neils on wheels

It will be interesting to see how buyers react to the two new bikes on the market. The Vertigo is being priced at £5,750, the TRS at £5,249.

Apparently there are three companies who have made bids. Sherco is one of them. The administrator who is winding up Gas Gas will decide which of the offers to accept.

There can often be a discrepancy between production capacity & market size. The automotive sector suffered from this for many years, possibly still does, but it's fifteen years since I've worked in that sector.

TMX article today quotes 10 bikes per day. 225 working days per year = 2,250 bikes p.a.Todo trial recently published survey puts the market at 8,000 bikes. 2,250 represents 28% of 8,000; hence around 25% based on the two published sources.

I have read that Vertigo are basing their plans on a production capacity of ten bikes per day. If this operates at full capacity it would equate to a global market share of around 25%

A factory built trials outfit, pairing the new bike with a kids pram. Nice business synergy for Manel Jane.

Thanks for sharing this, interesting interviews. I do hope Fuji does sort out a contract for 2016, he'll be missed when he does retire.

I don't think Bou, or any other trials rider for that matter, could earn anything in MotoGP. Has he ever even ridden one?

Why Atom? Let's say another firm could afford to pay Bou €100k. HRC could get his services easily for €120k, Why then would Honda needlessly pay an extra €880k? If Bou didn't like this deal, to who else could he sell his services?

There is a counter view to this; which is that Vertigo have thoroughly tested & developed the bike before offering it for sale. You pay your money, you take your choice....

But also needless. What would, or could, the second highest paying team pay Bou? Montesa/Honda only need to pay a bit more than that. Bou wants the world titles as much as Honda & they give him the best set up to achieve that. It's not as though WTC riders have manufacturers tripping over themselves in a bidding war.

I think Women's world trials is healthier than the men's sport, they certainly get better entries for WTC events!

Raga is the second best rider in the world, he'll make any bike look good.

They were very different times to today, when WTC struggles to attract enough riders to claim all of the championship points available. That tells you something about the economics of the sport and hence earning potential of the riders. I have no idea on salaries, but would guess that no more than ten-twelve riders are making a living purely as trials riders.

Subscription comes through the door every week, get's used for lighting fires in the winter.

I see the weekly paper is suggesting Raga will ride the TRS in this weekend's TdN. It would make sense for him to test it in competition, since Spain will win the event anyway.

Thanks for sharing this, it's not that insightful, but then what should we expect. Nonetheless an interesting read and an indication of pricing relative to competitors.

This is the move most people anticipated. Good for Raga if he has signed a three year contract at this stage of his career. I wonder how far the TRS engineers have got with stripping the ex-works Gas Gas that is still in Raga's possession? Could be fun if the Gas Gas liquidators come to repossess it! It will be interesting to see how Raga fares on the new bike. Dabill has dropped down the world ranking whilst developing the Vertigo.

...so now you've revealed who the real 'Nigel' is!!

What a farcical result on Saturday. The top two in WTC both lost more in time penalties than on observation. How, by the way, can you be out of time when the sections are so easy? World Cup was just as bad, Iwan Roberts, on 2 marks, lost out in a three way tie for second because he took longer to complete his three laps. Let's hope Sunday is more selective. WTC may be increasingly irrelevant, but it's sunny outside, I'm going to take the mountain bike out

I thought the 200 was a sleeved down 250, not a bored out 125.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you

How do you know this? The WTC Montesa/Honda was competitive long before the minimum 70Kg weight limit. I think they have won 14 of the last 16 world championships both 2 stroke & 4 stroke. A result of having the biggest budget.

I think Dabill should be more concerned about Busto, Casales & Ferrer than about Fajardo.