# Team CSC-SB and Cervelo end partnership



## interested (Sep 21, 2005)

Team CSC-SB will stop using Cervelo bikes at the end of the season. The reason seems to be a money issue, since several bicycle manufacturers are outbidding Cervelo by huge margins. Trek, Specialized and Scott are part of the bidding war. The offers so far are said to be around 3.5 million euros (5.1 mill USD) in cash not including bikes etc. The amount is said to be historically high regarding the cycling sport.

I guess that this extra cash comes in handy when paying the pay rises for Sastre and Cancellera.
Cervelo are said to be negotiating with other teams.


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## Einstruzende (Jun 1, 2004)

That sucks. It always seems like a good match. I hope Cervelo is able to find another "ProTour" team by next year. I guess Specialized has some money freed up since Gerolsteiner seems to be going away.


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## roadie92 (Jan 21, 2008)

Well Cervelo still has Team Cervelo-Lifeforce


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

interested said:


> Team CSC-SB will stop using Cervelo bikes at the end of the season. The reason seems to be a money issue, since several bicycle manufacturers are outbidding Cervelo by huge margins. Trek, Specialized and Scott are part of the bidding war. The offers so far are said to be around 3.5 million euros (5.1 mill USD) in cash not including bikes etc. The amount is said to be historically high regarding the cycling sport.
> 
> I guess that this extra cash comes in handy when paying the pay rises for Sastre and Cancellera.
> Cervelo are said to be negotiating with other teams.


Where did you hear this? It's not on cyclingnews/velonews/cervelo web sites.


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## ziggurat22 (Jul 13, 2005)

That's a shame. I too hope they end up with another team. They are clearly the best bikes in the peloton, IMO, and that's saying a lot considering how many great bike companies have their bikes under pros.


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## gray8110 (Dec 11, 2001)

ziggurat22 said:


> That's a shame. I too hope they end up with another team. <strong>They are clearly the best bikes in the peloton</strong>, IMO, and that's saying a lot considering how many great bike companies have their bikes under pros.


Cervelo marketing FTW!1!!

I don't have any reason to doubt the OP, but there I too can't find any confirmation of this out on the interwebs. I'd be curious to know where the info came from. There's no reason that CSC-SB would leak the info before a sponsorship deal is inked.


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## CleavesF (Dec 31, 2007)

Well as people say, if "cervelo is the best" they're gonna start losing


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## stunzeed (Jul 27, 2007)

I read somewhere that Team CSC had Cervelo put in their contract that only CSC can ride cervelos in the pro tour since they felt it gave them such an edge..sounds like marketing hype to me...


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## levels1069 (Jun 9, 2006)

Source?

Story has many holes.


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## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

Maybe now we'll see Cervelo's dressed in something other than black, red and white.


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

ziggurat22 said:


> That's a shame. I too hope they end up with another team. They are clearly the best bikes in the peloton, IMO, and that's saying a lot considering how many great bike companies have their bikes under pros.


Hook, line, and sinker. Marketing works.


FWIW, I do know first hand that Riis approached one other company to supply them with bikes only and no cash (and I was told in confidentiality so I am not naming names) but the company is too small to do it. Anyway, the point is that Riis has something else up his sleeve other than money. Cervelos are good bikes but there is no technical advantage or else Riis would not be dropping the partnership.

If you really want to see what the best bikes are (or, more accurately, which bikes the pros like to ride the most), try to see which bikes have been purchased and rebadged. There are a handful of US, German, and Italian builders, some that you've probably never heard of, from which many pros are buying bikes and rebadging. Although because so many bikes are so distinctive now with their tube shapes, many teams don't let their riders use these other bikes for the mass start stages during the Tour and some other special races, although if you look closely in the time trials you'll see that some guys are on bikes that are rebadged.


