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2014 team rumour and speculation!

'size

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
nothing else to talk about really...and it's officially fall/autumn for the northern hemisphere so why not?

will @teamrumours be back in action?
who's got contracts ending?
who's going to be the podium threats?
which up and comer will really break out?
who's career is basically done next year?
650b for everyone! ?

inquiring minds want to know...
 
boylagz

boylagz

Monkey
Jul 12, 2011
558
61
SF bay area
Will Rude be senior next year? Hes one to watch imo. Kid is amazing to watch.

And is it just me or is Fairclough the no. 1 whiner now? I want him to do good still but his take on the last race started to irritate me :/
 
mattmatt86

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
boylagz said:
^ I meant worse, now. He said Leogang was a joke.
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I love the guys that bitch about "pedally" or "bike park" tracks. The guys that are the greats Peat, Minnaar, Gee, Hill, Hannah, Smith etc. put up great results no matter what the course. It's always the "fringe" guys that blame the course for bad results.
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,319
5,072
Ottawa, Canada
Is Smith a free-agent now? He's been on DeVinci for three years now I think? I'm guessing this season will allow him to pull in a big contract. I hope he stays on DeVinci..
 
xy9ine

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
^not sure devinci has adequately deep pockets now that stevie is arguably the hottest commodity on the market. i imagine scb is going to be looking to fill a spot on the team...
 
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'size

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
brendan - i love watching him ride and 'win practice' but man it just doesn't seem like he's truly a racer at heart. i get the feeling he knows this and that it fuels his depressing tone about seemingly everything to do with racing.

anyway - back to speculating:

minnaar - retiring or giving it another go depending on his ACL recovery?
gwin - just one of those bad seasons that he'll overcome or did everyone else really bring it? i still believe he had an off year and is far from being done winning races, while others did up their game as well.

consistent podium threats: smith, gee, minnaar (if he's racing), gwin, bruni, tbro, blenki, hannah, hill, macdonald. maybe a hart or ratboy showing once or twice and my personal hope that needles gets some time up there.

650b : i think pretty much every team will have a true 650b DH bike in their stable for racers to pick from. not all of them will produce bikes for the normals.

smith did sign a multi-year contract with devinci in early 2013.
 
gemini2k

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
'size said:
brendan - i love watching him ride and 'win practice' but man it just doesn't seem like he's truly a racer at heart. i get the feeling he knows this and that it fuels his depressing tone about seemingly everything to do with racing.
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I wonder if he'll kinda go the route of Kyle Strait. Unreal talent and bike handling skills, but can't quite figure a way to apply it and make it all work out.
 
CBJ

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,874
4,214
Copenhagen, Denmark
What is the story on Connor Fearon seems to be getting better and better getting a top 10 at Leogang even with a little foot dap in the corner?
 
M

muddyfox

Monkey
Feb 13, 2002
167
0
North Vancouver, B.C.
slyfink said:
Is Smith a free-agent now? He's been on DeVinci for three years now I think? I'm guessing this season will allow him to pull in a big contract. I hope he stays on DeVinci..
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He signed again last off season. Also there's more reasons for Steve to stick with Devinci for him than just who has the most money. He's been with Gabe Fox since he was racing for the Cove as a kid, some deep roots there that have been together since day 1.
 
mattmatt86

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
muddyfox said:
He signed again last off season. Also there's more reasons for Steve to stick with Devinci for him than just who has the most money. He's been with Gabe Fox since he was racing for the Cove as a kid, some deep roots there that have been together since day 1.
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True, but $$$$ talks. In a sport where your time in the spotlight could be a season or two, guys have to take advantage when their stock is on the rise. Very few of these guys (even some guys that crack T20 results) can make a living from riding/racing. If Stevie gets an offer significantly more from another company I wouldn't think any less of him if he took it.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,858
24,450
media blackout
boylagz said:
Will Rude be senior next year? Hes one to watch imo. Kid is amazing to watch.
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he will no longer be in the junior class per UCI rules; he was however already racing elite this year. just means he'll race elite at worlds (assuming he qualifies).

and he'll technically always be rude jr. his dad is rich senior (and a pretty rad dude)
 
T

Tomasz

Monkey
Jul 18, 2012
339
0
Whistla
'size said:
650b : i think pretty much every team will have a true 650b DH bike in their stable for racers to pick from. not all of them will produce bikes for the normals.
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Given the speed with which SC is converting their lineup to 650B, I wouldn't be shocked to see a 650B 2015 V10. That'd give them only two model years on the V10.5 mold, though...

