Are you influenced by sponsorship ?

No no no. Im very cynical particulary regarding sports equipment, the stars and slonsorship. Everyone knows they get special equipment and we get a cheaper version, dont we?
And talking of Clios I never ever thought they’d sell a car with a girls name to men, just shows ya.

Vanderham had no direct role in developing that handlebar – its actually a rebadged catalogue bar manufactured by HL Corp (who have their own component brand “Zoom”), same is true of the Atherton bar by Pro

the association is what brings riders to buy these products….

I think Brant said this above in one word: “interesting”

made me laugh anyway..

I think the point may have already been made, but sponsorship also allows the further development and testing of products.
Both the xc and dh guys will be testing new parts and tunes over the upcoming season.

Doesn’t it depend somewhat on who’s being sponsored.

If the team has a reputation for demanding the lightest, fastest componentry, and then changes supplier from one to another, say for example team Garmin, with the change from Felt to Cervelo, are they doing that for purely financial reasons, or does the change validate the product? would they even ride it if it was not the epitomy cutting edge fastest product – I think in their case there is likely to be an element of both.

Everything THINKS they are independent minded mavericks with a mind full of original thought.

But very few people actually are.

I’d say 99% of people are influenced by sponsorship/marketing/advertising.

Having said that, Quiksilver have always sponsored most the most successful surfer ever, Kelly Slater. Will I buy their wetsuits or kit? No because it’s all pretty naff (allowed word?!!).

Liam Kileen’s success reinforced my view that Specialized make some decent bikes though and I bet many fancy a bike like Danny McCaskill (not me – I’d kill myself on one).

From my point of view it is a case of both, the members of both teams have proven results and will be riding far faster and harder than I could or have time for.
In the case of Felt Cervelo I’d guess it’s of more a financial choice.

Surf-Mat – Member
Everything THINKS they are independent minded mavericks with a mind full of original thought.

But very few people actually are.

I’d say 99% of people are influenced by sponsorship/marketing/advertising.

But the OP asked who was influenced by sponsorship specifically. Other than it being used as a form of advertising (brand awareness) I can’t think of one situation where I’ve selected a product based on sponsorship.

Mat, Chris Akrigg (sp?) rides for mongoose doesn’t he 😕

I can think of many products where good sponsorship has sold a lot more.

Yet everyone denies they are influenced – that’s my point. No one, especially on STW will ADMIT sponsorship plays any part in decision making but I bet it does in many cases. Less relevant in MTBing I reckon (I’m more review/opinion led myself) but in many sports, it’s vital that your spangly new product is “endorsed” by someone at the top of their game.

Vanderham had no direct role in developing that handlebar – its actually a rebadged catalogue bar manufactured by HL Corp (who have their own component brand “Zoom”), same is true of the Atherton bar by Pro

I would be amazed if that was true, simply because in reality, if you’re selling more than 10 bars a year, it costs pretty much the same price to get “your own” spec bend and rise as it would to take an off the shelf one.

Not sure about the HL Corp bit, but I do know who makes the Pro seatpost 🙂

I didn’t comment on that post but did seem rather unlikely, even taking into account the incestuous nature of the bicycle manufacturing industry.

A mate of mine once bought a Renault Clio because he fancied ‘Nicole’ off the TV adverts. The knob. Did he ever get to cosy up with Nicole? Did he flip. He just ended up with a crap car. Idiot…

Funniest thing I have read in ages

Willow looks nice
Willow’s Gallery

Is sponsorship not just a tax fiddle for companies?

I would be amazed if that was true, simply because in reality, if you’re selling more than 10 bars a year, it costs pretty much the same price to get “your own” spec bend and rise as it would to take an off the shelf one.

OH, I misunderstood your humour… What did the “interesting” mean then?

Depends how much money you make, costs me money………….

Sorry LoCo, I should rephrase it – It’s probably a tax fiddle for some companies.

I wouldn’t have known the Mondraker brand had they not sponsored a DH team so chances are I may not have considered them for my last bike. I didn’t buy it because Barel rides one though.

Haha no offence taken 😀

😀

No, my purchases are usually based on recommendations from friends, on here or previous experience. Magazines are good for product awareness.