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## serbski (Dec 2, 2002)

Heard about this maybe a month or so ago... My Magic Eight Ball source told me: Specialized.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

While it would be nice to see the source, the story makes sense. Cervelo is not an 800-pound gorilla like a Trek or Specialized to get into a high-flying bidding war, and Saxo Bank is leaving money on the table (especially to finance all those top rider salaries) if it doesn't fully leverage its technical sponsorships. 2 years ago Specialized (I recall reading) paid over $1MM (excluding bikes) just to be the bike sponsor for Quick Step because of the marketing power of Boonen and Bettini and the team's overall prowess in one-day races. You pick up your average road bike mag and you're going to see a Specialized bike several times because QS wins. Ditto with CSC and Cervelo. That's a lot of marketing bang for your buck. I see a guy like CEO Mike Sinyard of Specialized paying what it takes to get Saxo Bank and having Quick Step as his "back up" marketing team, then cutting QS loose once the QS sponsorship expires.


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## I am The Edge (Jul 27, 2004)

ziggurat22 said:


> That's a shame. I too hope they end up with another team. *They are clearly the best bikes in the peloton, IMO,* and that's saying a lot considering how many great bike companies have their bikes under pros.



really? how do you know?


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## Mad_Hun (Jul 3, 2007)

Sherpa23 said:


> There are a handful of US, German, and Italian builders, some that you've probably never heard of, from which many pros are buying bikes and rebadging.


Could you name some of these brands? I'm not quite sure how one would research this.


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

serbski said:


> Heard about this maybe a month or so ago... My Magic Eight Ball source told me: Specialized.


If this is true then teams with Specialized bikes will dominate the classics. Furthermore it may even give them some more visibility during the TdF and some of the pre-tour prep races like TdSuisse.


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## gray8110 (Dec 11, 2001)

Mad_Hun said:


> Could you name some of these brands? I'm not quite sure how one would research this.


The entire Gerolsteiner team rides Walser TT bikes with Specialized logos, Menchov was riding a Giant TT bike in recent tours and more than a few riders have been seen riding Cervelo TT bikes.

Their everyday bikes are less common. If you go back to 2001 & 2002 before Cervelo took over sponsorship of CSC, their riders were frequently seen riding bikes that were labeled Look's but clearly weren't. Tyler Hamilton rode a Parlee Z1 road bike with Look Decals and Cervelo P3s were showing up in the TTs with Look badges. The farther back you go, the more common it was - Indurain riding Pegoretti badged as Pinarellos, 7-11 riding Serottas (labeled as Huffy or Murray) Andy Hampsten riding a Land Shark etc.


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## Travis (Oct 14, 2005)

I am peeling the CSC stickers off my R3 right now dammit! All that money to buy the bike and I can feel like Jen Voight anymore


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

There has also been a rumor floating around that Cevelo is trying to launch their own Pro Continental team and is working on getting Sastra away from CSC to be the leader


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## I am The Edge (Jul 27, 2004)

MG537 said:


> *If this is true then teams with Specialized bikes will dominate the classics.* Furthermore it may even give them some more visibility during the TdF and some of the pre-tour prep races like TdSuisse.



why?? are specialized bikes the best on the planet? has nothing to do with the rider or team, right? what's so special about specialized?


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

Mad_Hun said:


> Could you name some of these brands? I'm not quite sure how one would research this.


Tafi rode a Colnago C40 when he was on CSC

When Ulrich beat Lace in the first TT of the 2003 Tour it was on a repainted Wasler. Trek had one of their European employees order one and they tried to reverse engineer it, but failed. The narrow BB did not work well with everyones fit. Lance also used a Lighspeed TT bike in the 99 Tour


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## c_balls (Feb 5, 2007)

gray8110 said:


> The entire Gerolsteiner team rides Walser TT bikes with Specialized logos, Menchov was riding a Giant TT bike in recent tours and more than a few riders have been seen riding Cervelo TT bikes.
> 
> Their everyday bikes are less common. If you go back to 2001 & 2002 before Cervelo took over sponsorship of CSC, their riders were frequently seen riding bikes that were labeled Look's but clearly weren't. Tyler Hamilton rode a Parlee Z1 road bike with Look Decals and Cervelo P3s were showing up in the TTs with Look badges. The farther back you go, the more common it was - Indurain riding Pegoretti badged Pinarellos, 7-11 riding Serottas (labeled as Huffy or Murray) Andy Hampsten riding a Land Shark etc.


Think it was actually Pegorettis badged as Pinerello, I may be mistaken, and possibly also a few other 'brands' of the era. Also seem to remember Teschner (Aus) making some time trial bikes (certainly did world cup level track bikes).