Then again, any frame can be converted to partial 650B by simply putting a compatible fork up front. Shouldn't change the geo *too* much, and you can always throw a 26" wheel on a 650B fork anyways.
 
Kanye West

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,741
473
Specialized poised and ready to destroy the career of (insert riders name here) in a single season!
 
fro biker

fro biker

Monkey
Oct 18, 2006
162
0
in the sticks
Everyone is going to quit racing DH and start riding 29er enduro bikes. The void will be filled with just Eddy Masters, because he doesn't give a **** and rides harder than you do.

Then, 2015 will see the rise of the gearbox bike with electronic shifting and 650b carbon tires. Everyone will return to racing, only to realize that PMB is the only track on the list and all 7 rounds will be held there.

Somewhere in the midst of all of this, Mountain Dew will take back its rightful place at the top, shadowing Redbull and Monster - extreme will become "the word" again, and the sport will fall to the gapers in flatbrim hats and cargo shorts.

May Atheists have mercy on your psyche.
 
canadmos

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,436
19,446
Canaderp
'size said:
minnaar - retiring or giving it another go depending on his ACL recovery?
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I think if he was planning on retiring, he would have done it after he won Worlds. He is still up there in the results, I'm sure he still knows that he can keep winning.
 
John P.

John P.

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,170
0
Golden, CO
boylagz said:
Will Rude be senior next year? Hes one to watch imo. Kid is amazing to watch.
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jonKranked said:
he will no longer be in the junior class per UCI rules; he was however already racing elite this year. just means he'll race elite at worlds (assuming he qualifies).

and he'll technically always be rude jr. his dad is rich senior (and a pretty rad dude)
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Ha. Good stuff. Richie is signed with us for two more seasons, and we're proud to have him.

JP
 
RayB

RayB

Monkey
Jan 31, 2008
744
95
Seattle
I believe Blenkinsop's contract is up for renewal. Would be surprising to see him on anything but the Lapierre team given the success/consistency he's shown recently with that program.

Neethling's contract might be up.
Beaumont, Fairclough too I think?
 
peecee

peecee

Monkey
Apr 27, 2012
232
42
Australia
Steve Smith should stay with Devinci and they should make a team replica and add XL to the carbon wilson so I can buy a new DH bike.

I'd like to see Mark Beaumont move on from GT as he is a little lost there between the Athertons.

Not to sure about Santa Cruz I think they should bring someone else on board even if its one of the woman be good to see Manon on a big team and with the male support she could be right up there. They have a good team a change is as good as a holiday.

Lapierre will stay unchanged, Specialized will stay unchanged, CRC will stay unchanged and Commencal and the same with Trek in my eyes, Unless money does talk Loic and Remi are 2 very fast french man and young.

Is Danny or Neethling out of contract with Giant ?

Any room on the Scott team ? Will Brendan quit DH

It is a rumour mill and everything I just mentioned may change, anythings possible after the last off season and with what happened to Gwin.

Ps: I also think waiting 7 months for it all to start again is a p!$$ take, and there needs to be more rounds just 1 or 2 like the good old days when they had 8 rounds plus the worlds and the NORBA series which was just as awesome!!!
 
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slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,319
5,072
Ottawa, Canada
why all this negativity for Fairclough?! Jaysus, the guy finished 16th overall. No, it wasn't his best result. And yes, it's been a while since his best result, but JTFC, the guy is right up there, able to fight for a win, or at least a podium at every race... why would he retire?! Plus, he makes it into virtually every slideshow and video wrap-up and is a valuable asset to his team... and he seems to be stoked and having fun most of the time (even if he does complain every once in a while)...
 
D

DH Dad

Monkey
Jun 12, 2002
436
30
MA
Can anyone fill in the blanks on the 2013 injuries for me and whether or not each is/has undergoing surgery or not?

Gwin (shoulder? How bad)
Hill (knee? How bad)
Minnaar (ACL, reconstructive?)
Brook (shoulder? How bad)
Hart (hands)

To me, looking at this list, Minnaar's injury could be the biggest one here since his biggest strength is the power he can put to the pedals. If ACL surgery delays his ability to start preparing for next year he may not be able to match the power Sik Mik puts down on courses like PMB. Either that or he works twice as hard and kills it next year.
 
