Shebeen Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 Been following this thread with mild interest (at the outrage mostly), and I'll stick my head out and say that even if the service offering is worse the next time, and the cost is higher, it'll STILL sell out just as fast. Seems like a nice business to be in actually - offer the bare minimum and charge a premium ja, but. Epic sits in a pretty unique situation currently.The business got sold, for an undisclosed some of money to Wanda.Kevbo is still in the mix, but not an owner anymore. He must be incentivised to really make it work, beyond just sentimentality. I'm guessing he sold it for a mega shirtload of cash last year (and hopefully kept a lot of the USD/EUR in the isle of man). So the new owners do actually need to see a serious return on investment. BUT, it won't just come from the main event. There will be a whole tour, it will be like ironman(which they also own) where stupid sums of money get spent on stupid levels of hyped events and a whole ecosystem is grown. But the main event needs to be the main event. They would like to think that this is the TOUR DE FRANCE of mtb, but it isnt. Joe public can rock up with his R70k and ride it with his optional boep for a day or seven. TdF is the pinnacle of road season and there's this huge conveyor belt of pro cyclists that have this as their ultimate goal. ACE has about 6/7 teams who are pro marathon mtbers, who actually try and win it. The 2017 dudes came here for 'training' and won it when all the chips fell into place. They only had live coverage of the race for the first time this year, and only online. ACE would love to have 200 pro mtbers lined up and no jo public with their R70k entry and optional boep. but that is not about to happen anytime soon. They need to tread between growing it into a massive pro event, whilst not pi$$$ing off joe public who wants to be there with his R70k entry and optional boep. and feel like he gets value for his R70k entry. I think Grant falls nicely into this. he could probably be a pro marathon oke, maybe get a top20/30 if he only did that for the year. But he's a semi pro. and being on both sides of the fence, he's saying that ACE are dropping the ball in not catering for the joe publics with their R70k entry and optional boeps. I hope someone in management is pissed off by this, because if they don't get the pro mtb TDF thing going, they'll still need joe public with his R70k entry and optional boep. And all credit to Grant for making his name gat for putting this out. oh, and he does really need a good feed!
SCD Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 I was sitting in at an interview of Cadel and George in the ABSA tent a few days in. Cadel was asked, from his position of former TdF winner, what he thinks of EPIC being the TdF of Mtb. He appeared very uncomfortable when he replied that the EPIC should not attempt to be something it is not. He said it is a worldclass event in its own right and category but it cannot be compared to TdF... A W K W A R D ... I bet this interview will never to be found online. It highlights just how the EPIC marketing has been carried away... *** They would like to think that this is the TOUR DE FRANCE of mtb, but it isnt. Joe public can rock up with his R70k and ride it with his optional boep for a day or seven. TdF is the pinnacle of road season and there's this huge conveyor belt of pro cyclists that have this as their ultimate goal. ACE has about 6/7 teams who are pro marathon mtbers, who actually try and win it. The 2017 dudes came here for 'training' and won it when all the chips fell into place. They only had live coverage of the race for the first time this year, and only online. ACE would love to have 200 pro mtbers lined up and no jo public with their R70k entry and optional boep. but that is not about to happen anytime soon. They need to tread between growing it into a massive pro event, whilst not pi$$$ing off joe public who wants to be there with his R70k entry and optional boep. and feel like he gets value for his R70k entry. ***
FCH Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 a random number of R120 bar was accidently mentioned by someone who knows someone.... ja, but. Epic sits in a pretty unique situation currently.The business got sold, for an undisclosed some of money to Wanda.Kevbo is still in the mix, but not an owner anymore. He must be incentivised to really make it work, beyond just sentimentality. I'm guessing he sold it for a mega shirtload of cash last year (and hopefully kept a lot of the USD/EUR in the isle of man). So the new owners do actually need to see a serious return on investment. BUT, it won't just come from the main event. There will be a whole tour, it will be like ironman(which they also own) where stupid sums of money get spent on stupid levels of hyped events and a whole ecosystem is grown. But the main event needs to be the main event. They would like to think that this is the TOUR DE FRANCE of mtb, but it isnt. Joe public can rock up with his R70k and ride it with his optional boep for a day or seven. TdF is the pinnacle of road season and there's this huge conveyor belt of pro cyclists that have this as their ultimate goal. ACE has about 6/7 teams who are pro marathon mtbers, who actually try and win it. The 2017 dudes came here for 'training' and won it when all the chips fell into place. They only had live coverage of the race for the first time this year, and only online. ACE would love to have 200 pro mtbers lined up and no jo public with their R70k entry and optional boep. but that is not about to happen anytime soon. They need to tread between growing it into a massive pro event, whilst not pi$$$ing off joe public who wants to be there with his R70k entry and optional boep. and feel like he gets value for his R70k entry. I think Grant falls nicely into this. he could probably be a pro marathon oke, maybe get a top20/30 if he only did that for the year. But he's a semi pro. and being on both sides of the fence, he's saying that ACE are dropping the ball in not catering for the joe publics with their R70k entry and optional boeps. I hope someone in management is pissed off by this, because if they don't get the pro mtb TDF thing going, they'll still need joe public with his R70k entry and optional boep. And all credit to Grant for making his name gat for putting this out. oh, and he does really need a good feed!
