I've been corrected in my assertion that multiple large teams are leaving.
One is definitely dropping electric moped racers/racing in 2024
One team is becoming 2...
I've been corrected in my assertion that multiple large teams are leaving.
One is definitely dropping electric moped racers/racing in 2024
One team is becoming 2 separate teams, which is actually gonna be cool in a weird way.
Two teams with the manufacturer as the primary sponsor are done.
A rider has definitely asked about moving to other teams openly in the pits.
IF I was a betting man, i would say Finn moves on from Specialized gravity, as this is a a team build around Bruni. They are...
IF I was a betting man, i would say Finn moves on from Specialized gravity, as this is a a team build around Bruni. They are both playing for the overall, and I reckon that is not sustainable in the long run. zero comment from Finn on his teammate victory on Social media, and Bruni saying Finn is basically playing mind games during track walk. The vibe is different this year.
Finn came up in the shadow of Loic as their Jr. racer for the team. He was going to leave the team at one point then Specialized stepped in and gave a metric shit-tonne of cash to fund the team as an official factory program. This let Laurant keep Finn on board.
That said, It would not surprise me to see Finn move to Trek or possibly Yeti. Somewhere he can shine more while be given the star treatment.
Sven Martin mentioned that although the DH GT Team will no be around and riders are looking for a ride. Luckily the GT Rooster seems to...
Sven Martin mentioned that although the DH GT Team will no be around and riders are looking for a ride. Luckily the GT Rooster seems to be performing well with Ryan and Ethan. Hope that Jesse finds a ride! 🙌
Finn came up in the shadow of Loic as their Jr. racer for the team. He was going to leave the team at one point then...
Finn came up in the shadow of Loic as their Jr. racer for the team. He was going to leave the team at one point then Specialized stepped in and gave a metric shit-tonne of cash to fund the team as an official factory program. This let Laurant keep Finn on board.
That said, It would not surprise me to see Finn move to Trek or possibly Yeti. Somewhere he can shine more while be given the star treatment.
That's would also the same script as Loic/Loris...
Re GT, Sven on on Needles' latest podcast said that all the GT riders (including DH) are looking for rides next season.
Really interesting. I'm going to be curious to see where they put their energies in the coming year, instead. They've been doing a lot of awesome stuff and making good moves, but this one is discouraging. Maybe they're going to work on a more regional/local level and start trying to have more placement in shops in various areas (like others, we rarely see GTs in the wild in our area and have no shop where we can purchase them).
Finn came up in the shadow of Loic as their Jr. racer for the team. He was going to leave the team at one point then...
Finn came up in the shadow of Loic as their Jr. racer for the team. He was going to leave the team at one point then Specialized stepped in and gave a metric shit-tonne of cash to fund the team as an official factory program. This let Laurant keep Finn on board.
That said, It would not surprise me to see Finn move to Trek or possibly Yeti. Somewhere he can shine more while be given the star treatment.
That's would also the same script as Loic/Loris...
Maybe. Richie has been out of DH for a while now and proved, although he is in DH shape (skill-wise) but not in DH race shape. Having a fellow North American who is fast as hell and has been WC for a while would benefit Richie more than take away from Finn.
Really interesting. I'm going to be curious to see where they put their energies in the coming year, instead. They've been doing a lot of awesome...
Really interesting. I'm going to be curious to see where they put their energies in the coming year, instead. They've been doing a lot of awesome stuff and making good moves, but this one is discouraging. Maybe they're going to work on a more regional/local level and start trying to have more placement in shops in various areas (like others, we rarely see GTs in the wild in our area and have no shop where we can purchase them).
Yeah this is so weird, this year they are one of the coolest teams supporting wyns privateer program and next year they are gone. Noga situation was also strange, maybe its related? What about Brage? 😃
Speaking of Sam Hill, I thought he was going to race the entire DH World Cup calendar but haven't seen him since the first round. Anybody know what's up with him?
Speaking of Sam Hill, I thought he was going to race the entire DH World Cup calendar but haven't seen him since the first round. Anybody...
Speaking of Sam Hill, I thought he was going to race the entire DH World Cup calendar but haven't seen him since the first round. Anybody know what's up with him?
I believe the bikes being built by Jeff is a thing of pride/marketing that is core to the Intense brand.
I am curious how do you...
I believe the bikes being built by Jeff is a thing of pride/marketing that is core to the Intense brand.
I am curious how do you know that the bikes are ”subpar” when it comes to quality. How can you know? What is the measuring stick, if you are an enthusiast from back home, just like we all are?
