Brad Simms off Fit Bike Co. after 9 months with the brand.
Update: Fit have deleted their post on Instagram. Not sure why, but you can find the original text below.
Here’s some news we didn’t expect to see this morning. Fit Bike Co. released an Instagram post this morning announcing that Brad Simms is off the team after just 9 months in a lengthy, detailed post. Based on the information from the post, it sounds like it all came down to a disagreement on the pay. Which, after the huge year Brad had, it wouldn’t be a surprise Brad was getting other offers and wanted to renegotiate things with Fit. Well, Fit wasn’t having it, and communication broke down, and here we are. It’s also pretty rare to get this kind of detail on why a rider was let go since a lot of sponsorship details aren’t really public info.
Either way, it’s definitely a bummer to see this happen, but we would imagine it won’t be long before Brad finds a new brand to ride for, and it will give Fit room to bump somebody else up to the Pro team.
What do you think about all this? Did you expect to see Brad Simms Off Fit Bike Co. so soon? Any guesses where he might end up next? Let us know in the comments below!
Original post text below
“ Like most of you, we spent the first part of last year, in awe of what Brad Simms was doing on his bike daily. By April, when it became increasingly bizarre that someone with this skill set was still not receiving support, and because he was regularly riding with dudes on our team already, we started talking with him about joining Fit. We don’t take adding riders to our pro teams lightly as Fit and S&M have sponsored many riders over the years that have gone on to have decades-long careers with our brands. When we put someone on, our hope is that they want to be a part of projects and products we produce and that together, we build a legacy with each other. In Brad’s case, even though it became evident early on that he really just wants to do his own thing, we were still eager to explore what we could accomplish together.
Even though Brad was brought on at the very top of our pay scale, on par with other popular riders we have supported for years, he wanted his salary doubled for 2021 and communicated as much in a text to the owners at 7pm on Christmas Eve. When we told him that wasn’t something we could do 7 months into his contract, communication with him ceased. Despite repeated attempts to contact him by several people in our organization, we haven’t spoken to him since December. We can only assume he has found new sponsorship or has decided to go his own way but hasn’t had a chance to let us know about it yet.
Our #1 motivator in sponsoring Brad was to support his hustle and talent in an arena where he was fighting as a free agent. It didn’t work out as planned, but hopefully our support helped him get a leg up to where ever he’s headed next in some small way. Best of Luck Brad!” – Fit Bike Co.
