Teams work in different ways. Some trail together some don't. Some teams are made up of road, xc, and gravity sports. Try and make a team meeting, or organize one your self, and find out what or establish how things are going to work. Depending on the team, or club, the gravity sports groups get treated like ugly step children.
I'm, or just recently was (didn't renew for next year), on a team/club (LGBRC) that was sponsored by Specialized and Easton, as well other smaller companies, that gave very generous, usually whole prices. But, the kicker was that you had only a small window of time, say from Jan 31 thru Feb 20 to put in your orders. Then the order from Easton was for packages only. Meaning that we had to buy bars, stems, and seat post. Not a bad deal unless you already have their bars, and stem, but only wanted the seatpost.
Easton wasn't too bad, what really got the MTBers, was the fact that Specialized gave a special on their road bikes (whole sale, if I'm not mistaken), but didn't offer the same for Mountain bikes. There were no requirements, conditions, or quotas for any one wanting a road bike. When asked what about Mountain bikes, the reply was "When you guys prove yourselves, you will get your discount". Not sure if that came from Specialized, or the team manager. We were not allowed to talk to the company reps, only the team liaison for sponsorships. We proved our selves alright, several CCCX series champs, and other wins, for the MTB squad, but we all ended up walking. As far as I now, none of us resigned for another season, with the exception of a few guys who road race also.
The biggest thing to watch for in a team is who is the team captain or manager. If he's a MTBer your in good shape, unless he's got some thing against gravity sport riders. If he's a roadie only type, from my experience, find another team..... run, don't walk.
