The thing that is marketable is the rider inside the clothes... Steve Peat sold stuff in full skinsuits just as well as he sells it now.I agree with you about Monster, It's a dangerous product and I hate the stuff. That still doesn't change the fact that they've been pumping money into bike racing.
Your right about the commentary, it was over the top.
I still think, to put it simply, a rider in baggies is more marketable then a rider in a skinsuit.
If this whole argument is about paychecks for top riders, the riders need to reach down inside themselves and work on being more marketable as human beings. Wearing a skinsuit for 5 minutes a week doesn't change anyone's personality, and it isn't race results that move product for sponsors and justify paychecks, at least not in an "enthusiast-only" sport like mountainbike racing.
Even when it is possible to get more outside-industry sponsors interested in mountainbike racing, they bring in money from their Promotional, not Marketing budgets usually. They want to be able to stick their gas-fueled death machines in the pits, or force samples of their putrid synthetic food on people. With promotional sponsorship, the riders might as well just be mannequins.
Sponsorships that are tied to the actual riders themselves, and not the target demographic of consumers are pretty rare in mountainbiking these days, and always have been. The riders who do actually get paid lots of money do benefit from these, but there is really no trickle down from the top for that sort of thing. To garner real money, the riders need real content, and in some very rare, but notable circumstances, that is tied solely to winning races. Normally, it takes personality, and results...
Where exactly does clothing fit into this?
It's complicated... but ultimately, nothing looks worse to me than intolerance and homophobia.
If everyone were complaining that skinsuits look "black" or "jewish", or that we should ban, Fillipinos, that would make sense to me.
All of those social groups are bad, or at least I am afraid of them...