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I can see that. I can also see Pivot stepping out from racing. 🤷🏽♂️
Finn came up in the shadow of Loic as their Jr. racer for the team. He was going to leave the team at one point then Specialized stepped in and gave a metric shit-tonne of cash to fund the team as an official factory program. This let Laurant keep Finn on board.
That said, It would not surprise me to see Finn move to Trek or possibly Yeti. Somewhere he can shine more while be given the star treatment.
Jess got a new ride, she'll be good.
That's would also the same script as Loic/Loris...
Really interesting. I'm going to be curious to see where they put their energies in the coming year, instead. They've been doing a lot of awesome stuff and making good moves, but this one is discouraging. Maybe they're going to work on a more regional/local level and start trying to have more placement in shops in various areas (like others, we rarely see GTs in the wild in our area and have no shop where we can purchase them).
Maybe. Richie has been out of DH for a while now and proved, although he is in DH shape (skill-wise) but not in DH race shape. Having a fellow North American who is fast as hell and has been WC for a while would benefit Richie more than take away from Finn.
The only reason Richie Rude is getting back on a DH bike is to carry on the rivalry that’s been going on with Sam Hill since they were juniors.
Sam Hill is 10 years older than Richie Rude.
You are right. I thought it was well documented those two we’re battling before their EWS days.. I’m wrong.
Yeah this is so weird, this year they are one of the coolest teams supporting wyns privateer program and next year they are gone. Noga situation was also strange, maybe its related? What about Brage? 😃
Speaking of Sam Hill, I thought he was going to race the entire DH World Cup calendar but haven't seen him since the first round. Anybody know what's up with him?
He wouldn't qualify these days so probably isn't bothering.
He's injured
Real friends spell their name right lol
haha, I blame autocorrect
Neko wasn’t exactly quiet about having issues with his m279 once he left the brand. And loics comments towards dak’s bike makes me think it’s not exactly an abnormality.
To be fair, Intense bikes were always on the more lightweight side of things for aluminum bikes. So natural that they do not last as long as overbuild bikes. I have a collection of old Intense bikes and most of them are well aligned, so not sure where that rumor comes from. Some have the living sh!t beaten out of them by fast riders and have the scratches and wear to prove this, but do not have cracks.
Some of the Intense team/prototype bikes were even lighter than the retail frames and the team naturally swapped them out once or twice a year. Usually they were also made by Jeff, so I have no doubt about his skills as a craftsman.
That said, some of the Intense prototype/team bikes of old are gorgeous, but these newly developed frames in the last years are not. Part of that (me thinks) is that they do not have a domestic production anymore and need to outsource CNC machining and are more limited with tube supplies.
Wasn't Brook the one begging on his knees to be taken back to mondraker after his GT detour?
Dak deserves to be on a better program. It's a shame that he's doing so well as teams are preparing to fold and companies are cutting back. IFR and his deal with them isn't what people think. Wasn't his signing with the team sort of a last-minute kind of thing too? That should tell you a bit about who had the leverage.
Everything looks rosy in public but people are trying to read the tea leaves just a bit too hard. There's a whole lot of smoke and mirrors.
I have no inside knowledge, but the other possibility is that Aaron wanted a fast American on his team and Dak showed up at the right time. Gwinner loves development of riders and bikes.
Regarding Brook, when he did go back to the Mondraker at first he was on fire and the coe back king after a very lousy term on the Fury. Laurie, Danny and Flo had just done a triple podium on that bike. When the last version of the bike came out everyone on it dropped from the podium and the current crop of previously top racers like Trummer and Brook vanished. I think Farina is the only one to pop into the top 5 with that bike.
Some great rumors, thanks!
could definitely see YT shuttibg doen racing, they are having some real cash flow problems based on eurobike rumors.
Just listening to the latest B-Practice he sounded pretty happy with it all.
I have no inside knowledge, but Im going with Gwin wanting him on the team because when he grows his hair long he looks like Western Jesus and that is comforting. ;-)
I believe Brook's contract is up after this season. I don't think he'll be getting re-upped on a major team so will likely have to do something like Blenkinsop did this year if he's looking to keep racing. It sucks the first two years at Mondraker were ruined by the bike he said he was not a fan of. He's got the new bike now, but the results haven't jumped up. If he doesn't have a killer last 3 world cups, and with all the team downsizing, I don't see him getting signed at a major/medium team. Will be weird not having the Bulldog out there if something doesn't pan out.
YT shutting everything down wouldn‘t shock me one bit, they‘ve a track record for hanging riders out for dry.
but i think that „good times“ slogan is hinting GT shutting down which is pretty much all but confirmed according to all the chatter about it.
Rumors are all well & good. But making a guy who was fucking paralyzed in a wheelchair & came back to a sport he loves seem like a prostitute at the car wash is another thing. "...begging on his knees" is some shit this website does not need.
Save that garbage for Instagram.
As for all the other "rumours" I'm seeing here, you're all off base on guesses. Well...except OneGhost. I think my guy is playing poker and throwing all of you off with some serious fibs.
"As for all the other "rumors" I'm seeing here, you're all off base on guesses. Well...except OneGhost. I think my guy is playing poker and throwing all of you off with some serious fibs."
Maybe industry people that actually know what TF is going on should either keep to yourself or at least drop some vague hints to foster the process w/o spilling the beans. These strange interweb flexing posts that equate to "nah nah, Im friends with all the riders and I know; but you don't! nah nah" seem a bit odd. Is that really what FSA wants their marketing manager to be doing?
Not so much begging. It was less about getting on with Mondraker or even off GT so much as a better bike for him than the 2016/17 Fury
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