YT Mob Announces It Is "Taking a Break" From World Cup Racing 15

All great things must end, it's time to pause the chapter with @The YT Mob as you know it. Over the years we've celebrated success with the World's best, developed #youngtalent, and shared plenty of #goodtimes!
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15 comments

View replies to: YT Mob Announces It Is "Taking a Break" From World Cup Racing

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repackreminisces
2 years ago
Boooo YT!!! Glad I never jumped on the band wagon. Glad most of the riders already found a new home. After watching the owner of YT I want nothing to do with their brand. It’s like buy a yt get a sleeve listen to metal I’m hard core. I also don’t like how their bikes are not even that cheap anymore boo YT.
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tullie
2 years ago
Isn’t the Mob a race team not directly affiliated with YT? Isn’t it Martin Whitely team and YT is the main sponsor?
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PisgahGnar
2 years ago
Correct. But YT made the decision for them. Martin replied with some details on that fusciabike site.
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MileHighMTB
2 years ago
They're reprioritizing. They don't have the scale that companies like Specialized, Trek, Santa Cruz, Canyon and the private equity guys are looking to ramp up return on investment. That comes from focusing on manufacturing, R&D and sellling bikes. Spending gobs of money on racers just doesn't have a return like PE guys want.

FTR - Private Equity is differen than venture capitalists. PE invests in companies that need investment in order to grow and they typically bring their heavy hitters in to ramp the operations of the company up. Venture capitalists typically invest in start ups and take a larger % of the company when it sells. PE is friendlier and are generally in for the long haul --- if you call 5-7 years long haul.

This is a good thing because the PE thinks YT-I is a strong company with alot of potential to be a big player. There's alot that goes into bringing a company from 7M$ in revenue to 25M, then to 75M then to 100M+. Its a good thing.
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dirty booger
2 years ago
Uhh, venture capitalism anyone? Saw this coming the moment they sold out.
The almighty dollar above all......
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PisgahGnar
2 years ago
Someone is about to get a deal on a hard charging Dak Norton. He is poised for a win really really soon.
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Lucent
2 years ago
My guess is money is driving this decision. And if so, I'd feel a bit put-off if I was a YT Mob rider, knowing that the marketing budget is soooo high (look at their launch videos that cost hundreds of thousands to produce) but can't afford to sponsor riders. Here's to hoping the riders land new rides for 2022!
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bman33
2 years ago
Big point on YT (in my measly two cents) is that the pretty much made their name in a big way DIRECTLY from World Cup racing, specifically DH. Love him or hate him, Aaron Gwin made their name big time in the market outside a relatively small Euro market and the DJ crowd. The have been slowly fading from that exposure as well as having warranty and stock /deliver issues well before the COVID mess. Curious to see how this plays out.
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bizutch
2 years ago
If there is one constant with YT, it's they consistently bail on successful racers.
I think it boils down to the fact that their business model is to cut every single corner when they can when it comes to people & to spend money in big chunks when a windfall happens.
Now that we're several years into the YT experiment, it feels like we're seeing a trend that they really are just winging it as they go.
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Salespunk
2 years ago
Them bailing on big talent is directly in their name "Young Talent". Yeti consistently has done this outside of Ritchey as well for over a decade.

I think what we are seeing here is a brand that is struggling to become a real company. Bro's starting a brand don't think about managing supply chains, warranty departments/customer service, trying to figure out shipping boxes, etc. Those the things are what take a good idea to a great company.
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bizutch
2 years ago
@salespunk Yeti's model has been very different. They were firmly committed to DH but did not sell as many units as bigger teams or have prestigious "outside the industry" sponsors, so they understand their payroll niche and riders for them knew that well. If riders like Rennie or Giove were blindsided or dropped off back when, I just didn't read that in the press release.

With YT, I guess we won't know if the Mob ended as abruptly as the Gwin deal did until sometime later in 2022? If they gave Trummer and Dak advance notice to shop themselves, that would be a change for the positive and show they've learned to handle themselves better.

What you say isn't untrue.
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schwaaa31
2 years ago
From Whitley on the pink site.

Hey Guys, please note this video is a YT production, with no input from 23 Degrees. It's YT that came to us wanting to take a break for their own reasons. Dave and Dak are signing for other World Cup Elite teams, they'll announce in January I assume. Oisin has a ride next year, and I believe Guy has some plans, but not fixed yet. It's true, I've been on the circuit for 26 years straight, so a break, especially after 2 years of covid travel hassles, isn't a bad thing, and for sure I and my race team staff want to be back at the finish line supoorting our new team's racers in 2023.
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