UK bike sales plummet
Discussion
ArnageWRC said:
Yes, exactly! This is mentioned on quite a few MTB websites/forums, but isn't really being mentioned on general cycle racing sites. Yet the road teams are signing all kinds of new sponsors, with improved budgets......a lot from none bike industry sectors. Whereas most MTB racing teams, are the bike industry only.......the sport can't attract these big sponsors......
Look at Lidl - the big sponsors of the Trek road teams, yet the MTB teams didn't get anything - and they're all part of Trek Factory Racing.....
6-8 MTB World Cups a season behind a paywall isn't going to bring in the sponsors - and the none World Cup races are hardly covered live at all. Why on earth would a sponsor be interested in that?
Is it that DH and Enduro make up a fairly small % of the bike industry so may feel the financial pinch before other disciplines? I don't watch DH or Enduro but I do watch XC racing ... Look at Lidl - the big sponsors of the Trek road teams, yet the MTB teams didn't get anything - and they're all part of Trek Factory Racing.....
6-8 MTB World Cups a season behind a paywall isn't going to bring in the sponsors - and the none World Cup races are hardly covered live at all. Why on earth would a sponsor be interested in that?
But what you've stated isn't going to promote it to a wider audience and attract more sponsorship!
Road has more momentum and reach as particularly with the grand tours, many occassional and non-cycling fans will watch them, especially TdF where are the comitted cycling fans have almost weekly events at World Tour level to watch, from the Tour Down under in mid Jan until say Il Lombardia at the start of October. Thats a lot of potential TV exposure for World Tour teams.
Terry Winks said:
Back in 07, 08, can't remember which season it was, it's all a blur, but I was having chat with the commercial guys from Nissan about a few bits of potential work. They'd sponsored the entire WC series for 2 years for 300,000 euro, absolutely mental, I doubt it even needed sign off at that amount. Outside industry sponsorship has been fleeting at best, and in downhill its always been a titbit of an outside sponsor sponsoring one of the other avenues of the sport.
Yeah, I recall the Nissan era; and an 'outside' sponsor. Mercedes sponsored the MTB World Cup for a few years, until 2022 I think. However, the 90s was THE era for MTB racing, the Grundig World Cup, Volvo, BMW as team sponsors; there is a channel on You Tube with some of the old highlights on there.....
Road is much bigger than MTB in sporting terms. OTOH, road bikes are considerably less complicated machines, much further along the development curve, so you end up in a paradoxical situation where the more popular discipline has less innovation going into it because outside of gimmicky marketing stuff as noted above, it just doesn't require it.
On the sporting attraction side of things, the paywall racing won't help MTB but worth noting it was free to air for years with Red Bull & Freecaster before that and the needle never really moved much, even when people like Honda were involved & Nissan were a major sponsor. Seems to me it's destined to be niche in the scheme of things. One decent example is Charlie Hatton winning the 2023 World championshiip DH at Fort William on a British Atherton bike, televised live on the BBC & sinking out of public consciousness within a day or two.
And I'm saying that as a committed DH fan who thinks of it as the most exciting discipline in cycling.
On the sporting attraction side of things, the paywall racing won't help MTB but worth noting it was free to air for years with Red Bull & Freecaster before that and the needle never really moved much, even when people like Honda were involved & Nissan were a major sponsor. Seems to me it's destined to be niche in the scheme of things. One decent example is Charlie Hatton winning the 2023 World championshiip DH at Fort William on a British Atherton bike, televised live on the BBC & sinking out of public consciousness within a day or two.
And I'm saying that as a committed DH fan who thinks of it as the most exciting discipline in cycling.
JEA1K said:
Road has more momentum and reach as particularly with the grand tours, many occassional and non-cycling fans will watch them, especially TdF where are the comitted cycling fans have almost weekly events at World Tour level to watch, from the Tour Down under in mid Jan until say Il Lombardia at the start of October. That's a lot of potential TV exposure for World Tour teams.
