Not sure who Brad Williams is, but Trevor and Heather Wurtele are also as no longer with Cervelo.

Heather did a podcast recently talking about how Cervelo was recently purchased and cited this being the reason for many athletes losing their sponsorships. She said the same for Saucony (who they also were dropped from)

Not a good time for pro triathletes.

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

Eventually everything comes down to a financial balance sheet.

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Team ZOOT
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Well only 1 of those you mentioned was actually sponsored by Cervelo.

But to the larger point, sponsoring pro triathletes is a tough line item these days during budget meetings.

Interesting.........i guess the assumption that pros ride sponsored bikes is wrong.....i wonder why more dont lose the decals.....

I don't know. It's always an inexact science determining what your ROI on sponsorship is.

But if I was in the Cervelo boardroom.....I see Canyon sponsoring BWR (a popular topic in this forum), sponsoring several prominent triathletes like Frodeno, and sponsoring Movistar, Katusha, Canyon-SRAM and a full complement of Canyon factory teams.

I'm not sure I'd be pounding my fist on the boardroom table, "This is what we must do!:

Step 1: cancel our sponsorships and crawl into a little shell!
Step 2:??
Step 3: Profit!! "

I know that with all the exposure Canyon has from their sponsorships they have caused me to give them a look as a serious contender for my next bike......I am currently on a Cervelo but I really don't want to ride a bike brand that is not willing to put their bike under serious athletes.

For me, whether a bike brand sponsors athletes has zero impact on my bike choice. Why does that matter to you?

Speaking for myself as a road racer, I do like to see brands that promote the sport in healthy ways. See the recent "why is bike racing dying thread?" Things like BWR are very difficult to promote and put on, and races like that are very important in staunching the slow-bleed decline of competitive cycling. Cycling/triathlon is a brutally tough economic choice for budding elite and pro riders. I'm happy to see bike companies help out our next generation of Olympic/Pro cyclists. Specialized and the LUX Cycling Junior/U23 team. Felt and HED who equip the track bikes that Chloe Dygert and co. are setting tracks on fire with in team and individual pursuit. Roka sponsoring team Aventon in the exciting fixie-crit world.

I see myself as a member of a community, and I like companies that also see themselves as a member of a community.

And sponsorships aren't the only way to contribute to a community. Companies like Flo and PremierBike may not have the resources for sponsorships, but they contribute in other ways, e.g. providing valuable information.

Don't get me wrong. I also look at "the data", value, etc. I'm not a charity as bike-purchaser. But it's a good tie-breaker. But tie-breakers have become important in these days of "peak aero"" when high-end TT bikes (and bike) are something of a commodity.

I have no problem with people like you who view things purely in terms of personal ROI, though. That's a perfectly rational purchasing methodology that would serve anyone well. And at the end of the day it's better for us all when the companies that make the great bikes are rewarded.

Same as trail......with the addition that I get to see for a fect that the bike is fast........not just in the wind tunnel oe on paper. For me it also legitimizes the brand to have a bike under that fast individual.

They're still sponsoring Team Dimension Data and have been hurting financially from all the bikes that Cavendish crashed to pieces.

What kind of Cervelo do you have?

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Don't see any news on Cervelo being sold by Pon Holdings. In fact the only thing that comes up are articles from when Pon Holdings purchased Cervelo in 2012 and Santa Cruz in 2015.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

NP3.....

Aren’t canyon mail order, no shop presence, no pre purchase inspection?

Maybe if Canyon quit giving bikes to so many pro's, they'd actually have some to sell to retail customers

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I think it can be a good tiebreaker. As a MOP triathlete I bought a Cervelo P2 as it fit me, had good reviews, was reasonable priced, and I felt like it was a model bike that could last me for a long time.

Dont get me wrong......Cervelo makes great .....and fast bikes(as proven by the aero shootout). I cant help but feel a shift toward other bikes namely Canyon. I am just trying to make sense of this myself......it just seems to be a downward slope for Cervelo since the debut of the P5x.......I could be wrong.......just an observation.

https://soundcloud.com/...urve-heather-wurtele

Start it around 33' and she talks about it

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Inside The Big Ring: Podcast & Coaching

I bet that most people here have no idea who she is.

So she stated that they were acquired by Pon Holdings...Pon Holdings purchased Cervelo in 2012: https://globalnews.ca/...pany-cervelo-cycles/

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Most of the pros on Canyon now are not sponsored by them. Canyon has offered a pretty good industry discount to them, and I think a lot of it is Frodeno/Lange "envy." When the same bike has been on top of the podium in Kona 3 years straight, I think that influences what pros will want to buy. Many - most - pros are as susceptible to the gear need as anyone else. But it's not like Cervelo is dropping these athletes and Canyon is picking them up. Cervelo is dropping them and they are buying a Canyon. Some of that is, certainly, a desire to make a clear break with the former brand. And some of it is just desire to try something new, especially if you think that new thing might be faster. I personally doubt the Canyon is faster - or even as fast - as the P5X or P5, but perception matters a lot. I am sure Brad talked about that in his wind tunnel thread, but I haven't read through that yet. And even so, that's N=1. And unless it was a controlled test of both bikes on the same day, there's only so much you can take from that. Also, Cervelo has not been sold. They've been owned by PON for a long time. But I think PON has been - like most of the bike industry - tightening it's belt.

I don't know of a single bike company that has been expanding sponsorship. Everyone is cutting. I am no longer "officially" with Diamondback - I still have my bikes and still love riding them, but that was because I took a full time job at Zwift and am not racing triathlon anymore. But if I hadn't take that job, I also don't know that Diamondback could have - or would have - continued to sponsor me, certainly not at the level they did. The loss of Dick's just was a huge hit to them. The only industry company I've seen that's expanding it's roster of athletes is Wahoo. But I don't know the details of that.

So yeah, it's a tough time to be a pro triathlete. I, for one, am certainly glad that I am not anymore.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Thanks Jordan. I think my last post should have been my first. It kind of sounded like I was hating on Cervelo, when that was not the case. I am just curious as to the changes of these prior atheletes to the competitors bikes. Thanks for the thoughtful insight!

I don't know why industry is so incredibly stingy with pro triathletes. In the pure cycling world no one who's anyone buys their bike. Domestic pros, LUX juniors, elite amateurs, prominent geezer-masters, fixie crit riders, mountain bikers. No one. In the U.S. I speculate the number of riders riding fully-free sponsored bikes is well into 4 digits. And good bikes too. Canyon, Specialized. (not so much Cervelo, though). And there's much less wringing of hands over contract terms. "Welcome to the team. Here's your bike, wheels, and kit. Now go get after it, and don't put the stuff up on eBay."

Yet for triathletes equipment and prize money is handed out from a very tightly-held purse like pro triathletes are some kind of trust-fund teenager who can't be trusted.

True, and a shame, because she’s an absolute monster. Wifey raced 2 different crits against her, and it was simply remarkable how she just rode away from the field.

Love watching her absolutely bury herself at the front of the team pursuit and watch the time splits drop like crazy.

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Alex Arman

Strava