Bike Sponsorship

[BroDeal]

It appears to me that we have entered a new phase of bike sponsorship. Big bike companies now sponsor multiple big teams. How long will it take for all top teams to be sponsored by just four or five bike companies?

This seems like a bad trend to me.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

It is intimidating, but I don't have any good reason as to why.

If you look at any other sports, this is also the case: Nike and Adidas dominate most team and individual sport sponsorships, and niche companies like speedo or new balance stake a bold claim as an alternative in isolated cases. Despite this often "big three (or two, or four)" situation, innovation and marketing are still competitive, and I don't think the sports suffer.

 

[craig1985]

Isn't this what happened in the past?

 

[Winterfold]

It is intimidating, but I don't have any good reason as to why.

Because they make bikes which are technically proficient but which have no soul.

EDIT: Spec had a soul - but it was in MTB and then they sold it

 

[Archibald]

they all want the top riders on their bikes, so they'll do what they can to make that happen.
I'm sure specialized would much rather have Cancellara doing his thing on their bikes than on treks...
as much as I can't stand treks, they've made a shrewd move in leopard-trek

 

[Jamsque]

I don't see why it matters if there are 5 big road bike manufacturers in the peloton as opposed to 15 or 20. The differences between frames are negligible at this point and they are all made in the same 3 factories in China anyway.

There have only been 3 groupset manufacturers that matter for years now and it hasn't slowed the pace of development at all.

 

[Magnus]

It appears to me that we have entered a new phase of bike sponsorship. Big bike companies now sponsor multiple big teams. How long will it take for all top teams to be sponsored by just four or five bike companies?

This seems like a bad trend to me.

Specialized sponsor 3 big teams (HTC, SBS, Astana), Trek sponsor two (Leopard, Shack), but isn't this the only cases?

To be honest i see more of a trend in bike companies taking a bigger part of the sponsorship (BMC, Trek, Cervelo, and Specialized probably would have been name sponsor at SBS if Saxo Bank had stepped down).

 

[Astana1]

I was thinking that the only reason Specialized was still a supplier to Astana is that they were contractually obligated. If you look at their website the only bike sponsorship that they actually care about featuring is with HTC. You've got to dig in to discover that they provide helmets and clothing to a few other teams.

 

[Anonymous]

Well if JV and the rest get their F1 desires fullfilled then eventually we will have a handful of big manufacturers producing the bikes, and one tyre supplier.

 

[Astana1]

Yes and then we'll have the Trek Factory team powered by Amgen

 

[veganrob]

Because they make bikes which are technically proficient but which have no soul.

EDIT: Spec had a soul - but it was in MTB and then they sold it

You said it. It is so easy to tell which bikes are built by people with passion for the ride. So many of the bikes now are just generic, like you say technically proficient, "built by engineers". Crap.

 

[BroDeal]

Specialized sponsor 3 big teams (HTC, SBS, Astana), Trek sponsor two (Leopard, Shack), but isn't this the only cases?

Pinarello: Sky and Movistar

The differences between frames are negligible at this point and they are all made in the same 3 factories in China anyway.

I think that is precisely why we will see this trend continue. The companies need to separate their product from that of other companies and the no-name, cheap carbon that people are starting to notice. They can put out all the marketing BS they can about advanced carbon and other technical feature that make a neglible difference, but the reality is that nearly all of the frames are manufactured by the same handful of companies. Pro sponsorship is an easy way to separate yourself from the rabble, but it is also very expensive these days. Instead of just providing bikes, it now requires a large amount of direct cash. I have heard figures of roughly three million for a Pro Tour team. That means only the largest, most successful bike companies can afford sponsorship.

Sponsoring additional teams deprives competitors from sponsoring those teams. There could be a natural consolidation as lack of sponsorship deprives bike companies from selling enough to afford sponsorship, and sponsorship by the largest companies drives sales enough to buy even more sponsorship.

In the U.S., Trek and Specialized dominate the market, so much so that most shops are either Trek shops or Specialized shops. Other brands are an after thought. I think it would take away some of the charm of the sport if eighteen teams are sponsored by four bike companies, which all make bikes that are pretty much identical except for the paint and decals.

Another trend is that American (and Canadian) bike companies now provide much of the sponsorship, which is way out of line with the number of top riders those two countries.

