All

Well, it's been a tremendous amount of fun this offseason! Thank you everyone and also thank you Jason, for playing along and keeping us entertained. #frecklegate might have been the funniest and simoultaneously most weirdly uncomfortable bit of sleuthing I've ever seen

to underail team rumors, here's a thread to discuss out-of-the-industry sponsorship https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/mtb-racing-and-outside-industry-mon… and YAY DAK NEWS!

It's officially official - Dak has joined Mondraker Factory Racing. Video interview and podcast are live now. We recorded this last week, so we will have to cover #frecklegate in the next podcast haha

we know the one you mean...he won't be bothering you anymore (or anyone else for that matter)...

That and the fact he's managed by Martin Whitely and probably didn't have many other options, Frameworks was his best option. If he does well this year maybe he'll get better offers.

Watching the team launch video, Angel had never even ridden the frame until that day. That's a huge risk IMO but then again these guys are fast no matter what and can adapt. He must have really trusted Neko's Geo/kinematic.

Also, update on #frecklegate. He's playing hard to get.

Team order probably hasn't even been loaded on a ship at this point.

Based on the Vital MTB interview I watched last night, sounds like Angel is on a 1 year deal and to me the most surprising thing Neko said was a 400k USD budget.

I appreciate the High Fidelity reference.

There is definitely an art to it. I'd say second week of January is ideal. I don't think being the last to announce is best. Its like making a mix tape. "You gotta kick it off with a killer, to grab attention (Daprela). Then you have to take it up a notch (Minnaar) but you don't want to blow your wad so you gotta cool it off a notch (all enduro signings). There are a lot of rules."

Ronan to Mondraker. it's a Dunne deal.

Wasn’t the Frameworks of Neko Mullaly using an O-chain cause it’s something of a mid high-pivot, but without an idler? The covered Tues proto looks awfully similar to the current one, only significant change i could think of watching the photos is going the Frameworks’ route!

Don't forget that he's good at marketing and entertainment. Neko's able to tell a unique and compelling story that viewers will tune in for, beyond the industry standard "look at a video of us racing and talking about the race." We obviously watch Neko's race videos, but typically that's because the individual races are touchstones in a bigger narrative that we're hooked on. The story guy knows how to get consistent clicks and views! (TELL A GOOD STORY)

She rode conti tires last year already, didn't she?

Seems like Mondraker is pushing hard into the US market with the distribution in Colorado and signing of Pinkerton and assuming Dak. Hope he adjusts to the new bike well and the results keep coming, hopefully he got paid, he deserves it.