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2012 team rumour and speculation

EVIL JN

Monkey
Jul 24, 2009
491
24
That was a borderline psychitzophrenic, uneducated, crazy man response.

I won't go into some lame, 'this era vs that era' rant, because neither is 'better' or 'more talented', I have seen them all, in person, not on videos for 23 years. Nico wasn't racing a field of yahoos, guys like the Missers, Beneke, Pascal, Cedric in his prime, Lopez, Klausmann, etc...all were some of the most physically and mentally dedicated athletes I have ever known. The Peaty, Palmer, Voreis days, those guys partied hard, but at times were VERY serious about their training.

A lot of the courses in the 90's were not as technical as tracks today, but as someone mentioned, they were on far less superior product, most of it totally scary proto ****, but there were tracks from that era that would be considered burly today, sure many of these tech sections were linked with more double track and fireroad, but early Les Gets was gnarly, Nevegal, Cortina, Hindelang, Are, Vars, and more would stand today as great world cup tracks.

You should know with all your epic video and photo skills, that it takes good shooting skill to portray the gnarlyness of a trail, and old footage sucked more than the 'hilarious' tracks you think you saw.

All that being said, Nico's skill was unmatched at the time, I said I wouldn't get into a this era vs that era, but...Nico would do the same damage today as he did then, because he would adapt, he was that good, a true alien.

And you wanna tell me that greg, gee, hill, brook, bryceland, hart, fairclough, needles, blenki, etc...all don't dick around like the old days guys?

P.S. the internet almost blew up with the HILL to CRC announcement, can't wait for the next round of announcements, internet will surely stop working!

The worlds track at Are, at lest what is left is probably still the gnarliest track on the mountain. Hearing what napalm did at one section scarys me sensless, it would have been a scary line today on a bike with proper geo and suspension but back then man crazy stuff. There isnt any other track that goes down that part of the mountain since it is just steep.

They maybe rode overall easier tracks but i think most would think a long time before hitting some of tracks, such as Are.
 

richgardiner

Monkey
Aug 19, 2008
224
26
would fit in with berrecloth and soderstorm too, not that they race downhill, but still, one big spesh redbull gravity team
 

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
All has been too quiet on the Steve Smith front. That guy has to be inline for some real money.

He has shown he can win, consistency, toughness, and handles the media well. He has gone from being a rolly-polly teenager into a chiseled athlete. He is entering his prime years......
 

LukeD

Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
751
2
Massachusetts
what's going on with Bryceland? That could be an interesting scenario.. Bryceland to Monster/Specialized...Gwin stays with Trek, maybe MacDonald moves to Spec or Trek with them.
 

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
...P.S. the internet almost blew up with the HILL to CRC announcement, can't wait for the next round of announcements, internet will surely stop working!
...and steve smith has signed a multi year deal with devinci, all the santa cruz boys are done and signed, only one out on a wire is Brook Macdonald I think? and he has a redbull deal so doubt he would be on a monster fueled program.
so brook going to wherever is going to break the internet? seems a bit anti-climactic.

and gwin resigning with trek has been discussed plenty - the RM seems to like the idea that S bought him out from TWR, ('stole') is the fun word used.
 

klunky

Turbo Monkey
Oct 17, 2003
1,078
6
Scotland
If spesh managed to buy out Gwins contract it would be pretty cool I think. It would show that the sport is becoming more professional at an elite level and that company's are prepared to drop serious money to get the athletes that they require much like in mainstream sports.
I dont see it happening myself though.
It would be a pretty big gamble if they did if they took on Gwin and he had a less than amazing season (winning everything) it could cast the demo in doubt.

Stik - do I remember Nico having issues getting contracts because manufacturers were worried about a similar thing? (I thought this was part of the reason for the V-process bike)
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
If spesh managed to buy out Gwins contract it would be pretty cool I think. It would show that the sport is becoming more professional at an elite level and that company's are prepared to drop serious money to get the athletes that they require much like in mainstream sports.
I dont see it happening myself though.
It would be a pretty big gamble if they did if they took on Gwin and he had a less than amazing season (winning everything) it could cast the demo in doubt.

Stik - do I remember Nico having issues getting contracts because manufacturers were worried about a similar thing? (I thought this was part of the reason for the V-process bike)
Nico had the mystique of industry execs thinking he was some million dollar athlete, so dialogue was never brought up, they all thought "oh we could never afford him" and he also wanted his contracts to speak the language of giving him the freedom to be very detailed with bike design, etc, and they always wanted him to ride stock crap, more or less.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
448
Someone should announce something before all this hype dies down. :brows:
In the meantime, holy crap Gwin looks fast:
 
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dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,195
4,419
Someone should announce something before all this hype dies down. :brows:
In the meantime, holy crap Gwin looks fast:
Aaron Gwin announces new riding position for 2013. Aaron will be riding in the demo9 position for 2013 and is looking forward to working with demo9 to fine tune his off-the-back stance. Early testing produced some interesting questions that the team is looking forward to addressing this season – chief among them being what handlebar tilt is the fastest and what mtb pajamas have the best crotch tire protection. Stay tuned for more.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
448
Aaron Gwin announces new riding position for 2013. Aaron will be riding in the demo9 position for 2013 and is looking forward to working with demo9 to fine tune his off-the-back stance. Early testing produced some interesting questions that the team is looking forward to addressing this season ? chief among them being what handlebar tilt is the fastest and what mtb pajamas have the best crotch tire protection. Stay tuned for more.
....

 

Moosey

Chimp
Jan 4, 2013
21
0
Didn't have time to read the whole thread, so I'm not sure if this has been covered, but I just saw this on my Facebook, and found it really interesting.

sensus announcement.jpg
 

General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
Didn't have time to read the whole thread, so I'm not sure if this has been covered, but I just saw this on my Facebook, and found it really interesting.

View attachment 112801

A Special new team that pursued and either did or did not successfully acquire the talents of a certain World Cup or World Champ.

That, or Usain Bolt is starting the Jamaican DH Team
 
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William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
so is gwin, but apparently one of them is switching teams. Cause while brook is quick, he sure as hell aint the fastest man on the planet.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
A Special new team that pursued and either did or did not successfully acquire the talents of a certain World Cup or World Champ.

That, or Usain Bolt is starting the Jamaican DH Team
'The fastest man on the planet'? That would be either Markus Stöckl or Eric Barone. ;) :D

MS Racing now the Specialized Factory team??? ;)
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Just because a rider is under contract doesn't mean they won't change teams. Contracts can be tossed if the price is right and the rider wants to move - you just have to convince the current team to sell and figure out the price. So, the next "Big Announcement" could apply to anyone, even any of the riders under contract.

Gwin's got a winning formula with Trek but nobody should kid themselves about any loyalty to his current team.