New Year SILLY SEASON

biker3 · Jan 4, 2005

Yeti is gunna regulate this year. Where are they getting the bank to sign all these big names? After the Auz. team failure I would have thought they'd be a little gun shy in signing so many riders. Oh well go YETI!

stiksandstones · Jan 4, 2005

Kintner, Jared Graves, Duncan Riffle and Houseman, thats a lotta kids....wonder if the brain is going to ride for them again?
Wonder if the same one guy will have to work on all the riders bikes?
Wonder what races these new riders are funded to goto? nationals, world cups, etc???
Pretty cool for yeti to be back mixing it up-with this team they are without a doubt the largest DH/4X team in the states....with talent anyway.

WHo the hell is "Chris Smith"??? guess they are letting anyone ride for GT these days!

Bryns site looks very ala kintner...

King should just stop racing, I mean whats the point now? for him? maybe it will be away to unwind after working long hours on the weekend watching drunk chicks take their panties off at the bar???

And Dylan Dean...you know its all about supercross anyway!

Smiftie · Jan 5, 2005

I bet Yeti isn't forkin out that much cash for the riders, Riders are desperate these days.

Tenacious Doug · Jan 5, 2005

stiksandstones said:
WHo the hell is "Chris Smith"??? guess they are letting anyone ride for GT these days!

Some big UK freerider, not really my scene but he gets a lot of coverage in the UK mags, he seems pretty good. Ridden for Azonic up to now, pretty sure he has been used for some of their ads used in the mtb press over your side of the pond aswell as here.

Jorgen · Jan 5, 2005

Chris Smith is one of Brittain(and Europes) better freeride/street/bigstuff riders. He has been riding for Azonic the last few years and is VERY often to be seen in MBUK magazine, both in articles and comercials.

He's been doing alot of demos and shows around Europe and I guess stateside as well.

bizutch · Jan 5, 2005

so did anybody pay for Sanjay?

stiksandstones · Jan 5, 2005

bizutch said:
so did anybody pay for Sanjay?

Before I jumped the sinking ship, I begged them to pick Sanjay up-the office guys in so cal were stoked on it, but the 2 clueless BMX lovers that run the team now were not having it. It was a valiant effort, but not meant to be.
It would have been great, sanjay lives minutes from GT office, between sanjay, lopes and hans they could have really helped develop bikes...I gave it my all.

waaahhhhhh "you gave it your all" waaaahhhhhhh

leprechaun · Jan 5, 2005

Yeti can afford to sign riders cuz
1 they're trail and FR bikes are blowin up right now(in sales,not on trails) they had a huge growth year.they're our best selling bikes
2 they like to race! even if they spend a lot of their profit on it.
3 it's most of their marketing budget. they don't buy a ton of ads in mags,etc.
4 they're hiring dh dudes,mostly americans, that'll ride for a place to stay and a bike that rips,notice the lack of spendy xc guys.Yeti privides a nice setup at the races with engineers listening to their riders and working with them on their setup.That's why they have produced so many fast racers and race bikes.
Way to go YETI!!

leprechaun · Jan 5, 2005

Hey all you so cal punks-who is riding for FOES if the House is gone? He produced more good finishes for FOES than anyone has for a good while.
that big Mono was a good fit for Houseman.

stiksandstones · Jan 5, 2005

leprechaun said:
Hey all you so cal punks-who is riding for FOES if the House is gone? He produced more good finishes for FOES than anyone has for a good while.
that big Mono was a good fit for Houseman.

I heard they signed 2 up and comers....
a girl named Misle Glove
and Tod Leduck

leprechaun · Jan 5, 2005

Oh damn that's funny-
Almost as funny as a GT engineer,at IB, trying to explain the gearbox bike telling a shop owner guy that it's a 4 bar pointing to a stationary piece of metal as a 4th member of the suspension....
I bet you had some interesting times working with the 'new' GT.

stiksandstones · Jan 5, 2005

leprechaun said:
Oh damn that's funny-
Almost as funny as a GT engineer,at IB, trying to explain the gearbox bike telling a shop owner guy that it's a 4 bar pointing to a stationary piece of metal as a 4th member of the suspension....
I bet you had some interesting times working with the 'new' GT.

Oh lord..."interesting" yes.

bizutch · Jan 5, 2005

stiksandstones said:
Oh lord..."interesting" yes.

so now that you're "out" are you and Spomer holding weekly "crunk the industry" therapy sessions at the local Cyber Cafe??

wysiwyg · Jan 5, 2005

so Bullhead has got a promotion aye.

as for Chris Smith, cant remember the last time he wasnt in the mag..

jon-boy · Jan 5, 2005

Come on stikman, spill the beans... what was up with the new bike?

stiksandstones · Jan 5, 2005

What new bike, the gear box "thing"?

