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Beta vacancy?


dmc2028372
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They never seem to be able to hold on to a rider, i remember when cabestany left in 2004 he was quite vocal at the way hed been treated/supported by beta ,the only options i can see are maybe miquel gelabert or arnau farre , both young and hungry,who knows maybe this year they wont have anyone 

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If they want to be getting on the Trial GP podium and let's face it, if they go to the expense of having a factory truck and support at each round, then that needs to be their target (& every other teams) then I don't see they have many options.

The Montesa boys aren't going anywhere. Maybe there's a slim chance Busto could be tempted away to be a No. 1 rider, but I suspect he'll realise the support and probably salary, he gets in the Repsol team is second to none.

Likewise Raga, he is in a Catalan team with his mentor Jordi Tarres, I expect him to see out his career at TRS.

I read that Cabestany was retiring (if so, then Sherco are in the same situation as Beta).

The way the Vertigo statement reads, suggests that Fajardo remains in the team and Casales is 'reinforcement'.

Dabill I believe is one year into a two year Gas Gas deal.

And after those, there is no other current rider that has been on the podium at Trial GP level.

It suggests then that Beta will be looking for riders in the lower half of the world's top 10.

However, a question they and others must ask themselves is, would they sell any less bikes if they were not in the world championship? What if they put in a strong national showing through each importer and prove themselves to be reliable and competitive in nationals, local events and the SSDT?

 

 

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It's performance in local trials, on the same sections I'm riding, that would sell me a bike. Couldn't tell you which bikes are doing what in the world championship as it's not relevant to me.

In this vein, when Vertigo lost their British Championship rider a year ago my suggestion would have been to get a top centre runner on one in each part of the country, at little cost, to sell more bikes.

Edited by cleanorbust
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Strangely we were having this exact conversation at the lakes last weekend. The vast majority don't give two hoots about the world championship and, from a vertigo standpoint, Doug's SSDT wins will have done far more for the brand than the WTC ever could.

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My impression is that a solid manufacturer with a good product could skip the WTC entirely and still sell a ton of bikes if they invested all the time and money into a well supported and promoted local dealer network. More than just about anything, around here anyway, people want something they enjoy riding first, and that they know is going to be taken care of when it breaks second.

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2 hours ago, cleanorbust said:

It's performance in local trials, on the same sections I'm riding, that would sell me a bike. Couldn't tell you which bikes are doing what in the world championship as it's not relevant to me.

In this vein, when Vertigo lost their British Championship rider a year ago my suggestion would have been to get a top centre runner on one in each part of the country, at little cost, to sell more bikes.

 

1 hour ago, andy said:

Strangely we were having this exact conversation at the lakes last weekend. The vast majority don't give two hoots about the world championship and, from a vertigo standpoint, Doug's SSDT wins will have done far more for the brand than the WTC ever could.

 

1 hour ago, heffergm said:

My impression is that a solid manufacturer with a good product could skip the WTC entirely and still sell a ton of bikes if they invested all the time and money into a well supported and promoted local dealer network. More than just about anything, around here anyway, people want something they enjoy riding first, and that they know is going to be taken care of when it breaks second.

People may disagree, but IMO montesa sells 90% of their bikes because Toni Bou rides one.

And also look at Jotagas/TRS, largely the same bike, one flops, one succeeds. Why? Mainly because of raga i believe

Edited by faussy
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It's hard to refute the benefit of having someone like Bou or Raga on there side... 

I do believe that not having a top rider will affect a manufacturer, however the question I would think is by how much?  Next is the question of what are the options to make that up?

From what I have seen I can agree that a great local and national presence will do a great deal in this regard but I hesitate to say it can make it up completely.  

I think the only other way to make it up  completely is something like Vertigo and having such as with the SSDT and Doug's success. 

My perception. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
 
On 19/10/2017 at 1:56 PM, faussy said:

 

 

People may disagree, but IMO montesa sells 90% of their bikes because Toni Bou rides one.

And also look at Jotagas/TRS, largely the same bike, one flops, one succeeds. Why? Mainly because of raga i believe

I strongly disagree if you look at and ask the majority of 4rt riders i doubt many choose that bike because of Tony.

The jtg wasnt a success for many reasons not the least being supply and reliability.

The mistakes have been ironed out and the trs is a much better set up, the fact that some parts are interchangeable with gas gas may have helped too.

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