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Adam Brayton will be riding Saracen bikes for 2025

Good catch. I was a little confused with this so I digged around and found that Emmy Lan is also on the Dunbar team. Those who noted Connor didn't officially say goodbye goodbye could be correct. Maybe forbidden is getting some help with their gravity team this year and no longer are a "factory" team and have Dunbar/ Corsa cycles joining the program for support... Interesting as at this time I don't think Dunbar or Corsa sells forbidden bikes. Both Emmy Lan and Rhys Verner reside in Squamish where Corsa cycles is located...

Tech rumor kind of ... but I just saw Remi Thirion with a Burgtec cockpit on his Giant. So that maked Trek Factory, Giant Factory, Yeti Factory, Commencal Muc-Off. That's some heavy hitting teams. Not sponsoring the Syndicate has it's perks it seems?

enhance

Yeah that was my thinking too. Doesn't say he is moving on....

Loic posted this on his insta. Is he moving to Sellotape, 3M, Gorilla tape? Wild!

This week on team rumors: IS AMAURY CHEATING ON MAX WITH THE BIG "S"? SHOULD PIVOT HR TALK TO BK? IS KATE COURTNEY'S NEW TRUCK RELIABLE? Now that I have your attention, do we think the other teams would even bother with the belt drive if they knew Rach was possibly returning aboard that Atherton belt drive prototype this season? I know the elite women's field has changed a lot since she was last in the mix. That said, I honestly think Rachel could win pushing a '99 Uzzi this season if that was her ride.

A bit of shameless promotion, but hopefully it's relevant. I just put out a podcast episode where me and Alan Milway chat through all the 2025 team moves (confirmed and rumoured). Hopefully it's an interesting watch/listen. https://youtu.be/Mu0JAhGceB8 or https://www.downtimepodcast.com/team-moves-2025/ Clearly this forum gets a mention! Thanks to everyone here who keeps the rumour fire burning, I personally love it!

Phil losing sponsorship almost annoys me the most out of all of this. All the guy has to do is post a phone clip on a dodgy pleney loamer and I'm convinced to buy the bike. Brands will regret giving up large engagment numbers on social media just to save a few quid in the short term.

With respect Phil has been struggling to be a regular top 30 finisher the last few years. And like Kade and Kaos his skills may be more valuable producing content rather than racing World cups. And that sucks cos those boys really lit up the vital raw , sleeper co. and Ben cathro videos over the world cup weekends. Sad to see the gifted steezy and technical riders are being forced out of the racing side of the sport now . I wanna see some rowdy shit being done on some wild lines not just a load of Frenchies deathgripping...

Considering he's world champ you'd think he'd be on the muc off team, but then again someone said Dan atherton could win a World Cup this year so any thing is possible

For those playing along at home, here’s where we stand with the most ridiculous rumors so far… #3 - Phoebe Gale off FMD, going to Reece Wilson’s new AON team, after being prominently featured in the Orbea FMD press release. #2 - Aaron Gwin back to mentor the kids on lower budget Trek Factory after becoming a partner in Crestline bikes last year. #1 - Old man Dan Atherton returning to stomp $$$ DH podiums on a prototype belt drive after his most recent 57th at a 2018 Crankworx stop. There’s a few others close to the top 3, but...

Actuaaaaly, if you check aonracng on instagram profile they only follow 24 profiles, obvious ones like pb/vital/uci/gamux/manitou/hayes/ gates/reece/sleeper/... but there is also an interesting one in the form of "kdrajd", Slovenian club run by the same people who have been behind the Unior racing in all of its iterations since day 1. This is also a team Reece also used to be a part of. And considering mention of Uk-Switzerland-Slovenia rumors that makes a lot of sense.

Frotha on Transition Bikes. Seems like a perfect fit!

Blenki might not have had a WC result for a while but he’s winning at something. For better or worse the Warner Bros deal really feels like it’s ushering in the end of a classic era for DH.

We have entered the part of silly season where people float (and debate!) wild speculation that a 42 year old Dan Atherton returns to downhill (last result was 57th at Crankworx in 2018) on a new rubber band bike to chase a $100k podium. Perhaps we need an award for most ridiculous rumor every year. 🤣🤣🤣

Not team rumours related but I rode up the chair with Magnus at SunPeaks last summer. That’s all lol 😂

Danny was doing a meet and greet thing at the bikepark I worked when he was at Saracen......which they spectacularly failed to advertise. So I basically spent all day being his personal chaffeur/hang out. He has possibly the driest wit of anyone I've ever met, super down to earth and does not tolerate bs. Top lad.

Also, someone must get to the bottom of where Norco is finding all this money in 2024 and 2025 with the bike market being in the dumpster. Greg, team manager and part-time racer has to still be commanding $200-250K+/yr. Then 6 factory-level riders. Granted the only 'big names' are Danny and Erice (Danny likely still came at a discount, maybe $175k). But still, having 6 full-time riders, Greg part-time. That's a ton of mechanics, travel expenses, etc. And their marketing budget is considerable, based on what they did last year with the videos and design. This fresh team announcement video...