the story about Warner is that he was smart and invested in property when he was making good money from Giant, and is therefore a landlord now!
its the same for most extreme (skateboarding, surfing, jetskiing, etc.) and not-so-extreme sports, the top 10 guys are making good money, the next 20 make a "living" (similar to an office job) and then you have alot of people scraping by, working in the off-season in construction, office jobs, retail or whatever they can
its only the big, marketable names or guys smart enough to start their own companies and become involved in marketing video games like Matt Hoffman, Dave Mirra, Tony Hawk, Shaun White, etc. that make the big money
alot of the "pro's" work in shops as sales assistants or mechanics to pay the rent, and have arrangements with their employer where they can go on roadtrips or go to comps like Crankworx or Nissan Quasquai
I've just read an interview with a well-known UK bmx pro where he talks about one sponsor offering him £200 a month and another offering £300 a month, and he goes with the sponsor offering more
considering its his main sponsor, once he has paid his rent he is skint
Ride BMX have an article in their current issue called "are you pro?" and its surprising / scary how few of the riders you see in the adverts and videos make any kind of living, most have to work a job and get time off for roadtrips and comps
this is why alot of pro riders quit these sports, and get a proper job and ride for fun, but of course you have the double edged sword of getting injured and not being to work, so have to tone it down
I know that even though dave wardell was sponsered by GT a while back he still had to work as a builder/roofer to pay his way round the race series. Cant remember if this was before or after they went bust though.
will it be really tight? i.e. enough mud room?
