Let's talk team riders! Who, why, what

[Toby]

Had this topic in mind for a while...it would be interesting what consumers, industry and pro riders think.

- is a team rider worth the money
- should they get more support from companies (barely anyone makes some extra money)
- do they help to sell more kites
- is their feedback for gear important
- do consumers buy gear because of team riders
- which team rider has the most value
- what should team riders do and what not
- how important is their coolness factor (down to earth, open for everyone, arrogant/cool etc)

etc!

Will be interesting to know what everyone thinks!

[flyingweasel]

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[loeuftok]

well basically I don't give a sh#t about team rider unless they are mine
As a matter of fact, I will not be influenced in my purchase by any team rider that are competing.
there are a few team rider that are not competing that have a deep knowledge of the gear, but as I said, just not enough of them to be considered.
As a consumer, you should better get advice from a good shop ( yes there are some) rather than from advertising showing team rider.
However, I am very glad for these rider that they can live that way, and will never ask my suppliers to stop the system. I sponsor 1 rider right now, looking for a second one, just to help kids enjoy our life style

[edt]

is a team rider worth the money

Sports have endorsements, that's how it works. Tiger woods, lebron james, dale earnhardt jr, peyton manning, david beckham. Even ping pong and badmitten have endorsements.

[Geronimo79]

Totally depends on the teamrider. PKRA doesnt mean shit to me. Although i love to see Langeree in action. Len10 is less a Slingshot promoter and more an how extreme does it get promoter.

But for instance, Bas Koole he's a dutch teamrider for Airush he is doing an amazing job for Airush the whole image on Airush has changed over here (atleast thats how i see it)
Before he rode Airush i and many others saw Airush as that 2nd class Beginner kites. The only people riding them where beginners.

But since Bas Koole started riding the Generator and now the Razors he slowly showed the Netherlands (and probably more countrys) that those kites really did the trick. He and the distributor turned up on events. Airush is now one of the bigger brands here, without Bas Koole i dont think that would have happend.
Now part of the good promotion is the guy himself, he happens to ride on some of the same kitespots as i do and he is open towards everyone. He helps people when they trying to learn a trick, he's happy to put his kites in your hands and is generally a friendly guy.

Another example is Dimitri Maramenides, he's very aproachable on the forum, his mail and on the beach. He go's to people here please test this kite and tell me what you think so he gets good feedback. He's driving up and down and traveling places to show the kites, to let people feel them. He's friendly and gets people excited about the products. now ofcourse he's more then a teamrider now. But not always been that way. I'm sure lots of people buy the kites just because of him.

[kitesurfrabbi]

I'm sure lots of people buy the kites just because of him.

i'm pretty sure much more people won't buy the kites just because of him

[davesails7]

The first person that comes to mind for a team rider everyone knows is Len10. Always eager to see his new videos. Although I've never purchased anything from slingshot, so maybe it's not working very well on me...

Racing team riders seem like they pay off more than in freestyle. Everyone who races looks at what kite and what board is winning races and they want that kite and board.

[pwnd550]

Had this topic in mind for a while...it would be interesting what consumers, industry and pro riders think.

- is a team rider worth the money
- should they get more support from companies (barely anyone makes some extra money)
- do they help to sell more kites
- is their feedback for gear important
- do consumers buy gear because of team riders
- which team rider has the most value
- what should team riders do and what not
- how important is their coolness factor (down to earth, open for everyone, arrogant/cool etc)

etc!

Will be interesting to know what everyone thinks!

Yeah a team rider is worth the money, since (from my opinion) seeing a known team rider, like Langeree, Hadlow and Zoon, riding a kite or board makes me interested in that brand or model, so I think they definitely help sell more kites.. Their feedback is very important to me! But i think some team riders are a bit too arrogant, but some are cool and chill

[magic%20Ed]

Let's talk about the reason(s) behind this question: what do you, Toby, care which riders have what influence? What do you want to know, or maybe, what do you want to share (in an indirect manner) with us?

[Toby]

sorry, no conspiracy behind it! Just wondering what people think, also industry etc.
Which team riders people are interested in etc.

Also interesting topic for people who might want to sponsor someone...and need criteria to decide...

simple as that!