Corporate responses:
Yeti to Trek move > I don’t begrudge them at all.
Trek to Specialized move > completely surprised by Mr Gwin’s unprofessional actions.

Karma bites?

AjsMonkey – interesting, and possibly fair, take on it. Do you know what Gwin’s contractual position was with Yeti at the time of his move to Trek?

So if the deal with Trek wasn’t done, perhaps they weren’t offering Gwin what he thought he was worth?

If they wanted him watertight, they should have got him to sign a contract, rather than letters of intent…

To suggest previously he had ‘signed for another 3 years’ with Trek was a bit silly really, it should have been ‘gain has indicated he will be racing for TWR for the next 3 years, subject to contracts’.

Specialized haven’t really poached him, or bought him out of a contract, he was out of contract already! Just signed a better deal. Nothing underhand there.

Seemingly as weak as the one with TWR?

Gwin on Trek move:
I’m super excited about the whole Trek World Racing deal and how that all went down. My manager, friend, and mentor, Rich Houseman put it all together for me and I’m so thankful for that. Rich has pretty much been responsible for my whole racing career and I think together we really found a good home at Trek.

Chris Conroy, Yeti Cycles on the move:
People ask me all the time if we get tired of big teams “stealing” our riders after we put so much into them? I don’t begrudge them at all. I want riders to earn as much as they can as professional mountain bikers. As a small company, we simply don’t have the resources to match huge offers and we aren’t willing to walk away from our development efforts for a single rider.

Gwin on Specialized move:
“I’m super excited to start this new chapter in my career with Specialized bicycles. The entire Specialized staff has welcomed me with open arms and I’m blown away by the level of support they’ve shown me. This is my dream program and I can’t thank them enough for this opportunity. Bring on 2013!”

TWR on the move (as per Chakaping):
In the interests of the team and our sponsors, we are actively pursuing all options open to us at this point, including legal action, and remain completely surprised by Mr Gwin’s unprofessional actions.

Seemingly Gwin’s view on both: “Super excited” and most importantly looking after No 1.
So, either he was in a position to do it and TWR need to suck it up, or TWR can take him to the cleaners.
Currently trying to think of other sports with such contractual issues……..

batfink – Member
Aaron Gwin signed a legally binding Letter Of Intent
doesn’t sound like he had a contract….. LOAs are a bit of a halfway house I believe.

My thoughts exactly, Specialized must have chucked quite an offer in to nobble him though.

I suppose calling someone you are hoping to retain “Unprofessional” isn’t the way to go about it either sounds like a bit of dummy spitting TBH… Whitley would have been wiser to avoid talking to the press or making any statements IMO…

Can’t be a surprise really Gwin was bound to be getting offers after hs 2012 season… And TBF most Professional DHers have relatively short careers (obvious exceptions aside), He’d be a Mug not to follow the money.

Hill on a Nukeproof will be interesting… I hope he does well…

I’m Not sure Minnear will go to TWR, they are obviously a bit desparate right now and he’d probably be wise to minimise upheaval and change; a team switch might be a tad unsettling and having a consistent Team/setup might be a small advantage for him while Gwin settles in at Specialized…

I think TWR should look a bit further than top couple of riders, they need a good rider and a couple of WC seasons under his belt looking to move up;

are Stevie Smith’s plans for 2013 know yet? How about Mick Hannah? Perhaps Bryceland should make a moveout from the various shadows as SC? There are other contenders…

He’s not hoping to retain him any more, he’s just bitter about how it went down. Legally they may well have a claim depending on the LoI (ours contain financial clauses if the main contract isn’t signed but that’s for IT bids…) but it will be about money and not keeping him at Trek (and I doubt they’d be able to prevent him racing with a different team, that sort of clause is rarely enforceable).
Not really a Gwin fan but good luck to him, I’m sure his move mostly was about the money but then he’s a pro sportsman so why shouldn’t it be? You think Wiggo would still be at Sky just because they’re a Brit team rather than a Brit team with deep pockets?
I’m sure Spesh have the budget to make a bike work for him (was Sam Hill’s under-performing last season really just about the bike, I doubt it?)

be interesting to know if spesh only thought of talking to gwinn after hill said he was leaving, or is there more to that move too?

I wish I could “Under-perform” my way to 5th place in the overall WC DH Rankings…

A top 5 Hills is still a worth while signing with the potential to deliver podiums, CRC/NP have done well to pick him up.

The Top 10 is stuffed with potential podium winners, and who knows how Gwins move will pan out, Specialized are used to putting very different bikes under their riders to Gwins apparently “over-spung” preferred setup… It may take a round or two for them to get their eye in with the Demo, you never know…

wrecker – Member
What a mercenary!

If you got offered better pay and benefits to do the job you love by another firm, would you do it?

FWIW I ‘m glad he’s changed, stops it going stale.

Brook Macdonald just tweeted “Can’t wait to have my new bike !! Can anyone guess??”

So Brook to TWR?

Does seem quite likely that Gwin just outed himself as being a dick. But on the other hand, these guys can have short careers, he won’t be the fastest man in the world forever- could bin it tomorrow and never race again. So it’s hard to fault him for making hay while the sun shines even if he does it in a crappy way.

Lifer – Member

Minaar’s an old boy!

…and world champion, and consistently second fastest man.

So Brook to TWR?

Gotta be then. Exciting times.

Does seem quite likely that Gwin just outed himself as being a dick.

