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World Cup 2019 Team Rumors

fwp

Monkey
Jun 5, 2013
410
400
Pure genius on the Athertons part, If Orange can sell bikes in Great Britian the Athertons are gonna rake it in!
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,192
19,158
Canaderp
I think its pretty cool that they're doing this. Hopefully it works out for them. They obviously know what kind of bike they want/need and are capable of riding them faster than most other humans.

Lets just hope they don't introduce and new stupid "standards".
 

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
i love it. but i'm all about the industrial aesthetic.

a bit skeptical they'd be able to ramp up the carbon / ti process to an extent where they could become a profitable entity based on that tech alone, but i'd guess that they might expand the product line beyond the exotic stuff to more mass market friendly options. ie, production runs of offshore built frames running the dw6 suspension platform.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Love that it says R160 on the top tube...
I'm guessing they used an existing R160 lug to get a Frankenbike together for testing, etc. I thought for a second it was just an R160 with a 40 slapped on it, but the lower link and chainstay yoke configuration looks different (beefier, among other things).
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,192
19,158
Canaderp
i love it. but i'm all about the industrial aesthetic.

a bit skeptical they'd be able to ramp up the carbon / ti process to an extent where they could become a profitable entity based on that tech alone, but i'd guess that they might expand the product line beyond the exotic stuff to more mass market friendly options. ie, production runs of offshore built frames running the dw6 suspension platform.
I'd guess that the 3d printing would be used for one offs, custom stuff and "prototyping" the mass produced product.

Still going to be interesting how it plays out; ie racers having even more direct input into the bike beyond what some corporation thinks looks best or costs the cheapest.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,480
4,720
Australia
Serious - that is awesome. New DW linky thingy, ability to customise the geo/get what the pros run. Inevitable stupidly high pricing aside, I like that they're chucking their hat in the ring.

I, for one, welcome our new Atherton overlords. In all seriousness though, bring it on I say.
 

mykel

closer to Periwinkle
Apr 19, 2013
5,071
3,780
sw ontario canada
I've drooled over them a bit as well.
But damn, they are more than double the cost of 4 piston Formulas or Hopes etc at over 1000.00 Canukistani monopoly monies from Germany. I don't want to know what they would be this side of the pond.

Sexy AF though. :drool:
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,029
Ottawa, Canada
I get the feeling that the Atherton bike brand amounts to them putting their name on an existing brand. A brand that had been around for a while, and perhaps not doing so great? I wonder if they are betting that their name will help at add to the success of the brand. That seems like a pretty big gamble and probably a pretty big cash outlay. I hope it works out for them.
 

SuboptimusPrime

Turbo Monkey
Aug 18, 2005
1,658
1,633
NorCack
Wonder what they’ve personally got in it. My read was that this “start up” is a joint venture between Robot and the Athertons and their investor. Doesn’t seem like Robot has disappeared so doesn’t seem like just a rebranding. Hope it works for them regardless!
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,057
1,298
Styria
Time will tell. The Robot bikes were tempting, geo they recommended for my cadaver was on the conservative side of things though and the price was simply too much for me. But that's just the un-dentisty me, maybe there is a market for them.

I don't think prices are gonna change soon.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,196
4,419
Atherton is being funded by a fancy-pants financier... of course they're going to do e-bikes... a bit surprised they're not doing road/gravel bikes too.
 

Electric_City

Torture wrench
Apr 14, 2007
1,993
716
Atherton is being funded by a fancy-pants financier... of course they're going to do e-bikes... a bit surprised they're not doing road/gravel bikes too.
I'm sure they will eventually. Probably after they retire from DH. "I never knew how FUN road riding is cause I was so focused on winning world Cup races". Quoted for future call back.
 

MrBaker87

Monkey
Mar 30, 2014
156
113
neverlandranch
What’s the reason you guys seem to hate the Athertons so much? Hardline is an amazing event, Rachel has dominated the women’s circuit for years, often with times far below any other competitor and Gee is great rider (let’s not forget the Stevie Smith/Gee year was an epic battle).

Sure they don’t sign autographs, but is that it?

These bikes look sweet as fuck and the fact you can get them customized to fit your wildest fantasies should only be more to like. I’m sure the costs will be unreasonable, but hey! Winner winner chicken dinner.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,192
19,158
Canaderp
What’s the reason you guys seem to hate the Athertons so much? Hardline is an amazing event, Rachel has dominated the women’s circuit for years, often with times far below any other competitor and Gee is great rider (let’s not forget the Stevie Smith/Gee year was an epic battle).

Sure they don’t sign autographs, but is that it?

These bikes look sweet as fuck and the fact you can get them customized to fit your wildest fantasies should only be more to like. I’m sure the costs will be unreasonable, but hey! Winner winner chicken dinner.
I don't think anyone actually hates the Atherton's... They just aren't as interesting as someone like lets say Steve Smith was, Peaty etc etc. More of the straight faced, politically correct type of attitude. Kind of the same with Gwin, he's obviously a fantastic rider and all that, but not all that interesting outside of watching him ride. They put on some cool events and I don't think anyone hated on them when Gee was in Rampage.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,541
5,472
UK
sort of cringe
I'm sure they will eventually. Probably after they retire from DH. "I never knew how FUN road riding is cause I was so focused on winning world Cup races". Quoted for future call back.
Hmm...
Probably not
also...

Washed up Dan?

Erm...



The Lord Bummer stuff is funny but fuck sake Dan's lucky not to have had Stevie join him.

I'm glad they're bringing out proper custom bikes. Dan was riding, racing and testing proto bikes for Muddyfox at 17yrs old. MF had some batshit (and just plain shit) ideas back then and he delivered the goods both racing them and breaking them. 20 years on both the Afferton bros probably have a pretty good grasp on what works well.
Makes perfect sense to stay in the industry when it's all you've ever known your entire adult life.

or is Vouilloz a soor pussed washed up E bike riding prick round here these days too?
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,480
4,720
Australia
Gee is tough as nails. Mad respect for the him and the rest of the Atherton tribe. I always thought he was a bit humourless but I think its more a dry humour that doesn't convey as well. He's a bit of a joker in his more laid back interviews and podcasts.

That aside, was just thinking - if you launch your own bike brand and race that, you're really putting your career on the line with that move. Gonna be pretty hard to go onto any other manufacturers bike down the line if the Atherton bikes thing doesn't work out.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Gee is tough as nails. Mad respect for the him and the rest of the Atherton tribe. I always thought he was a bit humourless but I think its more a dry humour that doesn't convey as well. He's a bit of a joker in his more laid back interviews and podcasts.

That aside, was just thinking - if you launch your own bike brand and race that, you're really putting your career on the line with that move. Gonna be pretty hard to go onto any other manufacturers bike down the line if the Atherton bikes thing doesn't work out.
You are sort of right. Are there any examples?
Tomac retired on his brand.
Nico Vouilloz did ride his own brand and then went to Lapierre (although enduro).
Boardman opened the brand after retirement, no?
Eddy Merckx?
Chipollini?
Canfield Bros?