CM999

@henryquinney: I would suggest that the number of replies which is less than even make the broadcast cut of 1 race means your sample size is meaninglessly small to provide any results that prove anything. I accept its all the data you have, and I accept your doing your best with what you have. I guess the real question is if the sport is as badly paid as is suggested then why more weren’t prepared to raise it as an issue with their anonymity protected?

The whole survey is a huge leap. 41 responses. That count themselves as DH riders. More than that make the broadcast section of the final. There is no way this gives any real representative answers. Only 5 have ever won a World Cup race ever. I would suggest that most of the those who have replied are not at the pointy end of the results and so the salaries are under representing the best

@chakaping: Most of the world tour teams have non cycling brands as their main sponsors. For most the bike company providing the bikes and kit arent even in the team name. They are way down the pecking order in terms of investment in the team and thats what provides the cash to pay riders more. The sponsors get value for money because the team races about 200 days a year most of which is televised, not 8 1 day DH races or to be charitable and say they are 2 day events. Road teams will send riders into breaks not because they expect the break to work, most fail, but because it will give their sponsors more TV time as the break gets more coverage. Can you see something like that working in DH

@wynmasters: I agree entirely about outside sponsors and a wider audience.

@JBW450: For the age range 20 - 30 which covers most of the racers then is £30k sterling which is around $37k USD

@no-good-ideas: I recon $50k a year plus expenses is good money. What else pays better for full time work? In the UK the average salary is about $40k and its $30k for the age range 20-30

Following SC development path of their other bikes it will look the same as the current one, have a leaky down tube storage box and cost considerably more than the ‘old’ version

@JFfullsendsonly: They will discover it because millions of non mountain bikers already have discovery subscriptions and have never even heard of RBTV. They are the target audience as thats where proper non bike company sponsorship comes from.

Riders sign up to contracts they are happy to accept. No one forces them to. If thats the market rate for their value to their employer then that it. I dont buy this whole riders should be paid more. The top riders, like in any sport, make a lot of money. The rest dont

@slow-cal: But they are getting the sport in front of a huge number of extra people. How many discovery+ subscriptions do you think they currently sell to non mountain bikers who dont even know RBTV exists, let alone watch it