CAM ZINK on Felt in 2008

[mario.bro]

Felt Bicycles is pleased to announce pro mountain bike rider Cameron Zink (USA) is the newest member of the 2008 Felt team. A highly accomplished gravity rider and competitor, Cam is perhaps best known for slopestyle and freeriding ability. His past accomplishments include a US National Championship, a member of the US National Team and a 1st place finish at the 2006 Crankworx Slopestyle event in Whistler, BC, Canada.

The 22 year-old Reno, Nevada resident is in the final stages of a knee repair and is feeling healthy and motivated for a great 2008 season beginning with the Sea Otter Classic in April. In addition to this Cam expects to be at the 5-event Qashqai Urban Challenge Series peppered throughout Europe, as well as the Adidas Slopestyle (AUT), Colorado Crankworx (USA), TEVA Mountain Games (USA), Kokanee Crankwork (CAN), Bearclaw Invitational (CAN) and more.

"I am super-excited to be heading to Felt. Their products and reputation are absolutely first-rate", says Cam. "After speaking with their design and engineering group, it is very clear to me they really know what they are doing and are into continually developing their bikes and ideas with direct rider input. Look at what they have done in other areas of the sport. The whole thing is a bit of a dream come true."

Felt USA Marketing Director, Doug Martin says, "Cam is an excellent fit for us and I am sure will be a tremendous ambassador and source of ongoing feedback. He is young, talented and understands what it takes to be a pro – a winning recipe. Between him, our award-winning Equilink™ suspension bikes, and what will be more upcoming athlete announcements, we feel like our fat tire program is right on track."

For more information: dougmartin@feltbicycles.com

For headshots of Cam: www.23degrees-sports.com

http://www.23degrees-sports.com/pics/1196705397.jpg

[Urinal Mint]

Jeez, he didn't last too long with Haro...

[dexter]

possibly because he was blowing through so many fs frames that it was not worth it for him and felt offered way more $$$. congrats zink

[mattmatt86]

Does felt have a Fully? I have a buddy that rides BMX for them and he had one of their Shot hardtail MTBs but I didnt think they had freeride fullys.

Edit: Found this

http://www.feltracing.com/08/images/catalog/large/8731.jpg

Doesn't exactly look like a Freeride bike.

http://www.feltracing.com/08/images/catalog/large/8794.jpg

I can Imagine he'll be riding this most of the time.

[Urinal Mint]

I'm sure he'll just be riding their AM bike. No one rides freeride bikes anymore in comps, its either hardtails or SS bikes. I think their Redemption frame will be the bike he rides at freeride comps. I wonder if they will hold up...

[THRILLSEEKA]

I think it's AWESOME to see big names on more discreet companies bikes. Zink on Felt, Romo on Mongoose, Lunn on Jamis...there were some others, too, can't remember right now, but was pretty excited to hear it. It's not just that these are smaller companies, or new or made formerly sketchy products... these are companies that make really nice stuff and just aren't getting noticed. Jamis has ALWAYS had really nicely kitted completes and are cheap. Haven't heard of a ton of failures and having a pro on board will improve that. Same with Goose. I never even considered Mongoose as a competitor to the big names, until Romo switched and I truly checked them out. I'm now on a new Black Diamond Triple, I LOVE it more than any bike I've ever sat on, and I pretty much owe it to the smart descision to bring Romaniuk on board. It got my attention. Same goes for Felt. This will be an AWESOME move for these guys. I'm excited! Kinda bad news for Haro though... not leaving them with a very good reputation. Guess they're going to have to start building better bikes! I don't understand how a company can KEEP building bikes that break. If a handful fail for similar reasons...why make more? Hmmm...

[THRILLSEEKA]

And not sure how Zink on Felt's suspension bike is any different than McCaul tearin sh*t apart on Treks AM bike. Should be good....

[kidwoo]

I've seen and messed around with zinc's haro that he had setup right before crankworx. I feared for his life.

Hopefully he gets on a better bike setup:)

[THRILLSEEKA]

What was it about it? Lack of burl?

[ZHendo]

yeah, those haros always looked a little sketchy, the rear end looks like it would just snap off. i'd be amazed if they have much stiffness at all.

[mattmatt86]

yeah, those haros always looked a little sketchy, the rear end looks like it would just snap off. i'd be amazed if they have much stiffness at all.That Felt AM frame doesnt look much burlier. I can imagine felt will custom make him a One-off frame like Trek has done a few times for McCaul.

[kidwoo]

What was it about it? Lack of burl?

It was a taiwanese catalog bike made for xc riding.


It had all the burl associated with such a pedigree.


goes to show what a fvcking badass cam is though.........that's what he won crankworx on

[THRILLSEEKA]

Did Zink leave SantaCruz, or they drop him? I'm glad he's off SC, they've got quite the kill squadron now anyway. His voice will be heard more when he's The One of few.
This is awesome! There will be so many new bikes coming from so many different places! I'm on a Mongoose this year, who know's what I'll be on next year... I LOVE NEW BIKES!

[kona-ryder]

Thrillseeka,
There actually was a time when Mongoose didn't have a decent bike to their name.
After being bought by Pacific, they suffered the same fate as Schwinn, and went completely Toys 'r' Us.
I'm talking "suspension" that was a shock between 2 welded links.

It is good to see them back in the game.
My dad still has one of their titanium hardtails produced before their downfall. Its is/was a great bike.

[THRILLSEEKA]

Thrillseeka,
There actually was a time when Mongoose didn't have a decent bike to their name.
After being bought by Pacific, they suffered the same fate as Schwinn, and went completely Toys 'r' Us.
I'm talking "suspension" that was a shock between 2 welded links.