Hardly. Who’s to say Whiteley wasn’t trying to get him on the cheap? Let’s hear his side of the story first eh?

chakaping – Member

Who’s to say Whiteley wasn’t trying to get him on the cheap? Let’s hear his side of the story first eh?

You mean a bit like when he said:

“I’m honored to continue my relationship with Trek Bicycles, and the Trek World Racing program. Their support has been a key part of my success over the last 2 years, and they’ve given me all the tools I need to reach my goals. I’m excited for the years ahead, and looking forward to further developing the Trek Bicycles brand.”. 4 months ago, that was.

most Professional DHers have relatively short careers (obvious exceptions aside), He’d be a Mug not to follow the money.

+1, with the exception of the Santa Cruz Home for semi-retired downhillers.

In 3 years there’ll be some other new guy with never seen before tallent and Gwin will be just another Greg/Gee/Danny.

4 months ago, that was.

We don’t know what’s happened (or not) since then.

That’s a point What is Hart up to? sticking with Giant?

Breaking a contract is really bad form, interested to see how he goes on the Specialized too if it comes off though.
Spesh/Sinyard have got a bit of a history of agressive behaviour to competitors others in the trade.

hmmm, as a Specialized fanboi, but not a fan of AmazeGwin I’m not sure about this. Maybe I should sell my 2 Specialized bikes…

anyway, Specialized deserve to have the best rider. Trek should realise that whilst they can buy talent and have an excellent race offering, their brand doesn’t have the appeal of Specialized…

Spesh/Sinyard have got a bit of a history of agressive behaviour to competitors others in the trade.

True, but Trek are being sued by Dave Weagle claiming they nicked his split pivot design for their ABP patent. And there was that business with Greg Lemond.

Yep true too, why can’t we all just get along 😉 😯

A LOI generally won’t be legally binding – its what it says it is. There may be clauses in it that are binding, such as to negotiate in good faith, non disclosure, etc. but essentially, if TWR hadn’t signed him up to a proper legally binding contract within 4 months of signing the LOI, they’ve got no one to get pissy with but themselves….

Breaking a contract is really bad form, interested to see how he goes on the Specialized too if it comes off though

If it was a contract Trek would be shouting about broken contracts not a letter of intent which you have to guess Spec & Gwinns lawyers have been through.

Yep true too, why can’t we all just get along

Money probably.

Didn’t Gwin learn anything from that bible?

If Kaisae is correct, and he usually is, it’ll be impossible for Gwinn to win on a Demo

Contracts are broken all the time in sport and business, no big deal, just a matter of money to sort it out. TWR probably pissed off at it being late in the day, not good for sporsors advertising campaigns which were probably being planned. Imagine the Trek 2013 MTB catalogue features quite a lot of Gwinn.

If Specialized came calling with a humongous cheque then fair enough, Gwinn knows his career could end tomorrow so make the most of it. A shake up of teams and riders is good for the sport too.

^^ what mrblobby said.

sounds a bit like a lot of arse covering from TWR. It is a nightmare for them, but if they were cracking forward with stuff based on a “promise”, then that was a little foolish.

Learned that lesson myself once too often!

Kev

If Kaisae is correct, and he usually is, it’ll be impossible for Gwinn to win on a Demo

😆

brakes – Member

anyway, Specialized deserve to have the best rider. Trek should realise that whilst they can buy talent and have an excellent race offering, their brand doesn’t have the appeal of Specialized…

what does that even mean?

Probably that Trek are niche 🙄

Id never buy a Trek out of choice, they aint kewul even with the worlds best freeriders on their payroll.

I love my Treks, I didn’t pay a single bit of attention to who was on any team when I purchased them. 😀

The man himself.

“Proud to announce that I will be riding for Specialized moving forward. There’s much more to the story than what’s been shared and i’m looking forward to setting that straight very soon. Thanks to my team and fans who’ve had my back in this time”

Seems a little rough of Gwin to bail out on Trek so late in the day, but I’m sure there is more to the story than we have heard already.
Whatever Gwin has done the press release from Martin Whiteley throwing his toys out of the pram comes across as petty and bitter and serves no purpose whatsoever, other than to make Whiteley look incredibly unprofessional.
I always thought he came across badly in the videos and bet he was a pain in the arse to have as a manager… maybe he was the reason Gwin left (don’t think it would have been money – Trek would have matched any Specialized offer surely).

Letters of intent aren’t contracts, they are letters of intent and I’m sure Gwins intent was to sign before Spec offered him tons’o’cash. Regardless of the politics, 2013 should be a great year for DH racing.

2013 should be a great year for DH racing

Definitely.

I think the Gwin move is great news for fans – hopefully the change will unsettle him a bit and he won’t be so dominant this season.

The fantasy downhill is gonna be a real lottery that’s for sure…

packer – Member
Seems a little rough of Gwin to bail out on Trek so late in the day,

When did that pic appear on Team Rumours? Been there since early Dec – makes a mockery of Trek’s suggestion that they knew nothing until a week ago

When did that pic appear on Team Rumours? Been there since early Dec – makes a mockery of Trek’s suggestion that they knew nothing until a week ago

Very good point. I think you are right, it’s been around a while.

I think the Gwin move is great news for fans – hopefully the change will unsettle him a bit and he won’t be so dominant this season.

yeah like when he switched from Yeti to Trek and it took him ages to find his form…oh wait

Interesting video from Trek on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q30G67w0iPM