Otherwise, I don't think Cesar is a deus-ex-machina for DH bikes. And what I do fear is that, if the Intense bike remain for too much time in this ”unattainable/can't buy them/don't know if they're good” no man's land, people will just... forget about them. I mean, Intense means more these days for us old dudes, who are in the scene since more than 10 years, but pretty much nothing for the teens who are dreaming about ripping on the DH courses and they will be the customers of tomorrow too, when they will have their own money, to buy any bike. I mean, their last relevant year was 2018, when they had the most fun team on the circuit, with Jack, Dean and Charlie, and that's already 5 years ago! The kids these days don't know who Palmer was, what the M1 meant and it's normal for them not to care about that. They dream about riding a Pivot, not an Intense. I honestly hope they can keep it together, both DH team and bike company.
One more thing: why are people suggesting the Summum is a bad bike? Wasn't it ”a good thing” when Brook came back from GT, because the bike was supposedly so much better? Is it always the bike, when the team is underperforming, due to various reasons? If it is the bike, shouldn't we have 9 bikes in the top 10 being Commencals, just because there are a gazillion teams running them and they are said to be ”so good”? How do we judge how good a World Cup bike is, just from watching the race and looking at pictures and videos?
My question is when will the intense bike be a production bike. I got nothing against Steber but a part time welder/bike builder probably shouldn’t be...
My question is when will the intense bike be a production bike. I got nothing against Steber but a part time welder/bike builder probably shouldn’t be building bikes for a World Cup race team. If they had a full production run they could measure tolerances on a bunch of bikes and set aside the best for dak and Aaron. The current iteration seems a little heavy and expensive but I have little doubts based on the marketing of gwin and dak and their history alone it would sell fairly decent at least by downhill bike standards. And based on the teams results the design of the bike seems to be competitive even if the build quality is a little subpar compared to the top teams. If weight is the factor why not bring in a guy like Cesar to have the design go carbon like they did on the m29.
I believe the bikes being built by Jeff is a thing of pride/marketing that is core to the Intense brand.
I am curious how do you...
I believe the bikes being built by Jeff is a thing of pride/marketing that is core to the Intense brand.
I am curious how do you know that the bikes are ”subpar” when it comes to quality. How can you know? What is the measuring stick, if you are an enthusiast from back home, just like we all are?
Otherwise, I don't think Cesar is a deus-ex-machina for DH bikes. And what I do fear is that, if the Intense bike remain for too much time in this ”unattainable/can't buy them/don't know if they're good” no man's land, people will just... forget about them. I mean, Intense means more these days for us old dudes, who are in the scene since more than 10 years, but pretty much nothing for the teens who are dreaming about ripping on the DH courses and they will be the customers of tomorrow too, when they will have their own money, to buy any bike. I mean, their last relevant year was 2018, when they had the most fun team on the circuit, with Jack, Dean and Charlie, and that's already 5 years ago! The kids these days don't know who Palmer was, what the M1 meant and it's normal for them not to care about that. They dream about riding a Pivot, not an Intense. I honestly hope they can keep it together, both DH team and bike company.
One more thing: why are people suggesting the Summum is a bad bike? Wasn't it ”a good thing” when Brook came back from GT, because the bike was supposedly so much better? Is it always the bike, when the team is underperforming, due to various reasons? If it is the bike, shouldn't we have 9 bikes in the top 10 being Commencals, just because there are a gazillion teams running them and they are said to be ”so good”? How do we judge how good a World Cup bike is, just from watching the race and looking at pictures and videos?
Mx
Neko wasn’t exactly quiet about having issues with his m279 once he left the brand. And loics comments towards dak’s bike makes me think it’s not exactly an abnormality.
@thomas.gehrig: Intense bikes have been for a long time two monocoque halves welded together and that is much more than the welds on a normal bike. Misaligned I have heard of, but not of bad welds, maybe of frames that were much more prone to cracking than others. I believe Intense have been very intelligent about this, by creating the FRO mantra and positioning themselves like the Ferrari of MTB DH, suggesting that it's normal for racing bikes to be more fragile than others. That being said, I did not have issues with my own Intense bikes and I liked them a lot, but I don't want to project that as being the rule. I think I can sum it up like this: the fragile character of the bikes was a pretty well-known aspect that a lot of customers accepted when they bought one; i also don't think quality is only about durability. You can have a bike that rides excellent and it passes QC tests with flying colors, but doesn't last much. Aren't Commencals also breaking like it's running out of fashion?
@dolface: I would be thankful, if you pointed me to them. Cheers.
