Wednesday, May 30, 2007

New arrivals!

Right, lots and lots to cover on this update...

Our Colony shipment arrived yesterday. New stuff includes the One Way Peg. These are very light weight because they are made out of aluminium (most pegs are either steel or aluminium with a steel sleeve)... so if you're a hard core street rider, then stay well away. But if you're a light peg user then these should more than satisfy your OWD (obsessive weight disorder). The walls on these pegs are thicker on the bottom and thinner at the top, to cut weight where you don't need it. You won't be able to rotate the peg when it wears down... hence the name "one way". Tips our scales at just over 100g per peg! You can also get them with integrated chain tensioners at hardly any gain in weight. Just remember these are left and right specific because the peg can only go one way!

Also from Colony are the new Sect frames. This is a nice clean sub 5lb frame... with 5mm dropouts (as opposed to 4mm on the similar weighted MacNeil Bibi and Mutiny Burlish). Apart from the weight, I'd buy it cos I like the caterpillar and flowers.


[I like Kenny Raggett's caterpillar]

We should have an Odyssey order coming in before the end of the week. Managed to get our hands on 2 gold elementary stems. Yes, you read that right, we only have 2. Mark at Padded Cell wouldn't sell me any more than that! There are only 7 in the whole of Europe apparently.


[We have 2 of these coming in. Very very very very limited edition]

Other Odyssey stuff to come in are limited edition Team grips. We have 10 pairs each in fluorescent yellow, teal and lavender (I think, I can't actually remember what I ordered). Might want to match those up with a set of the new Odyssey "Parends" (plastic bar ends). Vandero 2 hubs are delayed. Odyssey have recalled all of them from Padded Cell... not entirely sure what the reason is, but I guess its good of Odyssey to be keeping tight quality control. I now have no idea when we'll ever be getting these in stock!

Also got some new Dia-Compe stuff in today but didn't have time to update the website. Now have Hombre brakes and Dirty Harry levers in pink or white. And new fly brake clones too... check the Pijin online shop tomorrow for details (maybe).


[Hmm... the all new brake from Dia-Compe. I've never seen anything like it!]

Want a slim seat with minimal padding? The new Fit ECCD seats and S&M thin seats will be arriving in Pijin tomorrow!



Finally, the new Empire Chill Bro DVD should be with us tomorrow too. After an initial scare that the parcel may have got lost on it's way over from America to Shindig... we got confirmation yesterday from Stevie B that these babies have landed safely on British shores. Should be a treat. Here's that old trailer for you all again...


Monday, May 28, 2007

Put yer shades on!

2 bikes checks in this post. Both of them brakeless!

Miles came into the shop last week and built the most colourful bike ever. Put yer shades on cos this is gonna hurt your eyes! :p


[Blurry pictures from Carlos' phone.]


[Arrghh... my eyes... they're burning! Owww... help!]

Full details on the Wethepeople forum. Its getting a lot of love!

www.wethepeople.de/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=016785


2nd bike check was a rather cheeky request from Andy. Seeing that his bike actually does look quite nice in real life and that he's made my job easy by sending pre-edited pics along with a complete list of parts to copy and paste into this blog... I didn't see any reason not to post it. And oh, its safe to take your shades off for the following pictures...



FrameFBM Deployer
ForkS&M Pitchfork XLT
HeadsetFSA
BarsWethepeople Cologne bars
StemSuperstar Elect
GripsDemolition
BrakesNone!
SeatShadow slim
Seat PostShadow
Seat ClampHuge old Hofman one from my first BMX
Front WheelGSport Marmoset, brown Primo spokes, Big City Lite
Back WheelGSport Homer, what ever spokes Carlos built it up with, Big City
CranksProfile
SprocketMetal 33T
ChainShadow Interlock
PedalsAnimal Hamilton brown
PegsOld Mutiny peg on the back, Shadow Lil One on the front (not on bike in photos)
WeightLight at the front, not so light at the back


Finally, just thought I'd give "Junction Nine" a plug. Go add them on MySpace now if you're interested in what some of the locals are doing! www.myspace.com/junctionnine

Saturday, May 26, 2007

New Simple Stuff

OMG. Please go check out www.simplebmx.com.

Simple have the most radical looking hub I've seen for a while and which actually seems like it'll work!



