Nina Hoffmann Announces Her Own Race Team with Stif Mountain Bikes

Feb 13, 2020
by James Smurthwaite  
Photos: Mick Kirkman

Nina Hoffmann has today announced the details of her new racing team, Nina Hoffmann Racing.

Nina will be running her own set up supported by Stif Mountain Bikes. Stif is a Santa Cruz owned dealership that operates 2 shops in the UK, one in Yorkshire and one in Bristol, this means Nina can continue riding V10 29 in 2020. She will be the only rider on the team but will be traveling to all the World Cups as well as select iXS races and there's even the suggestion she'll be turning her hand to some enduros as well.


Nina was one of a number of elite women who burst onto the scene in 2019 as she picked up three podium finishes, including a 2nd place in Leogang, on her way to finishing fourth in the overall standings.


bigquotesJoining Stif means I can continue working with the best brands on the market. Santa Cruz and Juliana have been my bike sponsors for 3 years now. With Reserve wheels coming onboard now too it’s a racing platform I couldn’t be more comfortable with. I’m so excited to leave the start gate at the first world cup round in Lousa this year!

Establishing my own UCI team reflects a kind of self-fulfillment for me. Individuality and independence are, and always have been, important factors in my life. I love planning and organizing while learning new things and developing myself and my ideas further. Thanks to the backing of Stif and my partners, I am able to create a new professional structure while maintaining the familiar environment necessary for me to channel maximum focus into the races. Everything is in place and we can’t wait for the season to unfold – here’s to 2020!—Nina Hoffmann



Press Release: Nina Hoffmann Racing

Stif Mountain Bikes is ready to kick start the 2020 race season in a big way – we’re stoked to announce that rising DH World Cup star, Nina Hoffmann, will be flying the Stif Mountain Bikes flag across the globe throughout 2020 under the team name: Nina Hoffmann Racing - Stif

In 2019 the 23-year old German racer proved she was a force to be reckoned with aboard her Santa Cruz V10 and showcased some incredible results, including a 2nd place podium spot at the UCI World Cup in Leogang. Nina’s insane levels of dedication as a rider, coupled with our support and 100% mountain bike focus, provides a killer recipe for more podiums and good times throughout the 2020 season.

Stif is founded on a passion for racing bikes and it has led to us supporting a host of riders over the seasons. The past few years our race team has become an extension of the Stif family and represented at some of Europe's biggest race events. Welcoming Nina’s energy to the Stif crew reflects a desire to serve more riders across Europe.

Nina will be attending every World Cup round, some IXS cups and a variety of other downhill and Enduro races. She founded her own UCI Team as a means to compete at the highest level on her own terms.

Nina Hoffmann Racing - Stif is operated by team manager Sven Heitmann and mechanic Erik Fickelscheer thanks to the support of the partners:

Thanks also to Nina’s local partners: Horn2Horn (Sascha), Andreas from GOT (Andreas), TOQ (Jena, Alexander) & the JenBike team


Posted In:
Racing and Events Racing Rumours Santa Cruz Bicycles Nina Hoffmann


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142 Comments

  • 187 15
 Can't we have a Pinkbike Comment Club racing team? Everyone interested lashes out 10-50$? Then we get some CBD oil producer on board and some bike brand we like. We can vote. I even have an idea for a PCC product - CBD oil chamois cream called (Below Threshold)
  • 26 0
 Is there a bike company that everybody likes?
  • 32 15
 @pyromaniac: yur mum...sorry couldn't resist.
  • 25 1
 @MikeGruhler: Plush ride. Durable Rubber. Short rear end. Hairy descents... I couldn't resist either.
  • 51 6
 This is serious! We could make a an EWS team riding Grim Donuts! Let's go! 10k people give 10$ by average. 100k - you can send at least 2 people and a wrench to a few races for this money. I vote Adam for one of the riders. We sponsor only Privateers...
  • 7 0
 Who would make the frames? It'd have to be the Grim Donut surely?
Also we'd have to be able to shit talk way better than we can actually ride and we'd need to have Chromag saddles.
  • 3 1
 @MikeGruhler: Good effort.
  • 2 1
 @pyromaniac: haha, great question...maybe Maxxis?
  • 1 0
 took me a millisecond.
  • 2 1
 @WAKIdesigns: where can we find the Kickstarter page? It'd be like the Green Bay Packers, owned by the people for the people!
  • 6 4
 @brianpark - let's do this... @mikelevy for skills coach. That would be the next step for the Privateer series...
  • 3 0
 @WAKIdesigns: everyone throw in Three Fiddy... "Three Fiddy Racing"
  • 2 0
 @pyromaniac: GG and WeAreOne Composites? At least based on the comment sections.
  • 38 1
 @MikeGruhler:
Now I want to start a bike brand called Yur mom.

