Online Exclusive: Sam Hill's New Ride?

It's been four months since Iron Horse announced it would cease selling bikes through independent bike dealers. And it's been three months since it announced that it would cease licensing Dave Weagle's DW-Link, opting instead to use Ellsworth's ICT design and sparking the demise of the Iron Horse Sunday—one of the most successful downhill race bikes of all time—as we know it. Those announcements raised many questions, foremost being would this spell the end of the Monster Energy/Ironhorse team of Sam Hill and Brendan Fairclough?

Next came the tradeshow appearance of a Specialized Demo 8 featuring world champion stripes and a very "Sam Hill" selection of parts. Earlier in the show, the bike in question was reported to be sporting Monster decals as well. PHOTO HERE.

But there was no word from officials at either Monster, team organizers Madcatz Racing, or Specialized regarding the tradeshow bike's paint job and components package.

Then came Ironhorse's late-October confirmation of what everyone suspected: Monster/Ironhorse was no more. Hill and Fairclough were officially off Iron Horse.

After that, nothing. No new sponsor announcement, only hints and speculation. Even recent photos of Sam aboard an unmarked bike bearing an uncanny resemblance to a Demo 8 have done nothing to elicit official comment from anyone. PHOTO HERE

So why all the silence and secrecy and delay? Weeks of digging and prying have yielded only rumblings that contractual obligations are preventing anyone from speaking publicly about a new deal until termination of the existing contract. Any premature announcements, it seems, would have direct financial repercussions for Hill, Fairclough, and the Monster Energy team.

However, we have been told by sources close to Hill that an official announcement of some kind should come before the end of the month. But what that means for Hill, Fairclough, Monster Energy and Specialized is still yet to be seen.