Good Month / Bad Month: Fairness, Ohlins, Fuji, Sending It, & More - November 2018
Getting More Kids on Bikes
Neko Mulally raffles World Champs bike, raises $26,565 for charity
Neko Mulally raffles World Champs bike, raises $26,565 for charity
While everyone would love to take the W at World Champs, most of us know that there can only be one winner at the end of the day. In light of that, the secondary, lesser-known competition over the weekend is who shows up with the best looking bike, and with its tri-color finish and subdued graphics, my money is on Neko Mulally's Tues. So were a lot of other people, it seems, with Neko selling raffle tickets for his custom World Champs sled to the tune of $26,565 USD, all of which went to the Can'd Aid Foundation that has built and donated nearly 2,500 bikes to underprivileged children across the country. More than 500 charitable souls from all over the globe bought raffle tickets, and the winner was drawn by Neko himself at Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard.
Diana Ralston, Can'd Aid's Executive Director, said "This was a hugely successful fundraiser for us and we're so grateful to have Neko as our Treads + Trails Ambassador. We're excited to host more bike clinics for kids with him here in Brevard this spring."
Send'n it
Jordie Lunn takes us back to when amplitude trumped spins and twists
Jordie Lunn takes us back to when amplitude trumped spins and twists
Rogatkin and co. are doing some of the most insane, physics-defying twists and spins on two wheels, but there'll always be something to be said for just send'n it, won't there? Lunn answered that question, for me at least, in Rough AF 3, his newest homage to big bikes doing big moves in the forest. The roll-in at the start, aka the wooden sidewalk of death that goes nowhere, looks especially absurd - check the Margu Riga photo to the right. He cleans it, but he also ends up bleeding from his nether regions due to the kind of G-out that rearranges internal organs.
What follows is sender after sender, senders into other senders, and then a few more senders. All of them are huge. He even throws out a few giant twists and spins at the end for good measure.
What follows is sender after sender, senders into other senders, and then a few more senders. All of them are huge. He even throws out a few giant twists and spins at the end for good measure.
Öhlins Racing
Tenneco Inc buys Swedish suspension brand
Tenneco Inc buys Swedish suspension brand
Tenneco Inc, an international automotive conglomerate that also owns Monroe and Rancho, two suspension makers from the automotive world, has now added Öhlins to its list of subsidiary companies. Back in 2008, Tenneco bought Marzocchi before spinning the Italian brand off of its acquisition list seven years later, but it just never looked like the conglomerate was all that interested in upping Marzocchi's game all that much while they had the brand. Scrolling through the comments below the original Öhlins PR reveals that not a lot of us have a good impression of Tenneco, surely due to the general perception of how they handled the storied Marzocchi brand.
We'll never know all the details of that short-lived Tenneco and Marzocchi partnership, but here's hoping that things work out better for Öhlins.
Tenneco's strategy has been to acquire brands, primarily in the high-performance motorsports world, and then expand their product ranges and up sales numbers. An injection of capital from Tenneco should be a boon to Öhlins as they've been working to expand their mountain bike product range and increase reliability. Could this move see Öhlins in a position to compete in the OE arena with Fox and RockShox? We'll know in a few years.
The Perception of Fairness
Failed EWS drug tests raise questions
Failed EWS drug tests raise questions
The news of Richie Rude and Jared Graves having both failed an in-competition drug test back in May managed to get a lot of people's hackles up, both in support of and in disappointment towards the riders.
Let's keep things in context here; they weren't sticking testosterone patches on their balls or re-injecting their own oxygenated blood. Based on what we know so far, they (knowingly or otherwise) ingested two banned stimulants: Higenamine and Oxilofrine.
Let's keep things in context here; they weren't sticking testosterone patches on their balls or re-injecting their own oxygenated blood. Based on what we know so far, they (knowingly or otherwise) ingested two banned stimulants: Higenamine and Oxilofrine.
Neither racer is arguing against the fact that the prohibited substances were in their bodies, and that would mean the best-case scenario is that it was an accident that people can learn from. If that's the case, both may still be punished, but they certainly don't need to be burned at the stake by salty readers riding white horses into the comment section.