Out on the trail:
Person 1: Hey man, what are you riding?
You: Yur Mom.

BMX Division...Yur sister
  • 33 0
 @vjunior21: E-bike Division: yer Grandma
  • 5 3
 @vjunior21: Your Dad is more cruel sorry...
  • 6 0
 @vjunior21: the individual bike names: doggy, mission, Colonel Angus.

There are probably a lot of options for Yo Mom.
  • 12 3
 This is degenerating rather quickly...
  • 2 0
 @WAKIdesigns: thats such a brilliant idea . Pinkbike should make the arrangements so thats all safe and sound
  • 4 0
 I like this idea.... we could title the team "Sort by cheapest - buy it now" or SBC-BIN for short . Each EWS/WC race Pinkbike hooks up a local rider to that race with the cheapest new trail or DH bike offered for that class. We hire a world class mechanic and support team, and just see how many pro-riders on top tier bikes we can upset... Let's do this
  • 3 0
 @focofox37: that sounds like about as good an idea as running a donkey in the grand national... atleast level the playing field by putting the crap guys on good bikes and the pro’s on last seasons intense’s
  • 4 0
 @Dropthedebt: it could be made into a monster, if we all pull together as a team...
  • 1 3
 You had me until you started mentioning CBD oils...
  • 6 4
 @shaun-ridefast-michael: Come on, must work wonders for the chamois... especially if it contains active THC... "runners high" starts to gain a whole new meaning! That's how we roll in California...
  • 3 1
 Who would be riding? PB poster with most down votes the previous month?
  • 1 0
 @PtDiddy:
That bike company with simliar names used to be called Cove Bikes. Hehe
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns:
All bikes come with Maxxis Assegai front and rear tires.
  • 1 3
 @vjunior21: As long as it’s Maxxis...
  • 5 2
 I want some of whatever @WAKIdesigns put in his oatmeal this morning.
  • 1 0
 @Zoo1424: absolutely... Loch Ness Monster design and then the obvious sponsorship, Monster Energy. Too much Red Bull on the scene
  • 4 0
 All jokes aside, a chamois cream call Bellow Threshold is great hahah
  • 6 2
 @onemanarmy: 1g dried Panaleous Cyanescens grown on sterilized horse manure. Stay with me! You skip breakfast and eat it on empty stomach. Normally such dose won’t produce too much high, but on empty stomach it will. So you eat it and leave to work/ university. By the time you arrive you should be high. You can experience a different way of interacting with your mates. If it gets too intense, you just munch in breakfast and effects mild down to regular level and are pretty much gone by lunch time.

Please don’t do it, it is highly irresponsible, it’s just an idea I came up with for harm reduction purposes.
  • 1 0
 @pyromaniac: grim donuts produced by sick bikes.
  • 6 0
 @Austink:

