it takes some time to divest yourself of 10 years worth of bikes and equipment.

They let Kate Courtney move to Scott, and she's 23 and the first American to win a UCI Worlds XC championship since 2001. And she has like 10-15 national championships across different events. If there's a more marketable woman for Specialized in cycling, I don't know who that is.

The broader picture looks to me like Specialized decided to pare back its sponsorship budget.

But maybe they're about to announce a bunch of major signings...

How much are they pouring into Sagan/Bora now...?

A ton, I'm sure. And Viviani, et al at Quick Step too. But it'd seem odd to double-down on old-school road cycling when the pendulum seems to be shifting towards niche sports, gravel, etc - at least in the U.S..

I'm hoping its something juicier, like Scott is pissed at Specialized cuz they poached Flora Duffy last year, so they're poaching Kate Courtney this year. And now they're all like "In yo FACE..." And next year, Spec grabs Keinle AND Nino and they're all like, "if you wanna play with the big dogs, you best learn some manners..."

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Maybe you should check who is Flora Duffy husband before saying that Scott is pissed at Specialized...

BTW, Specialized is letting go others athletes like Murray and also in LD...

Psst, I'll let you in on a little secret. It was a joke....

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

haha this is not true at all. Not one trek or timex athlete has to give their bike back. Most of the age group athletes purchased their bikes a a massive discount and pros get their bikes for free.

It was actually a super funny one too...haha too bad he missed it!

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I do know this to be true - I said later it was supposed to be pink haha

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I just texted and confirmed with 3 pro Timex athletes and 1 age group. All of them said they don’t have to give bikes back. It’s their bikes.

OK, I meant I knew what YOU said to be true haha.

I only first said it because of the second comment in the thread. Thanks for checking but yeah...I am aware that my joke was lost in translation.

The thought of Big Metz sitting there riding a recumbent at Rally Sport trying to get a bike on craigslist is a fun one though, isn't it? ;)

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

It seems that more and more bike companies are thinning the herd when it comes to sponsored athletes. I am curious on who people think really move the needle for tri bikes from a sponsorship point of view. I would say Canyon has done well with their sponsorships to getting their name out as they moved to bringing them to the states. Does Cervelo really need to have big name athletes riding their bikes to draw people to them? I would say probably not.

At what point is it more about the bike, price and local shops that sell them and fit you to them that makes more of a difference? Just curious on what people think.

Yeah, it's totally changing out there. I hope the onus doesn't go to Quintana Roo, Ventum, Ceepo to pick up these guys because they aren't really moving the needle with their sales, I don't think. Scott could be a nice fit for Hoffman with his xterra loving and such - we will see.

I think Cervelo should move back into the upper echelons of the sport in relations to sponsorship. Sure...they don't NEED more bikes in Kona but look at the other brands catching up. They can only rely on being the big dog so long. I look at Nike, who were essentially non existent three years ago at Kona - and then the Vapor Fly/Zoom Fly craze and they are back (yes, not with tri sponsorship per se...they have a great product PLUS they are Nike, so in the end, winning combination) but if Cervelo picks up Hoffman, and he just slays it at Kona and conditions are perfect, and he wins on the P5 Disc - assuming it comes out - that could be a needle mover for them even with their huge piece of the marketplace. The P5X kind of proved they aren't Nike of tri bikes, to me at least.

That said - they adapt the P2/3 frame to be slick with disc brakes and it's going to annihilate the rest of the market at the low range I think.

Hijacked my own thread and rambled, hopefully it makes some sense though!

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Mauricio Mendez to Cube. Sure, he's young but another former Specialized athlete. Good pick up - kid is amazing.

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Pretty certain that Cervelo's bet is on McNamee seeing as they re-signed him

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Chasing PB Podcast Latest interview with Eli Hemming on Targeting a US MTR spot in Tokyo

They also still seem to have Frederik Van Lierde and Caroline Steffen - both of them still good but old and nowhere near as good as they were in their peak. I'd really love to see Cervelo bike sales across all platforms because they aren't as popular in triathlon as they once were, and the roadies don't ride their bikes at all...

Here's his post: https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWSCT1HW4n/

But at least he got one of the new bikes!

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I don't know how much they are putting into McNamee, but yes they resigned him after he rode their bike for free last year. And they have FVL, Zena is back. I get that. Zena is the best rider out of the three - but none of the guys really inspire the bike riding imagination.

I love watching some people on the bike - Sebi, Wurf, Lionel, Daniela, Lucy, Angela Naeth, I actually love Lange on the bike. I look down to see what they are on. It would seem to me that someone like Hoffman can do something this year, including riding the bike well and might be a great addition. Even Bart Aernouts, rides very well and if you have your bike under him and he gets the top step this year - that's going to be great for marketing! But I'm sure it will be status quo for Cervelo.

It makes for a fun off season though - love the sponsorship game!

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

So not a Bike Sponsor but I saw Sarah True has left Saucony and joined Hoka...guess that will be a fun rivalry in their house.

Gwen Jorgensen is now a Skratch Ambassador. I haven't noticed that and was wondering why she was talking about Skratch products the day before on her live from dinner at CES.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I thought that was an interesting one, as she was in the Zoom Fly I believe (I don't know that there is a blue vaporfly but could be wrong) - so they must've sold her on the carbon rocket coming out, or something. That sounds like an interesting shoe for sure...

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I don't see any photos on her instagram of her in Nike. She was previously a Saucony athlete: https://sgbonline.com/...y-saucony-president/

In fact if you look at her instagram you'll notice on her previous tri-suits Saucony was a named sponsor. Not at Kona though it seemed.

Here at Bike Check-In at Kona she has some ON's on https://www.instagram.com/p/BpH2JyRHlO8/

Correction, I see the Vapor Flys at Kona here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpDAjXqnzGt/

and at 70.3 WC here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnL3t4DH1eD/

I just remember her posting a bunch of stuff on her story for a Saucony event in Ireland for the Kinvara 10 release. So at some point in the last year she and Saucony parted ways.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I don't remember her at this - Linsey Corbin posted a TON and is on their launch stuff. I'm not sure that Nike is really sponsoring any triathletes outside of short course - although they seem to be working with Cam Wurf a little, but the Vaporfly seems to be like the helmet - do you take the money and ride a Rudy, for instance? Or ride an Aerohead because it tests well even if you don't get money for it. For the last two years it seems like any triathlete without a shoe contract was running in VF's. Anne Haug as well it seems. Interesting, at least.

I hope the carbon rocket is the great equalizer for Hoka - I haven't found a shoe that works yet for me of theirs, but I have respect for the irinvestment in the sport.

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Ah, there it is. For some reason I thought Sarah was there specifically because Ben still runs for Saucony. Thanks for correcting me there.

So I'm guessing as I said above that Sarah ran almost all of 2018 on shoes she picked up herself and was looking to try out.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Dr Joe Skipper's insta story tagged @quintanarootri so possible move on from the Ribble?

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DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!