And new lightweight pedals that have nylon bushings rather than bearings... hmm... they remind me of something...



I won't reguritate all the details... just go check out www.simplebmx.com!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Fit goes 22T!

Ok, so you wanna run micro gearing? The smallest sprocket you could run on normal cranks used to be 23T. There comes a point when the spider bolt on your crank gets too close to the edge of the sprocket. Profile released a 22T sprocket but these would only work on their flatland cranks which had a spider bolt positioned lower down the crank arm. So if you wanted 22-8 gearing, you had to reach deep into your pockets and splash out for a new set of cranks too... that was until yesterday when a nice parcel arrived for us from 4Down. To be honest, I'd forgotten that I'd ordered the sprocket and was more interested in pulling the new Fit brakeless Hawk frame and S3 frame out to have a look. :p

Fit have now made their new DLR sprocket in 22T, that actually work with regular cranks such as Profiles (but not Primo Hollowbites cos the chain would rub against the inside of the arm). As can be seen from the photos, the spider bolt hole is super close to the edge of the sprocket... which might cause a few problems... such as the chain rubbing on the spider bolt. I dunno how this will hold up? Anyone brave enough out there to give these babies a try? :D


New MacNeil colourways!

The best selling frame this year for us has been the MacNeil Bibi. Could it be because the frame weighs less than 5lbs and costs only £210? I think so. Or maybe its because of the nice paint and clean look?

MacNeil have just revised the range, and Seventies have the frames landing on June 22nd! I'm not sure if it's just the paint that has changed or whether they've revised the frame design as well. I guess we'll just have to wait and see when they come in next month! You may have seen the new pictures of the black Whitton II in adverts already, but here are the other colours for you all to dribble over too. LoL.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Bike theft - keep an eye out!

After yesterday's pretty upbeat post, I've gotta make a more negative one today.

Little Joel's lovely baby blue Superstar Parkinson got stolen today, when Joel basically got mugged at Shirley Warren skatepark at about 3:30pm. The police were called but did a no-show, and didn't even go to Joel's house later on.

Nice...

Anyway, keep an eye out for it. Usually these sorta things end up with people trying to sell bikes on, so keep an eye out for a bike like this:



Bear in mind it may not have the same colour 'n' stuff, but Parkinsons are pretty distinctive (D-shape cross-section chainstays, integrated seatclamp, machined BB shell, etc.) so even if it's got pikie paint all over it you'll be able to spot it from a mile off.

Anyway, if everyone could keep an eye out for it that'd be great. If you see anything, either let one of the guys in Pijin know about it or drop Joel a message at Joel's Myspace or on his MSN - joel_carr[at]hotmail[dot]com, or e-mail me at Mark[at]Style43[dot]com.

Post #100!

It's the 100th post for the PijinBlog, and while we're not going to cut a "100" out of MDF and have someone spank out a gap over them down Hoglands 3-set, we will post some sweet videos and some nice product info...

First up, the reason 90% of park riders around the world have taken their brakes off in the past 6 months, Mr. Chase Hawk. This is a 'teaser' to his section in the CFB comp in some Props video:



And whilst we're on the subject of Chase, his sweet runs at the X-Games didn't really feature that much on your TV screens due to a multitude of reasons, largely based around the fact that the X-Games suck. However, months after the event, here they are:



And again, Chase Hawk - this time though an extract from the first Empire video. If you think how cool this part is, then imagine how frickin' awesome the new Chill Bro! DVD's gonna be? It may even be in Pijin now! How's that for font use to emphasise meaning?



In more Chase news, Chase's sponsor Fit have put up this web-ad to promote their new Down Low range, featuring the "Down Low Drop", "Down Low Sprocket" and "Down Low Regular". Apparently the DLD is for people who like the feel of big bars, but don't like the height (um...), the DLR is both a railway network and a sort of updated version of the S3, and the DLS is just a new sprocket, pretty much.



The most recent leg of the Braun Cruzer Tour went down in Montpellier last weekend, and apparently it was nuts. Mark Webb and Dan Dhers were the two big dogs fighting it out, with Mark Webb throwing down a flatspin 900.

A.
Flat.
Spin.
900.
On.
Mini.

What?