Cant Climb

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
slyfink said:
why all this negativity for Fairclough?! Jaysus, the guy finished 16th overall. No, it wasn't his best result. And yes, it's been a while since his best result, but JTFC, the guy is right up there, able to fight for a win, or at least a podium at every race... why would he retire?! Plus, he makes it into virtually every slideshow and video wrap-up and is a valuable asset to his team... and he seems to be stoked and having fun most of the time (even if he does complain every once in a while)...
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I never understood the "Media fascination" with this guy......maybe early on in his career but the last couple it makes no sense.

I liked when Dirt interviewed the random guys who would barely qualified, i think they are the least scripted and have the real genuine enthusiasm...
 
slyfink

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,319
5,072
Ottawa, Canada
Cant Climb said:
I never understood the "Media fascination" with this guy......maybe early on in his career but the last couple it makes no sense.
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In one word: style. Just look at that picture above the "Off Track Podcast: Hafjell World Cup" to the right. You just know it's him because of his style.

Cant Climb said:
I liked when Dirt interviewed the random guys who would barely qualified, i think they are the least scripted and have the real genuine enthusiasm...
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agreed.
 
FlipFantasia

FlipFantasia

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,663
499
Sea to Sky BC
RayB said:
I believe Blenkinsop's contract is up for renewal. Would be surprising to see him on anything but the Lapierre team given the success/consistency he's shown recently with that program.
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to me Blenki is guy that shows me exactly how whiney guys like Fairclough are....He's tidied up his riding, moved to clips, and pedals like a freaking bat out of hell all over the place...no "ohhhh this track isn't hard enough" coasting and casually whipping some jumps...He puts in a honest hard effort and gets over the bars and goes like hell no matter what, and it's rewarded him. He's a great rider to watch on the course for sure, stylish and fast.
 
'size

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
DH Dad said:
Can anyone fill in the blanks on the 2013 injuries for me and whether or not each is/has undergoing surgery or not?

Gwin (shoulder? How bad) - separation, not sure the degree but it doesn't look like any repair is needed - just time to heal and strengthen.
Hill (knee? How bad) - no idea, this info has been pretty quiet.
Minnaar (ACL, reconstructive?) - i believe so, but not certain - he mentioned having no stability and the joint bending backwards right after injuring it and trying to stand up.
Brook (shoulder? How bad) - pretty sure he left for home very soon after for surgery in order to maximize recovery time.
Hart (hands) - appears pretty minor from his interview, i think just a few stitches and normal recovery time.

To me, looking at this list, Minnaar's injury could be the biggest one here since his biggest strength is the power he can put to the pedals. If ACL surgery delays his ability to start preparing for next year he may not be able to match the power Sik Mik puts down on courses like PMB. Either that or he works twice as hard and kills it next year.
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this is all just from info gathered from the web, based on interviews and social media postings of course...
 
Huck Banzai

Huck Banzai

Turbo Monkey
May 8, 2005
2,523
23
Transitory
DH Dad said:
Can anyone fill in the blanks on the 2013 injuries for me and whether or not each is/has undergoing surgery or not?

Gwin (shoulder? How bad)
Hill (knee? How bad)
Minnaar (ACL, reconstructive?)
Brook (shoulder? How bad)
Hart (hands)

To me, looking at this list, Minnaar's injury could be the biggest one here since his biggest strength is the power he can put to the pedals. If ACL surgery delays his ability to start preparing for next year he may not be able to match the power Sik Mik puts down on courses like PMB. Either that or he works twice as hard and kills it next year.
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Granted, he's a god..., but after Cedric's recovery when so many said he was done from top level biking, I wouldn't put it past any of these monsters to overcome and excel.

Also? Neko Mullaly in 15th, BAM - want to see that star keep rising, and not just because he's the son of a friend. Richie Rude Jr/ too - the manchild is coming for the WC! BOOM!!
 
boylagz

boylagz

Monkey
Jul 12, 2011
558
61
SF bay area
If Blenkinsop's contract is up, I wanna see him back on Yeti. And like what others have said, he pedals like theres no tomorrow. Amazing style.
 
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