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Lopes and Ibis Part Ways. Come again?

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OriginalDonk

· OriginalDonk
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469 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Looks like Lopes and Ibis have parted ways. Sounds like it was mutual but didn't see that one coming.

Ibis site has a photo of Lopes charging through what looks like an EWS finish and links to this page with an awesome array of Lopes photos and videos:

Moving On | News | Info | Ibis Cycles US

"Our time working with Brian was filled with thrills, victories and lasting memories - from an unprecedented string of victories on Whistler's A-Line to the first World Cup victory in the XC Eliminator in Houffalize. We'd like to thank Brian for all he contributed to the ongoing Ibis story and wish him the best in his future endeavours." - Scott Nicol, Ibis
 
budgie

· screamer
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1,400 Posts
#3 ·
I wouldn't be surprised to see him move into MX, since the team development that he's been doing lately seems to have been quite successful. MX has to be more lucrative than the bike industry, and as a 40+ year old dad, I expect the demands of being a sponsored MTB rider -- travel, for one thing! -- for the long term just doesn't make sense. I'm sure we'll still see him racing: just perhaps not as much as in the past. It's been fun to watch what he's done with Ibis I must say, and too bad to see it come to a close.

Also fun to speculate who will replace him on the Ibis roster!
 
slyfink

· mountain biker
Joined
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536 Posts
#8 ·
I'm more curious to know who Ibis will bring in to replace him... They have ACC racing Enduro... will they sponsor another enduro racer, or sponsor a rider from another discipline? I think it will be indicative of where their development strategy is going.
 
OriginalDonk

· OriginalDonk
Joined
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469 Posts
Discussion Starter · #11 ·
I'll second Lapierre as a likely option given how involved Joe Binatena at Lopes' Shop BikeCo is with their product development. I'd say a dark horse would also be BMC. BikeCo is getting more involved in that brand and they've brought on some serious talent in the past few years (Julian Absalon for XC, strong road team, and Aaron Bradford for Enduro).

If he keeps racing would he stick with X-Fusion or help Lapierre with their EI tech. Interesting to see how it shakes out.
 
Just J

· Registered
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6,904 Posts
#19 ·
odin said:
Bikemag already released additional info:
News: Brian Lopes Signs Deal With New Sponsor | BIKE Magazine
Click to expand...
Hmmm interesting, how about throwing Intense in there? If BriLo is looking for a future after racing it might be possible that he go work for a Socal company and one with pretty big changes going on such as Intense...

Anyway good luck Brian, I rode with him the day before the WC in Dalby Forest 3 years ago, nice guy and amazing to see him cut trails like nobody else! :)
 
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