And not any ordinary spine mini either, THIS spine mini:



For more info, results, videos and pics, cruze(sic) over to the Braun site.

KHE's Reverse freecoaster is going to be in the UK before the end of May, with the rough guess being week of the 29th (if that's the Monday...). If you want one, giving one of the guys at Pijin a call ASAP would be an idea so they can blag one from Ison for you. They come in white or black, 36H or 48H, 9t only, and with the solid axle as standard. R.R.P. is about £99.99.



Data have an interview up with Jim Cielinski of Sunday and Inventor of every handrail trick, ever fame. Scroll down for the Anglais version.

Lastly, get yourselves over to Shook and check out the last Over The Pond trailer. Street Joel's got all the moves...

Monday, May 21, 2007

Loads of stuff!




Lotek have updated their site yet again, but this time with a "Day in the life" photofeature on Ian Schwartz. They've got a couple of pictures of his new frame, as well as a load of product photos of their new shoes. I'm not so keen on some of them, but I'll let you decide...

LotekBrand.com



This Ride US video is pretty much nothing short of amazing. 3 relatively (well, 2 relatively...) unknown guys properly dominating. That opening Luc-e to 180, what?

Ride UK on the other hand have got a lot of coverage of the Etnies Grounded video premiere (as have most of the other sites around, e.g. Defgrip, Mutiny, etc.). Up in the Video section on their site they've got 4 different trailers there.

While we're talking Grounded, the UK Premiere is up in Manchester on the 29th May. There's a 5pm showing which is open to anyone, then an 8pm "late" showing which is 18+ only.

Here's the premiere flyer:



I can't wait!

Lastly, Fly have a cool new innovation that's going to be coming out on the Tierra and hopefully more of their frames - removable brake mounts.











Quite a nice idea for people who are unsure of where their allegiances lie, plus if you're brakeless you can get that nice, clean look without harming the resale value of your frame. Guiri tab-style cable guides will accompany these to give you a nice, clean look.

All good.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

28 Days Later.

Well, not really, it's only been 48 hours since I last updated this, so I guess that's not so bad.

Have you seen? DISSRM's been taken over!

Odyssey have updated their popular Vandero 10mm front hub, and with the G-Sport relationship going strong they've pilfered the "female axle" style hub from George. I expect that'll be a hefty commission? Haha... Anyway, here's the deal:



17mm 7075-T6 Heli-Coiled Aluminium Axle
10mm G-Sport Axle Bolts
2014-T6 Forged Vandero Hub Shell
7075-T6 Aluminium Collars
36h
Colour: Black or Red

Can't find the weight of it anywhere online, but there we go. Padded Cell have a bunch of 'em in stock, so expect them to be turning up at the usual place soon...?

Everyone's favourite styley tweaker, Mr. Chase Hawk, has committed to Empire with this:



Tight. Speaking of Empire, Chill Bro! should be in Pijin sometime this coming week if rumours are to be believed, so that'll be a load of money I'll be dropping in there on bars and DVD-age this Friday? Sweet. Either way, that video's had more good reviews than Chase Hawk's done tables (like the link-up?), so it should be good. Aaron Ross's section and Chase Hawk's 5 minute long ending section are apparently worth the DVD's r.r.p. in themselves, if the reviews are true. The first Empire video was pretty sweet, so with Joel Moody having a lot more editing experience now, a larger Empire team, and a better stack of filming equipment, you know it's gotta be amazing.

Just found this too - while Chase Hawk was keen to show his devotion to Empire, he wasn't as keen as Josh Bedford was to Mutiny?



Yikes!

Friday, May 18, 2007

new to this/test

ok, so this is just a test, im new to this pijin blogger. hopefully gonna try and bring you guys some original and interesting posts unlike most companies who are giving you the exact same news you read 5 minutes ago on someone elses blog........ and some one elses before that, and then so on and so on. you get the idea..............

anyways, ill do a half decent update in the week when i have more time. enjoy the weekend, and remember, if you wanna hit some dubs this summer then come to bar end this sunday and lend a hand, it rained in the week for the most part so the trails are easy to dig right now.

enjoy this pic

brandan 'punjab' pundai, lap no hander at his trails in pittsburgh Pa. originally shot for a 20questions article for ride UK that never happened......
later on, netley

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Redbull Empire of Dirt

Redbull's Empire of Dirt is happening 15th & 16th June. It's basically a massive dirt course built on a slope somewhere in Devon! Can't describe how big the jumps actually are... just go check out the pics on their MySpace www.myspace.com/redbullempireofdirt.

