What do you do Wilburt?

(And, just in case you have anything, how do I think the bike trade is owed a living?)

These things cost money to put on as has been ably pointed out above. There’s days if not weeks of preparation involved in setting up and running these events and they almost certainly offer better value than a lot of DH races, certainly in terms of bike time for the money. Ok there’s no uplift but how long do you think it takes to tape the miles of tracks at a typical venue?

If people are making so much money at it and it’s so easy why don’t you have a go? 😉

Marshals get £65 a head at the ukge

Excellent!

kimbers – Member

UKGE is 65quid for 3 days riding on an excellent course including free camping, free support and servicing from shimano, SRAM and mavic and a bloody good crack to boot.

65 quid seem a lot, but I’m worth it. .
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taint free camping up at Grizedale this weekend is it tho! some farmer is coining it up at £7pppn! its gonna cost my mate over £100 just to stay there, plus the 60 odd quid to do the race 😐

Would love to see the moaners put on an event for less- surely it would be the most popular event ever if all the others are so overpriced??

If you really cared about doing the event- if it had been the focus of a dedicated block of training, if you’d stressed and prepped and really made an effort then you’d be willing to pay a fair price even if it meant saving up.

If you only do events so you can drop them into conversation over the water cooler whilst trying to appear gnarcore in front of the office tart then perhaps you may think they’re a bit pricy.
Just make a fake website for a fake event and put your name wherever you like on the results page- much cheaper 😉

100 quid is he staying for a fortnight?

yeah the 7 quid has pissed a few people off, im staying at a bunkhouse this time

tbh petrol is the biggest expense, definitely worth car sharing

I’m doing the Hamsterley Enduro this weekend.

will be over £100 by the time i get home and the bike jet washed.

Cant wait 🙂

kimbers – Member

100 quid is he staying for a fortnight?

yeah the 7 quid has pissed a few people off, im staying at a bunkhouse this time

tbh petrol is the biggest expense, definitely worth car sharing.
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no, but its a family affair for him so for four of them its £28 per night for 3 nights, and I believe the campsite isn’t even at the race venue 😕
I would have gone to help them out but im not paying That!

Kimbers, did we ride together years back at Cannock? my memory is shocking since my accident, Lol

I dont think iveever ridden cannock lawnmax!

used to ride with club out of cambridge, lots of wales trips though and thetford, obviously

It’s easy to tell who the folk are, that have never been anywhere near helping or organising at an event. 🙄
It’s bloody hard work most of the time, with plenty of stress for the main organiser .
Lots of events would never happen without a huge number of people helping out for free, usually cyclists that have raced in their youth and want to give something back to a sport they love.
FFS,the easy part is turning up and riding.

Oh, and don’t get me started on the 11th hour “Can I have my entry back (insert pitiful excuse) please ?” 👿

kimbers – Member

I dont think iveever ridden cannock lawnmax!

used to ride with club out of cambridge, lots of wales trips though and thetford, obviously
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who the F is lawnmax?? Lol

Well this thread is a roll call of the usual moaners and whingers, you could swap “Race Entry” for “Santa Cruz” or “Importer Taking the Piss” or “I can buy that cheaper if I get the chinese rip off fake copy”
Honestly if you want to moan go out into the woods and talk to the trees. You seem to have no idea how much things cost, or what things are worth. People time costs money, if they are spending time organising a race it’s time they are not at work, should they do it all for free? Should the medics turn up for free, should the marshal’s stand out all day for nowt but a bit of abuse from some racers because it’s life affirming? Have any of you actually thought about holding a flag and a whistle at a local event?
How about clubbing together and organising something, how much is insurance these days? What about hiring toilets and a skip for the rubbish?

MBO are dirt cheap if that’s important to you.

QECP Day & Nigh Enduro and QECP Summer Enduro are £35 each
Both sold out the summer one sold out in 17 hours.

Could put the price up for 2015 but that’s not why we run our events.
Grassroots racing and ALL the money raised goes back in to the local trail network.

