[Ridemonkey]

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.

 

[Damn True]

Wanna fix MtB?
Here is the prototype.

http://www.ama-cycle.org/amrace/index.asp

 

[Alex966]

Well I just donated a dollar! When i get paid I'm going to donate more, and might even buy a shirt!

 

[ÆX]

bcdracing.com in for $50

 

[DIRTWRKS]

Wanna fix MtB?
Here is the prototype.

http://www.ama-cycle.org/amrace/index.asp

Yeah, I think your right............. DH is going no where as long as NORBA is involved with it in the US.

 

[Bacardi]

$$ donated. GJ Go-ride.

 

[ridetoofast]

is there any way this can be considered a 'charity' ...

that would rock

 

[DHS]

just would like to say thanks to Go-ride for this cool shirt. i'm normally a sm-med shirt size, but they sent me a large. so on my way to work today, taking the bus. i definitely felt like i fit in a lot more with the big white shirt. just enough to not get the evil eye anymore.
so thanks GO-RIDE!

 

[SXtrailrider]

that sucks they really have to put more money one th races that is what goign to get this sport publisity nut frreride stuff some wer out of no were

 

[zmtber]

hey you know what they need to do is show people our sport like in a movie...like blue crush did for surfing...people just need to know that this sport is reall than other compony will start to sponsor....does anyone know if they are going to make a movie

 

[Sir Happypants]

that would just be embarrassing

 

[Dr. Steth]

Not sure if I'm veering off the subjuect here but the problem is, you can't really capture DH on film. At least not the scale of it.
On that note, last I heard, a film company in Australia was developing a cam that could follow a rider down, on some type of zip line. The cammera is supposed to be able to swivel around as to not lose the rider while filming his or her run. I think the company was something like Muddy Cow.
All "those" other sports venues provide a full visual on what's going on. DH doesn't.
Also the Euros get way more into "racing", any form of racing, than we do. Even if they don't race. So there's your funding problem.
We're into balls and trucks...
Don't get me wrong. This f@#$ing country rules! DH just needs a little help.
Oh and yeah the bikes are expensive and the races take place in remote locations but jesus, how much does it cost to play one round of golf! DH

 

[zmtber]

i have to agree, but that means that the rumer i heard about the movie that is going to come to theaters is just BS

 

[alwaysbroncin19]

DH, is one of America's sports with a small following, all things considered. It is also a reletively new sport as compared to motocross, nascar, and especially golf! You can't compare DH to Golf!

Motocross has it's fair share of idiots who betray their sponsors as well, that's not what the sponsors are worried about. Those punks can be replaced with new riders eager to earn what they are given.

What needs to happen, is for the riders themselves to gain support for the races. Yeah, there are 8 Norba races in the country, but how many courses are there in the country. I live in Montana, and we have a great course in Big Sky. Our annual race has a purse of $1500.00 for the pro-level. Not much, but it was in the paper, and had a higher turnout crowd-wise than it did last year. Just like everything else the media can make or break DH biking. That's why the sponsors are pulling. Media coverage.

As for the prices, it's f*cking rediculous! But, it has to do with supply and demand. Hopefully these manufacturers realize their own ways, and do something about it! Props to Kona for keeping their bikes priced right! I ride a Giant DH because I would have had to take out a second mortgage to get the equivalent bike that's made in America. It's Bullsh*t! Anyways. I love this sport, but it's gonna be hard to travel the country and race for free.

So, get out there and pass the word! Try and entice local businesses to sponsor these events (they don't have to be in the bike industry at all! It's just a tax break for most of em') This will entice pro-riders to your events. We had the Canfield bros. and Johnston from Go-ride here in Big Sky this year (1st place, unbelievably fast time Good Job!) Get your news papers involved, and there are way too many of us college students who know way too many people not to have these events PACKED! Good luck and pass the word!

Good riding!

 

[Jettj45]

If we(racers) really want money to make more of an appearance in Downhill racing the answer is putting the sport out there to non-racers. I'd say that 80% of the people I know have no idea what it is I race. And when I introduce people to the sport whether it be showing the pictures from races or videos they are very interested in going to races with me. The sport just does not get a lot of publicity and that really hurts it. I can understand why, its one of the harder sports to get coverage of and harder to watch it. If you really want good coverage of is you need a decent number of video cameras and that gets expensive. A lot of the courses that i race are not spectator friendly, im not saying they should make the course completely open that would really ruin the race, but they should try and have some easiely accessible spots for spectators to get to. We all need to do what we can to try and make this sport more popular. I have a friend who is majoring in film at NYC and am getting him to come to at least one race this summer to get some professional footage. Sorry for my crappy syntax its 2am, im tired.