I though Riis BOUGHT all his gear so....."they could select the BEST components to contruct the team bikes"

That said I would not say no to a free R3 with Durace


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## Sherpa23 (Nov 5, 2001)

bigpinkt said:


> Tafi rode a Colnago C40 when he was on CSC
> 
> When Ulrich beat Lace in the first TT of the 2003 Tour it was on a repainted Wasler. Trek had one of their European employees order one and they tried to reverse engineer it, but failed. The narrow BB did not work well with everyones fit. Lance also used a Lighspeed TT bike in the 99 Tour



As an aside, I have a bike that CSC ordered for the mountain stages for the Tour a couple of years ago that's not a Cervelo. It's too small for me but it gets some use now and again. Similarly, I used to have a Colnago C-40 (OLD!!) that was painted and badged as a Gitane from a team I used to race for.

Anyways, Gray named a bunch of stuff but that's older. All of those companies are still building bikes for pros that are being rebadged along with some others. Currently, I know that some Colnagos used by certain sprinters are not actually Colnagos but another lugged carbon bike and I know that some other pros (including a fairly recent Roubaix winner) bought the same bike to use when they don't have to use their team bike. I also know that a certain sizeable US builder from the northeast that already has a pro tour team has several other pros on their new carbon bike with other badging on it. And the pros have all paid for these other bikes - not what everyday people pay but basically enough to cover the company's cost of manufacturing. Italy has 4 or 5 small builders supplying a fair amount of bikes to a lot of guys as well. Steve Teschner used have a lot of bikes in the peloton but not so much any more, but that's more due to the fact that his bikes can't blend in. The problem these days is that different manufacturers have such distinctive looking bikes that a lot of the teams are frowning upon the riders bringing their personal bikes (regardless of badging) to certain races. In some races they don't care but the Tour and some of the big races get so much coverage that there has been some major fallout in recent years. Still, it happens a lot more than people realize.

Unless you have an individual sponsorship and get to choose what you ride, free team bikes can sometimes be a curse more than a blessing.


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

Rumor. I'll believe it when I see Gerard confirm it.


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## Bertrand (Feb 1, 2005)

It's time for Cervelo to sell out to Trek or Specialized


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

I am The Edge said:


> why?? are specialized bikes the best on the planet? has nothing to do with the rider or team, right? what's so special about specialized?


Wrong on all counts. 
Specialized will dominate the classics because they will have Quick-Step and Saxo Bank riding their bikes. 
Boonen, Devolder vs Cancellara, Arvesen, O'Grady on Specialized bikes.
Comme Ardennes classics week you will have the Schlecks and Kroon on Specialized.

Assuming all this is true of course and that another team like Lotto doesn't come and dominate the northern classics.


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## I am The Edge (Jul 27, 2004)

i wasn't trying to be right on any counts.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

CSC was probably the best thing ever for Cervelo, just like USPS was for Trek. But by now, they have established the brand. If they can get into another big team for less money, that would be the way to go. It costs them less, and it could be sort of a rebirth, as all the team fanboys go out and buy the new bike.


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## interested (Sep 21, 2005)

gray8110 said:


> Cervelo marketing FTW!1!!
> 
> I don't have any reason to doubt the OP, but there I too can't find any confirmation of this out on the interwebs. I'd be curious to know where the info came from. There's no reason that CSC-SB would leak the info before a sponsorship deal is inked.


I was in a bit of a hurry, and since there were no English language site I knew of had the story, I omitted sources since I guessed that some English site would pick it up soon.

I should probably have emphasized more that this is of course a rumour. However, the quality of the rumour seems high since various parts of it has been confirmed by e.g. Team CSC-SB.

The first rumour is from the Dutch Wielermagazine: http://www.wielermagazine.com/nieuws/6538/begint_cervelo_eigen_team.html
Basically saying that Cervelo together with Swiss capital where negotiating about a new team with a Swiss licence (a restructured Gerolsteiner?), together with the rumour that Team CSC-SB where soliciting a new bike sponsor (Specialized mentioned) etc.

