Whatever Specialized is doing they need to copy them, out of their three riders they all have podiums and two have wins just this year. You...
Whatever Specialized is doing they need to copy them, out of their three riders they all have podiums and two have wins just this year. You have other teams struggling to get one rider into finals.
I just struggle to see where the companies are seeing racing budgets translate into DH bike sales. How many people are buying a DH bike because someone just won a race on it? At least around me at local DH races the majority of the guys are riding what bike frames they get a discount on through a buddies shop or a shop they put on their jersey.
You may see more bike sales form seeing Tahnee on Instagram riding a Canyon trail bike that more people are the demographic for, so the racing is more a means to exposure for the athletes.
Hell half of the bikes on the podiums are prototypes that will never exist anyways, (the Intense maybe will)
The purpose of DH racing isn't to sell dh bikes. It is for general marketing and to sell mid to high level trail and Enduro bikes.
The purpose of DH racing isn't to sell dh bikes. It is for general marketing and to sell mid to high level trail and Enduro bikes.
I would have to say it is a test bed for new products and suspension theories / designs. Look at specialized, pivot, and intense, all on proto bikes / suspension layouts that will most likely make there way onto enduro bikes as well.
Whatever Specialized is doing they need to copy them, out of their three riders they all have podiums and two have wins just this year. You...
Whatever Specialized is doing they need to copy them, out of their three riders they all have podiums and two have wins just this year. You have other teams struggling to get one rider into finals.
I just struggle to see where the companies are seeing racing budgets translate into DH bike sales. How many people are buying a DH bike because someone just won a race on it? At least around me at local DH races the majority of the guys are riding what bike frames they get a discount on through a buddies shop or a shop they put on their jersey.
You may see more bike sales form seeing Tahnee on Instagram riding a Canyon trail bike that more people are the demographic for, so the racing is more a means to exposure for the athletes.
Hell half of the bikes on the podiums are prototypes that will never exist anyways, (the Intense maybe will)
I would have to say it is a test bed for new products and suspension theories / designs. Look at specialized, pivot, and intense, all on...
I would have to say it is a test bed for new products and suspension theories / designs. Look at specialized, pivot, and intense, all on proto bikes / suspension layouts that will most likely make there way onto enduro bikes as well.
Hard to support international racing if you aren’t selling bikes.
I think bike companies need to offer something more than a few percentage points of bike performance if they want to sell bikes to the average committed enthusiast who owns a bike made in the last 3-5 years or the average once a month biker who owns a bike made in the last 8 to 9 years. Resale value is terrible currently and gone are the days of significant improvement to geo and parts quality by upgrading your 1-3 year old bike. And for the guy who isn’t that serious his 2016 mtb is still pretty dang good.
sure there will always be that crowd that buys a new model every year. But simply gone are the days where a brand new bike is going to significantly improve your riding experience versus ever so slightly change it unless you are riding something clapped out or very outdated.
personally I think brands really need to make an effort to improve the bike owning experience. I have no reason to upgrade my spire at the moment. But I’d sell it in a heart beat and buy a new bike if say a trek would throw in a couple years of maintenance at my lbs and parts warranties. But a slash with an idler and a slightly improved fork is just not a big enough change to my bike owning experience for me to justify the costs.
Hard to support international racing if you aren’t selling bikes.
I think bike companies need to offer something more than a few percentage points of...
Hard to support international racing if you aren’t selling bikes.
I think bike companies need to offer something more than a few percentage points of bike performance if they want to sell bikes to the average committed enthusiast who owns a bike made in the last 3-5 years or the average once a month biker who owns a bike made in the last 8 to 9 years. Resale value is terrible currently and gone are the days of significant improvement to geo and parts quality by upgrading your 1-3 year old bike. And for the guy who isn’t that serious his 2016 mtb is still pretty dang good.
sure there will always be that crowd that buys a new model every year. But simply gone are the days where a brand new bike is going to significantly improve your riding experience versus ever so slightly change it unless you are riding something clapped out or very outdated.
personally I think brands really need to make an effort to improve the bike owning experience. I have no reason to upgrade my spire at the moment. But I’d sell it in a heart beat and buy a new bike if say a trek would throw in a couple years of maintenance at my lbs and parts warranties. But a slash with an idler and a slightly improved fork is just not a big enough change to my bike owning experience for me to justify the costs.
