both with tiny hills and no bike parks (by international standards) but very strong club culture and turnouts to race weekends. It's competition in racing that creates elite athletes, not the mountains.

I think frameworks has more money than is implied by all the “underdog” comments, maybe Asa does get bought out but wouldn’t surprise me if given his success Frameworks other sponsors like TRP, Conti , and Loctite would be happy to increase their sponsor dollars to keep him on board. They do seem to run a very lean and efficient operation so even though their total budget isn’t as big as some other teams, probably a much higher percentage goes towards rider salaries.

To add, as Asa an Frameworks continue with success they are going to be able to get other sponsors or have existing sponsors pay more. I think the days of the frame company needing to float the majority of cash is over...

I agree with this. Clearly the FW bike isn’t holding him back, and the team environment seems great for him based on what we see. I think a lot of FW team sponsors would rather pony up more $$ supporting FW than see Asa leave to Specialized Gravity in particular as I don’t believe they share any team sponsors.

Pretty sure it was a 3 year deal last time, and included a stake in Frameworks. I don't see Asa going anywhere anytime soon, he's stoked and comfortable where he's at. Don't forget cash from other "personal" sponsors such as Fox (head and tail), Redbull, etc. Dude's in a position to really rake it in right now.

0All good things must come to an end sometime Neko is no fool and I'm sure he and Asa know the Big S will be sniffing around to replace Loic. Hopefully whoever tries to poach Asa has to pay through the nose to break the contract. Hopefully Asa and Frameworks is a permanent thing. They all work so well together

I disagree, I think he's on a two year contract at least and I don't see him breaking that commitment. After that maybe, but he has a good thing going it seems and recognizes that. I think he's probably making more than we might assume, maybe not the top dollar he potentially could, but probably really close.

Most bikes you see people on here are long travel enduro. That will be the next bike I buy. There is a market.

I think the depression of the current market may work to Specializes advantage. Specifically in the marketing side of things. Right now a lot of hard core people look at enduro bikes and shrug their shoulders because 140-150mm travel frames can be customized to take such a beating. But everyone outside of this hardcore label with money will eat up Specialized marketing. That their Enduro bike will be 10 years in the making. They will advertise this thing as the second coming of Jesus for the enduro genre. It will be a new beast, unlike the old generation of enduro...