That's it. MTB has very little exposure, 8 weekends for MTB World Cups isn't really cutting it, is it? Hardline, Rampage, Urban Downhill, etc are great events, but RBTV is niche.I'm a Road fan, as well as a MTB fan, but I despair at how MTB racing is run, and how poor many teams/ media are at promoting the sport. The World Cup finished in early October - and almost everything seems to go into hibernation until well in the New Year. Contrast with the road, the season finishes, yet the stories, content keep coming.....sponsors get exposure even in the off season.
ArnageWRC said:
That's it. MTB has very little exposure, 8 weekends for MTB World Cups isn't really cutting it, is it? Hardline, Rampage, Urban Downhill, etc are great events, but RBTV is niche.
I'm a Road fan, as well as a MTB fan, but I despair at how MTB racing is run, and how poor many teams/ media are at promoting the sport. The World Cup finished in early October - and almost everything seems to go into hibernation until well in the New Year. Contrast with the road, the season finishes, yet the stories, content keep coming.....sponsors get exposure even in the off season.
It's because the UCI would rather it that MTB didn't exist, I am pretty sure that attitude still is prevalent, I have not really been involved for over 10 years now. But at the same time the UCI would rather strangle it than let another body be formed to take it on and grow it.I'm a Road fan, as well as a MTB fan, but I despair at how MTB racing is run, and how poor many teams/ media are at promoting the sport. The World Cup finished in early October - and almost everything seems to go into hibernation until well in the New Year. Contrast with the road, the season finishes, yet the stories, content keep coming.....sponsors get exposure even in the off season.
Terry Winks said:
It's because the UCI would rather it that MTB didn't exist, I am pretty sure that attitude still is prevalent, I have not really been involved for over 10 years now. But at the same time the UCI would rather strangle it than let another body be formed to take it on and grow it.
It's uncannily like how the FIA often treats non F1 motorsport......(WRC especially).Just don't get me started on the lack of coverage from most of the cycling media. There is still the feeling that MTB is not a proper sport......They'll only bother if a 'road name' turns up. CyclingNews are a joke, Pinkbike do a decent job, but are quite often late with stories. I've found that esmtb and brujulabike are the best for MTB racing news, on the XC side.
I think thats how social media is the big interrupter in news, you have to be all over everything these days, for no real benefit. Are you going to really drive much more traffic to your site for the effort it will take? Also, back in the day, if people had news, they'd come to you with it, but they all have their own socials to satisfy these days too.
Not saying it's right, but you have to do it for the love now, which I have contemplated again almost as a hobby but its been on the maybe pile for probably 5 or so years, so its unlikely ever to happen.
Not saying it's right, but you have to do it for the love now, which I have contemplated again almost as a hobby but its been on the maybe pile for probably 5 or so years, so its unlikely ever to happen.
Hobby horse of mine but putting it up there for the nth time, I was shocked to see Amuary Pierron win somewhere last season & pick up a cheque for 2000 Euros or thereabouts. Absolute pennies for being at the zenith of elite sport. No wonder so many of them do Youtube vlogs & hawk anything they can for dollar. The game is rigged.
Terry Winks said:
It's because the UCI would rather it that MTB didn't exist, I am pretty sure that attitude still is prevalent, I have not really been involved for over 10 years now. But at the same time the UCI would rather strangle it than let another body be formed to take it on and grow it.
The UCI is happy to promote Track, CX, MTB XC and Gravel. MTB XC is an Olympic sport too and gets plenty of attention. Road obviously is many orders of magnitude greater, attracting literally the second largest TV audience of any sport for the TdF.
Enduro and DH have become less viewed in MTB sports than XC of late because the Olympic format makes it attractive to TV and some of road's superstars who do both (and who started in XC) bring more attention to it and greater profitability. Enduro and DH suffer because of this as XC becomes the main MTB focus globally.
Personally, I love the strategies involved in road's team-based disciplines, the power on display in Track albeit I enjoy participating in MTB XC more than watching.