Well said, anytime I am on a lot of these sites mainly the other bike site it just feels like the industry is pushing trying to sell us shit that they say is an improvement or it just looks cool but I think people are over the bike industry trying to invent new ways to make money off of us. Like you said the bikes are really good now and there is such marginal gains compared to bikes from a couple years ago.
I think another huge issue in the bike industry is the amount of buddy deals and bike shop discounts that get handed out. I know so many people that are just recreational riders that maybe use to work in the industry or have a buddy that does that get 50%+ off discounts on loads of brands or guys that know a guy and gets frames at cost. So all that cost has to get passed on to the Joe Blow consumer.
"It’s been an amazing journey working together with Ibis Racing and the awesome people behind the team and at Ibis Cycles. So it’s with tears in my eyes I’m now telling you this weekend will mark the last race for the Ibis Racing team I have been with the team for almost half of it’s existence on the world enduro circuit and also got my first podium together with this team. With a strong desire to keep on racing and the fact I now have my small family to provide for it’s definitely not an ideal position to be in. I’m not sure what the future holds for myself and my racing career and with no contract signed for the future this might be my last EDR race. But I will stay positive and keep on fighting to the end! Thanks for all the support." - Zakarias Johansen
"It’s been an unreal four years racing with Ibis Racing that has unfortunately come to a end. These guys picked me up after my privateer year in 2019 and made my childhood dream come true to race professionally. Which I will be forever grateful for! A huge thanks to @talltom67 and @robin_wallner for all their help and guidance along the way it’s been a fun ride. As for what’s next for me and racing full time next year I’m not sure. With a lots of teams pulling out and an injury affected season it’s not looking so good. But hopefully you’ll see me at all the races next year as we’ve got some unfinished business!!" - Cole Lucas
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving. The global economy and ripple effects from Covid boom have certainly played a major role as well.
WCDH is heading in the same direction.
Seems like UCI screwed the pooch this year with almost everything, so much that racers were stoked about the smallest things.
if you’re paying for a streaming service to watch the races, I’d say now is good time to stop. A significantly low enough rating for the last rounds of UCI racing would send a message. Don’t watch their YouTube highlights. Check the media sites for results and watch videos there but don’t click on any official race media channels for race highlights.
one of two cryptic messages on ALN’s IG today. Could be about general rumors about teams and edr, or could be end of days for the rocky team. Would be a bummer if so, but also wouldn’t be surprised.
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving...
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving. The global economy and ripple effects from Covid boom have certainly played a major role as well.
WCDH is heading in the same direction.
Seems like UCI screwed the pooch this year with almost everything, so much that racers were stoked about the smallest things.
if you’re paying for a streaming service to watch the races, I’d say now is good time to stop. A significantly low enough rating for the last rounds of UCI racing would send a message. Don’t watch their YouTube highlights. Check the media sites for results and watch videos there but don’t click on any official race media channels for race highlights.
In your opinion what did UCi actually do wrong with DH this year?
Not a fan of semi-finals (honestly it's too much racing content to get through, I just watch Hrastnik, Balanche (before she got hurt), Nina and Vali's runs and then half watch men's field) but overall the actual race coverage of DH has been great. More camera angles/more coverage of runs. Commentating has been... acceptable, was better with Gwin in the box at Loudenville for sure.
EDR as pointed out countless times has been pathetic/abysmal. Pretty much only worth watching the Moi Moi TV coverage and skimming the official highlights (which are inferior to a few years ago). Not surprised so many teams are dropping out given economic challenges. DH likely remains justifiable from a marketing perspective. Would be really interesting to see the GCN+ numbers, I paid for each month there are races even though I know where to find pirate streams... ironically had to use those or a VPN to watch TdF/Vuelta because of stupid FloBikes in Canada.
