No more Team Honda

[420Moment]

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/honda-g...ends-2007.html

[denmother]

That explains why Matti already got a new ride for 2008 with Intense.

9/21/07 Matti Lehikoinen joins the MS- INTENSE FACTORY- RACING team

[tkblazer]

yea, too bad he broke his back... luckily he is already recoverying and on his feet for small periods of time

[420Moment]

Matti on an M6... good stuff. We should do a pool on where the rest of the guys will go. Will IH take any of these guys?

[denmother]

Originally Posted by tkblazer

yea, too bad he broke his back... luckily he is already recoverying and on his feet for small periods of time

Crash pictures

Look, he's doing his best Roger imitation

[tkblazer]

yup saw those before... scary for sure

[DownhillWebKook]

That's a drag for sure, BUT at least these guys will be riding bikes that we as mortals can acquire. Maybe Minnaar will ride for Huffy or something. That would be sick. Team Huffy H-Cross with co-sponsors Rooz Shoes and Geranimals. Tightest team on the World Cup circuit. Pin it, grrrrrrrr.

[cru jones]

That sucks about Honda. I think they were healthy competition for the other companies to step up their game. I talked to a guy from Honda a couple of months ago and he said they were possiby planning on releasing a version of the rn-01 to the masses. I wonder if they will license the technology to another company or keep it locked away in their vault?

[tkblazer]

looks like Kona has an opening for downhill

Fabien Barel is no longer on Kona and is onto Subaru according to Dirt. Rumor on the street is that he’ll be riding a Lapierre with a few other French riders.

“Subaru will be the main sponsor, the team will be 100% French, not sure of how many riders or what bikes they will ride”

[Marshall Willanholly]

The most recent rumor I heard was that Minaar was headed to Trek.

Interesting interview with the former team director of the Honda team:

http://www.dirtmag.co.uk/news/category/press%20release/exclusive-martin-whitely-interview/dirt-123700.html

Sad to hear the bikes are all headed for the crusher!

However, for now, there will be no Honda bikes for sale, anywhere. All the team bikes go to Japan and are compacted as per HRC policy on prototypes.

With regards to the possible consumer version of the bike:

In the end the decision was taken, outside of HRC, that the market was just too small to achieve profitability and production ideas were scrapped. They further argued that if production was not to be realised in the short term, then racing should also be terminated. The hardware development was actually finished, and once that was done, the focus was turned towards production. When they realised that the profitability wasn’t there (and that’s a key factor, if not the deciding factor, in any new product development in business) the project had reached its end.

The real drag is that Honda patented a lot of gearbox technology, which will probably hamper or kill some of the other gearboxes currently in development (i.e. the PeteSpeed/Hayes gearbox).

Such a sweet bike:

[project_d]

Originally Posted by denmother

Crash pictures

Look, he's doing his best Roger imitation

On you are the queen of too-muchery!!!

[wheels619]

too bad they never got a chance to sell the honda bike

[denmother]

Greg Minnaar Signs With Santa Cruz Syndicate

[FONT=Verdana]20.11.2007[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]In arguably the most anticipated signing for the 2008 Mountain Bike race season, 26 year old former World Champion and 2 time World Cup Champion Greg Minnaar (RSA) has today announced he has signed with the Santa Cruz Syndicate for the next 2 years.

After four years of racing for Team G Cross Honda, Minnaar has decided to race the Santa Cruz V10 next year, alongside fellow World Cup race legends Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie. Honda announced the end of its G Cross program last month.

Much speculation has been brewing over the past 5 weeks as to where Greg would race next, but for the South African, the decision was logical: -

"The most important factor for me in choosing a team I race for is the level of support, and the ability to race at my best. It's clear that the Syndicate is driven by people who love to race. To have a race winning bike beneath me as well as team mates that will continue to push me, makes me very excited about the upcoming season. We are going to be a pretty tough team to beat!"

Many of Greg's co-sponsors have been awaiting the announcement of his next team ride and will be confirmed in the coming weeks. However, Greg wanted to pay special tribute to his former major sponsor, Honda: -

"Racing for Team G Cross Honda for the past 4 years was an amazing experience. I had more wins and World Cup podiums on that bike than any other, and the support and friendliness of the whole team made for a very sad day when the announcement came down that it was ending. In this game though, you hope that there is always a new and exciting chapter around the corner, and I'm sure that the Syndicate is going to be an awesome experience for me."
More[/FONT]

[sdyeti]

Syndicate is going off!!

Originally Posted by denmother

Greg Minnaar Signs With Santa Cruz Syndicate

[FONT=Verdana]20.11.2007[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]In arguably the most anticipated signing for the 2008 Mountain Bike race season, 26 year old former World Champion and 2 time World Cup Champion Greg Minnaar (RSA) has today announced he has signed with the Santa Cruz Syndicate for the next 2 years. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]After four years of racing for Team G Cross Honda, Minnaar has decided to race the Santa Cruz V10 next year, alongside fellow World Cup race legends Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie. Honda announced the end of its G Cross program last month. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Much speculation has been brewing over the past 5 weeks as to where Greg would race next, but for the South African, the decision was logical: - [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"The most important factor for me in choosing a team I race for is the level of support, and the ability to race at my best. It's clear that the Syndicate is driven by people who love to race. To have a race winning bike beneath me as well as team mates that will continue to push me, makes me very excited about the upcoming season. We are going to be a pretty tough team to beat!" [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Many of Greg's co-sponsors have been awaiting the announcement of his next team ride and will be confirmed in the coming weeks. However, Greg wanted to pay special tribute to his former major sponsor, Honda: - [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]"Racing for Team G Cross Honda for the past 4 years was an amazing experience. I had more wins and World Cup podiums on that bike than any other, and the support and friendliness of the whole team made for a very sad day when the announcement came down that it was ending. In this game though, you hope that there is always a new and exciting chapter around the corner, and I'm sure that the Syndicate is going to be an awesome experience for me." [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]More[/FONT]

[allison]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

Syndicate is going off!!

I read a post on the DH forum of empty beer... something like, "Now they'll have 2,3, 4th wrapped up"

[sdyeti]

Rennie, Peaty, and Minaar....that deck is stacked!

Originally Posted by allison

I read a post on the DH forum of empty beer... something like, "Now they'll have 2,3, 4th wrapped up"

[allison]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

Rennie, Peaty, and Minaar....that deck is stacked!

Just funny cause he clearly didn't think they had a shot at 1st.

[sdyeti]

Doh! I didn't catch that one (it's really Friday, after all)!

So who will be taking first?

Originally Posted by allison

Just funny cause he clearly didn't think they had a shot at 1st.