The Danish site feltet.dk repeats the story, but also has a confirmation from CSC-SB's PR guy, Brian Nygaard, that CSC-SB are actively negotiating with several bike sponsors about a new bike sponsorship:
http://www.feltet.dk/index.php?id_parent=1&id=28&id_nyhed=14550

Later the site has a independent source that mention the amount of money and who the bidding finalists are:
http://www.feltet.dk/index.php?id_parent=1&id=28&id_nyhed=14580

Again, according to the rumour, the deal is expected to be closed September-October.

Anyway, Team CSC-SB needs the cash since Cancellara and Sastre have received pay rises, and to keep the Schleck brothers will also require some serious cash.

I find it interesting that Trek is mentioned, are they dropping Astana for some unknown reason, or do they think its makes sense to sponsor two top pro teams.

Scott USA or Specialized are probably better and more natural partners for CSC-SB.


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## xclr (Jul 8, 2007)

*Team CSC-SB...*

I am Specialized, :thumbsup:


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Hopefully Kristen Armstrong won't have to ride something that's WSD...


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

Here is the latest on the rumor of a Cervelo team, perhaps partnered with a Swiss financial group

http://www.velo-club.net/article?sid=47367


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## gormleyflyer2002 (Sep 12, 2005)

no worries........Jen's will still make them all cry no matter what he rides, gate post with shopping cart wheels.....!!!!


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

bigpinkt said:


> Here is the latest on the rumor of a Cervelo team, perhaps partnered with a Swiss financial group
> 
> http://www.velo-club.net/article?sid=47367


After reading this post from that other forum, Cervelo along with an unamed Swiss financial backer, may be putting together a pro-Continental team under Swiss license. Carlos Sastre's name along with some former Gerolsteiner riders are being thrown into the rumor mill. Christian Henn could be their DS .

So many rumors, so little time to digest them all properly.


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## ziggurat22 (Jul 13, 2005)

I am The Edge said:


> really? how do you know?


I don't. "IMO" means "in my opinion." This means that there is no data. per se, to back up the assertion, but it is rather, my own opinion and/or feeling on the matter.

To be clearer, I should have said IMHO, which infers that my opinion is "humble" and probably really, _really_ shouldn't be taken all that seriously.


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## tete de la tour (Oct 26, 2006)

MG537 said:


> After reading this post from that other forum, Cervelo along with an unamed Swiss financial backer, may be putting together a pro-Continental team under Swiss license. Carlos Sastre's name along with some former Gerolsteiner riders are being thrown into the rumor mill. Christian Henn could be their DS .
> 
> So many rumors, so little time to digest them all properly.


 I heard about this a couple weeks ago but thought perhaps they were confusing SB and the new financial backer. this team I understand will be made up of strong cyclist. Thor God of thunder perhaps?


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## hobie1 (May 7, 2008)

Specialized just has alot of money. That does not mean they have great bikes. They pay big bucks to get their name out there.

Look at the booth plans for this coming Eurobike.

http://www.eurobike-show.com/pdf/de/Halle_A3.pdf

Specialized has the BIGGEST booth.

Again - it does not mean they have the best bikes.

Just my 2 cents.


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## rogger (Aug 19, 2005)

According to www.fiets.nl Katyusha is rumored to ride on Cervelo next year, Rabo is to switch to Giant and Milram will ride Focus bikes. 

http://www.fiets.nl/news.asp?NewsId=1877&NewsCatId=2


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

hobie1 said:


> Specialized just has alot of money. That does not mean they have great bikes. They pay big bucks to get their name out there.
> 
> Look at the booth plans for this coming Eurobike.
> 
> ...



Because there are no "best" bikes or manufacturers. Just like no best materials to make a bike. There is a best rider- Jens Voigt, but that's the only "best" there is. 

Although I do like Specialized bikes. . .


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## godot (Feb 3, 2004)

Will a Continental team that switches to Cervelo bikes automatically be upgraded to ProTour status base solely on the supremacy of Cervelo's technology?


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*that picture of Tafi*

looks more like the Nivachrome Steel Super Prodigy some CSC riders rode in the classics early on than a Nag. Doesn't seem to have any of the Nag CF lugs


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## Mosovich (Feb 3, 2004)

*I agree..*

I think it's their steel prodigy frame.. Also, interesting Colnago losing two teams...


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## Einstruzende (Jun 1, 2004)

Mosovich said:


> I think it's their steel prodigy frame.. Also, interesting Colnago losing two teams...