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving...
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving. The global economy and ripple effects from Covid boom have certainly played a major role as well.
WCDH is heading in the same direction.
Seems like UCI screwed the pooch this year with almost everything, so much that racers were stoked about the smallest things.
if you’re paying for a streaming service to watch the races, I’d say now is good time to stop. A significantly low enough rating for the last rounds of UCI racing would send a message. Don’t watch their YouTube highlights. Check the media sites for results and watch videos there but don’t click on any official race media channels for race highlights.
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving...
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving. The global economy and ripple effects from Covid boom have certainly played a major role as well.
WCDH is heading in the same direction.
Seems like UCI screwed the pooch this year with almost everything, so much that racers were stoked about the smallest things.
if you’re paying for a streaming service to watch the races, I’d say now is good time to stop. A significantly low enough rating for the last rounds of UCI racing would send a message. Don’t watch their YouTube highlights. Check the media sites for results and watch videos there but don’t click on any official race media channels for race highlights.
In your opinion what did UCi actually do wrong with DH this year?
In your opinion what did UCi actually do wrong with DH this year?
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is terrible. Ric is a good presenter when it’s recorded but his live commentary is not good.
Watching all the rider provided race day vlogs (track walk, post race, etc) I get the feeling that most of riders are not as happy this year. It’s like, they name off like 10 things that suck but then follow it with “that section is fun”.
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving...
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving. The global economy and ripple effects from Covid boom have certainly played a major role as well.
WCDH is heading in the same direction.
Seems like UCI screwed the pooch this year with almost everything, so much that racers were stoked about the smallest things.
if you’re paying for a streaming service to watch the races, I’d say now is good time to stop. A significantly low enough rating for the last rounds of UCI racing would send a message. Don’t watch their YouTube highlights. Check the media sites for results and watch videos there but don’t click on any official race media channels for race highlights.
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is...
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is terrible. Ric is a good presenter when it’s recorded but his live commentary is not good.
Watching all the rider provided race day vlogs (track walk, post race, etc) I get the feeling that most of riders are not as happy this year. It’s like, they name off like 10 things that suck but then follow it with “that section is fun”.
UCI DH has had new tracks and venues this year, more interest than ever (any press is good press and all the negative comments are comments none the less), more entries than ever at most races it seems. Huge interest from brands, who despite not having budget still want to be involved in DH some how.
The only people your hairbrained idea of not watching content would hurt is teams and riders, mainly riders.
So weird the way the same haters who want the World Cup field filled with privateers and want sick tracks are the same ones who say they don't watch the coverage, won't pay for streaming etc. Basically blame the UCI for something something, but in reality the sport of DH is continuing to grow mainly because of all the amazing riders. Just somehow you heavily opinionated comment kings want to slow that progress by not watching ?
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is...
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is terrible. Ric is a good presenter when it’s recorded but his live commentary is not good.
Watching all the rider provided race day vlogs (track walk, post race, etc) I get the feeling that most of riders are not as happy this year. It’s like, they name off like 10 things that suck but then follow it with “that section is fun”.
Have you heard the saying "Give us something worth watching and we will watch it" ?
If dropping heaps of teams and brands to get to that point, so be it - even if its my fav riders.
- The teams would return once it gets going again.
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is...
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is terrible. Ric is a good presenter when it’s recorded but his live commentary is not good.
Watching all the rider provided race day vlogs (track walk, post race, etc) I get the feeling that most of riders are not as happy this year. It’s like, they name off like 10 things that suck but then follow it with “that section is fun”.
UCI DH has had new tracks and venues this year, more interest than ever (any press is good press and all the negative comments are comments...
UCI DH has had new tracks and venues this year, more interest than ever (any press is good press and all the negative comments are comments none the less), more entries than ever at most races it seems. Huge interest from brands, who despite not having budget still want to be involved in DH some how.
