2012 KHS Factory Team Announced

Brendan Fairclough To Ride For Scott 11

Following the wrap up of yet another amazing season of Downhill racing, a number of interesting rumors involving Claudio’s 11, Swiss cheese, pump tracks, and Brendan Fairclough’s next move have been circulating online. SCOTT Sports is delighted to put an end to the speculation and to proudly welcome professional DH racer, and all round pinner, Brendan Fairclough to the Scott11 team. 

Brendan is widely recognized as one of the most well rounded riders on the DH circuit with a unique style that has captivated and inspired his many fans. Whether he is racing competitions or ripping with friends, his natural ability and bike control make him one of the most exciting riders to watch. Brendan is a regular top ten rider with an impressive 4th place finish at the recent 2011 Champéry World Championships, despite a torn ACL, and has featured in multiple highly acclaimed mountain bike films such as Clay Porter’s 3 Minute Gaps and Anthill Films’ Follow Me. Now, after having undergone reconstructive knee surgery, Brendan is ready to come back next season to continue working with top bike film producers and to take on the UCI World Cup DH series with a new knee and a new bike.

SCOTT Sports and the SCOTT11 team will give Brendan the opportunity to take his racing to the next level by providing him with unparalleled support and the finest equipment to reach his goals. Brendan will also play an instrumental role in developing and testing SCOTT products including SCOTT’s Gambler and Voltage FR bikes. 

“I’m really happy to have the opportunity to join Scott11 for the 2012 and 2013 seasons,” says Brendan. “It’s going to be a big change from the last few years since I’ll now act as the lead rider on the team, but it’s a role I feel I am ready to take up and feel it’s going to be good for me in my fight for a championship. It’s going to be good to progress with SCOTT in the downhill market and hope we can get the bike on the top step of the podium and beyond. Very happy to have signed and can't wait to get stuck into the season.”

“With Brendan on board, we can finally play a major role in the men's field,” adds Team Manager Claudio Caluori. “The whole team is totally excited and will work flat out to get Brendan where Floriane Pugin has been since joining Scott11: On that podium!” Welcome to SCOTT, Brendog! 

The Hive 2012 Product Line

Brook MacDonald Signs With 23 Degrees

23 Degrees Sports Management announced today that it has finalized an agreement to represent 2009 Junior World Champion and World Number 6, Brook MacDonald of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. After an impressive 2011 that included 3 World Cup podiums and an overall 6th place in the series, Brook who turns 20 next week, has a big future ahead of him.

Brook had this to say: "Next year is a really important year for me. I want to build on the experience I gained this year and chase down my goals of being one of the top Downhillers on the circuit next year and hopefully gain a medal at the World Champi onships. To be honest, I struggle a bit with the admin and paper work side of the sport and just want to focus on my training and racing. I’ve seen what Martin and 23 Degrees has done for Sam (Blenkinsop) and other riders, and so I asked him to help me out with my career. I’m looking forward to it.”

Founder and Owner of 23 Degrees Sports Management, Martin Whiteley, commented on Brook’s signing.

"There’s no question that Brook is on the verge of something big in our sport and we’re very happy that he’s asked us to assist him. We’ll help him evaluate his sponsorship deals and take some of the burden away so he can put more of his focus into preparing for the season and racing at podium level in 2012. This brings our athlete management roster to 7; we don’t expect to add any more athletes going into next year as we have a great stable to work with for now".

Brook’s profile page can be found here: http://www.23degrees-sports.com/athlete.php?athlete_id=26

Adidas Acquires Five Ten

The adidas Group today announced that it has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire Five Ten, a leading performance brand in outdoor action sports. The adidas Group intends to purchase the entire Five Ten business, which includes all of the issued share capital of Five Ten USA. The total purchase price is USD 25 million in cash at closing and contingent payments, which are dependent on Five Ten achieving certain performance measures over the next three years. The transaction is expected to close in the next couple of weeks.

As part of its Strategic Business Plan Route 2015, the adidas Group expects sales in the outdoor segment to exceed € 500 million by 2015 based on organic growth. Through the acquisition of Five Ten, the adidas Group will be even better positioned towards the goal to become a leading player in the outdoor market.

“We are very excited to join forces with Five Ten. Five Ten is a leading brand in the technical outdoor market and within the outdoor action sport community. Climbers, mountain bikers and other outdoor athletes around the world highly value their products,” said Rolf Reinschmidt, Senior Vice President adidas Outdoor. “Five Ten has continuously been at the forefront of innovations and shares the same passion for athletes as we do at adidas. It represents an excellent addition to the adidas Outdoor portfolio and will allow us to expand into complementary market segments. This acquisition underscores our clear commitment to the outdoors and our ambition to play a leading role in the outdoor industry going forward. I am very much looking forward to working on this journey together with Charles Cole, Founder and President of Five Ten.”

“The deal provides exciting prospects for Five Ten. Supported by the adidas Group, we can finally reach the full potential that the ‘Brand of the Brave’ has to offer,” commented Charles Cole, Founder and President of Five Ten. “Here at Five Ten, we like the philosophy of adidas’ founder Adi Dassler, with his focus on product quality and in doing whatever is necessary to give the athlete the advantage. adidas has the same principles of putting athletes and performance first that have guided Five Ten for nearly 30 years and we are thrilled to be partnering with them.”

Five Ten has been at the forefront of innovation in the technical outdoor market since the day Stealth, a revolutionary high-friction rubber compound, was created in 1985. Today, the Stealth product family includes more than half a dozen award-winning compounds that provide the highest friction to athletes in various conditions. The Five Ten Elite Team consists of some of the world’s most exciting athletes such as Dean Potter, National Geographic’s 2011 athlete of the year, JT Holmes, champion big-mountain skier and Suz Graham, the most versatile and progressive female action sports athlete in the world.

adidas is the athletic brand in the outdoors. It has a long history in innovative outdoor products including highlights such as the ‘Super Trekking’, the first light trekking shoe, being worn by climbing legend Reinhold Messner for his first Everest ascent without oxygen support in 1978. Its award-winning TERREX collection offers lightweight, technical equipment to athletes in the outdoors. The tradition of adidas founder Adi Dassler, who worked individually with athletes to make them better, continues today. adidas Outdoor has teamed up with top outdoor athletes like the Huber Brothers (Climbing, Germany), Beat Kammerlander (Climbing, Austria) and Barbara Zangerl (Climbing, Austria) as well as prestigious organizations such as Zermatt Alpin Center (Switzerland) and Ragni di Lecco (Italy).

About the adidas Group
The adidas Group is one of the global leaders within the sporting goods industry, offering a broad range of products around the core brands: adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade, Rockport and Reebok-CCM Hockey. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the Group has more than 46,000 employees and generated sales of € 12 billion in 2010.

About Five Ten
Five Ten is a family-owned company that is dedicated to making the best outdoor sports footwear available. It offers innovative products to athletes in categories such as climbing and mountain biking. Five Ten was founded by Charles Cole in 1985, is located in Redlands, California and employs 37 people. In 2011, annual net sales are expected to be approximately € 16 million excluding distributor business in Japan and Korea.