If you're planning to drive up, I'd recommend you apply for a "car ticket" asap. I believe tickets are free (but limited) and available on a first come first serve basis. Details are on www.myspace.com/redbullempireofdirt. Believe me, you don't wanna miss out on this one! The list of confirmed riders is nothing short of amazing!!!

Alex Dropsy FRA
Ali Whitton UK
Antony Napolitan USA
Bas Keep UK
Brian Foster USA
Chris Doyle USA
Corey Bohan AUS
Gary Young USA
Heath Pinter USA
Joe Rich USA
Josh Harrington USA
Kye Forte UK
Leo Forte UK
Liam Elthan UK
Martin Murray UK
Mike Aitken USA
Mitch Yeates UK
Owain Clegg UK
Robin Fenlon UK
Romuald Noirot "bibi" FRA
Ruben Alcantara ESP
Ryan Guettler AUS
Ryan Sher USA
Taj Mihelich USA

Dirt Sesh @ T.J. Lavin's house

Wouldn't it be cool if you had enough room in your back garden to build some trails?

You can either be lucky enough to be born with rich parents who have a big garden, who also happen to be nice enough to let you dig it all up and make some big muddy mounds. Not likely eh?

Or I guess you could earn enough money to buy a big enough house with a big garden? Nope, not likely either. :D

Anyways, this video from Vital BMX is pretty amazing. T.J. Lavin in his backyard with Cameron White and Slayer. Watch out for Cam White's barspin to turndown flip! *gasps*



See More BMX Videos at VitalBMX.com

...and relax.

Well, from having gone from wanting to physically harm the next person I laid eyes on, the Brand New Heavies and Handsome Boy Modelling School have calmed me to a state where I can do a decent "New products, yo" blog.

So I will.

Padded Cell (Pretty sure that's the distro) have - finally - gotten Shook's Put In Werk out to shops now, including Pijin. Sadly, because of how slow they were in getting it out to people, this video's been pretty much all over the World Wide Web, but it's still most definitely worth buying. Don't believe? Well, just head over to the aforementioned (and linked) Shook site, and check out the Chase Dehart remix section on there. Bear in mind that the real Chase D section is better, with more insane riding in it, and you've got yourself a kinda idea of how rad that video is. However, it's not all Chase Dehart, there are plenty of nutso riders in their. Jack Maddock's section is kinda like a baby Mike Hoder section, with huge pop and gaps, and just general power-house riding. There's a mix section featuring some 'big name' riders, a good road-trip section, Marlon Europe being way, way too good at anything involving his front wheel, and, well... it's just a good video. £14.99. Go get on it, then head over to Defgrip or Style43 and check out the trailers for #10 in the Shook series and hope Padded Cell get that into the UK preferably within 3 months of it going out...

Apart from delayed DVDs, there are new Odyssey bars, sprockets and brakes in at the mo'.

First up is the Lumberjack bar. Continuing in the new "8"+" range of bars, the Lumberjacks are 8.25", but share the rest of the usual Slam replica numbers, so we're talking 28" width, 1deg up- and 12deg back-sweep. Nice. They also clock in at a penny under £50, and have that rad Odyssey Lifetime Warranty shenanigans, so even if you do bend them you can join the thousands of Bikeguiders in hassling Odyssey's warranty department...

The Million Dollar Sprocket has been tested for a while, and from the guys I've seen running them, they can take some abuse. They come in at £39.99, BUT don't forget - the secondary guard is sold seperately. Right now there's the limited edition polished finish in, and as we know from Odyssey's limited edition stuff before, limited edition really does mean that - when it's gone, it's gone (unless you're talking about purple JCs, in which case, just wait for ages and they'll come back around...).

The Evo2 brakes have again been in the works for a while, they had prototypes ready way before the last Interbike from what I can remember, and that's going back a while now...

