2023 Pro thread

[BdaGhisallo]

Lotto Dstny will no longer be using Ridley bikes at the end of this season.
After 12 years their collaboratin comes to an end...

More interesting: they agreed to separate even ifthe contract is not finished yet.
We'll see a lot of teams changing bike suppliers next season.

Any idea on what bike they'll be riding in 2024.

[LOWIEV]

Management was spotted at BMC HQ and Willier HQ according to HLN.

[MichaelK]

AG2R Citroën potentially going from BMC to Van Rysel, leaves the gap open for BMC. That's the move I see the most likely.

Edit: With AG2R going to Van Rysel I can't picture them taking Campagnolo (hello $5k SR groupsets) onto what's seen as an affordable brand of frameset. Does this mean Campagnolo is going to be absent from the 2024 World Tour teams?

[pastronef]

AG2R Citroën potentially going from BMC to Van Rysel, leaves the gap open for BMC. That's the move I see the most likely.

Edit: With AG2R going to Van Rysel I can't picture them taking Campagnolo (hello $5k SR groupsets) onto what's seen as an affordable brand of frameset. Does this mean Campagnolo is going to be absent from the 2024 World Tour teams?

with the new 12 speed wireless group presentation, Campagnolo said they will supply 1 WT team in 2024.

let's see if it's Lotto, or maybe Astana?

[TobinHatesYou]

I don’t see a problem with the Van Rysel / Campy combo. The whole point of Van Rysel’s entry into the World Tour is to give it credibility as a premium offering.

[tymon_tm]

Van Rysel is a supermarket brand, there's nothing premium about it. BTW literally every producer offers an *aero bike* these days, so there's nothing special about another one... and although Decathlon does/did offer Campa equipped bikes, their target customer appears to be positioned even below Canyon's or Rose's.

[TobinHatesYou]

Van Rysel is a supermarket brand, there's nothing premium about it. BTW literally every producer offers an *aero bike* these days, so there's nothing special about another one... and although Decathlon does/did offer Campa equipped bikes, their target customer appears to be positioned even below Canyon's or Rose's.

Van Rysel / Decathlon was one of the busiest booths at Sea Otter and there was a lot of wheeling/dealing going on with not only premium independent dealers, but also some notable US domestic teams.

[maquisard]

Van Rysel is a supermarket brand, there's nothing premium about it.

Decathlon have said that they want to develop Van Rysel into a premium top-5 global brand. No reason why they can't.

15-20 years ago my view of Canyon was a budget brand, now they are premium.

[MichaelK]

15-20 years ago my view of Canyon was a budget brand, now they are premium.

That's because 20 years ago Canyon were a brand new brand. They cut costs by not having a store network and went direct to consumer. They offered bikes at a low cost, not because they were budget, but because they were trying to get a foothold in the market. They've always had premium models, just aggressively priced.

[Dan Gerous]

There has been Decathlon bikes with Campy before:



Of course back then, the bikes were not really Decathlons, they were actually made by Cyfac with custom sizing for each riders. But given they want Van Rysel to gain some credibility as a higher end brand, I don't think it would not make sense to go with Campagnolo, especially if the italian brand is willing to pay them for it.

[C36]

Van Rysel is a supermarket brand, there's nothing premium about it. BTW literally every producer offers an *aero bike* these days, so there's nothing special about another one... and although Decathlon does/did offer Campa equipped bikes, their target customer appears to be positioned even below Canyon's or Rose's.

Decathlon hasn’t ever been a supermarket brand. A sport shop is not a supermarket.

Their Rcr seems to have spent a lot of time in the windtunel and collaborate with Swiss side for the design. If it is as aero as a SSevo4, a Dogma F or a Sl7, there is no need for a pure aero.

Todays target is not their objective. I rode my entire cyclist life, since I was 15, on custom or “premium” bikes and I will very seriously consider an RCR if it lives up to my expectations.

I have not a single doubt that they can become a top 5 player and be the new Canyon. Their overall financial and volume power is not common in the cycling world (on top of my head they are overall 20x bigger in revenue than Specialized?)

[Karvalo]

There is a Van Rysel thread in a place that isn't supposed to be about current pro racing, by the way.

[tymon_tm]

it's interesting though how this fuss with "becoming premium" and global offensive is backed with literally ZERO bikes availible at their - yes - supermarkets.

Decathlon offers really good products, Ive been using their clothes for years and haven't looked at pricy "premium" brands ever again, but there's a difference between (B'Twin ) selling clothes and top of the line bikes. whether they succeed is an open question but given price tags on high end bikes many brands have realised it's also the "experience" that counts - hence for example Trek Stores. there's nothng cool about buying a bike from a Decathlon store and then there's a question of their service..

would i buy a higher end Decathlon bike? sure, why not. but there are just two factors that will either make them or break them, and a sponsorship deal ain't one of them - it's price and availability. Decathlon has had somę really good bikes before but they were impossible to get, came in limited sizes, and suffered from questionable component sizes (like 170mm cranks on a M-size). it's funny how they aim at the very top yet can't secure the bottom.

[Mr.Gib]

Distressing article about the upcoming women's Giro. The current organizer has basically checked out. The entire thing has been dumbed down, route, broadcast coverage, everything. Overall winner gets 2000 Euro. Not much for risking your life. The economics of the sport have always been a joke, but this is pretty bad in what had been an improving situation. The total purse for the women's US Open golf championship is 10 million US. First prize is over 1 million...for 4 days of walking on a closely mown lawn.

https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/opi ... m-in-2023/

[Lelandjt]

A lot of rich people watch golf, and a significant portion watch women's golf. Less people watch cycling and of those only a few watch women's cycling.

Fixed that for you. Even during my years trying to make money racing bikes I had no problem understanding that the money comes from entertaining & advertising. The amount of money would be reflective of how many people were being entertained and advertised to. It had nothing to do with how much risk I took or how cool of a thing I did. Best to just enjoy what perks may come from participating in your favorite activity at a high level and not get frustrated comparing to other professional sports and "sports".