Let's stir some shit up. Survey about gender pay gap in mountain biking.
- Thread starter Kanye West
- Start date
I stopped buying shirts after seeing Lopes win a few times, sun's out........
It was good to see some of the surfing leagues doing equal prize money but it was crazy to see how much less the top rated female earned compared to who was perceived to be the most attractive female surfer.
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Going back to an earlier point, does really anyone buy something because an athlete (mtb or otherwise) endorses it? The only real exception* I can think of is basketball shoes, but other than a handful of top guys like Lebron and ghost Kobe, I don't think they really move the needle with their "signature" shoe models. Hell, I bet a bunch of Santa Cruz bike owners don't even know who Greg Minnaar is. I suppose with a situation like YT breaking into the North American market having Gwin on board made some sense to increase visibility, but kinda doubt he sold a bunch of Spesh bikes when he was with them.
To me their real value is being great brand ambassadors, like Yoann is for GG or Remi is for Propain.
*the other exception is @marshalolson since he's a preternatural bike/keyboard wizard which influenced me to buy one of his bum bags (which to be fair is a killer product). #LAlyfe
To me their real value is being great brand ambassadors, like Yoann is for GG or Remi is for Propain.
*the other exception is @marshalolson since he's a preternatural bike/keyboard wizard which influenced me to buy one of his bum bags (which to be fair is a killer product). #LAlyfe
Of people who are REALLY into the sport like people here? No not really. Casual observers/fans? Definitely. There's not many of those in MTB who aren't super geeks though and make their own decisions.
Now what I DO wonder is how things like race results and championships influence things like fleet sales for resorts, or major distribution channel bulk-buy decisions. That has to be way more measurable and impactful for a manufacturer.
Regarding fleet sales, I just assumed whichever manufacturer could supply enough reasonably reliable bikes at the lowest cost usually got the order.
Now that I think about it, anyone have a sense if pro roadies help move bikes? I would have to think Trek sold literal boatloads of bikes thanks to Lance back in the day, buy does anyone care what Froome is riding these days?
I was wrenching during the mid oughts during the peak of lance fever. Trek definitely sent out life sized cardboard cutouts of him to their dealers.
Historically, for big brands with mature wholesale distribution channels, their “customer” was not the end user, but actually the store/IBD. So having the reigning champ at the trade show booth for buyers to swoon over, and blowing the doors off shop kids at launch events really did move the sales needle.
But all that has changed with the death of the shows, the rise of podium stores, and the advent of digital marketing. Now the name of the game is online traffic acquisition for these same brands.
Road is different in that much of the highest end product is sold to “club/team” racers at discount/volume pricing. And those joeys absolutely chase the tour.
Road is also reeling in some ways, since gravel riding is more grassroots and not really from a racing background.
But all that has changed with the death of the shows, the rise of podium stores, and the advent of digital marketing. Now the name of the game is online traffic acquisition for these same brands.
Road is different in that much of the highest end product is sold to “club/team” racers at discount/volume pricing. And those joeys absolutely chase the tour.
Road is also reeling in some ways, since gravel riding is more grassroots and not really from a racing background.
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I bought a neon zebra-striped Etto helmet way back in the 1800’s because Tinker rocked it.
But that helmet weighed like, 4 pounds, so that cured me from being led that way by pros.
Early lesson.
But that helmet weighed like, 4 pounds, so that cured me from being led that way by pros.
Early lesson.
Back in the day, you'd wait around for a magazine to show up, maybe it was cars, maybe it was baseball, maybe it was off-road, and it'd have pictures with names and logos and all that crap. And it would be reinforced with what you saw on TV, choice clips and pictures and the brand in your face, etc. You tended to try and make your decisions on this and sometimes the one with the most market exposure, ads in your face, etc., is what you went with.
These days, it's all blown to hell. I think what you are saying is largely true and in many cases, the marketing department that makes decisions on this is simply trying to look out for itself, rather than the company. You don't need to wait months for some car review to find out about certain models, now with the internet, you can get a pretty damn good idea and no one is really privy to anything that you can't uncover. Big bike companies probably need to have some race teams, but this is to help develop new products and keep a culture of race participation. These companies have to put significant resources into this to be consistent and make it benefit the company and it's probably not sustainable for any smaller companies. It probably doesn't contribute all that much more to sales, but it helps drive the R&D. Smaller companies may "get lucky" with a really fast racer, but it's generally only a matter of time before they move on and are "just as fast" somewhere else or fizzle out and in those cases I doubt there is any benefit whatsoever from the sponsorship.
