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Love this format so much. I wish things like this were readily available for amateur races. Seems like all local races are XC, enduro, or maybe DH. But as someone with a trials/BMX background, I want to make a fool of myself on climbs, slalom, supercross jump lines, switchbacks, etc.

V+R Racing is just two mere peasants (well, a nurse and a medical device engineer). When we started out in 2019 the two of us were just buying DH bikes for junior riders who needed them. Many seasons and many riders later, we had two world cup DH juniors in '25 with one finishing second overall and the other finishing 10th overall. We obviously can't afford our own team, but we can still be a hat/helmet sponsor. I'm still driving my 16 year old car - it just comes down to priorities for us. And we're proof it doesn't have...

It's a refreshing change when they let the person on the marketing team who actually understands mountain biking handle the mountain bike aspect of a "lifestyle" vehicle ad. And likely in this case they don't just understand it; they're deep in the weeds. Who outside of the sport has heard of Frameworks? Edit: because the presentation of the photo on Instagram offended me so much:

I’ve been surprised for awhile there’s not a crowdfunded racing team. Put a bunch of fan fave riders on a fan fave team and watch magic happen like it did when Moir, Dean Lucas, and Charlie Harrison were together on Intense. Would pitch in a few hundred bucks for Frameworks or Gwin Racing to pick up Dak. Surely there’s a bunch of folks willing to do similar. Could do it under the auspices of Vital Racing

enough product talk in team rumors.

Or, Norco. Team being managed by a legend that was the king of tinkering with frame adjustments until the day he retired. A team that has a F1 engineer. From and outsider perspective. I could see Norco being a good fit, logistically. - Team that supports outside of the box thinking for bike set up, and the money to do so. - Team that has $$ backing to support riders traveling abroad for long stints. -When Greg started managing Norco, he brought Cathy back in to help manage all the logistics and take care of the riders. Now, lets toss...

Spaniard here, love me some Dak. His insights on B-podcast play a big part of the World Cup season. For me he embodies the American Cool, the good things about the US. But I understand the criticism, he is indeed getting older for DH and perhaps doesnt have the dame appeal for young fans as other riders. still, I do hope he gets a good team, gets the elusive win and rides into the sunset with his girl and his dog.

Look maybe you have a point but chatting shit about Dak on Vital is just such bad manners. We don’t do that here

.. I'm thinking he could bank with a good hair product care deal.. My words! Dak Head-and shoulders ambassador for life!

This is why he needs to ride for Frameworks. They literally built the chopper that Dak wants.

Dak should have a signature high rise bar for sure. Crazy exposure for anyone in a very crowded space.

The forum has spoken.. Dak truly has an international fan base of at least 1 person in many countries.. Your loss, Mondraker. You had a global star that represents the hard working people of the world and you dropped him.. So, besides a bike and sealant sponsor, we need to find Dak some outside the industry money.. I'm thinking he could bank with a good hair product care deal.. But, in all seriousness, I hope Dak finds a good deal for next season.

Well I hope some bike companies are browsing this forum and see how much global appeal Dak has amongst the downhill community

south east asian dumbass tapping in here, also support dak so that's a load of horse shit

I'm British and I care about Dak. He makes it hard not to care because he's a funny and decent dude. Imagine NOT rooting for the guy.

I’m with you but unfortunately that’s not the way WBros is taking DH. Race results have become even more important. They said they were gonna tell stories but they’re not telling stories.

I'm not a fan because of their speed I'm a fan because of their personality. Some you meet in person and you become a fan based on that interaction alone In todays world, if a rider was to have a bunch of KPI's to hit, winning a race is becoming a smaller part of the pie chart in my opinion. Especially when it's the same 2 dudes winning every round. Above was right, no one remembers who came 6th. They remember the infectious humor, or their style on track. A riders Value is more than a win now days.

I was on board with the 'lets not pass judgement with no information' thing with Daprela... Until he made that post where he was like 'the internet needs to stop bullying me because "everything has been handled" Or whatever he said. Like... He worded it VERY specifically to never actually say 'i didnt do anything wrong' lol. The only thing he spoke definitively about is how the internet has to be nicer to him. At that point, even if completely innocent, he comes off like a whiny, entitled brat. To my knowledge he never went on the defensive of saying...

I’m sorry, but Daprela doesn’t ‘deserve’ anything. Racing at a World Cup level is a privilege not a right. It’s beyond just being fast, you also need to have certain aspects of professionalism and be enjoyable to be around. Regardless of what actually happened in the ‘incident’, his continued behavior in the aftermath is uncouth and any team should be hesitant for that alone.

I root for Dak more than anyone in the field. Not because he is American. I like his story. Getting into the sport later in life. Grinding as a privateer. Coming from a humble background and a part of the world far from any DH trails. And then, sort of like Benoit, just improving year after year to the point that he was one slippery turn from winning the rainbow stripes. Now after a massive injury he got back to 4th place on 1.5 legs. Insane. I like his style too, sneaky smooth and smart racecraft. At MSA I thought...