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I heard Cody Kelly's shampoo and conditioner requirements are killing the Specialized enduro team budget. Takes a lot of cash to keep those golden locks shiny. That combined with the American Dream's skin tight pants addiction, it is surprising they have anything left to pay the riders.

Neither Specialized or Trek need to sign anybody to sell enduros and slashes. And as far as supporting the sport at least state side both do a pretty good job of supporting local and regional series enduro. Specialized sponsoring Cody Kelly doesn't do a whole lot for them in terms of international results, but it does do quite a bit in plenty of other areas. It's not like Charlie Murray or Harriet aren't giving both brands some results to be proud of regardless. It's pretty clear the EWS is on a bit of a downturn while enduro racing is only...

Charlie Murray wants to prove you wrong. Finished the season with 2 top 5s and only finished outside the top 15 at 1 race this year, and all that with a win in Trophy of Nations for NZ in his second year as a full time racer.

Isn't Charles Murray riding specialized? He had soem top tens this year and was with Eddy and Matt on team NZ winning Trophy of Nations.

It's been mentioned before, but anyone who's goes to spesh in recent memory for the most part suffers on the Enduro side of things. Like since 2015 I don't think there's barely been a specialized athlete who's been top 10 at an event on the inside of a specialized contract and then back to doing ok after if they physically didn't crash out for the rest of their career. For a company who owns the Enduro name, it's pretty brutal. If they couldn't win with graves, I'd be interested if they can win at all. Hey specialized, prove me wrong.

Well, let's not discount Harriet Harnden's wins in women's elite EWS. But it has been a while since either of those brands had a win in the men's elite category.

Seems like Specialized or Trek would make the most sense. Either one of them would love to have a consistent podium rider in elite males. Who was the last rider to win an EWS on a Trek or Specialized? Jared Graves?

excited to see where jesse lands. will look so weird not on a RM.

I heard some rumors in Finale last week..... Jack Moir to another Euro brand Jesse off Rocky Mountain Mark Wallace off Canyon Gracey to Santa Cruz

I don’t think anyone’s trying to hide the links between Santa Cruz and Cervelo but as far as XC hardtails go those two frames look nothing alike. Cervelo top tube and seat stays run in-line, it doesn’t have the kinked seat stays and cables run through the headset. Plus the geo numbers are different.

Martin whiteley had an interesting post about signing lots of papers today. Hope he’s bringing a new team into the mix.

In Canada, Norco is also Live to play sports distribution, which is the larger distribution arm of the company, and they are huge. They rebranded the distribution side of things around 2011 which had still been under the Norco brand until that point to separate confusion between the two. So they for sure have secondary support no other Canadian brand has.

Because you like to party.

My limited view on the situation leads me to think that Norco is not looking good financially and is pulling out of racing to prepare for a global recession (or a potential acquisition by another company). I hope no one else in Norco gets laid off and the brand continues past 2023 and beyond.

I may have too much time on my hands, and I may like looking too far into things, but the only post on RideWrap's instagram that Jesse liked in the last two months (as per my haphazard checking) was one with Trek's Fuel EX-e... It's been a slow day

I truly hope Jack goes to Pivot!

If he did move, there would be 3 dot points to that contract I'm sure. - SRAM/Rockshox components - Maxxis Tyres - As much stem spacers as I want!

In my view, there is no better way to show/prove the capabilities of a bike than taking part in a competition (racing, freeride competition, etc.). It’s the biggest stage and good results will have a positive impact on sales. Good results in one category (e.g. downhill) can even translate into better sales in other categories (e.g. enduro) in my opinion. Pulling out of racing might be an easy option to reduce costs, but there is a real risk to descend into obscurity.

Wonder if this is just Jamie leaving or Trek/SRAM completely pulling the plug?

I’m calling it right now: Jack Moir to Pivot