[Ridemonkey]

<img src="/media/goride-sm.jpg" width="200" height="177" align="left" hspace="5">For the 2003 and 2004 season, USA Cycling and NORBA have been employing a policy that pays out a cash purse of exactly zero dollars to the pro podium in any discipline of mountain bike racing.* As incentive to race is dwindling, more and more major companies are pulling their support of racing and focusing it on the freeride market.* This may not be a bad scenario for the MTB industry in general, but it does put a damper on certain types of R&D, and takes a lot of the competitiveness (and thus some of the fun) out of high-level racing.* And when the numbers of professional racers start dropping, the number of up-and-coming racers begin to dwindle as well.


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[mattmatt86]

that is pretty sad, now how much does the winner of a professional golf tournament win? somewhere around 500k. i know golf is vastly more popular than mountain biking but 0 dollars for winning a norba race is just downright horrible

 

[Jayridesacove]

Didn't you know? golf is more exciting than downhill mountainbike racing.

 

[Lefty]

This is really sad if it will contineu like this. I always thought they would get a large or reasonable amount of money, when they won a race. This should get reinstated.

 

[DVNT]

Thanks Go-Ride for stepping up like this.

I've never purchased anything from them in the past, but I will now. Hopefully more companies will follow.

 

[Nappy]

Unfortunately, the cycling industry has never really gone mainstream. Not enough for major sponsors to step up to the plate. The only cycling that seems to grab any attention, sponsors and media coverage is Lance and that tour thingy.

 

[Stinky Boy]

I read an article about that and it said that a lot of the big sponsers are pulling out of the downhill racing and going more towards freeride competition.
It is very unfortunate!!!!!

 

[bagofdonuts43]

Since no more cash, does that mean no more entry fees?

 

[El Spazmiestro]

higher entry fees would suck!

 

[flyingfox]

Our entry fees went up $10.00 more dollars this year per race. but they did add 3 more races to the series for a total of 8 for 2005

higher entry fees would suck!

 

[binary visions]

I think it's really great that a business is trying to put some of their money back into the racing scene like this. I just donated - I can't give much, but I can give something.

Come on, guys, five or ten bucks, you won't even remember next week. Make a sandwich next time you'd rather order a pizza and you'll have paid for it.

 

[NotQuiteJdm]

It's weird..all these other sports catch on that aren't really sports, extreme motocross for example...since when is that a big sport??? I give those guys mad props for doing crazy stuff but those guys make a TON of cash..I've never realized how little DH guys make. People have asked me what what DH racing is figuring they go down a nice smooth trail faster then normal but when I told them what it consist's of and they couldn't understand. I think the problem is that if you've never been to a major event you wouldn't think it's that hard since your mind is brainwashed with x-games bmx tricks. ANYWHOOO.....I'm jobless and broke now but once I get a job I need a new guide so I'll probably order from go-ride and toss a few bucks in.

 

[N8 v2.0]

It's weird..all these other sports catch on that aren't really sports, extreme motocross for example...since when is that a big sport??? I give those guys mad props for doing crazy stuff but those guys make a TON of cash..I've never realized how little DH guys make. People have asked me what what DH racing is figuring they go down a nice smooth trail faster then normal but when I told them what it consist's of and they couldn't understand. I think the problem is that if you've never been to a major event you wouldn't think it's that hard since your mind is brainwashed with x-games bmx tricks. ANYWHOOO.....I'm jobless and broke now but once I get a job I need a new guide so I'll probably order from go-ride and toss a few bucks in.

No chit... when did watching some fat ugly guys play poker become so much of a 'sport' that there is now a game shown on cable TV 24/7...???

Hell, they ain't even playing with their own money most of the time.

 

[Grimey2]

Is it really that much of a suprise Dh and mountain bike racing is doing so poor? Just look at the image of our sport. Think of all the places you can ride DH? Then compare it to any other sport.
Heck, even take the golf comparison - how many championship golf courses in the US, how many executive course? What is golf's target demographic, how many people partcipate? Wonder why they have the some many sponsors? It makes sense to invest sponsorship/ad money into golf. What do mountain bike sponsor get out of it?
Just think about the image of mountain biking - to most people it is just stoners ruining the enviroment disrupting trail users, and as much as I argue against it, there is some truth to that. Its almost funny how people blame sponsor for the decline of our sport, it could never be a declining sport and the sponsors just don't want to go down with it. Who was it? The DH pro the got busted for pot last year? WTF!? who cares about him, it really tarnishes the reputation of out sport. Look at snowboarding, it happened to them as well. When you have a known pro get busted, with a sport with a young market segement, would you want to sponsor it? I could go on and on, but really whats the point?

