Specialized is pumped to partner with Anneke Beerten again! Her joyful energy, positive attitude, speed and style on the MTB, and fearlessness to huck-it are just a few of the many reasons why. We look forward to a great season of having fun on bikes with Anneke, on & off the race course.—Fiona Swartz, Specialized USA Marketing
I am super excited about all the brands that I’ll get to work with this year through the program that I’ve put together for myself! It’s great to be back on Specialized and to work with a full list of brands who I believe in, and brands who believe in me and support my goals as an athlete and female in the industry.
With the support of Specialized and other rad sponsors like, DT- Swiss, Alpinestars, Crankbrothers, Arnicare, Evoc, Rylo, Oakley, I’ve been able to plan my year around both racing and giving back to the sport through content creation to visually share my passion, and by coaching, women and kids.
In 2019 you’ll see me at the full Crankworx Series, Sea Otter Classic, and some CES & EWS races.
I’m excited to also announce that I will be involved with the kids pumptrack clinic at the Crankworx Kidsworx event in Rotorua, coaching a Women Shred clinic in Arkansas, and will be an active ambassadors for The Specialized Foundation to get more kids on bikes, and a lot more! This year I’m most excited to sharing my passion and to get more people stoked on riding bikes.—Anneke Beerten
We could not be more excited to bring Anneke onboard with The Specialized Foundation and collaborate on some exciting projects this year. With her incredible success as an Enduro racer and a lifelong passion for riding bikes that started at age three, we cannot think of anyone better to inspire the next generation of riders and racers.—Kaylee Blevins, Research and Programs Coordinator, The Specialized Foundation
What the hell?! Congrats Anneke! you are a shining star in the mtb scene and it was my honor to stand behind you in the SOC registration line last year. Downvotes for creep-factor be damned!
She's been with Specialized more than a few times. I've been rooting for her ever since she was on BeOne. When she left BeOne, she rode Specialized bikes as a privateer. Directly after that she joined the team. She then got on a good number of different brands both as privateer as well as part of a team (Turner, Intense, Trek) before she returned to Specialized. Then GT, Alchemy and now back on Specialized again. So that would be third time on the Specialized team. Or fourth if you include her time as a privateer. I don't quite know what you mean with Specialized having made a "mistake" other than that I feel that the previous time she was on the team they gave her great results way too little exposure on their website.
@tacklingdummy: I think her focus (and expectations from her sponsors) is different this time around. Initially it was all about racing and her results. This time around though it seems to be about coaching and inspiring. And I think that perfectly suits the marketing route of Specialized. Sure Hannah Barnes still competes in EWS but both she as well as Matt Hunter are mostly inspiring with their way of live and love for riding bikes. And honestly I think that approach is one more people can (and/or like to) relate to than to a racer with a very strict regime and great results in the kinds of events the customer will never compete in. Anneke Beerten is always stoked on inspiring younger riders and girls. And Specialized just has more stuff for that target audience.
Hope she has better luck with that specialized dropper than I have. And there's not an annoyingly long wait period for her to get it fixed either. Especially if it fails when at cwx Rotorua. Specialized NZ have no parts and have to wait for parts to be shipped from the US
I guess no more BikeYoke dropper posts? Also interesting that there is a different fork and shock brand. I would think it is because DT Swiss doesn't really have a good enduro-ready shock (to my knowledge)?
Specialized never did run bike yoke posts. They always put command droppers on their bikes. Alchemy had crankbrothers posts on hers and Cody’s bikes. I have a bike yoke post myself and I can confirm that it beats every other post by light years.
@evaneisenhart: They did not spec them on their bikes for retail, but as mentioned by @proamrider, Keene and Graves both used BikeYoke dropper posts. They even had their names laser engraved on them!
@neologisticzand: that's because they are personally sponsored by them, not a team sponsor. Anneke is on a different program than the EWS race team "umbrella" although she'll get support when she races a few EWS
She does appear to be shifting or at least sharing he focus between competition, coaching and inspiring. The latter two she can keep on doing well after she quits competition. And this also appears to be what her sponsors expect from her.
I take it for granted, though