Team Rumourz
- Thread starter shelteringsky
- Start date
As far as Neko goes, the guy is great for the U.S DH scene, always does well at Nationals/ domestic races, so its easy to see why Intense a U.S based brand, would keep him instead of a guy like jack who lives on the opposite side of the world.
I guess in 2020 brands sponsor riders based on their social media/ media presence, as much or more than race results. Which is unfortunate for the racers that have great potential and little support/notoriety. Going through the list of WC rosters I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Elliot Jackson and Mitch Ropelato. I guess media is all that matters to some teams? Nothing against these guys, but come on, As a race fan I want to see the next young talent/phenom, Not guys with a 50/50 shot at qualifying and no chance at a podium.
I guess in 2020 brands sponsor riders based on their social media/ media presence, as much or more than race results. Which is unfortunate for the racers that have great potential and little support/notoriety. Going through the list of WC rosters I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Elliot Jackson and Mitch Ropelato. I guess media is all that matters to some teams? Nothing against these guys, but come on, As a race fan I want to see the next young talent/phenom, Not guys with a 50/50 shot at qualifying and no chance at a podium.
That's all that ever mattered when it comes to racing sponsorships. Race winners used to sell more bikes, but with the advent of social media customers can follow a rider without having to care about racing. On the up side it provides more opportunities for riders to get real paychecks, provides an avenue for post racing revenue besides selling weed and makes the UCI just a tiny bit less important since you can now be a professional rider and not participate in the UCI's dumbassery.
Much like @maxyedor said – the purity of the sport is long gone. If you follow the money, a very large portion of the sport is about selling product... bikes, cars/trucks, energy drinks, doo-dads and the like. This is the reality today. Quite different from what drew me to the sport and a reality I have a hard time connecting with.
Actually, if you go WAY WAY back to like 1995 even, Norba Nationals had transfer trucks full of sponsors all over the place. Jeep sponsored the series, Volvo-Cannondale etc..., Powerbar, Nutter Butters, Fig Newtons, Reebok. Same corporate bullshit different year. If you want to watch the sport of DH from the comfort of your own couch, you are going to have to have compromises.
Wasn't it last year at the Rampage that every time a rider crossed the line, the cameraman would approach the rider to "get the stoke" on camera and some guy would come running out with whatever energy drink they were sponsored by and hand it to the rider? The riders are out of breath and they start interviewing them as the rider has to hold the can up and in view with the label perfectly aimed.
I still can't believe there was energy drink product placement at Red Bull Rampage! Unfathomable!
While I think people like "race-proven" bikes, I don't think the WC or World Champs bike has ever been the most popular seller, with the exception of the Sunday, and maybe Danny Hart's Glory. Really its about value for money and accessibility.
When I got into racing, there were trucks at the races trying to shift Powerbars and other sponsor junk. Downhill has always been a bit of a product based sport, although our local scene went into a lull for a long time where races were so small they were practically underground.
Pretty sure (in the UK at least) the GT LTS (Vouilloz/King) was the most popular race bike at UK Nationals in that era, Then the Giant ATX1 (Rockwell) and the Orange 222 (Minnaar/Global)... and later the V-10 (Minnaar again but with Peaty/Josh) There are probably more... But ... Drugkz
Over the past couple of months I have been enjoying listening to Downtime podcasts while commuting, and last week I listened to 1 episode with Sven Martin and 1 with Neko. Towards the end of Sven’s interview he touches on changes to photography and media over the years, including insight into Social Media and it’s impact (still relatively early days). Listening to Neko it’s clear he is a legit dude who is passionate about DH. Respect.
Yep, but I think those bike all had other merits that made them popular as well. Obviously there's regional differences - but almost nobody I know ever considered a Sunn when they were winning everything, Oranges weren't that popular over here (obscenely expensive in Oz and they snapped like crazy), V10s were admittedly very popular.
The Giant ATX bikes were relatively affordable - I think they sold well because of that.
If anything - I'd say popular riders sell bikes, not necessarily fast riders. Of course being fast sure helps being popular, but it's not necessarily a given.
I'm not really sure what your point is now... Surely no one would buy a single DH race bike at all if it had no merit? It's not as if any are actually cheap.
The ATX1 wasn't affordable at all. it was £4k in 1997... The GT LTS was a similar price that year.
Orange 222s were one of the most affordable frames at the time and also one of the lightest... Orange seemed to sell well in the UK because of the single pivot and punters believing they'd be less maintenance with just the two swingarm bearings... The strong presence from Animal Orange and then Global and then Peaty/Royal kept them strong in competition despite not actually being a very good design.
Sunn was an odd one as all the team riders rode different frames... The Radical we could buy wasn't the same bike raced... Also being French they simply weren't sold in many places.
Back in the 90s/00s all we had was magazines (often 2 months behind) videos (even longer after the event) and Eurosport to follow DH racing... and yeah... We craved the bikes the fastest guys on the world cup rode... Nowadays social media is a far stronger influence than any of that ever was... hence highly followed/popular riders now probably helping bike sales more than results.
But then there's folk like Matt Jones/Akrigg/Danny Mac with massive viewership and riding/videos pretty much everyone who rides respects and enjoys... but riding bikes pretty much no one wants to buy. Marin/Mongoose/Inspired anyone? Nah... thought not.