Regardless of whether they did or didn't ingest that stuff with intent, the general perception of top-flight enduro racing will be forever changed for many people. Prior to November 26th, the day our story broke, many fans had a ''But-enduro-is-different'' mindset where racers were assumed to be clean. But as we've seen in other sports when a big name ends up in the headlines for having a banned substance in their system, that assumption might be forever gone now for many of us.
Fuji's Parent Company
Advanced Sport Enterprises files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Advanced Sport Enterprises files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The Advanced Sports Enterprises Inc. name might not sound familiar, but maybe Fuji, Kestrel, SE, Breezer Bikes and Tuesday Cycles, as well as retail brands Performance Bicycle and Bike Nashbar, ring a bell? ASE, the parent company for those brands, announced that they've filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the middle of November which, according to Bicycle Retailer, could lead to the closing of 40 of the current 104 stores.
In a press release, Patrick J. Cunnane, ASE’s President and CEO, stated, “While ASE is undergoing the Chapter 11 process, we will continue with business as usual; orders will be fulfilled and Performance Bicycle stores will continue operating.
“We’ve taken a lot of steps to right the business over the past 27 months. We have conducted an extensive review of alternatives and believe pursuing a restructuring through Chapter 11 is the best path forward to ensure ASE’s long-term success. We are thankful for the continued support of our dedicated employees, valued customers, vendors and business partners as we navigate this process, and look forward to becoming a stronger company in the coming months as a buyer / investor for the business is found.”
Cunnane also noted that sales of ASE's bike brands were steady, but that difficulties in increasing sales and profits on the retail side was one of the factors that led to the filing.
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I find it very hard to believe that long time pro athletes, one of whom was an olympian, can legitimately claim ignorance and accidental ingestion here.
Same old lie told by everyone who gets caught--unless that person actually owns up to it.
Ignorance is a really lame excuse.
That said, I won't judge them whatever the outcome. I don't like judging and I'm glad I'm not in a position that I would have to. To me they're just top athletes and I hope all will be good and they'll continue to compete. And of course first and foremost, I hope Jared successfully beats cancer and heals up properly.
The pain pill/stimulants cheaters go "at least I wasn't on weight loss substances"
The weight loss cheaters go "at least I wasn't on asthma substances"
The asthma cheaters go "at least I wasn't on cortisone"
The cortisone cheaters go "at least I wasn't blood transfusing"
The blood transfusers go "at least I wasn't on EPO"
The EPO cheaters go "at least I didn't have a motor"
The motor cheaters go "well, its just a bike race, it's not like I killed anyone"
While these stimulants aren't in the same category as blood doping or EPO, the riders are absolutely responsible for what goes into their bodies and knowing the rules. As for the intent, it's fair to be skeptical but it's also a good idea to suspend judgement until we know more.
And I would be all for suspending judgement if the riders weren't playing the doper PR game and there weren't pictures of Graves with higenamine during races. I'm sure these boys have done more than this too. When I heard EWS doping violations, Rude and Graves were my first thought. They have an unnatural amount of lean body mass for people who spend all day on a bike.
On the other hand, an amphetamine and a beta2 agonist are like plug and play for drugs. They immediately have a profound effect on cardiovascular performance and work load capacity. Their ability to effect muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance over the course of an 8-10hr event is far greater than that of a testosterone base patch or shot before a race. Since you want to make an ethical comparison to using transdermal testosterone, you wouldn't even know if someone was using it if they ceased using it 24hrs or more before a test.
So no, it's not like EPO, doping, or using testosterone. The approach is entirely different than those other drugs, and that's why they're all banned for specific reasons. It is, however, an effective and safe way to elevate your ability to perform.
Rocket motor cheaters who happened to kill everyone on their tail: "dude, it was just pyrotechnics. All kills and propulsion was just collateral."
My vote is let's go group b rally cars and just let athletes pump themselves to the gills for our amusement and remove all restrictions. We'll leave it up to them to see if they value fame over their well-being instead of lying about it.