If I organised an event on commercial basis, which had a limited number of entries, why would I charge £25 if enough folk were happy to pay 65? I could get my kids out sweeping chimneys or get a second job I suppose to keep everyone else happy.
I’m doing a weekend event soon, accom in the Lakes, 12+ hrs riding, with maps, surprise challenges (archery?, caving? – don’t know til you get there). Some wiil race to win, others to earn their meal and beer and for a laugh. Cost 35 quid to cover costs – bunch of friends taking turns to organise it.
We know none of us will sue if it goes wrong, nobody will whinge if organisation isn’t slick enough or there are some duller sections, or our favourite gel flavour isn’t on offer.
No-one will make a profit though, so it only happens because folk are willing to organise it in turn.
Step up and organise something and then ask?

Has anyone looked at the cost of other sports – ironman – £700 each, just been to one called tribal clash for crossfit people – £400 each, even triathlons are £35 these days.

Unfortunately the costs add up – I think it seems quite reasonable

I was waiting for the audax comparison as an event with no marshall, food stops, etc will cost as much as an event with everything else

Could put the price up for 2015 but that’s not why we run our events.
Grassroots racing and ALL the money raised goes back in to the local trail network.

so it is possible to organise a good event, and put ALL the money to good use, which is fantastic.
i doubt that the organisers of the large mtb events put much back into the trail network.

i doubt that the organisers of the large mtb events put much back into the trail network.

Anything to base that on Ton? Or just a bit more bashing

Not sure why marshalling is mentioned as a cost above but from my experience marshalls are voluntary.

Don’t know about other areas of the country but up here they ‘pay’ you, anything from £25 per day upwards.

I’m doing a weekend event soon, accom in the Lakes, 12+ hrs riding, with maps, surprise challenges (archery?, caving? – don’t know til you get there).

This sounds class, can I come?

Ton – races have to be on private land, which almost certainly costs, so money goes into the trails used. Sportives on BWs don’t put money back because we all pay tax for that and who would they pay? Money into local economy from accom, pubs, shops and rental of village halls etc.

so it is possible to organise a good event, and put ALL the money to good use, which is fantastic.
i doubt that the organisers of the large mtb events put much back into the trail network.

Yes, comparing some grassroots racing to a national event is a perfectly valid comparison 🙄

You can race grassroots DH for £20, compared to £70 for a BDS too, so why not have a pop at them as well, or all the regional DH events, at £60+ a pop?

ton – Member

Could put the price up for 2015 but that’s not why we run our events.
Grassroots racing and ALL the money raised goes back in to the local trail network.

so it is possible to organise a good event, and put ALL the money to good use, which is fantastic.
i doubt that the organisers of the large mtb events put much back into the trail network. Not what I was saying. We are not the UKGE so we don’t have the same overheads. We do not have a complicated timing system and we are all volunteers. We get the chance to improve our local trails, that is our payment.

Knowing what the overheads are I would say
1 day enduro’s £35-£45
2 day enduro’s £60-£70
these price seam fair and its what I would be happy pay for well organised events.
I have race 5 enduro races this year from 4 different organisers I haven’t felt any where overpriced.

If you don’t like it, don’t pay it, talk about moaning for moanings sake 🙄

Sam Houghton Challenge and the Dyfi enduro are well priced and worth the money

Yes, but these are nothing like Enduros, more like off road sportives.

While I think it’s a considerable amount of money and I obviously have to think about spending that much, I don’t think it’s unreasonable at all for the type of event.

I am not sure what Enduro specific clothing is other than a way of trying to brand and sell the latest fashionable gear. Of course the latest fashionable gear is more expensive, that’s how fashion works. You are allowed to wear what you like. I used to ride my bike in Jeans as a kid before I could afford cycle clothing and I’m sure I’d be allowed to race an Enduro in them.

I would say if you think it’s too much then please organise a race for less money. It is exactly what the scene needs.