I also can't help of thinking that some of this year's guys, some of whom we like a lot, will be on the outside looking in next year. Whose contract is expiring? Who is on the fringe of a factory ride? Who is on the fringe of a ride at all? Who will retire?
Mx
To be fair, Intense bikes were always on the more lightweight side of things for aluminum bikes. So natural that they do not last as long as overbuild bikes. I have a collection of old Intense bikes and most of them are well aligned, so not sure where that rumor comes from. Some have the living sh!t beaten out of them by fast riders and have the scratches and wear to prove this, but do not have cracks.
Some of the Intense team/prototype bikes were even lighter than the retail frames and the team naturally swapped them out once or twice a year. Usually they were also made by Jeff, so I have no doubt about his skills as a craftsman.
That said, some of the Intense prototype/team bikes of old are gorgeous, but these newly developed frames in the last years are not. Part of that (me thinks) is that they do not have a domestic production anymore and need to outsource CNC machining and are more limited with tube supplies.
I believe the bikes being built by Jeff is a thing of pride/marketing that is core to the Intense brand.
I am curious how do you...
I believe the bikes being built by Jeff is a thing of pride/marketing that is core to the Intense brand.
I am curious how do you know that the bikes are ”subpar” when it comes to quality. How can you know? What is the measuring stick, if you are an enthusiast from back home, just like we all are?
Otherwise, I don't think Cesar is a deus-ex-machina for DH bikes. And what I do fear is that, if the Intense bike remain for too much time in this ”unattainable/can't buy them/don't know if they're good” no man's land, people will just... forget about them. I mean, Intense means more these days for us old dudes, who are in the scene since more than 10 years, but pretty much nothing for the teens who are dreaming about ripping on the DH courses and they will be the customers of tomorrow too, when they will have their own money, to buy any bike. I mean, their last relevant year was 2018, when they had the most fun team on the circuit, with Jack, Dean and Charlie, and that's already 5 years ago! The kids these days don't know who Palmer was, what the M1 meant and it's normal for them not to care about that. They dream about riding a Pivot, not an Intense. I honestly hope they can keep it together, both DH team and bike company.
One more thing: why are people suggesting the Summum is a bad bike? Wasn't it ”a good thing” when Brook came back from GT, because the bike was supposedly so much better? Is it always the bike, when the team is underperforming, due to various reasons? If it is the bike, shouldn't we have 9 bikes in the top 10 being Commencals, just because there are a gazillion teams running them and they are said to be ”so good”? How do we judge how good a World Cup bike is, just from watching the race and looking at pictures and videos?
Dak deserves to be on a better program. It's a shame that he's doing so well as teams are preparing to fold and companies are cutting back. IFR and his deal with them isn't what people think. Wasn't his signing with the team sort of a last-minute kind of thing too? That should tell you a bit about who had the leverage.
Everything looks rosy in public but people are trying to read the tea leaves just a bit too hard. There's a whole lot of smoke and mirrors.
Dak deserves to be on a better program. It's a shame that he's doing so well as teams are preparing to fold and companies are cutting...
Dak deserves to be on a better program. It's a shame that he's doing so well as teams are preparing to fold and companies are cutting back. IFR and his deal with them isn't what people think. Wasn't his signing with the team sort of a last-minute kind of thing too? That should tell you a bit about who had the leverage.
Everything looks rosy in public but people are trying to read the tea leaves just a bit too hard. There's a whole lot of smoke and mirrors.
I have no inside knowledge, but the other possibility is that Aaron wanted a fast American on his team and Dak showed up at the right time. Gwinner loves development of riders and bikes.
Regarding Brook, when he did go back to the Mondraker at first he was on fire and the coe back king after a very lousy term on the Fury. Laurie, Danny and Flo had just done a triple podium on that bike. When the last version of the bike came out everyone on it dropped from the podium and the current crop of previously top racers like Trummer and Brook vanished. I think Farina is the only one to pop into the top 5 with that bike.
The head is being chopped off of Enduro
TV money talks and the industry isn’t in a good place, the exodus has started and it will...
The head is being chopped off of Enduro
TV money talks and the industry isn’t in a good place, the exodus has started and it will look like it was the industry that killed it.
minimum of 5 teams leaving EDR in 2023
no more GoodTimes for any discipline
2024 the last year of racing as we know it.
a few DH teams changing and some finishing.
A former Young Talent but now big time DH rider going back to the beginning
2025 will be electric ⚡️
One team wanting riders has a very large empty check book and there’s a lot of riders wanting that money
Some great rumors, thanks!
could definitely see YT shuttibg doen racing, they are having some real cash flow problems based on eurobike rumors.