The only people your hairbrained idea of not watching content would hurt is teams and riders, mainly riders.
So weird the way the same haters who want the World Cup field filled with privateers and want sick tracks are the same ones who say they don't watch the coverage, won't pay for streaming etc. Basically blame the UCI for something something, but in reality the sport of DH is continuing to grow mainly because of all the amazing riders. Just somehow you heavily opinionated comment kings want to slow that progress by not watching ?
Literally no one I know who's followed DH for the last 10 years payed for the whole season, and that's a prett big crowd who's stoked on bikes in a large Canadian city with an above average size gravity crowd. I've been watching since freecaster started in what, 07/08? This season has been the worst, most poorly covered season in memory. Only Les Gets was done somewhat ok.maybe they're learning but at this point I don't trust it.
They've had new tracks and venues multiple years, it takes a lot to built either, and they've had a lot of the same as well. Any press is good press is bullshit if it's continually negative, that the most Ludacris like to ever come out of a 1930's newspaper. They've literally ruined an entire professional field of racizng this year with Enduro also.
The UCI WAS growing from amazing riders and smart coverage and in one season it was tanked by the UCI and Discovery with bizaar last minute rule changes that the riders themselves are sick of or think are bullshit and have said very loudly.
Intense does have a pretty bad track record of having bad quality control, misaligned, badly welded frames that didn't last a full season, on their aluminum...
Intense does have a pretty bad track record of having bad quality control, misaligned, badly welded frames that didn't last a full season, on their aluminum frames (stuff got better lately with their carbon frames). It's not because it is handmade that it is well made
Bit of a throwback, but a funny and relevant anecdote.
We had a customer at my shop who was a close friend of Jeff's, and who had received two of the first bikes out of the factory of the new Tracer 279. Guys brings them in one day with some weird issues from the cranks rubbing thechain stays. Start to strip the bikes down to investigate and couldn't shake the feeling something didn't look right...
Turns out they'd both been assembled wrong at the factory with the dogbone links installed backwards.
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving...
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving. The global economy and ripple effects from Covid boom have certainly played a major role as well.
WCDH is heading in the same direction.
Seems like UCI screwed the pooch this year with almost everything, so much that racers were stoked about the smallest things.
if you’re paying for a streaming service to watch the races, I’d say now is good time to stop. A significantly low enough rating for the last rounds of UCI racing would send a message. Don’t watch their YouTube highlights. Check the media sites for results and watch videos there but don’t click on any official race media channels for race highlights.
If you're seriously suggesting that the coverage of racing this year has had more of an impact on bike companies than the global economy and recovery from the pandemic you are absolutely dreaming.
There have been multiple stories over the past 18-24 months about how companies have been paying more for stock/production/shipping than before, increasing their retail prices dramatically, and forecasting way higher sales and ordering inventory accordingly.
The global economy has shit the bed, inflation went wild, people's spending power has been cut, businesses are hurting across almost all areas. Whether that's restaurants and bars shutting down because people are cutting back on discretionary spending so aren't going out as much, or Apple finding they're sitting on overstock of iPhone 14s.
There are countless examples of businesses suffering or going under because of the state of things right now, so it's no surprise that it's the same in our corner of the world. Racing has extremely little direct return on investment and is hugely expensive to fund so no matter what the UCI or WBD/ESO were doing this year it was never going to make a dent on the sales figures for most brands, and consequently how much they could afford to keep sending riders around the world to finish mid-pack at an event.
Not picking on her specifically but just because she came up, Katy Winton's best result this year was 9th. Her last result was 26th out of 42 riders. Realistically, how much are GT getting from the exposure that provides? How many bikes do they need to sell to cover the cost of the bikes, salary, expenses and so on they're paying Katy and the rest of the GT team?
If it's a case of canning your race team or keeping your race team on and bleeding your company dry, it's not surprising to me that so many are cutting back now.
