I guess I can run my Demo for another year?

I really don't get it. They've already sold more than twice as many DH bikes as the nearest competitor. Do they really need to put the fastest guy on the bike to generate more sales? I think it would have been a much better PR move to sign another ripper like Bryceland, McDonald or Smith.

Anyway we'll see how good Gwinn is against the wunderkid.

I retract all my previous statements. I would have like to have thought Mr. Gwin was an up and up guy but it turns out I was wrong. Douche kinda comes to mind.

Dirt.Mpora.com had this in their article
http://dirt.mpora.com/news/omg-aaron-gwin-joins-specialized.html

"The last several weeks have been a very difficult period for our company as owners of the Trek World Racing program. Despite the fact that on August 9 of last year, Aaron Gwin signed a legally binding Letter Of Intent with our team for the next three seasons, his agent wrote an email to the team in mid-December stating he had decided to race for another bike brand. Mr Gwin confirmed his agreement with our team in public statements, and he and his agent repeatedly confirmed the existence of, and commitment to, the agreement in written correspondence with us. Yet, only weeks before the team was required to submit the official team roster to UCI, Mr Gwin informed the team that he was abandoning TWR in total disregard of his contractual obligations.

The team reached out on several occasions in December in order to try and remedy whatever concerns Mr Gwin had, but these were ignored until the team received a letter from his Attorneys on December 27 stating he would not ride for our team. In the interests of the team and our sponsors, we are actively pursuing all options open to us at this point, including legal action, and remain completely surprised by Mr Gwin’s unprofessional actions.

Team Director Martin Whiteley says: “This has not been an easy time for us. In the bigger picture however I find positivity in the fact that the Trek World Racing program will continue regardless of the outcome of this dispute, as no single rider is bigger than the team as a whole. Every rider who has been on our Downhill program has had the best years of their career with us, and we will continue to bring on talented riders. The team has a history of helping riders win who had not previously won, including Aaron Gwin. It’s our intention to continue that type of record with new talent. I would personally like to acknowledge the complete support and loyalty we’ve received from our title sponsor Trek Bikes who have been unwavering in their commitment to the program since this news broke. In the interests of the fans, we hope this matter will be resolved sooner rather than later”.

The line, “ we are actively pursuing all options open to us at this point, including legal action, and remain completely surprised by Mr Gwin’s unprofessional actions.” suggests that this isn’t the end of the matter. Is this going to get messy? Here’s hoping it’s all resolved before the opening World Cup at Fort William on 8/9th June."

IMO when you sign a contract you honour it.

I totally agree. I had thought that maybe Trek, Specialized and Gwin had all come to some sort of agreement. turns out you were right. my bad.

Letter of Intent isn't necessarily the same as as a contract.

business is business

and more

seems Whitely got case of "don't like it when it happens to you now, does it?"

http://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/Developing-Trek-Wants-Aaron-Gwin-Back-Whiteley-Pursuing-Legal-Action,706?utm_source=facebook.com[HTML_REMOVED]utm_medium=referral[HTML_REMOVED]utm_campaign=spotlight

People were getting bored of Gwin moping up on every season. At least this throws a bit more spice into the arena. Will he be as fast on another bike in the first race? Probably, but its going to be interesting to see.

My 2010 Demo has probably doubled in price :fruit:

business is business

Not exactly the 'Hans Rey' school of business though!

I personally couldn't care less. He's the Mikka Hakkinen of mountain biking. I can't even remember any part of any of his runs. Yaaaawn…..

who's to say anything shady was done?

The reports say that Gwin signed a Letter of Intent to sign for three years with Trek but breached that "contract" to go with Specialized. It may be that he wanted something from Trek to put into the contract that they weren't able or willing to provide that Specialized could. Might get ugly if Trek sue and prevent Gwin from racing.

I guess I can run my Demo for another year?

Too many jokes possible.

Letter of Intent isn't necessarily the same as as a contract.

It is a form of contract though. But without reading it we do not know what the terms of the LOI are. There are five things that are required for a contract to be binding, offer, intent, consideration, legal nature of the agreement, parties can legally enter a contract.

Not exactly the 'Hans Rey' school of business though!

googled this out of curiosity - hans has been riding gt for 25 years! that's some impressive loyalty.

and: i concur w/ the gwin 'meh' sentiment.

business is business

oh at the end of the day,ya business is business…but there is more than one way one can go about it. Seems by your link Greg Minnaar would have gone the classy route. Trek and Specialized seem to be no saints when it comes to their business practices and maybe they deserve what they get or got what they deserved.

Too many jokes possible.

well at least try to make one.