The end result will be better and more durable frames for us mere consumers. Who knows.
I said it before, but opening the drug gates might be fun to watch for a bit, but then everyone will die (I might have been more nuanced last time).
PB?
I'm not saying that it's safer than AAS, because most AAS can be used safely without much consequence.
So yes, liquid orally taken medication that the fiance took as they were going to bed following by good night kiss leaves a barely traceable amount, Yes I find that completely plausible.
The french cocaine thing? I know nothing about that but considering it is cocaine, no. But then again, who trusts the french?
That's what the antidoping rule says about dopers.
The real question here is... Will the ews apply it's own law?
That being said I don't think our boys were trying to cheat. Maybe some protein powder or who knows what with too many ingredients to keep track of, but not full on Lance Armstrong mode what with the doping and lawyers and all that other nonsense.
To reiterate, I do NOT think Rude and Graves were cheating or doping. I do think that there are individuals trying to cheat in every type of professional competitive cycling.
If I’m hungry and feeling weak and have a sausage, isn’t that a performance enhancer ?
There's a picture of Graves in 2016 sitting next to his bottle of higenamine imgur.com/a/ynOBBxa , and it's right there on the ingredients list. Cedric Gracia and Yoann Barelli have both said doping is rampant in the EWS, the EWS does NO testing of their athletes (they leave it up to the countries hosting the races), and the two guys that got busted also happen to be A) gold medalists, and B) two of the most yoked dudes in EWS.
Cheaters must be pointed a finger at them and punished severely according to the rules (which should be the same for everyone). No matter how it may look, if you protect or excuse a cheater you are insulting and despising honest competitors.
If Brock Lesnar starts a fight with a tiny little guy with no fight in him, is that guy allowed to use a weapon? I would say absolutely yes. It's not fair that one man has three times the body weight, world class fighting skills and a hundred times the aggression. The only way to make the fight fair would be to give the little guy a weapon. For me this doping thing is kind of the same argument. That guy was better than me because of an accident of birth, and I'm trying to use my wiles to make up for what nature denied me. I
Again just a theory. . .
Because everyone who’s selling a business right now is smart as they’re cashing out before the next crash.
Actually it was banned it is beta2 antagonist so it has always been banned. In 2017 a formal player claimed he didn't know higenamine was a beta 2 antagonist so they then added higenamine specifically to the list. But it had always been a band substance. It is up to the pros to check. They got busted by accident or on purpose it is still doping, the only that changes is how long the suspension is for.
Saying "in 2016 it wasn't banned" only works as an excuse if he stopped taking it once the ban kicked in.
I would take that to mean the seed extract in question has had its higenamine content measured and set for consistent dosage - the 'standardised' part. Does that sound right...? Is there any way it could mean something different?
I don't get it.
They also had the biggest recall debacle in MTB history IMO, yet they didn't get [negative] credit for that either-of course their banner ads all over PB during the (lengthy) period while all us Ohlins owners were told to not ride on our forks while Ohlins [allegedly] sought permission from the feds for us to install lock tite on the cap threads-while Fox et al. managed to have their 'fix' ready to go the day their recall was announced-, obviously had something to do with it.. PB not wanting to bite the hand that feeds it I guess is understandable for a website who DOESN'T attempt to be 'fair and honest' on its 'reporting' above all else- which isn't PB(despite what they'd like their readership to believe).
this is not logical, if it turns out quite badly for the sport how could that be seen as good for the sport?
I can count on one hand the number of Fuji bikes I've seen on the streets or trails here in the area over the years. I can say for me personally that I don't care for the look of their bikes at all and have never considered buying one. I did appreciate the convenience of the local PB, but was never all that jazzed about the service or personnel. Still, it sucks that they are potentially losing their jobs...
I think the reason that it hurts to think doping is taking place in Enduro is because Enduro best reflects how most of us ride. The races are accessible and anyone of us could be on the starting line at any one of the races. We see the other racers as our friends and our brothers (or sisters). If they were to cheat, it can't help but feel a little personal.
Maks snense to moi.