2015 racing - who's moving where?

rockmonkeysc

Danny Hart and Andrew Neethling are out of the Giant team.
Word on the net is Hart's moving to Mondraker and Neethling is off to Scott.
Gutierrez and Alex Marin are moving to Giant.
Sounds crazy but there are rumours of the Athertons going to KTM.
Any other news about who's going where?

Lewis A

Aren't Intense supposed to be signing a top ten wc rider? Could be any of the above I suppose, but I can't imagine the Athertons going anywhere anytime soon...

rockmonkeysc

Their deal is up with GT so why not? They will go where the money is.

Lewis A

Ah, I didn't know their contract was up, KTM would be odd.

lostboysaint

Lewis A wrote:

Ah, I didn't know their contract was up, KTM would be odd.

Why? A brand well recognised in another sport (motorcycling) that wants proper exposure and to grow it's MTB business, what better way?

rockmonkeysc

KTM Cycles are completely independent from KTM Motorcycles. They started as one business but split. As far as I know they aren't even part of the same group any more.
KTM Cycles are very big in Europe and have a lot of money to spend. Over the last few years they have been backing quite a few successful but non professional riders in XC and downhill. The JD Tuning team who are on KTM have been doing very well with riders on the podium at every race I have seen them at.

lostboysaint

RockmonkeySC wrote:

KTM Cycles are completely independent from KTM Motorcycles. They started as one business but split. As far as I know they aren't even part of the same group any more.
KTM Cycles are very big in Europe and have a lot of money to spend. Over the last few years they have been backing quite a few successful but non professional riders in XC and downhill. The JD Tuning team who are on KTM have been doing very well with riders on the podium at every race I have seen them at.

Not sure about that. I understood that they were both subsidiaries of the KTM Group.

rockmonkeysc

The KTM Group website doesn't mention KTM Cycles anywhere I can find. I may have missed it though.

Lewis A

I believe they are separate, I just can't imagine the Athertons moving to a team that currently has no World Cup presence or even a downhill bike listed on their website. Danny Hart seems a good bet for mondraker if you believe the Internet...

rockmonkeysc

KTM have had a downhill bike for a couple years.
http://www.ktm-bikes.co.za/ratchet/item/ratchet.html

Lewis A

That is a completely different website to the one I was just on, certainly no downhill bike here; http://www.ktm-bikes.at/bikes/full-suspension.html. That one you linked to looks ten years old...

rockmonkeysc

Nope, its a current model and really not bad. It's being ridden to regular podiums at national level.

paul.skibum

I can see Giant moving Hart and Neethling on - they probably want someone who can win and there seems to be a lack of performance from those two (that'll annoy all those Hart fans who think he's the best thing ever having won one race in 5 years).

Athertons to KTM - I can see that too, I am not sure the bike will give them what they need to win but I dont know anything about it. I'd wonder whether the company support would be there to get the bike to fit their needs but they are good for a company as they are a ready made team even if the non family members drifted away. Leaves GT to bring on some new people or stick with the non Athertons and add to that group. I know KTM were looking for grass roots racers to support in UK and a fella I used to work with was xc racing on KTM for a few years.

Santa Cruz isnt changing any time soon you'd imagine. The team looks settled and aside from adding another rider I dont see any of the three wanting to leave or the team not wanting to keep them.

I dont think Lapierre were changing at all, adding Finn Iles as a junior but all their senior team were staying put I think. I could see Trek trying to add to their team.

rockmonkeysc

When the Athertons joined GT the bike wasn't up to winning so they developed it. Maybe KTM are planning on using them to develop the bike.

Lewis A

I don't know, I still don't buy it. There have been rumours of the athertons on cube, before they signed on gt, and now too, but that seems just as weird, as cube seems to have discontinued the two15...

rockmonkeysc

The Two15 was an odd one. Great bike and good value but only came in one size and no one bought it.

Lewis A

I suppose they could have used the 180mm fritz for some tracks this year. There has already been a press release to confirm Hart and Needles have left giant.

rockmonkeysc

Lewis A wrote:

I suppose they could have used the 180mm fritz for some tracks this year. There has already been a press release to confirm Hart and Needles have left giant.

The Fritz is no race bike though and not particularity tough, I have seen three of them break & I think I have only ever seen three or four! It's no good if they can't race the full season, the rides wouldn't qualify for the next season unless they do a LOT of national & regional level stuff for less points to try to stay in the elite category.

Lewis A

Unless cube had prototypes ready to be ridden next season and realeased for 2016. I can't see Dan and Martin going to cube though, as they already have a very competitive EWS rider... It would be a shame for the family to split up after all the work they've done for mtb in the uk though.

paul.skibum

Just noticed that Gee Atherton is still posting stuff to facebook on promoting GT bikes - would have thought if they were on the move the end of season racing would have been the end of the contract? No?

The Rookie

Most sporting contracts are calendar years, so they would still be contracted to the end of this year.

Occasionally a new team will buy out the balance of the contract so they can start their publicity.

supersonic

Dunno how much GT paid the Athertons - but I bet probably the most expensive contract we've seen in DH racing.

Lewis A

More than Gwin to Specialized (per person)?

supersonic

Wouldn't surprise. They needed a big name(s), and as GT were falling badly on the DH scene, the money would have talked.

rockmonkeysc

The Athertons are probably worth far more than any other rider for marketing purposes. They do a lot of publicity work for GT as well.
Gwinn may be a better racer than Gee but he just isn't as well liked by fans and is seen as fast but boring to watch.

Lewis A

Even Gee doesn't seem that popular nowadays, he isn't silly enough for mountain bikers. Gee has a lot of bad luck, like that tree in Norway last year, and the broken leg the year before.

rockmonkeysc

He may have a bit of bad luck but still world champ. Rachel Atherton is doing a lot for women's mountain biking.

supersonic

They could become like Hans Rey. but saying that, GT screwed Peaty over so who knows.

rockmonkeysc

Peaty is a great example of a rider who isn't winning and probably won't win a WC race again but maintains a high profile and is loved by fans and is worth a lot to Santa Cruz for marketing.
Does he deserve a factory Santa Cruz ride based purely on his race results?

Lewis A

He's still a top 20 rider, no different to Marc Beaumont on GT...

paul.skibum

Lewis A wrote:

He's still a top 20 rider, no different to Marc Beaumont on GT...

Probably better race craft that Beaumont.

Does Fairclough deserve a big team factory ride based on his results - lead rider who cant break the top ten most weeks? He's a great rider sure but I dont think he a win in him and from a slopestyle big mountain point he doesnt have the tricks.

I quite like Gee Atherton as a rider - I think he's got a professional approach and he's pretty tough - those crashes he came back from to race the next day in 2013 like a MSA take balls and his attempts at Rampage have been pretty good.