Dak deserves to be on a better program. It's a shame that he's doing so well as teams are preparing to fold and companies are cutting...
Dak deserves to be on a better program. It's a shame that he's doing so well as teams are preparing to fold and companies are cutting back. IFR and his deal with them isn't what people think. Wasn't his signing with the team sort of a last-minute kind of thing too? That should tell you a bit about who had the leverage.
Everything looks rosy in public but people are trying to read the tea leaves just a bit too hard. There's a whole lot of smoke and mirrors.
Just listening to the latest B-Practice he sounded pretty happy with it all.
I have no inside knowledge, but the other possibility is that Aaron wanted a fast American on his team and Dak showed up at the right...
I have no inside knowledge, but the other possibility is that Aaron wanted a fast American on his team and Dak showed up at the right time. Gwinner loves development of riders and bikes.
I have no inside knowledge, but Im going with Gwin wanting him on the team because when he grows his hair long he looks like Western Jesus and that is comforting. ;-)
I believe Brook's contract is up after this season. I don't think he'll be getting re-upped on a major team so will likely have to do something like Blenkinsop did this year if he's looking to keep racing. It sucks the first two years at Mondraker were ruined by the bike he said he was not a fan of. He's got the new bike now, but the results haven't jumped up. If he doesn't have a killer last 3 world cups, and with all the team downsizing, I don't see him getting signed at a major/medium team. Will be weird not having the Bulldog out there if something doesn't pan out.
The head is being chopped off of Enduro
TV money talks and the industry isn’t in a good place, the exodus has started and it will...
The head is being chopped off of Enduro
TV money talks and the industry isn’t in a good place, the exodus has started and it will look like it was the industry that killed it.
minimum of 5 teams leaving EDR in 2023
no more GoodTimes for any discipline
2024 the last year of racing as we know it.
a few DH teams changing and some finishing.
A former Young Talent but now big time DH rider going back to the beginning
2025 will be electric ⚡️
One team wanting riders has a very large empty check book and there’s a lot of riders wanting that money
Wasn't Brook the one begging on his knees to be taken back to mondraker after his GT detour?
Rumors are all well & good. But making a guy who was fucking paralyzed in a wheelchair & came back to a sport he loves seem like a prostitute at the car wash is another thing. "...begging on his knees" is some shit this website does not need.
Save that garbage for Instagram.
As for all the other "rumours" I'm seeing here, you're all off base on guesses. Well...except OneGhost. I think my guy is playing poker and throwing all of you off with some serious fibs.
Rumors are all well & good. But making a guy who was fucking paralyzed in a wheelchair & came back to a sport he loves seem...
Rumors are all well & good. But making a guy who was fucking paralyzed in a wheelchair & came back to a sport he loves seem like a prostitute at the car wash is another thing. "...begging on his knees" is some shit this website does not need.
Save that garbage for Instagram.
As for all the other "rumours" I'm seeing here, you're all off base on guesses. Well...except OneGhost. I think my guy is playing poker and throwing all of you off with some serious fibs.
"As for all the other "rumors" I'm seeing here, you're all off base on guesses. Well...except OneGhost. I think my guy is playing poker and throwing all of you off with some serious fibs."
Maybe industry people that actually know what TF is going on should either keep to yourself or at least drop some vague hints to foster the process w/o spilling the beans. These strange interweb flexing posts that equate to "nah nah, Im friends with all the riders and I know; but you don't! nah nah" seem a bit odd. Is that really what FSA wants their marketing manager to be doing?
I can see that. I can also see Pivot stepping out from racing. 🤷🏽♂️
Finn came up in the shadow of Loic as their Jr. racer for the team. He was going to leave the team at one point then Specialized stepped in and gave a metric shit-tonne of cash to fund the team as an official factory program. This let Laurant keep Finn on board.
That said, It would not surprise me to see Finn move to Trek or possibly Yeti. Somewhere he can shine more while be given the star treatment.
Jess got a new ride, she'll be good.
That's would also the same script as Loic/Loris...
Really interesting. I'm going to be curious to see where they put their energies in the coming year, instead. They've been doing a lot of awesome stuff and making good moves, but this one is discouraging. Maybe they're going to work on a more regional/local level and start trying to have more placement in shops in various areas (like others, we rarely see GTs in the wild in our area and have no shop where we can purchase them).
Maybe. Richie has been out of DH for a while now and proved, although he is in DH shape (skill-wise) but not in DH race shape. Having a fellow North American who is fast as hell and has been WC for a while would benefit Richie more than take away from Finn.