Jorgen · Jan 6, 2005

yeh, that "thing".

bizutch · Jan 6, 2005

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there is no way that turd is gonna see the DH scene???? Nexus commuter hub sounds like French for "blows up"

stiksandstones · Jan 6, 2005

bizutch said:
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there is no way that turd is gonna see the DH scene???? Nexus commuter hub sounds like French for "blows up"

How can I say this without being a dick to the guy who has been working so hard on that project?...
Hmm, well I can't. Let's just say no one will be riding it anytime soon-there are more issues than the nexus one...ok, starting to sound like a dick-I better stop. It is not impossible that the bike can be finished soon and if they do work the bugs out, I can guarantee a very nice riding, very well priced gear box bike-but the lack of manpower over there is the biggest hurdle and the fact pacific could care less about something cool like that doesnt help...so it is not neccesarily GT's fault, the one engineer there is "trying". I hope they can figure it out.

I think the only fear for them is the HONDA project...it has been rumored that the same factory that builds the GT's in taiwan has received an order for 1500 Honda gearbox bikes...so I think when that bike does come to market it will be priced well...especially in comparison to the nicolai mess-he is absolutely on crack with his retail price...this sport doesnt support price points like that anymore.

my 2 cents

c2001 · Jan 6, 2005

1500 hrc clones?!?!

that'd be rad...like all star wars and sh@t!

stiksandstones · Jan 6, 2005

©2001 said:
1500 hrc clones?!?!

that'd be rad...like all star wars and sh@t!

Well, HRC was shopping around for bids on the frame...they claimed they were going with that factory-but I do not know if it ever came to reality.

bizutch · Jan 6, 2005

Stik, if that is you sounding like a dick, you got a long way to go to be called one in person.
Just seeing the red/blue letters HRC on a mountain bike makes me giddy. I'm a Kawasaki fan when it comes to the motocross track, but I would always drool at the Honda works bike photos back in the day.

wujj · Jan 6, 2005

Just heard from my friend in Taiwan that one shop in Tai-Chung already has one of the Honda DH bike production models and they're planning to get two more. They are made by Astro and come with Kayaba suspension. Uses some XT components... I'm guessing he meant cranks, chain, etc. The shop is selling it for 300,000+TWD(about $9000+USD).... He said he hasn't seen it in person yet, so I'm not sure how true this info is...

ÃX · Jan 7, 2005

stiksandstones said:
I think the only fear for them is the HONDA project...it has been rumored that the same factory that builds the GT's in taiwan has received an order for 1500 Honda gearbox bikes...so I think when that bike does come to market it will be priced well...especially in comparison to the nicolai mess-he is absolutely on crack with his retail price...this sport doesnt support price points like that anymore.

my 2 cents

so is GT allowing gearbox bikes to be sold in the usa?

they hold patents.

is it an open source design?

is honda/nicolai paying gt royalties?

bizutch · Jan 7, 2005

wujj said:
Just heard from my friend in Taiwan that one shop in Tai-Chung already has one of the Honda DH bike production models and they're planning to get two more. They are made by Astro and come with Kayaba suspension. Uses some XT components... I'm guessing he meant cranks, chain, etc. The shop is selling it for 300,000+TWD(about $9000+USD).... He said he hasn't seen it in person yet, so I'm not sure how true this info is...

ouch!

Acadian · Jan 7, 2005

bizutch said:
ouch!

you just need to sell 13 more of those 888's and you'll be all set!

ÃX · Jan 7, 2005

anyone know what a petespeed frame will cost.
if hayes starts to make them the bikes will cost 1/2 of honda's!

bizutch · Jan 7, 2005

bcd said:
anyone know what a petespeed frame will cost.
if hayes starts to make them the bikes will cost 1/2 of honda's!

wait, so Petespeed is a frame?

I just assumed that the Hayes product was a gearbox that they would license out to any bike company. I assumed it would just have a blue print that tells you dimensions and alignment for where and how to bolt it to your design. Then it would be up to BCD, Haro, etc. to design a frame of their choice around the gearbox???

ÃX · Jan 7, 2005

yes i thought the same thing.

framebuilders buy a "petespeed" they put it in there frame.

i am calling those frames "petespeed frames"

BMXman · Jan 7, 2005

well I can tell you I know Nicolai isn't paying them any royalties...D

bcd said:
so is GT allowing gearbox bikes to be sold in the usa?

they hold patents.

is it an open source design?

is honda/nicolai paying gt royalties?

stiksandstones · Jan 7, 2005

The office jockeys in madison could care less in my opinion about protecting the last bit of cool GT has (their patents)...
Its free reign these days...to some large companies its all about selling more units, not protecting its intellictual property.
Sucks for the GT guys in the cali office, because they care...it took so much pestering by the GT california guys, to get the last legal issue resolved by pacific higher ups.
Also, look at it like this GT had the patent on the name I-drive, so BMW auto came out with a tranny called that, GT sued (attempted) BMW lawyers laughed and said bring it on! so they (GT) didnt even bother. I am only assuming, but I think HONDA is a much larger beast than BMW so you can pretty much bet HRC will do what they wanna do.
Of course, in my opinion.