The O.G. Evolvers were always pretty sweet, so add some user-friendly details like different strength springs and better tension markers, a super-low stack height (chainstay brakers rejoice), and a low, low weight, and you've got some pretty sweet brakes. They undercut the rest of the "Snazzy machined brake" market at £31.99 too - poor man's Fly? Well worth it though, especially seeing as you get a pre-cut straddle cable included? Get on it, assuming your frame still has mounts, anyway. Feel that street influence.

Scotty Cranmer. What.

Scotty Cranmer. What.

I know the style's not the best, but there we go. From Ride 103 he seems like a sound guy, and in today's BMX world that kinda means more to me than whether his hop 3 whips are hop 2 whips or not. You'll see...



Compare and contrast:






Andrew Jackson from aznscenester on Vimeo

Getting pretty pro at this Blogging gig now...

Monday, May 14, 2007

New kid on the blog - Mark Westlake!


Ok, you may have noticed the a new name attached to most of the recent blog posts. Yes, we have a new blogger! Welcome Mr Mark Westlake, of Dissrm fame and contributor to many other articles/pictures scattered over the interweb! I can't actually remember how I got to know Mark. I seem to remember being introduced to him by James Noyce like almost 2 years ago...

Anyways, if theres something new in BMX, chances are Mark will know about it. And now we've managed to get him to share his knowledge on the Pijin blog! This of course means the Pijin blog gets updated a bit more regularly (me being a bit erratic on my updates and the rest of the Pijin staff can't be arsed. LoL)

Being from the Westlake clan, he's just a little bit of a street rider too!

Welcome to the Pijin blog Mark!


Mark obviously loves his bike very much... so much so that it gets its very own bed to sleep in!

FrameMutiny Burlish Holdfast 21"
ForkOdyssey 41thermal Race
HeadsetFSA Impact
BarsBent - :-( - Sunday Triumphs @ about 26.5"
StemFly Mosca
GripsFederal Thins
BrakesOdessa Hurricane/Orchid
SeatMacNeil Capital
Seat PostMacNeil Stump
Front WheelDemolition Bullimia on Demolition Zero, Padded Cell spokes
Front TyreAnimal GLH 2.1"
Back WheelKHE Geisha on Odyssey Hazard Lite, Padded Cell spokes
Rear TyreAnimal ASM 1.95"
CranksPrimo Hollowbites
SprocketUnited 25T
ChainKMC 710SL (in the picture, snapped it and replaced with a 510HX)
Bottom BracketFBM
PedalsAnimal Hamilton Sealed
PegsSuperstar Micropegs
WeightNot much, about 23lbs or so?

Joel Nicholls Bike Check

When you work in a bike shop, one thing that you notice are the trends that are happening out there. All I can say is, since Joel (and the Dissrm crew) have started riding in Southampton, brakes have started to come off, and more and more people are trying to "shoot them Bs"! Somebody once told me that Pijin was a tweaker shop... looks like things have changed a bit... and if you ever visit the shop now, you'll have even chances of bumping into a rider with a New Era flat cap and no brakes and a rider with girls jeans and big tweaker bars! The street influence has finally arrived down in sunny Southampton.

Joel's had his new bike for a good few weeks now... so the bike check is long overdue. Sorry for the delay but I have been a bit lazy on my blogging duties of late.

Don't forget to also check out the Dissrm blog too to see the London Tour video, starring Joel and the Westlake Bros! www.myspace.com/dissrm



FrameFit Ed 20.75"
ForkOdyssey Pro Race Svelte
HeadsetFBM
BarsSunday Triumph
StemAnimal Jump Off
GripsFit Edwin
BrakesNOOO!!
SeatMacNeil Capital
Seat PostMacNeil Stump
Front WheelGSport Marmoset Hub, GSport Ribcage Rim
Back WheelHoffman cassette, GSport Ribcage Rim
TyresFront - Animal GLH, Rear - Animal ASM
CranksPrimo Hollowbites with titanium axle
SprocketSuperstar Pimp
ChainKMC
Bottom BracketFBM
PedalsAnimal Hamilton

Another new video?

Yes, another new video. This time from the guys at Barend, riding in a new line. All good!

Newer Shook trailer.



Shook have dropped another trailer, and the momentum's gradually building up. Bonus points goes to whoever manages to spot which 2 clips I'm in...

Click here.

