I'm only blogging 'cos small town Llandod is pretty boring on NYE when almost all your family and all your friends aren't around. But yeah, there we are - Demolition have released a webvid to amuse us all. I'd probably have posted this earlier if their RSS Feed worked properly, but there we are.
12/08 Team Mix from VOLUME/DEMOLITION on Vimeo.
Equally, FBM have created a slideshow with a bunch of photos from the previous year, pretty cool:
2008 Slideshow from FBM BMX on Vimeo.
Happy New Year everyone... Don't forget them resolutions! Am I gonna make some bold predictions about making sure I'm going to ride and post on here at least once a day? Fully enforce The 7-set Rule (One 'Checking it out' run, then you've gotta do whatever it is on anything up to a 7 set!)? Who knows...
Dedicated BMX only shop based in Southampton in the sunny South of England!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sean Burns
Interesting Sean Burns interview up on TheComeUp (And I actually mean that...) that asks questions you might want to know the answer to (Rather than "What music are you into?"...). Click here for that, and here's the video they make reference to in it. Good comedy.
sean burns bum from kippy on Vimeo.
sean burns bum from kippy on Vimeo.
Fareham Jam!
The Fareham Banks Jam is on again this year, head to the Fareham Banks (as you'd expect...) to get involved. It's tomorrow, at noon. It's under the Eastern Parade Flyover if you're not clued up.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Hectic.
HHX "Velociraptor" trailer from Platypus films on Vimeo.
As the title "Velociraptor" might suggest, this vid's fairly fast-paced and indeed brutal.
Also, like velociraptors, it's fully rad.
What the song says...
...apart from instead of 'crying', it'll be more likely bowling, eating some tasty foods and drinking (moderately, of course...).
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Will Stroud's portfolio deal...
Just saw this up on TCU - most 'pro' filmers are gonna have a 'showreel', and Will Stroud is no exception. Got some cool riding on it (A collection of clips from Levis and Electronical), worth a look...
Will Stroud Cinematography Reel from Will Stroud on Vimeo.
Will Stroud Cinematography Reel from Will Stroud on Vimeo.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Fly Sergio tyres...
Fly's IRC Siren homage Sergio Layos tyres are good to go, check 'em out by clicking that link!
Infos:
Regular (steel bead): 588g / 20.7 oz.
Foldable (Kevlar bead): 484g / 17 oz.
More proof of James Cox's radness.
I was lucky enough to meet, ride with and hang out with James Cox down in Portsmouth, at the Fareham Jam, at the Hit The Switch premiere and a few other places here and there, and every time it was rad to see how genuine, honest and generally sound he is. Since the earlier RTRBTN vids and other little videos here and there, James has had steadily more and more work with 4Down, helping films and edit webvids, promos and DVDs. With the news of United's new DVD that James is filming and editing, Defgrip did a quick Q&A with him. Can't wait to see the new RTRBTN shirts, the last ones were awesome!
Click here for the Q&A.
Click here for the Q&A.
It's really pretty straight-forward...
Straight tubes have a lot going for them. Compared to bent tubing, they're generally stronger, lighter (If they're going from the same place and ending up in the same place, meaning less material if it's a straight tube), and less likely to bend. So why do people keep putting bends in stuff? Fly started with the newer Pantera bars, but now Dirty450 (Who you may remember me posting some awful stuff from before...) have created these new 4-piece bars.
Why bend the cross-bar like that? Purely to look like Scerbo bars, despite there being an obvious reason for Scerbos to bend? It just makes no sense.
Pretty much the lack of sense in making bars that are 7.25" (But you can choose from "Lighter" or "Heavier", I bet those heavier ones are gonna sell well) tall in today's BMX world. I'm all for choice, but it seems strange in a tougher market-place to sell things that aren't popular, but more importantly aren't even good? I'm not saying that people should just make stuff for fashions sake, but making stuff that's not fashion but isn't even good seems odd.
That was my SPRFLS blog for the day...
Why bend the cross-bar like that? Purely to look like Scerbo bars, despite there being an obvious reason for Scerbos to bend? It just makes no sense.
Pretty much the lack of sense in making bars that are 7.25" (But you can choose from "Lighter" or "Heavier", I bet those heavier ones are gonna sell well) tall in today's BMX world. I'm all for choice, but it seems strange in a tougher market-place to sell things that aren't popular, but more importantly aren't even good? I'm not saying that people should just make stuff for fashions sake, but making stuff that's not fashion but isn't even good seems odd.
That was my SPRFLS blog for the day...
Friday, December 26, 2008
Things you want, and things you need.
First off, something you might want - Miles Rogoish and Jeff K riding some interesting looking skateparks:
Sun Ringle JAN 09 from Miles Rogoish on Vimeo.