The only reason Richie Rude is getting back on a DH bike is to carry on the rivalry that’s been going on with Sam Hill since they were juniors.
Sam Hill is 10 years older than Richie Rude.
You are right. I thought it was well documented those two we’re battling before their EWS days.. I’m wrong.
Yeah this is so weird, this year they are one of the coolest teams supporting wyns privateer program and next year they are gone. Noga situation was also strange, maybe its related? What about Brage? 😃
Speaking of Sam Hill, I thought he was going to race the entire DH World Cup calendar but haven't seen him since the first round. Anybody know what's up with him?
He wouldn't qualify these days so probably isn't bothering.
He's injured
Real friends spell their name right lol
haha, I blame autocorrect
Neko wasn’t exactly quiet about having issues with his m279 once he left the brand. And loics comments towards dak’s bike makes me think it’s not exactly an abnormality.
To be fair, Intense bikes were always on the more lightweight side of things for aluminum bikes. So natural that they do not last as long as overbuild bikes. I have a collection of old Intense bikes and most of them are well aligned, so not sure where that rumor comes from. Some have the living sh!t beaten out of them by fast riders and have the scratches and wear to prove this, but do not have cracks.
Some of the Intense team/prototype bikes were even lighter than the retail frames and the team naturally swapped them out once or twice a year. Usually they were also made by Jeff, so I have no doubt about his skills as a craftsman.
That said, some of the Intense prototype/team bikes of old are gorgeous, but these newly developed frames in the last years are not. Part of that (me thinks) is that they do not have a domestic production anymore and need to outsource CNC machining and are more limited with tube supplies.
Wasn't Brook the one begging on his knees to be taken back to mondraker after his GT detour?
Dak deserves to be on a better program. It's a shame that he's doing so well as teams are preparing to fold and companies are cutting back. IFR and his deal with them isn't what people think. Wasn't his signing with the team sort of a last-minute kind of thing too? That should tell you a bit about who had the leverage.
Everything looks rosy in public but people are trying to read the tea leaves just a bit too hard. There's a whole lot of smoke and mirrors.
I have no inside knowledge, but the other possibility is that Aaron wanted a fast American on his team and Dak showed up at the right time. Gwinner loves development of riders and bikes.
Regarding Brook, when he did go back to the Mondraker at first he was on fire and the coe back king after a very lousy term on the Fury. Laurie, Danny and Flo had just done a triple podium on that bike. When the last version of the bike came out everyone on it dropped from the podium and the current crop of previously top racers like Trummer and Brook vanished. I think Farina is the only one to pop into the top 5 with that bike.
Some great rumors, thanks!
could definitely see YT shuttibg doen racing, they are having some real cash flow problems based on eurobike rumors.
Just listening to the latest B-Practice he sounded pretty happy with it all.
I have no inside knowledge, but Im going with Gwin wanting him on the team because when he grows his hair long he looks like Western Jesus and that is comforting. ;-)
I believe Brook's contract is up after this season. I don't think he'll be getting re-upped on a major team so will likely have to do something like Blenkinsop did this year if he's looking to keep racing. It sucks the first two years at Mondraker were ruined by the bike he said he was not a fan of. He's got the new bike now, but the results haven't jumped up. If he doesn't have a killer last 3 world cups, and with all the team downsizing, I don't see him getting signed at a major/medium team. Will be weird not having the Bulldog out there if something doesn't pan out.
YT shutting everything down wouldn‘t shock me one bit, they‘ve a track record for hanging riders out for dry.
but i think that „good times“ slogan is hinting GT shutting down which is pretty much all but confirmed according to all the chatter about it.
Rumors are all well & good. But making a guy who was fucking paralyzed in a wheelchair & came back to a sport he loves seem like a prostitute at the car wash is another thing. "...begging on his knees" is some shit this website does not need.
Save that garbage for Instagram.
As for all the other "rumours" I'm seeing here, you're all off base on guesses. Well...except OneGhost. I think my guy is playing poker and throwing all of you off with some serious fibs.
"As for all the other "rumors" I'm seeing here, you're all off base on guesses. Well...except OneGhost. I think my guy is playing poker and throwing all of you off with some serious fibs."
Maybe industry people that actually know what TF is going on should either keep to yourself or at least drop some vague hints to foster the process w/o spilling the beans. These strange interweb flexing posts that equate to "nah nah, Im friends with all the riders and I know; but you don't! nah nah" seem a bit odd. Is that really what FSA wants their marketing manager to be doing?
Not so much begging. It was less about getting on with Mondraker or even off GT so much as a better bike for him than the 2016/17 Fury
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