2009

In the interest of sponsorship, we decided the team would consist of 3 riders, and they would be the riders that ultimately made it to Vermont for Nationals. Keith, Khaner and I (Dustin). As far as the primary sponsorship, Phil and I agreed that it was too difficult logistically for this to be a rideSFO Team. There was too much to coordinate and not enough time or geographical proximity to make it happen. So, rideSFO remains a sponsor, but not the title sponsor.

Gamut, Sunline, Sixsixone, Royal, Formula, Crank Brothers, and SDG stuck with us and we're proud to be running their product this year. They all make the best gear in their respective categories, so its a no brainer for us. 

Santa Cruz decided not to sponsor us this year. Not sure why, but I'm assuming because we hadn't done precisely what we set out to do: Create a large team that travelled and raced together under the rideSFO banner. What we had done, was take 3 riders to more races than they had ever done before, and to a solid year of podium finishes. I have to say that I'm very proud of our accomplishments, and proud of where we finished at the end of the year. 

I sent Marzocchi an application, and they said they'd get back to us. I think they assumed they were just sponsoring us through rideSFO. But, I have to say, in 2008, we were very unhappy with their product. The 888's were much more laterally stiff than the Boxxers that we had been running, but they quickly became plagued with air issues. Marzocchi service was pretty helpful just before Nationals, but as time wore on, responses have been slower, and ultimately it just became too frustrating to continue dealing with them.