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As a European living in China I want to throw a light from another perspective on this thread.
Americans, naturally enough, tend to focus their attentions on RRS whilst Gitzo (French), Manfrotto (owned by Vitec who also own Gitzo and several Chinese brands) & Cullman (German), for example, are very popular in Europe. However there is clearly a case of diminishing returns between the very (debatably) best and those a tier below. And probably the affect on your photography is even less than the difference in quality, if even discernable. Certainly there is a huge difference in price because there are always people willing to pay for what they believe is the best available.
I have never had any issues whatsoever with Manfrotto, Benro and currently Sirui, whose gear is superb. Also well worthy of consideration are Feisol, the newer Benro tripods, Nest (excellent top quality gear from HK - I've owned and used these), Vanguard, Velbon etc.
I have just got back from Iceland where I could only take a light travel tripod, one from a Chinese brand 99.9% of people here will never have heard of, Qingzhuangshidai or QZSD as they are labeled. It performed admirably and even in Iceland's infamous winds held up well giving me ultra-sharp long exposures.
The other observation that relates to your use (shooting motorbikes, sport etc. with a 400/2.8) is that you don't need a tripod that is going to give you the ultimate dampening since you are not going to be shooting long exposures for landscape/astro and typically your shutter speeds will naturally be far higher. I have been photographing birds (and some paid sporting events) for years with a 500/4 or 300/2.8+TCs and really can't see any advantage to paying $1,000 for a tripod over those I've used costing no more than US$500, for your specific use.
Personally I'd definitely save $300-400 and go for a Sirui or Feisol, the odds are strongly in your favour that you'd never notice the difference to a Gitzo or RRS, if there is any.
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