DH is fine though. Imo as a spectator. Cant understand people complain about something as great as the Les Gets race coverage. As an austrian gaving an austrian commentator (Markus Pekoll) i gladdly finance thqt with the gcn + subscribtion. Just a sign of changes to come maybe
It’s well proven that when times are bad that marketing is one of the most important factors in how a company goes in the bad times and how they return when things are good.
unfortunately many companies probably did not properly invest their pandemic profits or forecast the subsequent slump. And they may be worried about simple survival vs anything else. However I absolutely do agree that the current issues with international racing (greatly increased costs with shrinking return) are a large factor in where these companies are going to spend their marketing dollars.
I have little doubt red Bull did a much better job of bringing dh and xc to the general public. Did a better job of presenting the top of the sport to the bike owning public. And if eso and discovery cannot fox their issues then brands are not going to be determined to invest in racing vs other means of marketing. Now perhaps the big brands feel they have something to gain by a much smaller international racing scene. Now personally I think that is a mistaken outlook which will only bring significantly less eyes to their products and racers.
it’s rough out there. I agree the main driving factor is people simply are not buying bikes especially at sticker price. But one also has to think that the issues of this past season is going to be a large factor for big and small brands a like if they see the World Cup as a good Avenue for their hard earned marketing budget.
I would have to say it is a test bed for new products and suspension theories / designs. Look at specialized, pivot, and intense, all on proto bikes / suspension layouts that will most likely make there way onto enduro bikes as well.
Sure, that too to an extent.
Giant Off Road Team to stop E bike racing in 2024.
Josh isn't retiring and has more details on his future plans later in the year.
Hard to support international racing if you aren’t selling bikes.
I think bike companies need to offer something more than a few percentage points of bike performance if they want to sell bikes to the average committed enthusiast who owns a bike made in the last 3-5 years or the average once a month biker who owns a bike made in the last 8 to 9 years. Resale value is terrible currently and gone are the days of significant improvement to geo and parts quality by upgrading your 1-3 year old bike. And for the guy who isn’t that serious his 2016 mtb is still pretty dang good.
sure there will always be that crowd that buys a new model every year. But simply gone are the days where a brand new bike is going to significantly improve your riding experience versus ever so slightly change it unless you are riding something clapped out or very outdated.
personally I think brands really need to make an effort to improve the bike owning experience. I have no reason to upgrade my spire at the moment. But I’d sell it in a heart beat and buy a new bike if say a trek would throw in a couple years of maintenance at my lbs and parts warranties. But a slash with an idler and a slightly improved fork is just not a big enough change to my bike owning experience for me to justify the costs.
Well said, anytime I am on a lot of these sites mainly the other bike site it just feels like the industry is pushing trying to sell us shit that they say is an improvement or it just looks cool but I think people are over the bike industry trying to invent new ways to make money off of us. Like you said the bikes are really good now and there is such marginal gains compared to bikes from a couple years ago.
I think another huge issue in the bike industry is the amount of buddy deals and bike shop discounts that get handed out. I know so many people that are just recreational riders that maybe use to work in the industry or have a buddy that does that get 50%+ off discounts on loads of brands or guys that know a guy and gets frames at cost. So all that cost has to get passed on to the Joe Blow consumer.
Not sure if it’s been posted, but Ibis is closing its EWS team as well.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxM3ETnscJV/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Team Ibis shutting it down...
Words from team riders:
"It’s been an amazing journey working together with Ibis Racing and the awesome people behind the team and at Ibis Cycles. So it’s with tears in my eyes I’m now telling you this weekend will mark the last race for the Ibis Racing team I have been with the team for almost half of it’s existence on the world enduro circuit and also got my first podium together with this team. With a strong desire to keep on racing and the fact I now have my small family to provide for it’s definitely not an ideal position to be in. I’m not sure what the future holds for myself and my racing career and with no contract signed for the future this might be my last EDR race. But I will stay positive and keep on fighting to the end! Thanks for all the support." - Zakarias Johansen
"It’s been an unreal four years racing with Ibis Racing that has unfortunately come to a end. These guys picked me up after my privateer year in 2019 and made my childhood dream come true to race professionally. Which I will be forever grateful for! A huge thanks to @talltom67 and @robin_wallner for all their help and guidance along the way it’s been a fun ride. As for what’s next for me and racing full time next year I’m not sure. With a lots of teams pulling out and an injury affected season it’s not looking so good. But hopefully you’ll see me at all the races next year as we’ve got some unfinished business!!" - Cole Lucas
First of many to confirm the move away from racing
GT is almost certainly out and I bet Polygon goes as well.