And something you don't want - weird prices. If you've called up to ask for the price of a product recently, you might not have received a blisteringly fast, precise answer. There is a reason behind this - VAT (Which is applicable to the vast majority of bike related stuff) has been cut by 2.5%, meaning that prices are basically 'weird'. For example, using some stuff from the site, the new Deluxe frames is £224.13. Obviously, that's not the usual "£XXX.99" or whatever, and as a result, the shop dudes aren't necessarily going to be able to reel off prices instantly because the price they quote you on the phone could well be more than what it is. Basically, all I'm saying is bear with people while this change goes through. This is also the time when '09 prices come into force which, unfortunately, often mean a price rise.
Something you're gonna want to see:
TemperedBikes Jerard Vandervalk Afternoon Session. from TemperedBikes on Vimeo.
He might run drilled pegs, but that doesn't make him a bad person...
Something you don't really want, but probably need to know about - I've posted up here before about the CPSC (a.k.a. Consumer Product Safety Commission). These guys are the people who try and make sure that stuff that gets sold in the US is legit, and isn't going to be potentially harmful. They're doing a good job, and helping avoid instances like in China where toxic paint was used on kids toys - not an ideal situation. "So what does this have to do with us?" you might ask. Well, the CPSC passed a law that stated that all 'toys' sold in the US have to have less than "600 parts per million" lead content. Lead's obviously not a great thing for kids to be sucking on, as it can cause a whole load of problems.
Where this intersects with our world though is that all bikes with a wheel diameter under 24" are now classified as 'toys' according to the CPSC. This obviously means that bikes now also have to clear these measures. This is a lot of hassle for completes, where every single part of them, from the grips to the stickers, now need to be tested for lead content. One of the plus points as far as non-complete, aftermarket parts goes is that they could theoretically be labelled up for 26" use, meaning they'd be exempt. However, frames are obviously for 20" use or not, and as such frame manufacturers, as well as people making completes, are going to be hit by this new ruling.
This is only for the US, but as it's going to be fairly expensive to get everything tested, it's likely the cost is going to be spread over other countries too. To use a simple example, if you sold a product in 10 countries, and in one country due to testing costs prices would rise by 10%, if you spread that 10% over the other countries too, that's a blanket 1% increase, rather than risking all your sales in one country by raising prices by 10%.
There are people fighting this rule - the bike industry are rallying against it, as are other people - whether it's trying to get bikes classified as 'sporting equipment' so that they're exempt from the 'toy' regulations, or just trying to get the 24"> rule discredited. It remains to be seen what's going to happen, but if anything happens you'll find out here.
There's a lot of other issues here too (e.g. the way that after February, all products without a certificate of their 'clean' state will be illegal to sell), so click here to read a Washington Post article on the matter, or click here to read a post from Bicycle Industry and Retailer News.
Obviously it's not that fun or whatever, but it's something that's potentially going to have a significant impact on The Industry, so it's worth knowing about in advance. Couple that to rising material costs, a global recession, and a weakening currency and we've got more expensive parts on the horizon. Much, much more expensive parts...
Sun Ringle JAN 09 from Miles Rogoish on Vimeo.
And something you don't want - weird prices. If you've called up to ask for the price of a product recently, you might not have received a blisteringly fast, precise answer. There is a reason behind this - VAT (Which is applicable to the vast majority of bike related stuff) has been cut by 2.5%, meaning that prices are basically 'weird'. For example, using some stuff from the site, the new Deluxe frames is £224.13. Obviously, that's not the usual "£XXX.99" or whatever, and as a result, the shop dudes aren't necessarily going to be able to reel off prices instantly because the price they quote you on the phone could well be more than what it is. Basically, all I'm saying is bear with people while this change goes through. This is also the time when '09 prices come into force which, unfortunately, often mean a price rise.
Something you're gonna want to see:
TemperedBikes Jerard Vandervalk Afternoon Session. from TemperedBikes on Vimeo.
He might run drilled pegs, but that doesn't make him a bad person...
Something you don't really want, but probably need to know about - I've posted up here before about the CPSC (a.k.a. Consumer Product Safety Commission). These guys are the people who try and make sure that stuff that gets sold in the US is legit, and isn't going to be potentially harmful. They're doing a good job, and helping avoid instances like in China where toxic paint was used on kids toys - not an ideal situation. "So what does this have to do with us?" you might ask. Well, the CPSC passed a law that stated that all 'toys' sold in the US have to have less than "600 parts per million" lead content. Lead's obviously not a great thing for kids to be sucking on, as it can cause a whole load of problems.
