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psst, specialized isn't a botique brand either

Paying a premium for a boutique brand that is not a boutique brand is the main point. They used to be, they no longer are. Their warranty support has been a nightmare for a while (a friend of mine has two bikes currently sitting in a state of denied warranty). Other brands used to be -as bad- Trek, for instance before they had the lifetime warranty on their swing arm (this is I think 24mos or less since that started). For those of us who keep bikes a while or actually ride off road...well, the warranty is key. Not every...

Lucky for Mulally he has an experienced team manager that was on top of getting his petition submitted... Oh wait.. nope...theory does not check out.

Sure. But Gwin, as team manager and owner should be aware of how the process works? Seems like the other teams got the info to their guys. The lack of communication between him and Neko on this, as teammates, is baffling.

So it boils down to Gwin being a first time Team Owner/Manager. In the past, the team manager has always looked to make sure their rider(s) secured a spot or they knew the USAC petitioning rules for Worlds. The responsibility fell to AG himself and so it was an oversight on his part. Stinks to hear. It's easy to place the blame on Gwin here, but no way would I let that slide. This firmly lies on the shoulders of our governing body. From the very instant they recognized that Gwin was not going to be an automatic bid, they...

I feel like Gwin not being on the team has to be a personal decision. His season maybe hasn't been up to his Gwinning ways, but he was 22nd and 36th at the the two world cups this year and 4th at National Champs which in the grand scheme is still pretty dang good.