Pure Agency Confirms Team Specialized Gravity's Split from RockShox and SRAM

 sry I didn't see the pun

 There is low speed and high speed news. Either way... it's a shock.

 The day we find out, we'll be able to tick that box.

 Come on Specialized and Ohlins, show us your TTs.

 @NoahColorado: TTsOGTFO haha

 The 10th january it says!

 BUMP!

 Come on Ohlin, oh I swear it will be...

 This news put a damper on my day

 @NoahColorado: Do you think Ohlins can really seal the deal. I hope Specialized can rebound from loosing one of the biggest names in the industry.

 This is a big bet to place, looks like they will go Ohlin

 It's got to be Ohlins. They have a photo of their new proto type dh unit on a Demo.

 Dude your comment just made my day!

 Used boxxers? gross.

 @rrolly: Depends

 @BMXrad GO up up up and up!

 Agreed

 And Ohlins. The "Specialized/Yt/Ohlins" team

 Cosigned, YT = 42.

 but but but.... pb users say it´s so heavy?!

 @amnot: it will be just fine after next race

 @amnot: yeah they are very very heavy

 I @amnot: saying that.

 You all casting for blacked.com?

 @amnot: saw a picture with bruni on a non-inverted unbranded fork with ohlins rear shock. There is something in the world me thinks

 For those following Bruni on insta, he posted a pic which clearly had Öhlins.
www.instagram.com/p/BO21pg6jwJk/?taken-by=loicbruni29

 So the Ninjas were Specialized? A world cup season would be a lot of R&D for the wierdo shifter to improve with.

 And Magura (if anyone else saw the MT7s on Curtis Keene's insta story)

 @sam-hughes1: CK is Specialized Racing, Not Gravity Republic. Two different teams. Not saying that it's not very strong evidence pointing toward Mature though. Nice catch on the Instagram.

 *Sram/Fox with Gwin

 @sam-hughes1: gwin doesnt have a drivetrain sponsor or didnt last year

 @X-Liam-X: Sram did sponsor him when he was on specialized, it was only when he went to YT that he went rogue

 @X-Liam-X: E13 is technically the sponsore for him.

 @X-Liam-X: Gwin doesn't need a drivetrain.

 If you have a Mac or iOS device you only have to keep the o/O button pressed. This brings up a numbered list of accented 'o' characters, and you just select the one you want.

 @truffy: this is amazing...never in a million years would i have found this!

 Öhlins ist Swedish, nicht German.

 @cyclo-maniac: true that...But we've got the "Ö" too...

 Why would they want DVO? It would be too easy to have a reliable, good working, easy to service fork. The mechanics would have nothing to do. In all seriousness, Inam guessing it is the weight penalty that DVO brings. I will gladly trade that for the upsides (I rode mine all season, tore it down to service it, and it was prestine inside, not a speck of dirt).

 Would be so cool to see some big guns supporting the underdogs in the suspension world. Really hope DVO sponsor some more WC riders.

 @carym: they could rebuild wheels all day instead. lol

 Still trying to figure out the whole nico rosberg thing and then this happens...its just too much.

 They're on fox head clothing next year.

 delete

 @Pedro019: On his chest, arms, and legs

 @laxguy: But a boxxer on the bike

 @Aprilfisheye: well they wouldnt run ohlins AND fox suspension...

 @laxguy: Yes, I was just pointing out that the photo wasn't that much of an intel as to what suspension they'll be riding on.

 Defo Ohlin's new DH fork in that photo

 it would appear so! probably a bigger factor than most realize

 Trek and specialized both have. Bruini posted about how it helped him find the most efficient rest position to coast in. Air drag is a big factor when looking for tenths of a second.

 I think they will all be riding the (Tighty Tight) Specialized Kits like Troy rode in the past season.

 already exists now. Pics of it on their IG pages. On Magura brakes as well iirc.

 @atrokz: If its magura brakes that probably means no Shimano drivetrain, and with SRAM out that leaves Box...?

 @HardtailsAreGnarly: box or the rebranded/copied ones that we could read about...

 You realize the goal of sponsoring athletes is not to benefit the riders, it's to sell stuff. They should ride what's being sold so people are stoked on the product. The riders can do just fine on any decent product out there contrary to what millions of marketing dollars are supposed to tell us.

 Bruh, do you even know who Öhlins are...?

 @Jack-McLovin: Me? Of course I am aware of Öhlin's respected involvement in motorsports. However, is it not reasonable to be skeptical when one of the biggest factory teams in DH picks a company that doesn't currently sell a dual crown fork as its suspension provider?

 @northcut21: Of course they have one in development. Specialized obviously wouldn't make that move unless they were certain about it.

 @Jack-McLovin: Yes. Brad Benedict from Specialized has had them on his bikes for some time now.

Regardless, my point isn't only about Öhlins' unproven dual crown fork. Rockshox knows what it takes to produce racing suspension and support UCI DH riders and has been for over 20 years. Öhlins has never done DH before. Even if their products perform as good as they hope, there is still going to be a learning curve. You know that DH racing is much more than just one run down the hill. Experience is an advantage, in my opinion, and I believe that a company with 20 years of experience will have the advantage over a company with zero(referring to MTB racing only).

I think that Öhlins has a bright future and of course Spesh wouldn't sell all their bikes with it if it sucked. But in a sport where every millisecond counts, I think Spesh put themselves in a harder position to win than they were last year.

 @northcut21:
Öhlins arguably make the best suspension on the planet. I believe professional mx riders pay to run Öhlins, not the other way round, because they are that much better than other suspension manufacturers.
All they have to do is take their knowledge and expertise and put it all in a smaller fork. Easier said than done, obviously, but they've done it with their TTX dh shock and it performs beautifully.

Besides, we've seen prototype forks from them before - their gold inverted fork. And that was some time ago, so I have a feeling they will have a fork lined up, both ready and tested, for Bruni etc. to use.
I just can't see a company like Specialized (perhaps the biggest bike manufacture in the world) to move their entire downhill team (composing of some of the most capable downhill riders in the world) to a different suspension company and just shrug and hope it will work out.

Regarding your point about being disadvantaged because Öhlins are new to the scene, and don't believe that to be true at all.
Firstly, Öhlins have more knowledge than Rockshox in terms of suspension. Doesn't matter if it's mx, cars, or bikes. If Bruni walks into their tent and says 'I want you to tune this a certain way and do a bit of this blah blah blah', then they'll goddam know how to do it for sure.

Secondly, no matter what Öhlins have conjured up, their suspension will perform better than rockshox - pretty much a fact lol.
I would go as far as saying they have been MASSIVELY advantaged due to this change.

 @Jack-McLovin: I believe it would be best if we agree to disagree! We can speculate all we want but until Loic and Finn cross the finish line it's all hypothetical.
I hope that Öhlins proves me wrong and takes the circuit by storm. Cheers!

 @northcut21:
Never underestimate Swedish Gold Cheerio and happy shredding!

 @northcut21: dirtmountainbike.com/racing-events/specialized-gravity-run-ohlins-2017-new-downhill-fork.html