Where this intersects with our world though is that all bikes with a wheel diameter under 24" are now classified as 'toys' according to the CPSC. This obviously means that bikes now also have to clear these measures. This is a lot of hassle for completes, where every single part of them, from the grips to the stickers, now need to be tested for lead content. One of the plus points as far as non-complete, aftermarket parts goes is that they could theoretically be labelled up for 26" use, meaning they'd be exempt. However, frames are obviously for 20" use or not, and as such frame manufacturers, as well as people making completes, are going to be hit by this new ruling.
This is only for the US, but as it's going to be fairly expensive to get everything tested, it's likely the cost is going to be spread over other countries too. To use a simple example, if you sold a product in 10 countries, and in one country due to testing costs prices would rise by 10%, if you spread that 10% over the other countries too, that's a blanket 1% increase, rather than risking all your sales in one country by raising prices by 10%.
There are people fighting this rule - the bike industry are rallying against it, as are other people - whether it's trying to get bikes classified as 'sporting equipment' so that they're exempt from the 'toy' regulations, or just trying to get the 24"> rule discredited. It remains to be seen what's going to happen, but if anything happens you'll find out here.
There's a lot of other issues here too (e.g. the way that after February, all products without a certificate of their 'clean' state will be illegal to sell), so click here to read a Washington Post article on the matter, or click here to read a post from Bicycle Industry and Retailer News.
Obviously it's not that fun or whatever, but it's something that's potentially going to have a significant impact on The Industry, so it's worth knowing about in advance. Couple that to rising material costs, a global recession, and a weakening currency and we've got more expensive parts on the horizon. Much, much more expensive parts...
NSFW?
First time I've really had to use that tag for a post here, I think? Milestone.
Anyway, this is the trailer for the Bonedeth video, which also appeared in the recent Jimmy Levan video I think I may/may not have posted up here. If I haven't, here it is, and if I have - apologies.
This is what could be considered the NSFW one:
Bone Deth Trailer from Tudor Gillham on Vimeo.
(Side note: Pretty sure Tudor Gillham is a dude from Oswestry who I posted a video of up here before? Am I imagining things?)
And this is the Levan interview.
Anyway, this is the trailer for the Bonedeth video, which also appeared in the recent Jimmy Levan video I think I may/may not have posted up here. If I haven't, here it is, and if I have - apologies.
This is what could be considered the NSFW one:
Bone Deth Trailer from Tudor Gillham on Vimeo.
(Side note: Pretty sure Tudor Gillham is a dude from Oswestry who I posted a video of up here before? Am I imagining things?)
And this is the Levan interview.
A quick point.
Everyone's focus at this time of year is obviously on Christmas, New Years, spending time with their families and so on. All in all, it's been a pretty cool Christmas here so far, and there's still my birthday (22 isn't old!) and New Years to go.
However, one thing that often slips under the radar is that the 23rd December is the Winter Solstice, aka the Longest Night of the year. What this of course means is the head back to summer - longer days, warmer temperatures, hopefully less rain, and so on. Pretty much all the good stuff! So yeah, while you're making the most of the Xmas period, also remember that it's all gonna be going up from here, so get out and make the most of the extra light we're getting! Clear blue skies for the next week, so wrap up warm and make it count...
However, one thing that often slips under the radar is that the 23rd December is the Winter Solstice, aka the Longest Night of the year. What this of course means is the head back to summer - longer days, warmer temperatures, hopefully less rain, and so on. Pretty much all the good stuff! So yeah, while you're making the most of the Xmas period, also remember that it's all gonna be going up from here, so get out and make the most of the extra light we're getting! Clear blue skies for the next week, so wrap up warm and make it count...
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The new Standard STA.
I mentioned it a post or two ago, and here is the new Standard STA lighter version thing. For those interested, it's not all heat-treated.
Part of me thinks this is a joke, as one of the people who saw the 'sneak pics' was repeatedly going on about how awesome the new frame looked, so we clearly haven't been looking at the same photograph.
Part of me thinks this is a joke, as one of the people who saw the 'sneak pics' was repeatedly going on about how awesome the new frame looked, so we clearly haven't been looking at the same photograph.
Oh Dear #2.
Chase "I don't like vulcanised soles, that why I run the original Nightwolves and not any of the new models" Dehart has a new vulcanised sole shoe from Lotek. Gutted? Anyway, here's a pic courtesy of those fine people at Defgrip.
In related news, Lotek also have a new brand out (Fremont not enough?!) called Coast or something like that. Their product line consists of a picture of Eddie Cleveland so far, and promises about it being 'huge'. I would copy the pic over onto here, but essentially, it is Eddie Cleveland doing a barspin (Or something like that?), and the word "Coast" written under it. I'm sure you can imagine it, anyway. Good luck with the new venture, Rich!
