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Gwin goes to Special-Ed...

10K views 93 replies 53 participants last post by  smellurfingers 
#1 ·
#3 ·
I would think that there would be a much bigger (more professional) announcement than that. In my mind, I think the Trek team manager is probably right now yelling at Gwin, asking if he thinks this was funny, and how much backing trek has in him and so on and so on...

Or I could be wrong and Gwin has moved to the dark side...
 
#4 ·
From what I have read...
Treks announcement of the resigning of Gwin is gone from the webpage.
The video came from a Specialized account.

Still a bit weird, as the red S usually does not do anything subtle - it usually gets plastered with branding, logos etc.
Give it a few hours...

michael
 
#12 ·
Gwin already had a contract with Trek, Trek are very much not happy.

It would be hilarious (although also a shame) if TWR launch their legal challenge, win and it leave’s Aaron sat on his ass all year. If he's already contracted and their (hypothetical at this point) challenge is successful he could end up beholden to that Trek deal for the next three years, not that they'll be taking him racing anywhere ever again.
.
I think this is the end of Gwin’s winning run, maybe not straight away, but Spesh won’t offer the same level of support that TWR/Whitely have. He’ll win for a while, get hurt and then Spesh will hang him out to dry, just like Fairclough and Hill.
 
#23 ·
Do some research as to how "The big S" got their start. You've never watched Klunkerz have you? You should, pretty interesting film.

Mountain Bike History

I don't remember the details exactly but basically the founder of Specialized took a frame created by Gary Fisher to Taiwan and had it mass produced, starting the Specialized brand. Or something like that. I personally don't like Specialized company or their bikes, my opinion. Unfortunately for me, I'll still be rooting for Gwinn on a Specialized bike. Greenbacks rule the world.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I'd be more interested in finding out how he'd fare on a different bike. Just on the spec numbers alone, the Session and Demo seem to be different enough (I wouldn't know never having ridden either bikes at DH speeds). He obviously felt better moving from Yeti to Trek (traiing with Tomac helped too, I'm sure).
 
#28 ·
Who knows all the interworkings of this, but.. why would anyone hate on him for going after the money in a career with such a short life? It could all end quickly and I am sure there is no retirement plan. The man is looking out for himself in a business sense and that is just smart, in the end he still gets to ride a bike for a living. Seems like a no brainer to me.
 
#30 ·
No loyalty in any sport anymore. Just the way it is unfortunately. I definitely understand the limited life-span of a dh rider stated above by Josie7. Not much of a 401K plan in pro racing.
 
#34 ·
To be honest, although I liked him to Trek, and what he did for the brand... I don't blame him for leaving.

Think about it this way, Gwin is a fantastic DH athlete, and although I don't follow downhill super close, not many athletes (beside CG, and Peaty) can make this a "life-time" sport.

After another 5 years Gwin most likely won't be the athlete he is today, and 10 years from now, who knows if he'll still be racing. From the interviews I've seen with Gwin, he seems like a nice and humble guy, but not a particular exciting one.

He doesn't have the excitable charm, or the charisma that fellow (well former fellow now) Trek rider Cam Mccaul has, and who knows if he'll be able to make much of a living in the industry after his DH career. I figure Mccaul could be a great product salesmen, announcer, ect, but Gwin... I don't know.

He probably realizes this and just wants to make AS MUCH money as possible in the short term, while he's still in the game.
 
#44 ·
To be honest, although I liked him to Trek, and what he did for the brand... I don't blame him for leaving.

Think about it this way, Gwin is a fantastic DH athlete, and although I don't follow downhill super close, not many athletes (beside CG, and Peaty) can make this a "life-time" sport.

After another 5 years Gwin most likely won't be the athlete he is today, and 10 years from now, who knows if he'll still be racing. From the interviews I've seen with Gwin, he seems like a nice and humble guy, but not a particular exciting one.

He doesn't have the excitable charm, or the charisma that fellow (well former fellow now) Trek rider Cam Mccaul has, and who knows if he'll be able to make much of a living in the industry after his DH career. I figure Mccaul could be a great product salesmen, announcer, ect, but Gwin... I don't know.

He probably realizes this and just wants to make AS MUCH money as possible in the short term, while he's still in the game.
Well said.
 
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