It’s no surprise that with how bad the coverage has been, tracks are “meh”, and riders seeming less interested this particular year, that teams are dissolving. The global economy and ripple effects from Covid boom have certainly played a major role as well.
WCDH is heading in the same direction.
Seems like UCI screwed the pooch this year with almost everything, so much that racers were stoked about the smallest things.
if you’re paying for a streaming service to watch the races, I’d say now is good time to stop. A significantly low enough rating for the last rounds of UCI racing would send a message. Don’t watch their YouTube highlights. Check the media sites for results and watch videos there but don’t click on any official race media channels for race highlights.
is that a goodbye by remi?
Might not mean anything more than that it's the last race of this EDR series.
I hear Rocky is done, along with Devinci. what Canadian teams would be left?
Forbidden to talk about… ☺️
might be but all those teams dropping out or rumors about it makes me paranoid😅
one of two cryptic messages on ALN’s IG today. Could be about general rumors about teams and edr, or could be end of days for the rocky team. Would be a bummer if so, but also wouldn’t be surprised.
In your opinion what did UCi actually do wrong with DH this year?
Not a fan of semi-finals (honestly it's too much racing content to get through, I just watch Hrastnik, Balanche (before she got hurt), Nina and Vali's runs and then half watch men's field) but overall the actual race coverage of DH has been great. More camera angles/more coverage of runs. Commentating has been... acceptable, was better with Gwin in the box at Loudenville for sure.
EDR as pointed out countless times has been pathetic/abysmal. Pretty much only worth watching the Moi Moi TV coverage and skimming the official highlights (which are inferior to a few years ago). Not surprised so many teams are dropping out given economic challenges. DH likely remains justifiable from a marketing perspective. Would be really interesting to see the GCN+ numbers, I paid for each month there are races even though I know where to find pirate streams... ironically had to use those or a VPN to watch TdF/Vuelta because of stupid FloBikes in Canada.
Sell the series to eso!
Format, late start to the season, combining the events, coverage is lacking, commentary is sub par. I understand Cedric is a legend, but his commentary is terrible. Ric is a good presenter when it’s recorded but his live commentary is not good.
Watching all the rider provided race day vlogs (track walk, post race, etc) I get the feeling that most of riders are not as happy this year. It’s like, they name off like 10 things that suck but then follow it with “that section is fun”.
UCI DH has had new tracks and venues this year, more interest than ever (any press is good press and all the negative comments are comments none the less), more entries than ever at most races it seems. Huge interest from brands, who despite not having budget still want to be involved in DH some how.
The only people your hairbrained idea of not watching content would hurt is teams and riders, mainly riders.
So weird the way the same haters who want the World Cup field filled with privateers and want sick tracks are the same ones who say they don't watch the coverage, won't pay for streaming etc. Basically blame the UCI for something something, but in reality the sport of DH is continuing to grow mainly because of all the amazing riders. Just somehow you heavily opinionated comment kings want to slow that progress by not watching ?
None of that falls under the UCI’s role
Have you heard the saying "Give us something worth watching and we will watch it" ?
If dropping heaps of teams and brands to get to that point, so be it - even if its my fav riders.
- The teams would return once it gets going again.