Oh Dear #1
Del-nonfashiontrailscompany-uxe are releasing a seat/post combo. Got on issue with that, just seems very strange coming from Deluxe, of all companies, bearing in mind phrases like "No bonkers bells and whistles which will be out of fashion in two weeks' time" appearing on their site.
What do the following all have in common with this post?
G-Sport's casse-"Ratchet" hub only being available in 36H for the first batch (That's right - a rear wheel, in 36h...).
S&M releasing - for a time - the lightest frame available (After ripping 'trendy' riders for buying fashionable products).
Odyssey having Sunday using their manufacturing processes, their design team - look at the pics of G's early frames, and an original Sunday frame - and so on (Odyssey: "We aren't a frame company").
Standard releasing a S.T.A. (That's Stronger Than All, for those unable to work out acronyms) that weighs less than 4.5lbs.
Answers on a postcard...
One reason to watch this.
The most unlikely match in BMX - Mad John in a DUB top?
A Very Seventies Christmas 2008 from Seventies Distribution on Vimeo.
Merry Christmas to you too, Seventies!
A Very Seventies Christmas 2008 from Seventies Distribution on Vimeo.
Merry Christmas to you too, Seventies!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Cool stuff from the week.
Yet again, favourite things from the past week...
1. Re-discovering "Shinin'", that Fit web-vid. Hadn't seen it in a while, watched it again and remembered it's actually got some cool stuff in it. 6 months old too, web-vids have some longevity...
Shinin' from Fitbikeco. on Vimeo.
2. The new "Do The Test" road safety campaign. Might remember that one from before with the dancing bear and the basketball players? Well, there's a new one now...
Saw that on Style43, where I also saw...
3. ...some incredibly good deductive skills. The answer is 3 letters long, an abbreviation of Bicycle Motocross, which is naturally "BC".
4. It's not often I really get people talking to me about the ol' PijinBlog. Some people mention a video I posted up every now and again, and sutff like that, but the only person who ever really talks to me about it is Sam, who has now moved away from Southampton (Loser!). He'd recommended a video to me, and I'd forgotten about it entirely, so having been reminded by him at Newport about it, here it is! To quote Sam:
I've been a follower of vinyl for years, and it has been awesome to see them become so successful. It has always been one of my favourite websites, but the latest vid showcases Tom Arkus who has always put a whole lot of effort into bmx. He is in charge of the website, and has always promoted other riders and made efforts with media. I was pleased to see that he was rewarded for his efforts with a job at flybikes, but I thought it was awesome to finally see some more of his riding. Super fast, big airs and big doubles! Pundai is also a complete shredder!
Fly Bikes trail edit. from Vinylbmx on Vimeo.
Vinyl!
5. Freedom always run cool comps and help out with cool stuff, and their Advent Jam was no exception. It's in German, but not super hard to work out the idea. Maybe an idea for Street Vs. Tweak next year? Speaking of, someone needs to step up to the plate and become Street Dave so we can get that show on the road again. Suggestions?
6. Spotted this in the comments of a post on TheComeUp, and having laughed at it quite hard thought it qualified for this. I have no idea at what point she thought this would be all that viable a solution, but her call I suppose.
7. The Andrew Jackson vid below this. I have no idea why I didn't just do this post then, or just add it all together to form one post, but there we are - we all make mistakes!
8. Christmas! Got the family thing to do, so I've gotta go pack my stuff up so I can head home to Wales to meet up with everyone, so you're all just going to have to make up 9 and 10 yourselves...
1. Re-discovering "Shinin'", that Fit web-vid. Hadn't seen it in a while, watched it again and remembered it's actually got some cool stuff in it. 6 months old too, web-vids have some longevity...
Shinin' from Fitbikeco. on Vimeo.
2. The new "Do The Test" road safety campaign. Might remember that one from before with the dancing bear and the basketball players? Well, there's a new one now...
Saw that on Style43, where I also saw...
3. ...some incredibly good deductive skills. The answer is 3 letters long, an abbreviation of Bicycle Motocross, which is naturally "BC".
4. It's not often I really get people talking to me about the ol' PijinBlog. Some people mention a video I posted up every now and again, and sutff like that, but the only person who ever really talks to me about it is Sam, who has now moved away from Southampton (Loser!). He'd recommended a video to me, and I'd forgotten about it entirely, so having been reminded by him at Newport about it, here it is! To quote Sam:
I've been a follower of vinyl for years, and it has been awesome to see them become so successful. It has always been one of my favourite websites, but the latest vid showcases Tom Arkus who has always put a whole lot of effort into bmx. He is in charge of the website, and has always promoted other riders and made efforts with media. I was pleased to see that he was rewarded for his efforts with a job at flybikes, but I thought it was awesome to finally see some more of his riding. Super fast, big airs and big doubles! Pundai is also a complete shredder!
Fly Bikes trail edit. from Vinylbmx on Vimeo.
