Mountain Biking - Factory Racing Teams

This is a re-post that was lost when the server went down.

I am going to the World Cup race in Napa so I thought about this question once again.

Does the fact that a bike manufacturer sponsors a racing team influence your decision to buy a bike from them? Is the expense of fielding a team worth it? Does it give them a higher profile?

Joe

I dont think it influences me to buy a bike from them at all. Although, when I went to buy my Zaskar I ordered one that had the team colors on it cause I thought iwas cool. :)

When most people buy an expensive bike they look at what is on it not who rides it.

Dan

Hi Joe,

Interesting question matey...I think when I was younger, the fact that a Team had great riders did persuade me to go for their bike.

I think now that I'm older I don't go down that path so much, but seeing great riders like Alison Sydor and Cadel Evans on their C'dales makes me drool...maybe not Cadel so much actually...

erm....yes.

Rich

I have another question about the Racing teams. Does it improve the breed? Do racers test out new components before they are released to the general public or do most racers rather stick to proven parts?

Hi again...

From what I know *and that's not very much...heheh*, riders are used in R & D exercises for in house equipment and new development stuff, from manufacturers such as Rockshox and Shimano.

If you think that riders are gonna take these components to the limits, it makes sense to use them

What a great job though eh...

keep smiling

Rich :)

From my experience I prefer to support a company that is in turn putting some effort into the whole scheme of things. I will still buy what I like, but it just so happens that after my little sponsorhip with Trek I fell in love with their products so I will always have the advantage of knowing their product has been tested in areas I plan on using it also.

Hi Bradley,

Welcome to the forums :thumbup:

It must've been nice to get sponsorship from Trek...ages and ages ago, I used to race for a team that had sponsorship from Specialised...well, they gave us race kit anyway...unfortunately, we still had to buy our own bikes :(

He he...anyway, I've just bought myself a Kona Hei Hei frameset, so it's goodbye to the trusty Trek 8500 which I've had for 10 years...bless it.

Rich

Thanks, and yeah it was nice, but after recieving my gear I feel out of touch with racing. So now I am back in it to hopefully get back to better than ever in hopes of giving back to Trek what they had given me back then. Here is a pic of what I got, an 8900 frame to build up.

Hi Bradley,

That is a sexy mutha of a bike...I bet it rides like a dream!

I'm still surprised even after all these years how my Trek has stood up to the test of time.

Cheers

Rich