Post by Andrew on Jan 21, 2014 16:46:22 GMT
As many of you probably were, I was very surprised by this move, I decided before I got all wound up, I should ask Chris at Yeti a few questions, clarify things a little more, here you go.
1) The switch from Yeti's main focus at WC downhill to Enduro world series must have been a tough call to make?
>> It was a very difficult call to make. The difficulty came when the EWS became a truly international event and the racing spanned the globe like DH. This effectively meant we would have to run two word cup caliber programs. While that intrigues us, we are simply too small and don't have the resources to make that happen. We also were working on signing Jared for two more years. As you can imagine, his stock went up substantially after his EWS and World Champs success... We knew we wanted to keep Jared on the program so signed him and proposed an Enduro only schedule to our racers. Jared and Richie were very excited about moving in this direction. Jared has been a strong mentor for Richie and they enjoy racing together. Cam was intrigued by racing Enduro, but felt he still had some unfinished business in DH. We wanted what was best for Cam, so we asked him to see if there was any option to race DH on another team. He found a good option and will be moving on for 2014. I have nothing but great things to say about Cam - he's fast, committed as a racer, and a really good person. Though he is no longer on the team, he remains a friend of Yeti.
2) Yeti has always developed Bicycles through competition, Trials and XC to the early 90's, then DH & 4X from then on, do you think that Enduro is a natural progression for you & the sport?
>> Enduro is an exciting format and it embodies what we love about the sport. It takes a combination of skills, fitness and mental toughness. The bikes they use are also in categories where we sell most of our product. Our team will be integral in development of new models and we are very excited about what we have in the hopper... Many people have asked if I think WC DH is going away and my answer is simple -- no. WC DH is thriving and having partners like Red Bull will push the sport even further. The exciting thing is all these disciplines and co-exist and thrive.
3) Richie will be doing the EWS too, its easy to overlook that he did really well at one last year, do you think that like Jared he could be a multi discipline winner in Cycling too?
>> Richie is an amazing athlete and incredibly strong. We feel very good about Jared training with and mentoring him. The sky's the limit with Richie... yes, he could excel in multiple disciplines.
4) Will the team be starting the season on the SB66 ? Or anything up your sleeves for them to test?
>> We'll start the season on the SB66c. And, yes, they will be testing new product throughout the season.
5) Is the DH World Champs still a target?
>> Not this year, but maybe in the future.
1) The switch from Yeti's main focus at WC downhill to Enduro world series must have been a tough call to make?
>> It was a very difficult call to make. The difficulty came when the EWS became a truly international event and the racing spanned the globe like DH. This effectively meant we would have to run two word cup caliber programs. While that intrigues us, we are simply too small and don't have the resources to make that happen. We also were working on signing Jared for two more years. As you can imagine, his stock went up substantially after his EWS and World Champs success... We knew we wanted to keep Jared on the program so signed him and proposed an Enduro only schedule to our racers. Jared and Richie were very excited about moving in this direction. Jared has been a strong mentor for Richie and they enjoy racing together. Cam was intrigued by racing Enduro, but felt he still had some unfinished business in DH. We wanted what was best for Cam, so we asked him to see if there was any option to race DH on another team. He found a good option and will be moving on for 2014. I have nothing but great things to say about Cam - he's fast, committed as a racer, and a really good person. Though he is no longer on the team, he remains a friend of Yeti.
2) Yeti has always developed Bicycles through competition, Trials and XC to the early 90's, then DH & 4X from then on, do you think that Enduro is a natural progression for you & the sport?
>> Enduro is an exciting format and it embodies what we love about the sport. It takes a combination of skills, fitness and mental toughness. The bikes they use are also in categories where we sell most of our product. Our team will be integral in development of new models and we are very excited about what we have in the hopper... Many people have asked if I think WC DH is going away and my answer is simple -- no. WC DH is thriving and having partners like Red Bull will push the sport even further. The exciting thing is all these disciplines and co-exist and thrive.
3) Richie will be doing the EWS too, its easy to overlook that he did really well at one last year, do you think that like Jared he could be a multi discipline winner in Cycling too?
>> Richie is an amazing athlete and incredibly strong. We feel very good about Jared training with and mentoring him. The sky's the limit with Richie... yes, he could excel in multiple disciplines.
4) Will the team be starting the season on the SB66 ? Or anything up your sleeves for them to test?
>> We'll start the season on the SB66c. And, yes, they will be testing new product throughout the season.
5) Is the DH World Champs still a target?
>> Not this year, but maybe in the future.