Commencal Welcomes Aaron Chase

 I am never not going to think about this ever again

 I feel like there's an obvious joke I'm missing here...can you elaborate?

 @fullendurbro: it’s not complex, I’ve never seen breaking bad but googling ‘breaking bad cast’ brought up this guy www.google.com/search?client=safari&channel=iphone_bm&q=Aaron+Paul&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLSz9U3ME4xNqmwUIKwC7PM09O0xLKTrfRLyoAovqAoP70oMdcqObG4ZBErl2NiUX6eQkBiaQ4A7vGfxT8AAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi166Odv8XoAhUIT8AKHYb4DP4Q9OUBMAN6BAgDEAU&biw=414&bih=719

 Holy crap! Both the Aarons do look like each other. Maybe Gwin by a butt hair too.

 @tobiusmaximum: What do you mean you've never seen Breaking Bad?

 @mtb-jon: lol, i wondered whether anyone would pick up on that.

 hahaha

 LOL - nailed it...

 LOL I just happened to watch nwd 4 for a throwback and to kill quarantine time last week and thought the exact same thing

 @judgerider348: I think Gwin is on another TV series

bit.ly/39x5k5P

 Yeah bitch

 @fullendurbro: i mean, i think you're alone in that but fair enough.

 lol nice

 Getting some right big’uns this season!

 I think it’s an even bigger win for Aaron

 @lalientoxc: can’t remember who he was riding for now?

 @McArdle: He used to ride for Cannondale for like most of his career and he moved to pivot a few years ago. He probably lasted there 4-6 years and now he’s with Commencal.

 @lalientoxc: Ah yeah that was it, he developed the soft tail cannondale I remember now!

 Probably money laundering.

 It would be interesting to know how much of those riders paychecks are Commencal, and how much are other sponsors. Riding Addiction has a pretty high caliber team, with Pierron, Nicole, Thirion, and the Enduro team is mix, with Ravanel MTB team having a list of other sponsors, and then there are myriad of other athletes like Lacondeguy and Barelli, to name a few.

 The margin must be huge. They are a direct sales brand and the prices are going up each year. Here they are way more expensive than Canyon and YT, still a lot of people on their bikes since they have good results in every catergory due to the strong riders they signed

 They are based in the tax haven that is Andorra. Makes a big difference.

 Commencal has a great business model. Thin margins, but high volume and low costs.

 Also a little bit history here, Max Commencal has been always tie to races and racers. He was the main guy for the Sunn team back in the 90´s. He knows about scouting talent and also know what racers want.

 @LlamaLlama: Probably doesn't make that much of a difference. Taxes only apply to profits and the money paid to riders would be marketing expenses, which would reduce taxable profits. This provides a pretty large tax benefit to those companies in tax paying countries which provides a good deal of offset for the costs. For commencal who's paying minimal tax the money paid to riders is pure cash expense.

 @PHeller: I think thats the main thing that makes it work for them is they've never been footing the bill for any factory teams. Everything is 3rd party partnerships with other sponsors contributing while having their own management and working their own media. Commencal just provides likely a varying portion of their budget and frames but there's no surprises every season for their investment. I think currently with the ones you mention included they have the Lecondeuy's, Strait, Barelli, Makken, DJ Brant, Remi Mortin, Kilian Bron, Ravenel's Enduro Team, Ridding addiction (Unofficial factory), Commencal/100% and im not even sure how many more smaller teams, everyone thats not factory seem's to be on them. Previous was Gracia who had his own set up and the Athertons which also had their own setup.

 @kiddlivid: From what I remember, when Gracia left his Commençal / Oakley deal, he directly switched to Santa Cruz for frame for its Racing Brigade.

 I'll never forget watching him ride the flying diaper at UVM--I rode by the damn thing for years and never could figure out how to hit it smooth. Amazing rider, stoked hes with one of my favorite brands!!

 Jeff is on Reeb which makes bikes in Colorado and arguably a cooler company to work for.

 or maybe they can keep up with their parents, making rides more enjoyable for everyone?!

 @nastee-nate: so now we are extending this thing to riders coming back from injury, riders with disability, old people, wives and now children? But what happens if ‘dad’ has an e-bike too?

 @nastee-nate: you are doing it wrong

 @nastee-nate: I guess that's one way to ride with your kid. The other would be to just tone your radness down a bit and keep it fun, stop when they need a rest, do a shorter loop than you do with your bros, etc. To each their own, like I said, but a kid who thinks it's normal to get e-assist is way less likely to become an actual bike riding enthusiast.

 @VtVolk: That's like saying "kids who grow up at Whistler Bike Park don't become bike riding enthusiasts." They ride a lift to the top of a hill and maybe take a few pedal strokes the entirety of their run down it.

I know plenty of kids who turned into adults who had lots of opportunities to both ride and own motorcycles, but after a few wrecks on the road or a few broken bones, they wised up and stuck to bicycles. I don't think the method of power really matters as much as the desire to get out into the woods, on narrow trails, get a workout (even if less than pedalling unassisted) and not worry about cars, licenses, transporting a dirt bike, wearings tons of gear, etc. There is something about a bicycle that is unique, and I still contend that bike handling skills are far more important than bike pedaling skills.