Literally no one I know who's followed DH for the last 10 years payed for the whole season, and that's a prett big crowd who's stoked on bikes in a large Canadian city with an above average size gravity crowd. I've been watching since freecaster started in what, 07/08? This season has been the worst, most poorly covered season in memory. Only Les Gets was done somewhat ok.maybe they're learning but at this point I don't trust it.
They've had new tracks and venues multiple years, it takes a lot to built either, and they've had a lot of the same as well. Any press is good press is bullshit if it's continually negative, that the most Ludacris like to ever come out of a 1930's newspaper. They've literally ruined an entire professional field of racizng this year with Enduro also.
The UCI WAS growing from amazing riders and smart coverage and in one season it was tanked by the UCI and Discovery with bizaar last minute rule changes that the riders themselves are sick of or think are bullshit and have said very loudly.
Bit of a throwback, but a funny and relevant anecdote.
We had a customer at my shop who was a close friend of Jeff's, and who had received two of the first bikes out of the factory of the new Tracer 279. Guys brings them in one day with some weird issues from the cranks rubbing the chain stays. Start to strip the bikes down to investigate and couldn't shake the feeling something didn't look right...
Turns out they'd both been assembled wrong at the factory with the dogbone links installed backwards.
Not ideal.
I'd like to pull out my thread from last year, but I'm actually to sad to say I told you so.
Screw it, the signs were there:
https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/The-Hub,2/Is-the-EWS-dead,11520
If you're seriously suggesting that the coverage of racing this year has had more of an impact on bike companies than the global economy and recovery from the pandemic you are absolutely dreaming.
There have been multiple stories over the past 18-24 months about how companies have been paying more for stock/production/shipping than before, increasing their retail prices dramatically, and forecasting way higher sales and ordering inventory accordingly.
The global economy has shit the bed, inflation went wild, people's spending power has been cut, businesses are hurting across almost all areas. Whether that's restaurants and bars shutting down because people are cutting back on discretionary spending so aren't going out as much, or Apple finding they're sitting on overstock of iPhone 14s.
There are countless examples of businesses suffering or going under because of the state of things right now, so it's no surprise that it's the same in our corner of the world. Racing has extremely little direct return on investment and is hugely expensive to fund so no matter what the UCI or WBD/ESO were doing this year it was never going to make a dent on the sales figures for most brands, and consequently how much they could afford to keep sending riders around the world to finish mid-pack at an event.
Not picking on her specifically but just because she came up, Katy Winton's best result this year was 9th. Her last result was 26th out of 42 riders. Realistically, how much are GT getting from the exposure that provides? How many bikes do they need to sell to cover the cost of the bikes, salary, expenses and so on they're paying Katy and the rest of the GT team?
If it's a case of canning your race team or keeping your race team on and bleeding your company dry, it's not surprising to me that so many are cutting back now.
DH is fine though. Imo as a spectator. Cant understand people complain about something as great as the Les Gets race coverage. As an austrian gaving an austrian commentator (Markus Pekoll) i gladdly finance thqt with the gcn + subscribtion. Just a sign of changes to come maybe
It’s well proven that when times are bad that marketing is one of the most important factors in how a company goes in the bad times and how they return when things are good.
unfortunately many companies probably did not properly invest their pandemic profits or forecast the subsequent slump. And they may be worried about simple survival vs anything else. However I absolutely do agree that the current issues with international racing (greatly increased costs with shrinking return) are a large factor in where these companies are going to spend their marketing dollars.
I have little doubt red Bull did a much better job of bringing dh and xc to the general public. Did a better job of presenting the top of the sport to the bike owning public. And if eso and discovery cannot fox their issues then brands are not going to be determined to invest in racing vs other means of marketing. Now perhaps the big brands feel they have something to gain by a much smaller international racing scene. Now personally I think that is a mistaken outlook which will only bring significantly less eyes to their products and racers.
it’s rough out there. I agree the main driving factor is people simply are not buying bikes especially at sticker price. But one also has to think that the issues of this past season is going to be a large factor for big and small brands a like if they see the World Cup as a good Avenue for their hard earned marketing budget.
There goes another…
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