The real twist of the knife is the brands that can afford to sponsor the best riders probably don't need the exposure or benefit from it. Trek sponsoring Loris as if they weren't already one the of biggest pie slices already.
I'd wager Guerilla Gravity's website has warmed up a little since picking up Yoann. I'd be curious to see the stats on that one.
Also, riders are in a shitty spot right now. Manufacturers don't need to sponsor anyone - if they can produce stock they'll sell it at the moment. Shit I bet people are even buying Ellsworth bikes in this day and age. Crappy time to be asking for a livable wage or some kind of royalty.
From a gender point of view, I can't really say much about it. I'd be curious about the social media follower side of it as I think thats where they'd be most comparable? Race times don't mean crap - most people can name the women's world champ for the past 3 years but no one could name a bloke that had the same time as the womens winner. Its not the same event and shouldn't be compared like it is.
Curious though - 2020 Downhill World Champion - name what bike were the men's and women's winners on - without looking it up.
this, and then free shirts a abundant on every event. why buying something with a logo if you can get one for free?
Also - aside from Crankworx, prize money is a joke as well. A privateer wouldn't make enough to cover race entry and costs winning most top level events - DH or Enduro.
The privately sponsored races are definitely more lucrative.
The privately sponsored races are definitely more lucrative.
Soudal still seem to have a thing for sending out cardboard cutouts of some roadie bloke to hardware stores. I've been startled by a couple of them now, they tend to get put in to dark corners and you turn around and there's a skinny bloke in Lycra with a weird grin.
Thats basically every sport that some bloke with enough money to get to all the competitions and enough skill to become pro can get a pro license and compete in pro events. Car racing, motorcycle racing, dirtbike racing, snowboarding, skiing, etc. Like you know what makes someone qualitied to be a driver in F1? Be good enough to get a FIA pro license and bring enough of your families money or your own sponsors to the team that they can afford to race. All of them are technically getting paid by the team because rules and labor laws, but they're all either paying the team more than they're receiving back or their sponsors are paying the team.
we used to take busted spokes and sharpen them on the bench grinder, then use the air compressor hose to launch them. at the end of the summer season we used lance for target practice. we also cut his face out, drew a moustache , and wore it as a mask and spoke with a french accent. this lasted until customers saw us doing it.
Vali Hoell must be reading this thread. She just launched her own clothing brand. I won’t be buying any, but maybe someone will?
If it's womens mtb clothing that's actually designed by someone who has seen a women in real life I'll buy some for my wife. We're sick and tired of these "women's" mtb cloths that's designed by people who think women's fit is the same as boys. Like hello women have hips that are way wider than their waist get that weak shit or of here where a 28 waist only has a 32 hip that 28 waist needs at least a 36 hip or even a 40 hip to be a woman's fit especially for a sport where you'd think someone would have larger thigh muscles.
I just ordered Danny Megaskillz's grips. I am feeling like a philanthropist 
Shredly is that.
this would be a topic for the "what's wrong with the industry" thread, but the overall lack of consistency between size charts / fit guides between brands drives me absolutely insane. to be fair, this is not limited to just the bike industry.
Less switchbacks now, so yeah, faster and shorter. Remember Cap d'Ail?
You mean men and women are different? Uh oh, the social constructionists won't be happy with that.
I've shown my 9-year-old daughter videos of Kyle (Warner) and April on youtube so she could see a beginner progressing and perhaps she could relate more to another female, I don't know. April's kit seems to fit her well but she's slim. I didn't know that it's difficult to find riding clothes for women that fit properly. Don't these companies have female designers?
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Sorta OT but I was getting bombarded with excerpts from this when I was streaming a local channel-
Probably the best use of the 4:3 aspect ratio I had seen for a while.
EDIT- It was 4:3 on my TV but seems to be 14:9 now.
EDIT- It was 4:3 on my TV but seems to be 14:9 now.