 @VtVolk: yeah I think the distinction here is that the e-bike crowd don’t really recognise the thing called an ‘actual bike’ nor do they care about retaining it. To them, e-bikes are ‘actual bikes’.

 @PHeller: Show me one Whistler kid who doesn't also ride around with his/her buddies in the woods, on the streets, building jumps, etc., etc. I get the lifts = ebikes argument, and I love a park day as much as anyone, but I agree with you that "there is something about a bicycle that is unique." Let your kid try out an ebike or sometimes ride the lifts? Sure. Buy them an ebike as their only bike? F that. In my mind that is shutting down the possibility that they will ever find that "something special" that so many of us love. And, at the risk of this turning into a parenting rant vs. and ebike rant, kids need to learn to struggle, sometimes fail, and to get back up and continue to persevere. It's not about paving the path in front of them or giving them the fancy tools so they don't have to try hard. It's about teaching them that good things take practice, that they can fail and not be a failure, that not instantly being the best at something isn't the end of the world.

 @VtVolk: When you have listed that political party, no 1 supporter. Regardless with 30% US unemployment flagged, 10-15% Australian and Europe...well they are already largely unemployed they wont be able to give away these resource intensive, maintenance deriving and unnecessary contraptions aside baby boomers, and these already facing some horrible stats of own.

 @VtVolk: Right, then why do kids need to pedal? Better yet, what does pedaling for a short time before running out of energy, add to MTB? I ride for a workout. Usually limited by time. If I had an e-bike, I would ride faster or further for the same amount of time, likely pushing myself to the same level of exertion.

Are you arguing that once a kid feels the POWER of a e-bike, they'll never want to go back to "struggling" with an unassisted bike again? I mean, honestly, if a kid gets an e-bike, has a blast, builds new skills, makes new riding buddies, and absolutely rips, but says "dadddd I don't a regular bike! Wahhhh" is that better or worse than a kid who never learns all those skills, never makes those friends, never learns to love bike riding because it was too difficult to begin with?

 @PHeller: Worse. Because at times in life going without, being self reliant and using lessons learned in hardship are all that gets you through. Case in point. That and we cant have 7billion people going faster, pushing further into and destroying what remains of mother nature, for profit. Case in point.

 @gonzoracing: "lessons learned in hardship" - an ebike isn't a motorcycle. It's not a lifetime of a silver spoon. It's not your parents paying for your college, or buying your first car, or your first house. It's a effin bike that you need to pedal which merely helps you push harder for longer.

Yea, I get it. Bikes allow out-of-shape people to ride harder, faster, further, longer. Jet fuel and airliners allow us to go to the opposite side of the world for a weekend vacation. Cars allow us to travel between cities at 75mph.

Again, when it comes to kids, I'm all for doing whatever it takes for them to enjoy the outdoors and appreciate the freedom and adrenaline of technical vehicle control. Whether that's a bicycle, an e-bike, a moto, a UTV, a racecar, a plane, whatever. I think that's preferable to the vast majority of kids addicted to screens, don't you?

 @PHeller: whilst i don't really agree with it, i totally see your point that a new generation needs something more exciting than a normal bike to compete with the media and video games of today. when i was a kid, bikes were a good option because frankly blockbuster video and a sega megadrive weren't that compelling and the thought of sitting inside all day was totally alien.

 @tobiusmaximum: totally! It's hard to imagine video games getting boring, but after the first few weeks of summer break: yep, I was kinda over playing video games every day. These days, kids go from games to youtube to twitch to facebook to games back to youtube again. Then again, most helicopter parents restrict the movement of kids. I had the freedom to move around the neighborhood as early as 6 years old. I would spend most of my summer days out riding around town. As a kid, the only time I remember pedaling a bike was as we got more "extreme" as tweens and started riding up the local mountain. A bunch of us would get together and spend all day on the trails. Really, pedaling and fitness wasn't even on our radar. Some of my buddies shot up to the top, some of us took longer. What we really were impressed by was balls - who could hit the biggest drop, who fastest down the gnarliest decent, who could bunny hop the highest. We had a buddy who despite having the nicest bike (K2 with the Smart Shock and Mantiou SX fork whoa) wasn't really any faster than us. 20 years later I still have those friends, and it wasn't the pedalling, or who had the nice bike and who didn't, it was that we were going on those adventures together. I don't think the assist of an e-bike matters in that regard.

 @PHeller: the e-bike doesn't matter as such, but you will note that there is now the question of 'are you assisted?' when it comes to who can ride as a group. either an e-bike rider gets bored with a regular bike crew or a regular bike just can't keep up with an assist crew.

 @tobiusmaximum: again, we're talking about kids or people who's fitness or strength differs greatly from that of their normal riding partners.

You can be damn sure if I manage to convince my daughter to be as crazy about bikes as what I am that I will utilize an tool necessary to spend as much time as possible on the trails with her.

 @PHeller: yeah, granted the topic is kids e-bikes. Fair point.

 A damn shame

 He was for the lastfew of years - Pivot Shuttle was his ride until now..

 Or maybe: not being in shops demands a greater athlete presence?

 @tobiusmaximum: Hmmmm you make a valid point.

 deff seems as if the goal of this contract is to sell more e-bikes :/