Correction: Grim Donuts NOT produced by sick bikes. Hehehe
  • 2 0
 Shweaty Balls salt bag butter balm
  • 1 0
 @pyromaniac: Specialized?
  • 2 1
 @WAKIdesigns: I played High School PE indoor volleyball in cut-off jeans on 80s era LSD - Full dose. Don't do that either. Kids lived a lot harder back then in the name of opening the Doors of perception.
  • 1 0
 @vjunior21: UR M[0]m
  • 1 0
 @drfunsocks: eh, send it... For a sponsored world cup run... You'd give someone the time of their life
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: that's for road team...
  • 5 0
 @endlessblockades: Jesus Christ... I mean this has to be respected. People joke about stoned Olympics, there should be something like this. Disciplines dependent on drug you take. Gold medal in Volleyball on LSD, 80k Marathon on munchies, Archery on crack. People would cheat by not taking drugs - there would be anti-doping scandals. Alasie Hemenya has been tested and the THC level in his blood was only half the allowed minimum dose!
  • 2 0
 @Dropthedebt: Got to be Rich energy
  • 1 0
 @vjunior21: We actually have a trail at one of are trail centers called "Your Mom"
  • 1 0
 @MikeGruhler:
Is the trail so ugly no one will ride it? Lol
  • 33 1
 Hehehe “Stif mountain”
  • 4 0
 That’s what she said
  • 15 1
 Stif is owned by Jungle who are owned by Santa Cruz.
  • 26 2
 Stif is owned by Jungle who are owned by Santa Cruz who are owned by PON. Never realized lines were so long in the business. It does have its advantages of course. Now she's not only getting bikes, but they'll also give her a van (Volkswagen T1, designed by Ben Pon) to get to the races. Excited to see how well she'll perform with proper support. Just stay clear of Specialized. Mike would sell her van!
  • 5 3
 @vinay: Heard a lot of things against Specialized over recent months, is there anywhere concrete that it all stems from? Asking out of curiosity and not doubting BTW.
  • 9 0
 @AchtungNate: Nah, nothing against Specialized. The story goes that Mike Sinyard traveled across Europe in his Volkswagen T1 van, selling bicycle components. He eventually sold the T1 van to fund the creation of the Specialized bicycle company. So I just drifted into this because @thepodge already had this string of how Stiff is linked to Santa Cruz Bicycles. So I extended it and that got me to eventually loop it back to the bicycle industry. But not to be negative in any way. Instead it is the part of their history I think they're quite proud of.
  • 4 2
 @AchtungNate: is about a long list of lawsuits being this one the most famous:
www.velonews.com/2013/12/gear/specializeds-disastrous-trademark-case-is-unnecessary-to-defend-the-brand_310878. Real shitshow.
  • 2 1
 Good on SC, open your own stores if the IBD wont support you
  • 3 0
 @FarmerJohn: they aren't opening their own stores, they are buying up and locking down the distribution network. Stif were / are a well regarded shop that sold lots of brands but is now basically a Santa Cruz showroom.
  • 4 1
 @vinay: if that flow of money is true, it kind of backs up a theory I have... Santa Cruz is keeping her going with some support until a spot opens up on the Syndicate... My thought is that when Greg retires, Nina becomes the first female on the team...
  • 3 0
 @thepodge: No more Stif Morf then I guess...
  • 1 0
 @justwan-naride: the Stif morf will be continuing as before. Stif is continuing to be run by the same people in the same way, just owned by different people. They still sell Rocky and Zerodes currently too.
  • 1 0
 Well, it's a well known fact, Sonny Jim, that there's a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as the Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
  • 10 0
 Fuck yeah Nina. I don't get the bitching about the Syndicate, she's got a lot going for her and going her own way to get there.
  • 8 1
 Top job Stif! Yorkshire Yorkshire Yorkshire!
  • 4 0
 Interestingly -or not- Erik Fickelscheer is listed as a rider on the team.
www.uci.org/mountain-bike/teams/TeamDetail/15063/2003466/261

I'm very curious how things turn out for her this year.
  • 1 0
 Erik will be her mechanic.. But I'm pretty sure he will race a couple of worldcups as well.
(In case he fulfilles the requirements)
  • 3 0
 Kudos to her for putting up the results last year that is no easy feat regardless of the level of competition. Having said that it will be interesting to see where she ends up this year with at least two thirds of the favourites back in play.
  • 2 0
 she will rock! look at her arms, shoulders and those huge legs. This woman is ready for racing! And I hope she'll "crush" the favourites
  • 2 1
 @vhdh666: Plus she has a sense of humor! Lose a shoe in the race? Throw that sock up on the bars!
  • 6 0
 Yeah Nina!!! Best of luck this year!!! Great to see more women getting support and riding that fast!!
  • 5 0
 Flipping Awesome Nina ... will be rooting for you this season!!!!!
  • 1 0
 Who are the privateers coming up this year? Ebikes are not about to sponsor them. Just how hard is it to both race and eat? Maybe a privateers cooperative with Wyn as CEO. Don't look to UCI. Go get em Nina.
  • 4 0
 As the "only racer on the team" I suppose she puts the I in team.
  • 1 0
 Or brews the tea in team
  • 1 0
 die Mannschaft
  • 1 0
 @mi-bike: Die Frauschaft
  • 2 1
 Rob Roskopp should have brought Her onto the Syndicate where a top woman rider would have been exciting to see. Albeit, Congrats Nina! looking forward to seeing you on the podium and your great personality on WYN TV!!!
  • 1 0
 Just goes to show how hard it is to find a legit sponsor. All you guys wanting that “Ambassador” bike hook up because you made a 1:30minute “edit” on your Gramm account.
  • 1 0
 If the article is the whole of the matter it sounds like she's going down a road similar to the one Jenny Rissveds chose when she created Team 31. I wish her the best of luck with her independent venture.
  • 3 0
 Good luck, always nice to see somebody got a passion for bikes
  • 4 0
 Good luck to Nina.
  • 1 2
 looking at whats happening with teams, shifts to different disciplines, going / staying privateer, retirements, motorbike marketing spends, I give the UCI DH Worldcup another 2 years before it will be cancelled. I don't say that I like it, but think that it will happen.
  • 1 0
 Why post the same comment a second time?
  • 1 0
 @pyromaniac: because my first comment disappeared (sorry for double posting, just saw it was suppressd)
  • 4 3
 Guess with all the e-Bikes sales, Santa Cruz can now easily afford to run two separate teams.