Hopefully no-one saw how much I messed up that last attempt to link to it...

Sunday, May 13, 2007

2 new site updates.




A while back, Shook did a UK tour for their tenth DVD, Over The Pond. After 3 weeks of solid filming and riding, and then a hell of a lot of capturing and editing, Chad Shack's released the trailer for "Sho-UK: Over The Pond." Go to here to check it out.







Secondly, the almighty DISSRM: London Tour blog, webvideo and riding/eating/random shots are up. It's taken me 3 hours to put it all together, I'm tired, I want you to go and check it out now. Head over to the revamped DISSRM page to see what's cool, and what, frankly, isn't...

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Even newer Odyssey update!

Well, it seems I just the gun ever-so-slightly with that last update - no sooner had I mentioned the new Black Denim Odyssey seats, than Odyssey do an update themselves to show off some pics of the new samples they've had in, incl. the Aitken, Junior, Senior and Veteran. Look pretty sweet, and judging from the home-made black denim cover I had on my old SL, they should last pretty well too.



Hassle John or one of the guys at Pijin to get these in early, 'cos I'd imagine they're gonna sell like hot cakes!

Fit, Lotek and Odyssey updates...

Well, it's a rainy day here in London so here's some updates you may or may not have seen.

First up, Fit's EC/CD seat has come a little closer to production, with a new cover design (with embossed Fit logo) and slightly different shape. There still aren't any details such as an ETA, whether it'll only come in Ti rail option (as was reported by Ride US), or a price, but here are a couple of pics of the seat on Chase Dehart (While I mention Chase D - have you all gone and seen his re-mix section from Put In Werk on Shook's site yet? It's too good! Go and get the full vid and check out the original section, as well as a load of other top riders) and Eddie Cleveland's bikes:





This news snippet is a little older but I don't think it was covered here - Chase Hawk had a bikecheck on Devon Hutchin's site, and it had a few new prototype bits on it, incl. the new Odyssey Black Denim Aitken seat and Trailmix pedals (slimmer, grippier Jim C pedals), and a brakeless Fit Hawk frame.



Last up for today is the news that new, improved Lotek site, you can download the start of the awesome Lotek Vancouver video, check out some trailers for other videos, and cop a whole load of info on the rest of the Lotek team. It's nicely laid out, has some sweet photography and video content, and it's something to do to pass the time, eh?

In more local news, DISSRM are about to put out their new LDN Tour webvideo, complete with a little write up from Dan and photographs from me. From the video and what I've read of Dan's writing so far, it should be 'treats', as Grotbags would say.

More, as and when...

Friday, May 11, 2007

New Proper bits in Pijin!

If you haven't been to the shop recently, you should. Not just for the usual stuff like meeting up with everyone and helping John make ends meet, but simply to check out the sweet new Proper parts which are now in stock.

The new bits include the 2007, revised version of what some people were calling the most popular rim of 2006 (due to the fact they came in different colours, they sold out almost as quickly as they came in at most retailers), featuring a lower weight, nice finish and some pimp, drilled out holes. They're only on the inner wall of the rim so you won't notice them from the outside, but you'll feel the weight difference.



As usual, they come on their own and built into the super good Proper wheelset, featuring their Magnalite hubs. These bad boys are again super light, but are still strong - especially considering how much lighter than a lot of other wheelsets they are. Gotta love those colours too...





Those wheels, a brown Animal seatclamp and a bronze Mosca stem and you're well on your way to the official Southampton '5 colour-coded pieces per bike' guidelines.

Never one to miss out on the hot topics on BMX too, Proper have thrown their hat into the uber bar game, with these beasts:



The Proclaimer bars are .5" higher than most 'big' bars out there at the moment, measuring in at a hefty 8.5" rise. They're the standard 28" width too, although they have 10deg backsweep and 2deg up, so they'll be slightly different in feel to your generic Slam copies. They weigh in at a meagre 732g though, about 50g lighter than Sunday Triumphs. 50g less weight for a bar that's got .5" more height's a pretty good trade-in all the same...

Prices are as follows:
Rim: £47.99
Wheels: £139.99 rear, £79.99 front (call for options!)
Bars: £49.99 (blk/clear)

So get down to Pijin and get your bike looking all fancy 'n' nice.