Until you organise an event yourself, you never really understand how time and money takes. (not aimed at anyone, general comment).

The biggest cost for a gravity enduro event, especially ones like UKGE is the timing.
It costs a small fortune to have accurate and reliable timing at events.

Then you have first aid, insurance, land costs, etc, etc.
UKGE will probably be VAT registered too, so thats 20% of the entry fee before any costs are accounted for.

It used to cost me £45 for bit of practice+3hr race, or £30 for several hours practice. Granted, that was motorbike #enduro.

http://www.pearcecycles.co.uk/product_list/202

It used to cost me £45 for bit of practice+3hr race, or £30 for several hours practice. Granted, that was motorbike #enduro.

Follow the link, you can get a full day of uplift for £25.

Depends which ones you do. Find the right ones and you won’t have to pay much more than £25-30.

Dyfi Enduro (the proper one in May) – £25, 3 days free camping + bar & entertainment, and all the profits go to local causes like schools and mountain rescue.
Coed Y Brenin Enduro – £25 (organised by the same guys who do the Dyfi Enduro)
Mary Townley Challenge – £25 with all the cash going to local mountain rescue
North Pennine MTB challenge – £30 IIRC

Plus there’s the local MTB races. In the northwest we had the Midweek MTB Madness races for £11 a go.

Seems to me that the inflated prices for ‘Enduros’ are probably for all the necessary tech required to time everyone on the downhills so everyone can look suitably gnarr to their mates. Dunno why they don’t just enter a downhill race.

Seems to me that the inflated prices for ‘Enduros’ are probably for all the necessary tech required to time everyone on the downhills so everyone can look suitably gnarr to their mates. Dunno why they don’t just enter a downhill race.

Some of do/did both, they are completely different events take a look at the Dirt EWS vids for a better idea. Accurate timing is one of those things that you need/want/pay for. That and the medics. marshalls etc.

Someone was quoting £65 for the 2/3 day ones which is on par with a DH race.

The SDA put up some interesting figures for the 2012 season:

http://www.sda-races.com/entries.html

Adding up the costs, it comes to £93,316

Looking at the entries for the 2012 series multiplied by the £65 entry fee, which is actually the current figure and the 2012 amount may have been lower, shows they only pulled in £61,815 in entry fees so that’s a £30k+ deficit.

I’m adding “you can do an audax for £5” to the STW bullshit bingo list.

£65 entry fee, which is actually the current figure and the 2012 amount may have been lower, shows they only pulled in £61,815 in entry fees so that’s a £30k+ deficit.

Sponsorship making up the gap?

Sponsorship making up the gap?

That was my guess. I doubt it’s enough to fund the organiser’s yacht in Monaco though.

it’s obvious that they are just making up the spend figures to cover their obscene profit making

Seems to me that the inflated prices for ‘Enduros’ are probably for all the necessary tech required to time everyone on the downhills so everyone can look suitably gnarr to their mates. Dunno why they don’t just enter a downhill race.

Ever considered the chance that a lot of the people who race enduro, might race DH too?

ton – Member

just scrubbed enduro’s off my to do list.
sorry for mentioning it and upsetting anyone…….

I hear what you’re saying Ton. Did the FOD Mini Enduro last year and absolutely loved it – yep I can see where the money goes, so not having a pop, compared to a grassroots DH race which is half the price (3 different timed stages compared to a single track, etc) but I can enter both the FOD XC Enduro and (when I can get my @r$e into gear) the FOD Mini-Downhill for exactly the same price.

Seems to me that the inflated prices for ‘Enduros’ are probably for all the necessary tech required to time everyone on the downhills so everyone can look suitably gnarr to their mates. Dunno why they don’t just enter a downhill race.

*swoon*

lemme guess, you’re so quick you don’t need timing?

so if you don’t time the stages, surely thats just going for a ride?

dazh – Member

Dunno why they don’t just enter a downhill race.

It’s because they’re very different. HTH. Why doesn’t everyone just ride round fields?