 

[AngusW]

In 2001, Colnago sponsored 3 big teams (Mapei, Rabobank and Coast) and so did Pinarello (Telekom, Banesto & Fassa Bortolo). Look sponsored CA, CSC and Kelme. Back then, the US manufacturers tended to concentrate on one European team only (eg, Trek for Postal, Litespeed (not sure if this is a US brand) for Lotto, Cannondale for Saeco, Specialized for Festina).

Other manufacturers/teams at that time:
Eddy Merckx - Domo Farm Frites
Fondriest - Lampre
MBK - Cofidis
Gitane - FdeJ
Decathlon - Ag2R
Bianchi - Mercatone Uno
Orbea - Euskatel


Maybe the trend is going to be the two big manufacturers and their brands sponsoring every European team, or maybe the dominance is moving away from European frames to US ones.

 

[Jamsque]

I broadly agree with you BroDeal. Are there really fewer frame makers in the peloton now than in the past, though? I don't know how many teams were riding Peugot bikes at any one time in the 50s or 60s, it could easily have been more than 1.

It's still possible for new frame makers to break in to the market, Boardman has done well in just a couple of years in the UK and they are going international this year. They are sponsoring UnitedHealthcare this season.

 

[BroDeal]

Are there really fewer frame makers in the peloton now than in the past, though?

I don't know. But the economics of sponsorship has changed radically so a comparison may not be meaningful. Trek might be spending eight million or more on their sponsorships. Scott on the other hand decided to opt out of the Pro Tour or could not afford it. It is not like a decade ago when a company could give a team a hundred bikes and some pocket change.

 

[hfer07]

I broadly agree with you BroDeal. Are there really fewer frame makers in the peloton now than in the past, though? I don't know how many teams were riding Peugot bikes at any one time in the 50s or 60s, it could easily have been more than 1.

It's still possible for new frame makers to break in to the market, Boardman has done well in just a couple of years in the UK and they are going international this year. They are sponsoring UnitedHealthcare this season.

The difference here is between a Bicycle Manufacturing providing frames/equipment and a Multi Billionaire company in the bicycle business "paying riders their salary"(Contador by Specialized & now Cance & the Schleck Bros. by Treck). as far as investment for the Big companies- is a win-win situation, since they're getting the best of what their money can accomplish in terms of advertising, feedback, and all the BS related to the business- and now that Pat is looking to profit on their "UCI frame approved" labels, they can afford to even pay him the discomfort...... that cannot be said by the smaller Bike manufatures, so they have to concentrate on local sponsorship- like most of the European brands.

 

[Michele]

Scott on the other hand decided to opt out of the Pro Tour or could not afford it.

The Scott part is quiet interesting.

A cousin of a friend of mine went to a local shop selling Scott and he answer for an Addict RC which usually is offered in team and other xxx color.
As answer he got "if you want team color, it's ready. If you want the other, you must wait 1 month".
He waited and one month later he got another answer "there's some delay in the material, but if you want the team color, it's ready to ship".
Until here everything sounds normal beside that team color would mean HTC colors.

So my point is that Specialized seems to have done probably a very big offert to HTC while the deal with Scott was probably already done.

 

[Magnus]

Pinarello: Sky and Movistar

That's true, but still:

18 world tour teams, 14 different companies.
And if you look at french pro continetal teams you have Cofidis at Look bikes, Europcar at Colnagos, FdJ at Lapierre, Saur Sojasun at Time, Bretagne Schuller at KTM bikes.
Geox are riding Fuji.
At some of the italian teams MCipollini and De Rosa are sponsors
None of these are sponsors of any world tour team.

It seems to me bike companies are pretty good at sharing the teams between them.

 

[Boeing]

not sure it matters. like steel in the 80's all carbon bikes are the same now anyways

 

[Astana1]

Did Scott opt out of Protour? I just assumed that HTC dropped them. Scott then signed with Pegasus which of course never happened. Apparently they will now supply bikes to Greenedge.

http://www.scott-sports.com/gb_en/news/bike/2892/greenedge_cycling_powered_by_scott

 

[ustabe]

The Scott part is quiet interesting.
. . .
So my point is that Specialized seems to have done probably a very big offert to HTC while the deal with Scott was probably already done.

I wouldn't be surprised if Specialized initiated the HTC deal. With Contador's tainted TdF and Astana's diminishing presence in the US, I'm sure Specialized saw their sponsorship of Astana as a sinking ship.

Anybody in the business will tell you that Specialized, the brand with perhaps the highest customer loyalty in the US, plays hardball.