Basically times have changed. And punter DH is pretty much dead since enduro came along and the bikes became so good/versatile *shrugs*
The ATX1 wasn't affordable at all. it was £4k in 1997... The GT LTS was a similar price that year.
Orange 222s were one of the most affordable frames at the time and also one of the lightest... Orange seemed to sell well in the UK because of the single pivot and punters believing they'd be less maintenance with just the two swingarm bearings... The strong presence from Animal Orange and then Global and then Peaty/Royal kept them strong in competition despite not actually being a very good design.
Sunn was an odd one as all the team riders rode different frames... The Radical we could buy wasn't the same bike raced... Also being French they simply weren't sold in many places.
Back in the 90s/00s all we had was magazines (often 2 months behind) videos (even longer after the event) and Eurosport to follow DH racing... and yeah... We craved the bikes the fastest guys on the world cup rode... Nowadays social media is a far stronger influence than any of that ever was... hence highly followed/popular riders now probably helping bike sales more than results.
But then there's folk like Matt Jones/Akrigg/Danny Mac with massive viewership and riding/videos pretty much everyone who rides respects and enjoys... but riding bikes pretty much no one wants to buy. Marin/Mongoose/Inspired anyone? Nah... thought not.
Basically times have changed. And punter DH is pretty much dead since enduro came along and the bikes became so good/versatile *shrugs*
Me either to be honest. Over here pricing is all weird. Orange bikes cost more for a frame than a complete Giant DH bike did. Perhaps that's why the difference.
Main point was, people won't just buy the bike the fastest rider is on. It's still got to be available (Honda), affordable (Orange outside UK), reliable (Gee generation Commencal). This day and age, buyers are also well aware that a lot of the riders aren't even on the bikes we get sold anyway.
I don't see a hell of a lot of Nukeproof Megas in Australia, NZ or Canada compared to other brands despite 3 EWS titles, so there's still something to be said for local price points, dealerships and availability.
Akrigg is on GT and Danny Mac is on Santa Cruz.
Praising Orange is a bit chauvinistic IMHO. OK, they are UK made, but with a crappy quality and their whole move-the-pivot-a-few-millimeters-up-and-then-down-the-next-year is even crappier. Plus they cost a shit ton of money, have outdated geometry and look horrible.
How about Vitus? They are the budget house brand for Wiggle/CRC, right? Are they seen often in your trails?
No, it sorta alters your point. On their old brands yea, no one was gonna buy a fuckin mongoose.
Yes CRC/Wiggle own Vitus
They also own Nukeproof's distributor
I have a Vitus... so yeah I do often see one on my trails...
But I have loads of bikes
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[QUOTE="Gary, post: 4397258, But then there's folk like Matt Jones/Akrigg/Danny Mac with massive viewership and riding/videos pretty much everyone who rides respects and enjoys...
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Fabio Wibmer has nearly 6 million social media followers according to CNN. Never thought I'd see MTB featured like this on a major news website.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/07/sport/fabio-wibmer-bike-spt-intl/index.html
[/QUOTE]
Fabio Wibmer has nearly 6 million social media followers according to CNN. Never thought I'd see MTB featured like this on a major news website.
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/07/sport/fabio-wibmer-bike-spt-intl/index.html
You're right. People aren't buying trials bikes, mostly because it's difficult and challenging. They want easy forms of cycling, like e-bikes.
It's not really mountain biking though, is it? When was the last time you rode off a roof down a skinny plank of wood? Me neither. It's contrived stunts made to attract likes and sell energy drinks. Don't get me wrong, Wibmer's riding is impressive af but doesn't really reflect what 99.99% of us hacks do.
You realize you write this on a forum where everybody and their dog had or wanted a Sunday and that has a thread with a gazillion posts about that exact bike?
Sure, what people ride depends on factors besides race success. But people would buy race-winning bikes if these restrictions were not there. I thought we had gotten over this with the rise of YT but now Commencal seems to bring back the old "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" thing.
Yeah but this is further to my point - the Sunday was ridden by a fast and popular rider (perfect combo). Whereas you can get the same success pretty much with a slower, but more popular rider as you do with a very fast, less popular rider. Looking back at World Champs bikes over the past 20 years, there's plenty of examples of bikes that didn't sell very well, or were entirely unavailable to buy.
This is all toodlestheory btw, but I can see plenty of riders doing great work promoting and selling bikes despite being top 30 contenders on a good day. Just winning the race doesn't necessarily make your bike sell like hotcakes.
Hill's infamous run at VDS probably sold more bikes for IH than Gee's run sold for Commencal. Does anyone even remember what Matti rode at Champery?
Fairclough has probably sold more Gamblers than Gwin sold Treks.
iz naught
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Richie Schley Joins Fezzari Factory Team - Pinkbike
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Richie Schley Joins Fezzari Factory Team - Pinkbike
Freeride legend and MTB Hall of Famer Richie Schley will be throwing schlebletops with Fezzaris in 2020.
Once you've ridden for Rotwild you've entered the asymptotic part of your career curve.
he lost against these riders:
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