 

[DH-DZ]

well I, like all of you love downhill biking. and i don't know if it is dieing down i just don't think it is very apealing to the masses. you defently see alot more dh biking in comercials on tv these days, and why would a company pay millions of dollars for a comercial with a sport nobody cares for. i think the problem is that most people don't understand downhill biking and how technical it is also when kids see someone riding they think it is the coolest thing until they find out the bikes cost up to 3 grand. its a very expencive sport to get into and it ussaly takes place in remote spots.

but never the less i see more and more people all the time interested in DH, we just have to hope that the pro racing gains in popularity.

 

[kenwood_]

its a shame, but freeride can be more of a general public attraction, so these big companies withdraw from dh and move on too fr to make more money. stupid for them to do that to racers, but its good for them. what big corporate companies really even care that they are wrecking it for the speed oriented riders. why couldnt dh racing replace poker. noone likes poker anyways lol.

 

[James | Go-Ride]

I know what you're saying about freeride vs DH, and you're totally right. However, it seems that more people should be investing in racing from within the industry because, believe it or not, racing is the best way to improve DH-specific product. There's really no other more efficient way to test something in a semi-closed environment (set race course) over the course of a whole season than to race a prototype.

 

[Liam]

Not that I don't like to go fast, but maybe it's a good thing that downhilling is losing popularity. If DH does anything it insights speed junkies to go out and ride at break neck speeds in areas that have very sensitive relations with other mountain users. It also takes some of the nature relation out of the experience. Maning that the only time a rider realizes their surroundings are when they jump out and bite. Other wise the only thing that matters is getting accross the line. I kind of like the idea that the industry is shining on the grace and style that only comes from riding and watching FR. I don't think I could name a single vid based on DH, but my collection of FR vids is irreplacable. And I think more and more riders out there are agreeing. Apperently, when it comes to the compared aesthetics between FR and DH, the masses are speaking and the industry is listening. It's about style not speed.

 

[James | Go-Ride]

Not that I don't like to go fast, but maybe it's a good thing that downhilling is losing popularity. If DH does anything it insights speed junkies to go out and ride at break neck speeds in areas that have very sensitive relations with other mountain users. It also takes some of the nature relation out of the experience. Maning that the only time a rider realizes their surroundings are when they jump out and bite. Other wise the only thing that matters is getting accross the line. I kind of like the idea that the industry is shining on the grace and style that only comes from riding and watching FR. I don't think I could name a single vid based on DH, but my collection of FR vids is irreplacable. And I think more and more riders out there are agreeing. Apperently, when it comes to the compared aesthetics between FR and DH, the masses are speaking and the industry is listening. It's about style not speed.

I think you're wrong here on a couple of fronts. First off, most reckless trail users are not racers. Most people that go to the races, at least here in Utah, are at the top of the mountain biking ladder. They don't ride 8 inch bikes on regular trail rides, they respect other trail users, they help build and maintain trails, they are courteous riders when on public trails, and only ride at the edge of their limits when they are on the race course. Conversely, some of the freeride crowd builds illegal trails and dirt jumps, they rip down multi-user singletracks on huge-travel bikes wearing full armor, and they don't really care about giving back to the sport.

Secondly, the US industry might be leaning more towards FR at the moment, but that's not how it's happening in Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, etc. I heard rumors that there were more than 15,000 spectators at Worlds in France last fall. Not to mention that mountain biking falls under the much larger umbrella of the "cycling industry." Anyone who thinks that cycling as a whole is leaning away from cycling, you might want to think about that Lance guy. Not that he affects FR/DH very much, but it makes an important point nonetheless. Not to mention that most of the US-based major sponsors told their racers they are getting paid to race at Brian Head, not to compete at Crankworks in BC.

Videos: Plush, Plush2, Synopsis, Earthed, Earthed2, etc

Those things aside, we still feel that racing is one of the most important parts of downhilling and that all other related facets of riding benefit, at some level, from the experience manufacturers and riders can only get from being at the races.

 

[Liam]

Like I said, none of those names mean anything to me. All in all, who gives a sh!t about the money? Everyones over paid anyway. Especially me. Think I'll go for a ride.