Weight Weenies

I am shocked@!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... aug10news3

according to roadmag.blogspot.com Hincapie has offically joined t-mobile.

What? With all this FAME USPS/Discovery should be overfilled with money and publicity. Why they quit?

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Trek should just title sponsor the damn team. Lance Armstrong is already a part owner of both.

Perhaps a Trek team title sponsorship would impact their ability to get other teams to ride Treks?

At the risk of being controversial, I think that this news together with the news that t-mobile are going to continue in the sport, is very positive for the future.

Stan wrote:At the risk of being controversial, I think that this news together with the news that t-mobile are going to continue in the sport, is very positive for the future.

Yea because T-Mobile is known for being clean and Disco/USPS always had riders testing non-negative?

I know T-Mobile is trying to get clean and there are rumors that swirl with Tailwind but with the history I don't understand you logic.

With all this FAME USPS/Discovery should be overfilled with money and publicity.

This is the sign from above (regardless of who or what you believe in) that cycling must change.........

I think it is quite alarming that arguably the most successful team in cycling history cannot find a sponsor, especially a team that finished two riders on the podium at the tour.

Some may say well so what how does this affect weight weenies. I say its a huge impact to hard core enthusiasts like weight weenies. When huge mega team like Disco fades away that is one less team that will be testing new equipment. It is through those teams that we see new development take place. The fewer teams = slower new technology, IMO

This is not good news in any way. Clearly shows that sponsorship is difficult to get from outside the sport. The best sell that tailwind sports has was back to Discovery. The sport and team have too much baggage to deal with to attract a 45 million over 3 year sponsor. It is very sad when one of the most wining teams in the sport has to fold up.

There are a lot of allegations that they doped, not much evidence. I think that is part of being at the top, you have to take the criticism. (I don't consider Basso to have every been on their team, he was to much in the muck by the time he got to disco to have continued doping.)

Anyone who wins a major tour in the next 5 years is going to get accused of doping. (Just saying it now)

The perfect sponsor to replace Discovery is Kellogg's. A US company with revenue around 10 billion and where 15 million/year is short money in the advertising department, products that fit the lifestyle, and global sales. That equals about thirty to forty 30-second commercials during prime time television.
$15 million a year is 2% of Kellogg's annual $570M advertising budget.

EDIT ON LATEST NEWS: Nevermind Kelloggs - they don't want another sponsor for the team right now.

jersievers wrote:Anyone who wins a major tour in the next 5 years is going to get accused of doping. (Just saying it now)

I agree with this statement 100%.

Cat1 wrote:The fewer teams = slower new technology, IMO

I would not go this far. Technology is at the point where new development is going to provide only marginal performance gains. Moreover, the money is still in the market and marketing. Take, for example, ceramic bearings. Much hype, little real gain, especially considering the price. One less team would not have stopped the development and testing of ceramic bearings for cycling applications, nor does its introduction provide any meaningful performance gain, unless you believe some of the misinformation going around.

If your job depended on your ability to benefit your company's image through associating with a sport, would you bet your living on taking this to your board of directors?



No US corporate marketing head can justify the cost / benefit of taking on this team on... Not even if Levi had won the tour. A simple Tour winner isn't enough for the US. Levi would have had to stop a terrorist attack, or used his bike to pull a bus full of school kids off a train track and even then he wouldn't be known as anything in this country but "Lance Armstrong's successor"...

World stars like Michael Schumacher can't get good US based gig's. The David Bek/spice girl deal is already being called one of the biggest money flops in US sports history... Just being a winner isn't good enough for an obscure sport to attract real money here...


I am hoping that Vaughters can make it work as I want at least one euro competitive team from the US. But one team is all this cycling market will support after what the UCI has let cycling become.

Cat1 wrote:I think it is quite alarming that arguably the most successful team in cycling history cannot find a sponsor, especially a team that finished two riders on the podium at the tour.

Some may say well so what how does this affect weight weenies. I say its a huge impact to hard core enthusiasts like weight weenies. When huge mega team like Disco fades away that is one less team that will be testing new equipment. It is through those teams that we see new development take place. The fewer teams = slower new technology, IMO

Aside from Trek frames, which I have never liked for their lack of panache and style, their equipment dept.(Bontrager) hasn't exactly set the world on fire with cutting-edge equipment and never contributed much in terms of weight-weenies related items.

Their stuff will NOT be missed in the pro peloton.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, a co-owner of the team, took a more optimistic view. "I do not think you have seen the last of this organisation in the sport, but clearly things need to improve on many levels, with a more unified front, before you would see us venture back into cycling," Armstrong added.

I'll translate; 'looks like we can't get away with our old ways anymore, so we're gonna stay out of it'.

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J-Nice wrote:

Cat1 wrote:I think it is quite alarming that arguably the most successful team in cycling history cannot find a sponsor, especially a team that finished two riders on the podium at the tour.

Some may say well so what how does this affect weight weenies. I say its a huge impact to hard core enthusiasts like weight weenies. When huge mega team like Disco fades away that is one less team that will be testing new equipment. It is through those teams that we see new development take place. The fewer teams = slower new technology, IMO

Aside from Trek frames, which I have never liked for their lack of panache and style, their equipment dept.(Bontrager) hasn't exactly set the world on fire with cutting-edge equipment and never contributed much in terms of weight-weenies related items.

Their stuff will NOT be missed in the pro peloton.

it'll show somewhere else. Much of the 'innovation' was rebadged technology from other manufacturers so the innovation will continue I'm sure.. Just 'cos disco has gone doesn't mean any lessening in the market for bike jewellery, it's the consumer market that fund innovation.