RACE NEWS
Norco Presses Pause on Factory Race Teams
Since we started building mountain bikes, Norco has been driven by the energy and spirit that competition has brought to our work.
2022, in fact, has been the Norco Factory Team’s most successful year in its over 30 years of racing – results that we continue to celebrate as the season winds down; which makes this announcement even more heartbreaking:
At the end of the race season, we will temporarily pause the Norco Factory DH and XC team programs. We understand this decision drastically affects the lives and careers of so many talented people who have contributed to the program’s success.
To ensure that all our 2022 team athletes and staff can stay on-track for 2023, we’re advocating on their behalf with our industry partners and colleagues to help secure support for all of them.
This pause will allow Norco to confidently navigate the industry’s pandemic recovery. It’s a pragmatic, but excruciating sacrifice we’ve had to make to ensure that Norco will continue to meet the needs of riders and our dealers long into the future.
We’ll continue to ride, engage with our communities, and forge forward as we develop and build innovative mountain bikes, including our next generation of DH and XC platforms. Thanks to all our riders, support staff, sponsors, and fans for your decades of inspiration. It means the world to us.
Comments
Sethsg
1 year, 5 months ago
I imagine they are doing this because of increasing inflation? and they are worried that people will be buying less and less of their bikes?
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IslandLife
1 year, 5 months ago
Yep, think they see the writing on the wall. Shops are packed to the brim, and I'd guess have probably delayed ordering anything new for 2023 until they can sell what they have. But at the same time bike buying has slowed considerably. Prices are sky high while hyper inflation is beginning to take it's toll on the population. Everyone spent all that extra money they had when they couldn't spend it during covid... they also bought all the bikes they needed (and didn't need). Feels like a big empty pause has hit the industry.
Think Norco is pulling in all available resources and stopping spending on anything not deemed necessary at least until we get a better idea of what is really going to happen in 2023. Sucks, but probably smart.
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