Vinyl!
5. Freedom always run cool comps and help out with cool stuff, and their Advent Jam was no exception. It's in German, but not super hard to work out the idea. Maybe an idea for Street Vs. Tweak next year? Speaking of, someone needs to step up to the plate and become Street Dave so we can get that show on the road again. Suggestions?
6. Spotted this in the comments of a post on TheComeUp, and having laughed at it quite hard thought it qualified for this. I have no idea at what point she thought this would be all that viable a solution, but her call I suppose.
7. The Andrew Jackson vid below this. I have no idea why I didn't just do this post then, or just add it all together to form one post, but there we are - we all make mistakes!
8. Christmas! Got the family thing to do, so I've gotta go pack my stuff up so I can head home to Wales to meet up with everyone, so you're all just going to have to make up 9 and 10 yourselves...
Great news!
WeThePeople Supreme front hubs now come with bolts that are also broached for a 6mm allen key! Rejoice...
But seriously:
Andrew Jackson (Who rides for WTP, check that out for editorial link-up...) is nuts. He apparently also drives a $50k car? Who knew. Anyway, all the money in the world isn't going to make you up-rail (pegless) to hard 180 out. Trooper.
But seriously:
Andrew Jackson (Who rides for WTP, check that out for editorial link-up...) is nuts. He apparently also drives a $50k car? Who knew. Anyway, all the money in the world isn't going to make you up-rail (pegless) to hard 180 out. Trooper.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Liam Fahy-Hampton: Hell yeah!
His 'other' section from Run At Me Slut was rad, and this is a cool 'What he's doing now' kinda edit. Check it out - cleanest manny to 360 I've ever seen at about 1:55, hero.
Liam Fahy-Hampton Edit from Sleepwalkers on Vimeo.
Liam Fahy-Hampton Edit from Sleepwalkers on Vimeo.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Stuffs.
I keep forgetting the tags, I'm a bad person. You may also note that this is the first time I haven't posted during the am period of the day - I'm reforming!
Either way, Ashley Charles footage = Good. Will Jackson footage = Good. (ACxWJ) = G^2. WTP Videorama!
wethepeople : Will & Ash : videorama from wethepeoplebikeco on Vimeo.
Winners. Also, for posterity (And almost purely for the fact it features Ashley Charles riding "Ashley Charles"), Ash's own Videorama. In related news, I also got to ride for the first time today in a fairly long time, and I can confirm that the Ashley frame is awesome.
wethepeople : Ashley Charles : videorama from wethepeoplebikeco on Vimeo.
My friend/Your friend/Our friend/Everybody's friend James Smith has taken time out from his hectic S43 updating and porn watching schedule to create a new clothing line, 1 of 50. All the T's are hand screen-printed at James' house (Parents must be pleased), and feature original designs. First person to say that the South Bank T isn't an "Original design" because it features logos made by South Bank gets a "Stop being so pedantic" and "Haven't you ever heard of postmodernism?" double-hit combo. Anyway, click here to check out his Big Cartel store. £5er for a hand-made T-shirt? Winner.
While we're talking clothing - Streetphire have an interview up with Ian Gunner, owner of Segment. It features a better insight into the company than any other interview I've seen, even if I don't particularly agree with the following quote, regarding T-shirt and hoodie price:
I think the £20 and £40 tags are a reasonable price, as they dont ask too much for the product, yet they allow me to sell to retailers, and offer a good margin. Stores can buy my product at a trade price and still make over 100% margin and sell them at 20 and 40, that is always a key point in pricing every item [tee, hood, hat etc].
I still don't really get the whole "Shops must have a 100% margin" aspect, and I don't really understand why it's gotta be that a standard T-shirt with a relatively basic design on it should cost £20, but maybe that's why I'm not a giant clothing mogul or anything like that. BMX is a large part of my life, and in some ways I'd like to help companies out by buying their products and supporting the cause, but when it's £20 for a t-shirt it makes life a little hard. No VAT reduction either, tsk tsk... Either way, read it for yourselves and make your own minds up I guess.
Either way, Ashley Charles footage = Good. Will Jackson footage = Good. (ACxWJ) = G^2. WTP Videorama!
wethepeople : Will & Ash : videorama from wethepeoplebikeco on Vimeo.
Winners. Also, for posterity (And almost purely for the fact it features Ashley Charles riding "Ashley Charles"), Ash's own Videorama. In related news, I also got to ride for the first time today in a fairly long time, and I can confirm that the Ashley frame is awesome.
wethepeople : Ashley Charles : videorama from wethepeoplebikeco on Vimeo.