BTW, Lopes and Lawwill called me up yest. morning, about doing a ride..its been raining a lot here in so cal so they wanted to get a ride in up san juan trail...My new Intense 5.5 was still a frameset that morn, but I did a speed build and got it built...it was fantastic!!! what a machine. It climbed unreal and the 30 min DH was like heaven on it...Coolest bike I ever owned. Anyway, just wanted to share my enjoyment, its back to raining here again, so thats that.

Cheers monkeys

renegade999 · Jan 7, 2005

Stik - you and your crew headed to A1?

thaflyinfatman · Jan 7, 2005

stoney98 said:
somebody needs to grab sanjay. If he can rip with his haggard gear, god forbid he got a ride and could actually spend time training...

Ok, coming from somebody who's never met Sanjay or seen him ride (other than in pics), do you really think he's capable of being competitive with the top guys on the circuit (Rennie, Minaar, etc)? This is a serious question, I only ask because I can't make that judgement/opinion myself; not intending to put Sanjay down (or toot his trumpet any more than necessary

).

renegade999 · Jan 8, 2005

thaflyinfatman said:
Ok, coming from somebody who's never met Sanjay or seen him ride (other than in pics), do you really think he's capable of being competitive with the top guys on the circuit (Rennie, Minaar, etc)? This is a serious question, I only ask because I can't make that judgement/opinion myself; not intending to put Sanjay down (or toot his trumpet any more than necessary ).

My girlfriend, who wouldn't know DH from Jay-Z at last year's Mount Snow and Snowshoe NORBA's said Sanjay was faster and smoother than most factory pros in the technical sections where she was watching. He's a very distinctive rider with unmistakable style.

Pip3r · Jan 8, 2005

renegade999 said:
My girlfriend, who wouldn't know DH from Jay-Z at last year's Mount Snow and Snowshoe NORBA's said Sanjay was faster and smoother than most factory pros in the technical sections where she was watching. He's a very distinctive rider with unmistakable style.

word. He may not be as fast right now but thats not all that matters. Hes got his own style and THAT can sell for a company just as much as speed. Although, i do remember chase telling me sanjay was bar none the fastest person he saw come through the road/log drop at the top of the WV course.
Whatever, the sport needs more sanjay

steve45 · Jan 8, 2005

maybe i'm thinking of someone else but didnt BCD hook hm up or was that for last year?

Transcend · Jan 8, 2005

stoney98 said:
sanjay raceson the equivillent of a 79 steel road bike in the 2004 TDF, and owns. more equivicolly, he's essentiall racing a yugo in f1 and handing asses. It's just a matter of time until someone opens their eyes up.

You have no idea how hard i worked to try and get his ass on a GT last year for when he BCD stuff ran out. So much so that even Stik saw the light! :eek:

anarchyUK · Jan 9, 2005

most teams would make him run a fullface

stiksandstones · Jan 9, 2005

thaflyinfatman said:
Ok, coming from somebody who's never met Sanjay or seen him ride (other than in pics), do you really think he's capable of being competitive with the top guys on the circuit (Rennie, Minaar, etc)? This is a serious question, I only ask because I can't make that judgement/opinion myself; not intending to put Sanjay down (or toot his trumpet any more than necessary ).

Honestly, no, I dont think he could be battling with a Rennie or a Minnaar-immediately anyway. I was trying to get him on board my ex program for a few reason. I see him as being a fantastic test rider, not just because he can trash stuff, but the few times I spoke with him he seemed like he had a good feel for a product. I also like his attitude, its good for the sport, he's a happy guy, with mad skills...doesnt throw a fit if things dont go his way, has the "on the track showman" ability that a Cedric or a Minnaar has-in a way-like, people like to watch him practice-that accounts for some marketibality as well IMO...He also is an american rider with some promise, something USA is lacking so that is always a positive feature. This is all from my eyes, someone not even knowing him real well, just an industry person looking at him from a distance ya know???

I think with a few years of a real pro circuit (traveling, getting things done for him, etc) he could become a contender. Its all assumptions, but I have seen him pull of a few feats of brilliance on a bike that had me convinced. There is always someone better out there, of course...but lets face it, the sanjay phenomenon is for real

P.S. And yes, I did goto Supercross opener, it was friggin awesome...I would say imagine your worst Mud DH race and multiply it x10!

New Year SILLY SEASON

Monkey

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Chimp

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Delicate CUSTOM flower

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Delicate CUSTOM flower

Monkey

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Monkey

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Paparazzi

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Delicate CUSTOM flower

Chimp

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Born Again Newbie

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I wish I was Canadian

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My Nuts Are Flat

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