Both ProTour teams no less. I'm sure they will find another team.


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## davidka (Dec 12, 2001)

atpjunkie said:


> looks more like the Nivachrome Steel Super Prodigy some CSC riders rode in the classics early on than a Nag. Doesn't seem to have any of the Nag CF lugs


 Look closely, you can see the lug in the seat cluster area. It was a long time ago now but I recall the Steel bikes that they rode at the time being chrome and red, not white and red.


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## bigpinkt (Jul 20, 2006)

atpjunkie said:


> looks more like the Nivachrome Steel Super Prodigy some CSC riders rode in the classics early on than a Nag. Doesn't seem to have any of the Nag CF lugs


Tafi has said that he used a re-painted C-40. I think I copied the picture a while back from an article about pro's riding re-badged frames. It does appear to be missing the lugs on the down tube but the top tube there is a small bump


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

My two thoughts on the subject are-

-don't mess with success

but also

-it's the motor more than the frame that determines who wins (especially with Grand Tour winners relying so heavily on climbs and all bikes having the same weight limits). 

That said I'm not looking to sell my Cervelo, and it ain't painted in anyone's team colors.


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## Jesse D Smith (Jun 11, 2005)

bigpinkt said:


> Tafi has said that he used a re-painted C-40. I think I copied the picture a while back from an article about pro's riding re-badged frames. It does appear to be missing the lugs on the down tube but the top tube there is a small bump


It would make sense to be a Colnago since that's what the Mapei team's rode.


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## gofasterR (Jun 13, 2006)

Specialized has been talking to CSC-Saxo, Columbia, and Health Net. They have come the close to deals with all three, but nothing is finalized.

Health Net is reportedly losing their title sponsor, and will become something else if one of their future-possible riders signs on and brings his big money medically related sponsor with.

Rabobank will be signing one of these team's former bike sponsor, and it is not Cervelo or Cannondale...


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## cocoboots (Apr 13, 2006)

interested said:


> Anyway, Team CSC-SB needs the cash since Cancellara and Sastre have received pay rises, and to keep the Schleck brothers will also require some serious cash.



one of those blokes is being courted to be an argyle warrior. they might not be hurting that much if he jumps ship.


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## tconrady (May 1, 2007)

So when can we rush out and buy our own Specialized Stuey O'Grady signiture HTFU models?


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## gofasterR (Jun 13, 2006)

CSC has finalized a deal for their bike sponsor for next season. 

It will be pretty cool to see them on Specialized for 2009.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

Ick. Too bad. Cervelo was such a nice bike.


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## levels1069 (Jun 9, 2006)

gofasterR said:


> CSC has finalized a deal for their bike sponsor for next season.
> 
> It will be pretty cool to see them on Specialized for 2009.


source? link? until then its just more rumors!


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## ntpetrie (Jul 13, 2007)

It's strange to think that CSC would be riding on Specialized next season, due to the fact that CSC has always been a team that puts a huge emphasis on time trialing. I was at this years Tour and saw first hand that the best time trialists who rode for Gerolsteiner all rode Walsers with Specialized logos on them, rather than the Transition as provided by specialized. It could be that beneath all the marketing and technical jargon that the Cervelo TT machines really do not provide any substantial competitive advantage...? Or it could just come down to money and that you could put Cancellara on any bike and he would crush the clocks.


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## mh3 (Mar 8, 2006)

rogger said:


> According to www.fiets.nl Katyusha is rumored to ride on Cervelo next year, Rabo is to switch to Giant and Milram will ride Focus bikes.
> 
> http://www.fiets.nl/news.asp?NewsId=1877&NewsCatId=2


 It looks like Katusha is going with Ridley. They dropped Silence-Lotto. Busy end of season for bike sponsors it seems. 

 Link


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## Bry03cobra (Oct 31, 2006)

mh3 said:


> It looks like Katyusha is going with Ridley. They dropped Silence-Lotto. Busy end of season for bike sponsors it seems.
> 
> Link


Ugh, I ride a cervelo. I didn't buy it beacause I was a CSC fan. I didn't care one way or another. But if Cadel Evans is on a cervelo next year.......I really dislike Cadel, how he rides, how he acts, I don't want him on cervelos. There is no rumor to this, just looking at the possibilty.


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