My friend/Your friend/Our friend/Everybody's friend James Smith has taken time out from his hectic S43 updating and porn watching schedule to create a new clothing line, 1 of 50. All the T's are hand screen-printed at James' house (Parents must be pleased), and feature original designs. First person to say that the South Bank T isn't an "Original design" because it features logos made by South Bank gets a "Stop being so pedantic" and "Haven't you ever heard of postmodernism?" double-hit combo. Anyway, click here to check out his Big Cartel store. £5er for a hand-made T-shirt? Winner.
While we're talking clothing - Streetphire have an interview up with Ian Gunner, owner of Segment. It features a better insight into the company than any other interview I've seen, even if I don't particularly agree with the following quote, regarding T-shirt and hoodie price:
I think the £20 and £40 tags are a reasonable price, as they dont ask too much for the product, yet they allow me to sell to retailers, and offer a good margin. Stores can buy my product at a trade price and still make over 100% margin and sell them at 20 and 40, that is always a key point in pricing every item [tee, hood, hat etc].
I still don't really get the whole "Shops must have a 100% margin" aspect, and I don't really understand why it's gotta be that a standard T-shirt with a relatively basic design on it should cost £20, but maybe that's why I'm not a giant clothing mogul or anything like that. BMX is a large part of my life, and in some ways I'd like to help companies out by buying their products and supporting the cause, but when it's £20 for a t-shirt it makes life a little hard. No VAT reduction either, tsk tsk... Either way, read it for yourselves and make your own minds up I guess.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"Days Gone By" vid
James from S43.me showed me this vid on his iPod a few days ago, and now it's officially online. It's a little mix of random footage for the planned S43 video that was supposed to be done just over a year ago, meaning there's some pretty old footage in there. Either way, it's a fun vid, so check it out.
Days gone by (LDN bmx 2007-2008) from STYLE43.COM on Vimeo.
Days gone by (LDN bmx 2007-2008) from STYLE43.COM on Vimeo.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Top 10 this week.
Same deal as last week, here's a quick Top 10 of things I was into this week. How self-indulgent...
1. The Randy Taylor video below this post. Too good!
2. TheComeUp has had a facelift, which refuses to work with my browser. Downer. Anyway, after some fairly significant battling, managed to get to the Keith Romanowski photo retrospective - click here for that.
3. Sunday have released final photos and specs for the Funday frame, Aaron Ross's signature model. This always sounds stupid when I say it, but whatever - for me, Sunday frames were always really well designed, but they were just... 'boring', I guess. Some cool features, but the same standard geometry as virtually every other frame. The Schwartz threatened to mix it up a bit, but ended up being a Stump post being put in there permanently instead. However, the Funday has some different angles - a lower BB and much shorter chainstays, opening up their market a bit. Fully customisable stickers too, now you can look all pro and have your name on your bike too.
4. Talking of new product, some more Eclat stuff is coming into the shop next week, just in time for Christmas. WeThePeople make awesome parts, so bearing in mind Eclat is WTP's "high end" parts company, that should give you an idea of just how good this stuff is. All good.
5. Hannu Cools footage, all good. Check those trails out!
hannu cools @ mxtrails, belgium from An Overdose Of Awesomeness on Vimeo. (From WTP's site...)
6. Advent Calendars - this should've been at teh start of the month, but the post was slow. This whole point is fairly self-explanatory...
7. Chilled indoor sessions. It's winter - it's allowed. From Streetphire.
Aversion, Jay and Niki Croft Seventies Session from Ollie Wainwright on Vimeo.
8. Eastern's Inside Out video from Philly. Eastern have always been a fairly 'weird' brand - producing high quality completes, but seemingly being fairly under the radar as far as the BMX world goes, save for the NASCAR drama with the Grim Reaper frame. Anyway - they've got a pretty diverse team, and that makes for good videos. Seamus does some cool lines in this vid.
Inside/Out Philly from eastern bikes on Vimeo.
9. Josh Harrington being really good at park riding. Park riders are obviously a pretty large section of the BMX world, yet they seem to be strangely underexposed online, videos wise. Then, when there are videos from park riders, they tend to feature some fairly watered down street footage to try and up their cool points (Not at all refering to a certain section of the Nike video...), so it was cool to see Josh Harrington (Who is legitimately rad at street too, anyway) put out a purely park video:
Go to BNQT for more videos.
Hefty!
10. In videos, it's customary to have the 'banger' as the last clip. The biggest trick, the best thing, etc. - similarly, this new Deadline video qualifies as the banger for this post - Garrett Reynolds is nuts.
THE DEADLINE VIDEO from Cory Asraf on Vimeo.
1. The Randy Taylor video below this post. Too good!
2. TheComeUp has had a facelift, which refuses to work with my browser. Downer. Anyway, after some fairly significant battling, managed to get to the Keith Romanowski photo retrospective - click here for that.