It is good to see them back in the game.
My dad still has one of their titanium hardtails produced before their downfall. Its is/was a great bike.


Oh I know! I'm 35(today, actually!) and was old school "freestyler." I actually followed Mongoose off-and-on till current. They got my attention back in 05, but that was about it. Never really took them seriously AT ALL until Romaniuk jumped on bored. But I've ALWAYS wondered about them. When Haro and GT got started getting name riders I again thought about Mongoose and Diamondback, and how they faired. That's the next company needing a facelift: Diamondback!

[bikenweed]

Remember when Brian Lopes rode for Mongoose?

Those older Mongooses were sweet. I think the good model was called an M1... And they had a slalom bike for awhile too. I think it was called a 5Spot or a Tazer or something...

It's kinda funny that Lopes rode for Mongoose when he first really burst into the MTB scene and took off. Eric Carter, during the same time period, rode for GT. 10 years later, the two have cleanly switched their sponsors. Who woulda thunk it?

[THRILLSEEKA]

You might be right, but I know that Intense had the M1 and the Tazer, and Turner had the 5Spot...
Not saying that Goose didn't as well, just that those are where I know the names from lately.
And Lopes is off GT, and I didn't know he was ever on Mongoose. Missed or forgot that! I was kinda hoping that was where he would go...

[xtremedoritoes]

poor haro. first mirra now zink. is nyquist still on there?

[dexter]

You might be right, but I know that Intense had the M1 and the Tazer, and Turner had the 5Spot...
Not saying that Goose didn't as well, just that those are where I know the names from lately.
And Lopes is off GT, and I didn't know he was ever on Mongoose. Missed or forgot that! I was kinda hoping that was where he would go...

they rode rebadged intense and turner frames

[THRILLSEEKA]

Yeah, that's wierd. The Tazer is actually uglier than anything Mongoose makes!

[1453]

Yeah, that's wierd. The Tazer is actually uglier than anything Mongoose makes!

:disgust1:

[brycexlighthall]

You might be right, but I know that ...I didn't know he was ever on Mongoose. Missed or forgot that! I was kinda hoping that was where he would go...

For some reason not a lot of people know or remember this. I remember being at ABA national races and seeing him and confusing him with Fuzzy Hall. I don't know how I ever confused the two, one looks like a male model and the other an albino mouse. I'd rather be able to ride like the fuzz though.

[nvd]

Tomac, Fuzzy, Lopes, Donovan, and many other oldshool gravity pinners have ripped Mongoose. Lopes and Donovan both won Norba titles with Mongoose in the mid 90's I think they were slalom oriented, but may have been dh.

Congrats Cam, I wanta see some style on one of those sweet Felt bar cruisers!!!

[nvd]

Unrelated, but this is a sweet pic...

Tomac/Mongoose

http://www.foromtb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30087&stc=1&d=1116278037

[Windowlicker]

Unrelated, but this is a sweet pic...

Tomac/Mongoose

http://www.foromtb.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30087&stc=1&d=1116278037
my dad used to have one of those, im pretty sure he has it in pieces lying around somewhere

[cully]

so I posted this on the dj forum because thats where I spend most of my time, but I thought it should go here too. enjoy
___________________________
Photo from Blackboxlabs.net (http://blackboxlabs.net/)
When first looking at this frame I though it was a stock JumpShot (http://www.feltracing.com/08/product.asp?catid=1516&pid=8794), but looking at the bottom bracket I saw that it was a custom frame, not a surprise for a team rider.
http://www.blackboxlabs.net/images/upload/2008/01/Hip-foto0001.JPG
So it was posted up a while back, by felt and some other web sites, that cam zink had signed with felt. Many of us saw this ans an odd move due to the fact that felt doesn't modern geometry dj bike or slope style bike. but a post on http://blackboxlabs.net/ reasures me that this was just a step in the R&D and promotion process for new gravity/dj bikes.

The post states that Joscha Forstreuter (Germany), who rides for SRAM-BlackBox (http://blackboxlabs.net/), Adidas (http://www.adiridas.com/index.php?id=34), and formely Nicolai (http://www.nicolai.net/) is the newest Felt (http://www.feltracing.com/) rider. though I've never heard of joscha, but that means nothing, it shows that felt is moving in the right direction, and i'm looking forward to seeing some new more modern and aggressive gravity frames come out of their factory, which I'm sure will be the case in due time.

quote from Joscha-from blackboxlabs.net
"I'm pretty excited. They have some new sick bikes in the pipeline, with input by Cam Zink and me. They work with 150% dedication and I'm proud to be on the team."


-------------

Cam on what looks to be his new slopestyle rig
http://www.feltracing.com/images/download/assets/20.jpg
pst.. take a look at the fork too, that is not a pike, it may be a custom painted lyric 2step, lyric u-turn, or a new fork all-together

[nwd_26]

^^^that's a custom painted lyrik...decline mentioned as much.

i guess its good to hear they'll be expanding their lazy bikes section (the ones you don't have to pedal as much:wave:)

but it sort of makes me wonder how much riders in his situation are really doing their job of promoting the bikes they're on...i mean look at cam mccaul. sure people worship the session 7 line-up, but they've custom-made him a shorter travel frame, i.e the trendy thing these days, and don't show any signs of releasing it. just idle wondering...

[cully]

^^^that's a custom painted lyrik...decline mentioned as much.


was that in the mag or online?

[nwd_26]

not sure if it was online, but it was in the mag for sure. he got it for winning crankworx.

[Nagaredama]

That fork looks like it has 32mm stanchions not 35mm like the Lyric.

[nwd_26]

That fork looks like it has 32mm stanchions not 35mm like the Lyric.

check the drop-outs though