MTB DH though, I can watch one or two on Youtube and then I'm bored of the gravity-based spectacle. I appreciate the skill but that's all it has going for it for me, like downhill skiing etc but less popular. I couldn't name a single Enduro or DH 'star' but can list a lot of Road, Track, MTB XC, CX and Gravel riders.
It could be because the aforementioned disciplines have crossover Star's, who do Road and CX or Road and XC, Track and Road etc. Fans follow across the versions to support them.
Edited by YorkshireStu on Friday 5th January 16:09
President Merkin said:
I saw a podcast with BK talking about the team scene in general. He can be a bit marmite as a character but I often find him searingly honest on work stuff, notwithstanding he's always going to be a shop steward for riders.
Anyway, the interesting titbits to emerge were he reckoned a full DH team with two or three elite & juniors would come in between a half & a million a season to run, depending on a few factors. The UCI are killing it in various ways, WBD not helping much either & so all that in context of the business being on its arse for the time being, pulling teams who are ultimately a marketing tool is an easy decision.
He seems to have done ok though. I always think he comes across a nice lad, confident but not cocky.Anyway, the interesting titbits to emerge were he reckoned a full DH team with two or three elite & juniors would come in between a half & a million a season to run, depending on a few factors. The UCI are killing it in various ways, WBD not helping much either & so all that in context of the business being on its arse for the time being, pulling teams who are ultimately a marketing tool is an easy decision.
He can ride a bike pretty well too…
Only this week I read about a few MTB teams folding due to lack of money/interest, seems MTB is having trouble in general?
Side note - I always thought Orange's welds were pretty rought/s
t - pick a random bike for sale with decent photos, and the welds are at best qutie uneven, and at worst lumpy and eye-catching in a bad way.
Side note - I always thought Orange's welds were pretty rought/s
t - pick a random bike for sale with decent photos, and the welds are at best qutie uneven, and at worst lumpy and eye-catching in a bad way.I loved Orange bikes back in the day. That is the problem. They appeal to 40 plus riders who recall owning a Clockwork or more recently, an Alpine.
A lot of their customer base went carbon and went Santa Cruz and they were left looking decidedly agricultural against the competition..
A lot of their customer base went carbon and went Santa Cruz and they were left looking decidedly agricultural against the competition..
/\ precisely.
I posted this over on STW:
I never see them down South. I also wonder if they didn’t (unfairly) suffer from a part of their demographic of buyers having become older and gradually migrating to other brands or having stopped riding altogether while younger generations just either didn’t know the brand or didn’t get the brand or couldn’t afford the brand or simply perceived it as their Dad’s brand. So no way of replacing their ever dwindling customer base compounded by the recent shrinking of the overall market.
Obviously pricewise there may have been an issue but some of the margin may have been needed to be spent in brand awareness.
The half price £1099 bike posted up thread is still terrible value even at that price.
I posted this over on STW:
I never see them down South. I also wonder if they didn’t (unfairly) suffer from a part of their demographic of buyers having become older and gradually migrating to other brands or having stopped riding altogether while younger generations just either didn’t know the brand or didn’t get the brand or couldn’t afford the brand or simply perceived it as their Dad’s brand. So no way of replacing their ever dwindling customer base compounded by the recent shrinking of the overall market.
Obviously pricewise there may have been an issue but some of the margin may have been needed to be spent in brand awareness.
The half price £1099 bike posted up thread is still terrible value even at that price.
From the point of view of someone who sat out of the industry and scene for nearly 20 years, feels like they hadn’t moved on much from the Team Animal Orange days of the early 00s.
Folded alu and a single pivot, yeah, cool back in the day, not so much now.
Feel bad for people losing a job and livelihood, but as a brand, I don’t see anything new they’ve done in near enough 2 decades.
Footnote: open to rebuke, I’m puggled
Folded alu and a single pivot, yeah, cool back in the day, not so much now.
Feel bad for people losing a job and livelihood, but as a brand, I don’t see anything new they’ve done in near enough 2 decades.
Footnote: open to rebuke, I’m puggled
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