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I never understood the market of Mondraker. Back in the day when i do believe Barel and Rojo were on Mondraker (around 2008-2012) they went big in easter Europe and everyone was riding their DH bike. Same with French bikepark resorts and fleets of Mondraker DH bikes. But those days are gone and I can’t remember what was the last time to see any Mondraker on trail, whenever back in Europe or here in the US (CA, WA). If you look for their business info, you have to search for Blue Factory Team s.l.u., not Mondraker. According to some online...

The liv golf thing was/is a wild story and maybe relevant but for a different reason? Basically the PGA held a monopoly on players & tournaments which made it tough for new players to own their image, media and where they could play. LIV stepped in to give players more freedom and control over their careers which really shook up the industry. They are definitely not saints but it exposed the PGA and its practises and forced some massive shake ups (including an eventual merger which stitched up the guys who rejected big offers to go to LIV). Point is...

I think people would be very surprised how low salaries are for support staff. I know of one mechanic working for a decent team that was paid in the form of a bike. Sure they got to "travel" but it was very low. While it may seem like there are only a few days of "work" they are huge days and don't forget, these guys drive the van around and spend months away at a time. Some of the teams down even spring for a hotel with one big team having the mechanics sleep on the race truck... It's a...

I'm kinda torn on the subject, I can understand outside money might help the elite to make a better living from racing but does it make the sport better? Do we have an example of a lame sport that became better because of better funding.. I don't have an immediate opinion but I can't think of anything. BMX does not have much funding but IMO is cool AF. They maybe have bigger events with outsider sponsors like the X-games. I can also see the impact of the Olympics on the development of XC, and BMX in many countries.. We should...

@Simcik since you brought up the marlboro thing, do you think there will ever be a time 5-10-20 years from now when we look at energy drinks like cigarettes? sure the money is huge for racers and events etc, but is the long-term cost (thinking about health of those who consume the product) worth it? i'm not trying to be holier than thou at all, but i've always found this topic interesting. can *controversial* sponsors buy their way in if the money is right? thinking that whole liv golf thing (which i don't know much about).

In the "Golden age" of XC mtb in Spain (early 90's), many big sponsors were alcohol or tobacco firms and we had the "Larios DH Cup" (gin), the "J&B XC Cup" (whiskey), "Team Coronas mtb" (tobacco) and others. Money was flowing, good times. Years later (after the tobacco and alcohol sponsorship and advertising ban) I still remember the Grundig World Cup and others. Maybe not tobacco and/or alcohol, but I think external money can be very welcome back in the mtb circus.

I think you're overestimating the salaries of DH riders and support staff by quite a bit. The top 5 or 10 in the world might average $100k salary with a capped bonus structure but after that, the top 10-25 probably make $25k with good bonus structure or $40k with a small bonus structure. Outside the top 25 and juniors is probably $15k salary or less. Mechanics are probably paid at most what you're suggesting, but realistically a little lower. All that said, Neko's budget sounds lean, but very doable when you have smart minds like his and Martin's running things.

Too true. All the YouTuber trail narcs & Strava KOM lorders have to brag to the world for the clicks. Even if a team rig rolls up...without the narcs, you'd still have to find it, test it out and do work to get to and from. DH trails are dead now though. "Trinidad" and all the others are now the domain of the SurRon urban vape douches and their next IG reel featuring ASAP Rocky and their comments to outraged locals of "you seem turnt bruh. chill"

Just FYI - Someone who I will not name reached out to me from Scott suggesting the net margin numbers I was using are not correct. I'm going off a press release, so I'm not correcting anything I wrote until I see a correction elsewhere or similar. That said, I just wanted to be transparent here in the case someone is reading this stuff who actually makes decisions/cares/etc.

It's 95% the rider. Case in point: Jackson won World Cups his first-year Elite on the new V10, while Greg struggled all year to find a good setup. Or for you Moto fans: Chase Sexton battled with the Honda the past two years, while Jett Lawerence moved up to 450s over the summer and went 22-0. I've watched plenty of really talented riders hop on different bikes and go really fast. Shit, Dakotah beat me on a Morpheus multiple times. The sweet sauce is understanding setup, having resources (like the ability to evolve a bike to match one's style), and...

I think this forum (and industry in general) makes too much fuss about the frame design. I think the fork is as or more important than frame, your front wheel has to steer and do the majority of the braking. Id rather race a good fork over a good frame if I had to choose. But to answer the question- it’s 90% rider 10% bike. And any rig out on the circuit can get you 7-8% with proper setup and tuning.

totally agree. when the new uncaged capra came out the other day at $6500 with X0 transmission and ohlins, my initial reaction was "whoa, that's expensive." it's not really expensive, but it's not $4700 like the capra uncaged model being blown out a few weeks ago. def a grab-the-popcorn-and-watch year for the market!

I'm more interested in how the reaction to price increases will go for companies that have had year+ long firesales. It's one thing to discount a product even if it is 40-50% for a bit as that's how most 'sales' work, but how do you justify a price increase when your product has been even just 20% off for over a year?

The bike world’s lust for 3d printing is hilarious to me.