With regard to previous experience – the above and beyond customer service I’ve received from Turner Bikes, even though they’re on the other side of the world will keep me loyal!

i keep changing my mind about sponsership for my company. i like the independence of choice

Well you’ve got a shock waiting for you when you get your new bike if it’s got a stroke of 2.5″ or above 😉

high5 loco! i will buy a new frame in feb. i cant decide yet but will get it sprayed up and corperateized 🙂

Would you buy Original Source shampoo

I’ve not quite finished the free samples I got from this years event and reckon I can get by until next years MM for some more 😀

Jedi, no probs just let me know when you decide what to do, the shorter length Duelers will be available next year

i got a new dhx air at the moment. feels better than the old one

Not really, or not consciously anyway, but I will never, ever buy a Kenda tyre thanks to the way some of their sponsored riders behaved towards others at a 24-hour event I was racing at a few years back. People who are sponsored need to be aware that they’re effectively an ambassador for the brand they’re representing.

Yes one of the main issues in choosing the riders was that they weren’t going to act like primadonas and annoy people.
Why would I want to have to deal with asshats for a season 🙂

I tried some Monster Energy drink in a Wetherspoons once in the mistaken impression that it would turn me into Sam Hill.

Didn’t make me ride any better, but it did taste pretty sick.

Seriously though – The bike association was what made me curious to try it I think.

Sponsorship defnitely builds awareness. Not always in a good way. Seeing carbon frames snap in front of you can put you off a brand.

Sponsorship affects my choices.

Some friends are sponsored racers, and in return for work I do for them I get access to their trade accounts. Consequently what they use, I tend to as well…

Although saying that, a lot of the stuff is kit I’d use regardless, because it happens to be “the right thing” for me to use.

Would I drink Monster instead of Red Bull just because Peaty is now paid by Monster? Nope – I’ll drink either if they’re given to me for free just for the ginormous belches one can do after necking a can of the stuff. 😀

Can’t see Monster being so popular if it didn’t do some serious sponsorship.

Then there’s the Iron Horse Sunday – before the CRC offer, there were still shed loads of them around in Morzine (now there’s a few more!).

….and I’m sure we’ll see a lot more Demo 8s next summer.

Sure there’s a lot of great bikes out there, and on of the deciding factors between them will be the image you’re trying (sub consciously or otherwise) to convey.

I’m sure Continental will get a bigger bite of the tyre market with the Athertons on board.
Even Kenda probably sell more tyres because they sponsor World Cup teams even though those teams just use Maxxis anyway.

Sponsorship sells stuff – when it’s used in the right context, and the event / person / thing you’re sponsoring reflects the brand. It can equally go the other way if the event / person / thing goes wrong.

It’s definitely had an effect on what I’ve bought in the past – I remember choosing a Cannondale over a Specialized many years back becuase I knew the same frame (well, not literally the same one…the same model) had won the World Champs a couple of years before. I’d seen it being raced at the very highest level and wanted a piece of that action, even if it was only at little local races rather than at the World Cup 🙂

I’ve never been in any doubt that companies sponsor people/events as it’s great advertising, but I’ve always seen it as probably the ‘nicest’ way of advertising your stuff…not altruistic or anything quite that noble of course, but it does make them easier to identify with (IYSWIM)

I imagine we are all influenced in some way by sponsorship and other forms of advertising and thats why the companies partake in such activities. Exactly how much each of us is influenced i guess is down to the individual, for me it just plants a seed until i’m on that particular wavelength but for me it also has to be a great deal to take the plunge……

Shimano and Campagnolo dominated the road bike groupset market almost exclusively before SRAM came along.
We all use groupsets but who would of bought anything other than the main two players when SRAM was a relative newcomer?
The quality of it’s product has been validated in the eyes of the cycling public in part by it’s sponsored winning riders as a real alternative. Getting the name out there helped too. Obviously price,the quality of the product and buyer experience/reviews/word of mouth etc come into play but without the sponsorhship and success who would pay an equivalent price for a “untried” new product. Would you be using SRAM?
Oh winning their court case against Shimano helped too

UK sales manager, SRAM(astroturf my a***) 😀

🙂 🙂

I think that for small companies wanting to get their name and their products out there, it can be effective. Even to cynical mountain bikers.

I trust my eyes and my peers more than anything else when it comes to bikes/parts/clothing. My first stop is personal recommendations from people I know, but if I see something good at a race or on the trail, I might consider buying it. It’s good grass-roots marketing.

And having riders doing interesting stuff on your bikes give magazines/websites more opportunities to mention you. They might only review your bike once, but then it gets mentioned/seen in action later. That’s the kind of thing that sticks in people’s subconscious.