3. Sunday have released final photos and specs for the Funday frame, Aaron Ross's signature model. This always sounds stupid when I say it, but whatever - for me, Sunday frames were always really well designed, but they were just... 'boring', I guess. Some cool features, but the same standard geometry as virtually every other frame. The Schwartz threatened to mix it up a bit, but ended up being a Stump post being put in there permanently instead. However, the Funday has some different angles - a lower BB and much shorter chainstays, opening up their market a bit. Fully customisable stickers too, now you can look all pro and have your name on your bike too.
4. Talking of new product, some more Eclat stuff is coming into the shop next week, just in time for Christmas. WeThePeople make awesome parts, so bearing in mind Eclat is WTP's "high end" parts company, that should give you an idea of just how good this stuff is. All good.
5. Hannu Cools footage, all good. Check those trails out!
hannu cools @ mxtrails, belgium from An Overdose Of Awesomeness on Vimeo. (From WTP's site...)
6. Advent Calendars - this should've been at teh start of the month, but the post was slow. This whole point is fairly self-explanatory...
7. Chilled indoor sessions. It's winter - it's allowed. From Streetphire.
Aversion, Jay and Niki Croft Seventies Session from Ollie Wainwright on Vimeo.
8. Eastern's Inside Out video from Philly. Eastern have always been a fairly 'weird' brand - producing high quality completes, but seemingly being fairly under the radar as far as the BMX world goes, save for the NASCAR drama with the Grim Reaper frame. Anyway - they've got a pretty diverse team, and that makes for good videos. Seamus does some cool lines in this vid.
Inside/Out Philly from eastern bikes on Vimeo.
9. Josh Harrington being really good at park riding. Park riders are obviously a pretty large section of the BMX world, yet they seem to be strangely underexposed online, videos wise. Then, when there are videos from park riders, they tend to feature some fairly watered down street footage to try and up their cool points (Not at all refering to a certain section of the Nike video...), so it was cool to see Josh Harrington (Who is legitimately rad at street too, anyway) put out a purely park video:
Go to BNQT for more videos.
Hefty!
10. In videos, it's customary to have the 'banger' as the last clip. The biggest trick, the best thing, etc. - similarly, this new Deadline video qualifies as the banger for this post - Garrett Reynolds is nuts.
THE DEADLINE VIDEO from Cory Asraf on Vimeo.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Good stuff.
No joke - Randy Taylor via Stew Johnson via Mutiny - check it!
And lastly, Nathan and Corey being Nathan and Corey, i.e. good. United.
Channel 4Down BMX :: Corey & Nathan Evening Session from Channel 4Down on Vimeo.
And lastly, Nathan and Corey being Nathan and Corey, i.e. good. United.
Channel 4Down BMX :: Corey & Nathan Evening Session from Channel 4Down on Vimeo.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Two cool vids.
All good! Aversion have a cool new vid up, and a freshly updated site, so go to their place to check it out. Some good riding and a good vibe.
Secondly, go to Defgrip to see yet another awesome original video, this time featuring the ridiculous skills of Ben Hittle ridiculous stuff, done seemingly effortlessly. Good times...
Secondly, go to Defgrip to see yet another awesome original video, this time featuring the ridiculous skills of Ben Hittle ridiculous stuff, done seemingly effortlessly. Good times...
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
More unsurprising video content.
First up, a guy called Nicky B talking about riding and life. People who don't really like riding with new-comers always seem a bit 'weird' to me, but I guess living next to Southbank you just kinda get used to it. Plus more people = more people to go ride street with, which generally means a good time, but I guess it might be different over there...
I first saw Kym Grosser ride in Shook's Put In Werk (I think... An old Shook anyway) vid, and wasn't hugely into his riding. However, then I saw Brighton Ain't Ready (which is good, go buy it! 2.5% off everything too thanks to Gordon Brown trying to dig upwards...) and realised he's actually Got Skills™. Liam Fahy-Hampton is also one to watch too, which anyone who's seen his Run At Me Slut section would testify too, so combine those two and you've got a cool little video:
Kym Grosser and Liam Fahy-Hampton from MACNEIL BMX on Vimeo.
I first saw Kym Grosser ride in Shook's Put In Werk (I think... An old Shook anyway) vid, and wasn't hugely into his riding. However, then I saw Brighton Ain't Ready (which is good, go buy it! 2.5% off everything too thanks to Gordon Brown trying to dig upwards...) and realised he's actually Got Skills™. Liam Fahy-Hampton is also one to watch too, which anyone who's seen his Run At Me Slut section would testify too, so combine those two and you've got a cool little video:
Kym Grosser and Liam Fahy-Hampton from MACNEIL BMX on Vimeo.
Monday, December 08, 2008
This is THE reason why girls jeans are bad...