Too soon for the bros?
  • 2 0
 V10 29er.....how tall is Hoffman?
  • 1 0
 She’s likely on the medium size frame as it’s the smallest of the v1029 models.

I have a friend who stands at about 5’6” and rips on the medium.
  • 1 0
 Any other geezers with kickers remember the slogan for Stiff Records (in 1977)...........?
  • 1 0
 "The shape of things that win", there was also another one....
  • 1 0
 @Silentgeorge: Haha, and it was a lot more RACY.
  • 1 0
 Maybe next year Santa cruz will step up, why should a shop step up & help when manufacturer will not help?
  • 1 0
 Why shouldn’t a shop step up and help?
Why the hell does everyone think it’s Santa Cruz’s responsibility? And who says they didn’t try, don’t Santa Cruz own Stif Mountain Bikes??
  • 7 7
 It's not that the Syndicate didn't want her, it's that she wanted her own independence and way of doing things.
  • 8 6
 How do you know, if you don't mind me asking?
  • 3 4
 I wonder whether that is really the case. I seem to remember an interview where Kathy Sessler openly spoke about how she was trying to convince the Syndicate to pick up Nina. Had that worked out I doubt Nina would have rejected the offer. Maybe next year, if she proves she can stay among the fastest for two seasons in a row. I wish her all best, and a year of great results.
  • 8 3
 @fjm35: *OR* Nina really wanted her own deal on her own terms. Not everyone dreams of suckling at the biggest t1tty; Some people genuinely dream of creating something of their own. I didn't really know much about her before, but this right here elevates her to instant hero in my book. I really hope she does well out of this.
  • 7 3
 @pyromaniac: READ the damn article. Her own words.
  • 2 1
 Yeah. And to be fair, the fact that the Syndicate seems to have helped Nina quite a lot last season, doesn't obligate them to actually put her in the team as well...
  • 3 0
 @chmurka3rg: Exactly. This appears to be a win for all parties involved. If this is something Nina genuinely wanted and pulled together then more power to her. Ironically, it's also the kind of badass move that would make her a great fit on the Syndicate. I'm totally eating my words from just a few days ago.
  • 2 0
 Goody
  • 1 0
 Oh my - these curves - beautiful bike!
  • 2 0
 BOSS move!
  • 1 0
 how long has Stif had a bikeshop in bristol? first i've heard of it
  • 3 3
 Not so stif, she definitely uses soft full suspension bike
  • 1 0
 What a beast
  • 1 0
 Stif competition
  • 1 1
 This is cool but really wanted to see her with the syndicate.
  • 1 0
 Badass!!
  • 6 8
 Oh Nina, y u no syndicate. They dropped the ball.
  • 8 2
 Read the blurb dude. She wanted to go in alone.
  • 1 0
 @glasvagas: But if she had been looking for a Syndicate ride, and had been turned down, would she really put that in the press release? Especially since she’s still on Santa Cruz?

It’s a press release about her new team, I’ve never seen one were a rider states that he or she would actually rather be somewhere else...

(even Schley has to pretend he’s happy to ride that extremely ugly mopped... )
  • 3 4
 C'mon Syndicate...
  • 2 5
 Holy shit stif are still alive? Thought they would of over priced them self's into the history books by now.
  • 1 0
 @MikeGruhler: down vote for grammar
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