2016 Racing Rumours

OK, so again - Bruni with Blenki next year on the same team?

Could be just a 'can't wait to be team mates again, we have to make that happen some day!'

EDIT: Jack, Loic's mechanic, is supposedly retiring though...

Canyon will be launching a seriously big DH Team, they already have the truck as far as I know.
Barel will probably be the team manager, but that's just an educated guess.

Is Gwin's contract up this year?

i think trek rider contracts are up and maybe athertons to

Questions

Loic Bruni - I'm not sure he likes the bike he's on if you listen to some of his interviews. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move

Mike Jones - I'm not sure ChainReaction has the budget to keep him and Hill together.

Connor Fearon - I wouldn't be surprised to see him move to a higher budget team

Neko - Couldn't put it together. Wonder if Scott will keep him on board?

Peaty - Will he race again next year? (hope so)

Hart - Sort of sat in the shadows. With Marzocchi questionable and his shadow-like performance have to wonder if he'll make a change

Claudio can be heard in the Champs commentary saying Neko will remain with Scott for the 2016 season.

What happened to Team Rumours? those sketches were great and about 99% accurate. Anyone know who was behind that?

jeff.brines wrote:

Questions

Loic Bruni - I'm not sure he likes the bike he's on if you listen to some of his interviews. I wouldn't be surprised to see him move

Mike Jones - I'm not sure ChainReaction has the budget to keep him and Hill together.

Connor Fearon - I wouldn't be surprised to see him move to a higher budget team

Neko - Couldn't put it together. Wonder if Scott will keep him on board?

Peaty - Will he race again next year? (hope so)

Hart - Sort of sat in the shadows. With Marzocchi questionable and his shadow-like performance have to wonder if he'll make a change

I remember seeing that Fearon signed a multi year deal with Kona starting this past season.

Hart, I believe it was the same thing.

I think Team Rumours pissed off a lot of people in the industry, I remember some team manager saying he has a clue who it is and that he/she caused them a lot of trouble, so maybe that's why it stopped.

Gweggy wrote:

I think Team Rumours pissed off a lot of people in the industry, I remember some team manager saying he has a clue who it is and that he/she caused them a lot of trouble, so maybe that's why it stopped.

Wasn't there a case against the person behind the rumours? I think some of the companies sued him/her and that is why the flow of info stopped.

Gweggy wrote:

I think Team Rumours pissed off a lot of people in the industry, I remember some team manager saying he has a clue who it is and that he/she caused them a lot of trouble, so maybe that's why it stopped.

Hristo_Tanev wrote:

Wasn't there a case against the person behind the rumours? I think some of the companies sued him/her and that is why the flow of info stopped.

I heard their bikes were stolen in Italy and they had their leg broken in a dark alley in Spain. You don't mess with THE INDUSTRY...

Speculation is fun. And it's just that. I only wish companies would keep that in mind. With the WC season being so short us minions need something to banter about besides Minnaar's creepy super fan.

The Team Rumors speculation was weirdly accurate for only rumors...

Gweggy wrote:

I think Team Rumours pissed off a lot of people in the industry, I remember some team manager saying he has a clue who it is and that he/she caused them a lot of trouble, so maybe that's why it stopped.

I think that was Martin Whiteley, the year following Gwin leaving.

Gweggy wrote:

I think Team Rumours pissed off a lot of people in the industry, I remember some team manager saying he has a clue who it is and that he/she caused them a lot of trouble, so maybe that's why it stopped.

Trevor_Bonner wrote:

I think that was Martin Whiteley, the year following Gwin leaving.

That's always been my thought too. He's got to be the most connected man in the DH world. And too smart to bother just sitting around between meetings.

Just to clarify, I think it was Martin Whiteley that said he was unhappy about team rumours cartoons.

Trevor_Bonner wrote:

Just to clarify, I think it was Martin Whiteley that said he was unhappy about team rumours cartoons.

That sounds a lot like what the person behind the cartoons would say.

Trevor_Bonner wrote:

Just to clarify, I think it was Martin Whiteley that said he was unhappy about team rumours cartoons.

Panda-Bear wrote:

That sounds a lot like what the person behind the cartoons would say.

Thank you Panda-Bear..

Finally managed to recover my account, let the speculations begin!
So Gwin's contract is up (signed for 3 years), although I would be surprised to see him move, he seems very happy.
Pretty sure Loic re-signed for 2 years at the end of 2014 (it would be stfange to see a top racer only sign for 1 year on a team he's familiar with)

I have a friend who knows Fearon and they say he is very loyal to Kona and has chosen to stick with them in the past, even though he has had better offers from other players....certainly he seems pretty happy there

I'd be interested to see if any of this riders make any moves
Remi Thirion (does his contract expire this year?)
Matt Walker
Dean Lucas
Wyn Masters (off to enduro?)
Sam Dale

Does Richie Rude come back to DH?

I have no clue who would be on Canyon next year but I expect to see young french talent.

Maybe Thirion if his contract expires?

There was an interview on the German MTB website mtb-news.de with the Canyon Enduro Team manager today. He commented on Barel's retirement and said that we would still see him at the race venues this year, because they were working on a new project with him.
That really sounds like Barel will be the new team manager of their DH team.

Word on one of the Australian forums says word on the street is the Athertons are moving to Trek World Racing.

Win wants off the Specialized team but still wants to ride there frame.

If gwin doesn't eat the trek budget the atherthons will, as trek is gluten free which wasnt the case with cube

Bruni and vergier will have baguettes with barel

It means ropo won't be wasting his talent flying all over the world to pedal up dirt roads just because specialized wants to sell trail bikes.

Do we really think that the Athertons will move given that the current GT Fury is their bike? That said it was a huge change leaving Commencal when that happened, so who knows.

pretty sure athertons are doing crc. british power house shop and team

OCsponger587 wrote:

pretty sure athertons are doing crc. british power house shop and team

Unless CRC are dropping everyone, including Sam Hill. I really doubt that!