Patchelicious Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 a random number of R120 bar was accidently mentioned by someone who knows someone.... Less than $10m, not that much really considering. That wouldn't be a once off payment, there would be tranches based on profits and targets, hence him still being involved.
Warthog Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 Phrase of the day 'Optional boep' Mine isn't optional...
FCH Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 Definitely not stating it as fact, but wasnt to far removed from the source; agree, probably tranches and either shareholding or performance bonus incentives connected. All just guesses, good for him is what I say. Less than $10m, not that much really considering.That wouldn't be a once off payment, there would be tranches based on profits and targets, hence him still being involved.
Vikes Posted April 11, 2017 Posted April 11, 2017 Wow.... Yes the Epic is expensive and I did the tent thing in 2015 and swore up and down I would never do the tent thing again and in 2017 did the RV thing with the Pros. It was pricey but worth every penny. Yes the EPIC makes a lot of money but they also spend a lot to pull this race off. I'm still impressed by the entire event and would pay to come back a third time. Re Elitism: So every day at the dining hall we were permitted to have as many bottles of water, grape juice or apple juice as we wanted. I was never stopped or told that I was only permitted to have one water bottle. So not sure where this rumor is coming from. As far as the Pros table being nicely setup...Who gives a crap. They are at the top of their game and deserve a little recognition. If you want the same treatment get off your ass and work for it. Stop your bitchin'. Now there were a few very unhappy employees that worked the Cape Epic and some did get a big head when given a little bit of power but mostly everyone was very helpful. So maybe one catering guy told a few racers they can only have one water bottle on one of the eight days... That may have happened. In particular one staff member at the bike garage lockup area, he was an absolute ass to my sponsored helper. The only thing that needs attention at the EPIC is Dimension Data Tracker piece of crap. I had to carry that thing up 15400 m of climbing and it never worked and on the last day the staff made me late for my group start. I had had to redline just to catch my start group. So I'm not happy with those folks. But all said an done I think the 2017 was a success. Look there are things that need fixing but I still take my hat off to these harding working staff and volunteers.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 11, 2017 Posted April 11, 2017 http://data.whicdn.com/images/47611036/large.jpg
jcza Posted April 12, 2017 Posted April 12, 2017 Wow.... Yes the Epic is expensive and I did the tent thing in 2015 and swore up and down I would never do the tent thing again and in 2017 did the RV thing with the Pros. It was pricey but worth every penny. Yes the EPIC makes a lot of money but they also spend a lot to pull this race off. I'm still impressed by the entire event and would pay to come back a third time. Re Elitism: So every day at the dining hall we were permitted to have as many bottles of water, grape juice or apple juice as we wanted. I was never stopped or told that I was only permitted to have one water bottle. So not sure where this rumor is coming from. As far as the Pros table being nicely setup...Who gives a crap. They are at the top of their game and deserve a little recognition. If you want the same treatment get off your ass and work for it. Stop your bitchin'. Now there were a few very unhappy employees that worked the Cape Epic and some did get a big head when given a little bit of power but mostly everyone was very helpful. So maybe one catering guy told a few racers they can only have one water bottle on one of the eight days... That may have happened. In particular one staff member at the bike garage lockup area, he was an absolute ass to my sponsored helper. The only thing that needs attention at the EPIC is Dimension Data Tracker piece of crap. I had to carry that thing up 15400 m of climbing and it never worked and on the last day the staff made me late for my group start. I had had to redline just to catch my start group. So I'm not happy with those folks. But all said an done I think the 2017 was a success. Look there are things that need fixing but I still take my hat off to these harding working staff and volunteers. Did you end up on the podium champ?
eddy Posted April 12, 2017 Posted April 12, 2017 Did you end up on the podium champ? I'd settle for "did you at least beat the 'bitchin' poster of the video?"
Meezo Posted April 13, 2017 Posted April 13, 2017 dunno if was posted beforehttp://www.treadmtb.co.za/capeepic-2017-hard-race-or-soft-riders/
BigDL Posted April 13, 2017 Posted April 13, 2017 dunno if was posted before http://www.treadmtb.co.za/capeepic-2017-hard-race-or-soft-riders/Really interesting, but perhaps a question? after finishing day one in the extreme heat, if the second stage had been the original distance, what would the dropout rate have looked like. In other words, did the second shorter stage allow some guys to recover who would otherwise not have been able to do so? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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