"PRO" Cycling Discussion

[ave]

Soccer is a team sport too... It's not the stars who make the goals. They score the goals.

[KWalker]

Back to cycling are the CIRC testimonies going to be made public and people charged in February? If so this could be a major death knell for pro cycling. After 3 years in a row of big sponsors leaving the sport, teams shrinking, and forced retirements as a result it would seem that this will only push more sponsors out of the sport.

Honestly one part of me wants to know who did what, but the other part doesn't care. The old East German doping spreadsheets were available online years ago and were far more interesting and sophisticated than even Lance's program. I don't see what the revelations would be other than what we already know which was that almost everyone did something. I'd actually only like to know who was close to clean or clean and the rest be locked in a vault forever.

[djm]

Maybe SRAM found out that WT sponsoring is not necessarily a very good investment from a marketing perspective? They gained some experience re this over the past 5 years and should know what pays off and what doesn't.

And: They had lots of teams riding their stuff when quality/functionality was far worse than today. Thus I think it's just all about the money.

Especially bad investment if the people they end up sponsoring doesn't really like the product they are using and are supposed to promote..

[wingguy]

It's not significant in this context. Real Madrid vs. Liverpool will not be decided by fitness. Though Liverpool's players will be more tired at the end of the game, through chasing the ball for 90 minutes. Messi, Xavi et al are not superstars because of their fitness levels.

Fitness is not winning games at this level.

Since you mention Real Madrid, did you watch the champion's league final, Real vs Atletico? Atletico's bossed the first half, then Real pressured them all through the final half hour, equalised at the very end of normal time and went on to win 4-1 after Extra Time because Atletico's players were dead on their feet. Yes, it is skill that will get a player noticed, but supreme fitness is an absolute necessity at the highest level.

[wingguy]

On another note I've heard rumors from a few sources that Sram's sales are in the toilet even in North America. The reason being that people are buying less Sram equipped bikes OEM, the electronic group set has cost them a ton to develop, and Quarq hasn't been very profitable. Maybe the lack of sponsorship goes along with that so they aren't giving away hundreds of groups a year?

The road side is definitely a slump - very few OE specs from manufacturers the last few years and DI2 (especially Ultegra) is hoovering up a vast amount of the aftermarket sales that RED and Force had. On the other hand, Zipp is still hugely popular and on the MTB side SRAM and Rockshox are on the crest of a wave with the 1x11 family, monarch, vivid, pike, RS1, reverb, new guide brakes etc. Global sales on that side must be incredibly strong and if the money's available they haven't been averse to spending their way to success before. I'd guess they were just outmanoeuvred in contract negotiations this year and they'll be back with at least 3 teams in 2016.

[petepeterson]

Wow JV. Self professed MBA revolutionary making cycling more professional. Then you read the secret pro where he talks about Dekker finding out he wasn't getting renewed via Twitter.

[KWalker]

On another note I've heard rumors from a few sources that Sram's sales are in the toilet even in North America. The reason being that people are buying less Sram equipped bikes OEM, the electronic group set has cost them a ton to develop, and Quarq hasn't been very profitable. Maybe the lack of sponsorship goes along with that so they aren't giving away hundreds of groups a year?

The road side is definitely a slump - very few OE specs from manufacturers the last few years and DI2 (especially Ultegra) is hoovering up a vast amount of the aftermarket sales that RED and Force had. On the other hand, Zipp is still hugely popular and on the MTB side SRAM and Rockshox are on the crest of a wave with the 1x11 family, monarch, vivid, pike, RS1, reverb, new guide brakes etc. Global sales on that side must be incredibly strong and if the money's available they haven't been averse to spending their way to success before. I'd guess they were just outmanoeuvred in contract negotiations this year and they'll be back with at least 3 teams in 2016.

Yah, from what I was told they're stepping back on the road side and pouring resources into the MTB market. The quote I heard in terms of losses was so high that I can't imagine them recovering from it within a year.

Another rumor that I've heard from people in both Europe and the US now is that BMC is in the whole for a ton of money and is for sale. The Impec project sucked all of their money dry and they've lost a lot of retailers as their wholesale prices are too high for most shops to see value in carrying them over other brands. The quote I heard was they're $120-$140 milion in the hole and might have to pull the plug on the pro team in 2016.

[Tinea Pedis]

Besides, SRAM-e should hit in 2015 and it 'could' be the best of the lot.

That's highly unlikely!

So you've ridden it then...?



As for BMC, would be sad to see them leave as naming sponsor of the team. Australia though is no different with regards to wholesale cost of their bikes.

[spartan]

sram need to release sram red electric asap. fsa new group will be in use by the 2015 tour.

all is not lost. they haVe the stiffest/lightest crankset/great ergonomics/lightest cassette. zipp new firestrike showstopper braKing surface is amazing for carbon wheels

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/12/bikes-and-tech/fsas-electronic-drivetrain-sponsor-rumor-roundup_353443

[thecounty]

Shimano parts are so good pro teams buy them. That's worth more than any sponsorship could ever buy for shimano.

"According to these sources, the team will buy Shimano groups until FSA’s 11-speed electronic group is ready. Omega Pharma-Quickstep, which turns into Etixx-Quick-Step for 2015, was a SRAM-sponsored team during the 2014 season."
Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/12/ ... 2WvrHux.99

[russianbear]

Since shimano has such a grip on the pro peloton, I'm betting they didn't want to play ball and said you have to use groupset, wheels, bars, saddles as well. Etickx Quickstep has enough money around that they can buy the groupsets if they want, just like Garmin did years prior.

[rd]

Another rumor that I've heard from people in both Europe and the US now is that BMC is in the whole for a ton of money and is for sale. The Impec project sucked all of their money dry and they've lost a lot of retailers as their wholesale prices are too high for most shops to see value in carrying them over other brands. The quote I heard was they're $120-$140 milion in the hole and might have to pull the plug on the pro team in 2016.

I'd be interested to hear more about this and from whom the quotes originated. I don't have my finger on the pulse anymore but my understanding was BMC's majority shareholder still has approx. CHF4.9 billion sitting in Sonova stock alone. BMC is (hopefully) being managed in a more commercially-rational manner since the re-structure but I would be very surprised to see Rihs let it go completely. He speaks of BMC as a one would a favourite son and – for all of its foibles – of the impec in particular with tremendous passion. It was his idea after all…

[ParisCarbon]

There was a quote on there with Rotor?? I would have assumed the Cannondale team would be using their own Crankset??

Cannondale confirmed with shimano+mavic

https://www.twitter.com/CaleyFretz/stat ... 2214585347

Ag2r the only WT team with Sram-Zipp

[petepeterson]

Holy sh!t Santa hitting the oil in late OCTOBER and getting popped for it. You can't make this stuff up.

[fa63]

Amazing how stupid some people can be.