This must be the most disturbing image I have seen in a while - posted by James Cox on the Dig BMX blog. Next time you put your girls jeans on to ride... just take a moment to have a think of what can happen when things go wrong!
The following link is not for the squirmish! You have been warned...
http://digbmx.com/blog/james_cox/nasty-tight-jeans-injury
The following link is not for the squirmish! You have been warned...
http://digbmx.com/blog/james_cox/nasty-tight-jeans-injury
New Aversion product!
Always a good time. £15, nice fitting, rad design, one-off colourways, the works - get involved. Aversion.
Good stuff...
This post is a bit of a visual feast. First up, Youtube (finally...) allow HD vids now. It's taken a while, maybe they just needed to lose a load of users to Vimeo before they realised they should probably get up to date...
From Derelict.
And the other visual item for today is that Hadrien Picard, photographer extraordinaire, has a new site up, so click here for that!
From Derelict.
And the other visual item for today is that Hadrien Picard, photographer extraordinaire, has a new site up, so click here for that!
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Top 10 things this week...
Well, I've got a laptop again, and therefore access to the Internet. As a result of missing a fair bit of Blog-updating-time due to a heady mix of loads of uni work and loads of computer hassles, I thought I'd just do a Top Ten list for things I thought were cool recently.
1. Micreation have been a firm favourite of mine ever since that Eli Platt web-vid. Everything they produce is generally pretty top qual', so it was cool to see they've got a DVD on the way. It would've been cool if Ian Schwartz had had a part (Seeing as he used to have a signature shirt 'n' all), but they've got Joe Cox and Brad Simms in there, so beggars can't be choosers. Here's the trailer:
2. Chris Doyle. Chris Doyle. Chris Doyle. Chris Doyle.
3. I've made a few friends in fairly unusual and pretty random situations due to BMX, and Josh is one of them. I really enjoy seeing new footage from him ('specially in Electronical), so it was cool to see this new video from Josh and Kyle.
In case you were wondering what he's riding, here's Josh's bike.
4. WTP winning Ride To Glory, and therefore going on the trip again next year.
Ride to Glory - Wethepeople >>
5. Kink's new video. Since the Props 68 video came out, I've learnt to expect big things from Kink. Whereas they seemed to have a post-Jim C era lull, they're definitely back on it now with a rad team. As a direct result, their team video rules. Plenty of amazing riding from all kinds of people, and the best part is that it's all a mix of street, park and trails. Refreshing to see in the world of foot high ledges, XXXL t's and "gangsta" rap on repeat. This is unrelated, but here's a new release from Kink. Buy their DVD, it's in the Shop!
Kink 08 French Trip from JB on Vimeo.
6. Alex Liiv: 'nuff said.
7. Megatour8 trailer. The first Megatour that I might actually buy? Who can say!
8. This probably should've been number 1, so just imagine I swapped them round - RIDING! It feels so good to be out riding again after not being able to for quite a while. It definitely makes you appreciate any time you do get to have a roll around, so if you're just sitting at home bored and it's not raining, head out now and get some riding in!
9. Finding a PrettyShady video up. Good times! (For trails dudes, if you're that desperate to ride, Newport indoor park has a set of 2 fairly large, fairly steep jumpboxes in a row so it's almost like trails...)
10. I remembered seeing a video by Kevin Kiraly ages ago that I thought was pretty rad, and it seemed strange how he was so unknown, despite being incredibly good. Here's yet more proof.
Go to BNQT for more videos.
1. Micreation have been a firm favourite of mine ever since that Eli Platt web-vid. Everything they produce is generally pretty top qual', so it was cool to see they've got a DVD on the way. It would've been cool if Ian Schwartz had had a part (Seeing as he used to have a signature shirt 'n' all), but they've got Joe Cox and Brad Simms in there, so beggars can't be choosers. Here's the trailer:
2. Chris Doyle. Chris Doyle. Chris Doyle. Chris Doyle.
3. I've made a few friends in fairly unusual and pretty random situations due to BMX, and Josh is one of them. I really enjoy seeing new footage from him ('specially in Electronical), so it was cool to see this new video from Josh and Kyle.
In case you were wondering what he's riding, here's Josh's bike.
4. WTP winning Ride To Glory, and therefore going on the trip again next year.
Ride to Glory - Wethepeople >>
5. Kink's new video. Since the Props 68 video came out, I've learnt to expect big things from Kink. Whereas they seemed to have a post-Jim C era lull, they're definitely back on it now with a rad team. As a direct result, their team video rules. Plenty of amazing riding from all kinds of people, and the best part is that it's all a mix of street, park and trails. Refreshing to see in the world of foot high ledges, XXXL t's and "gangsta" rap on repeat. This is unrelated, but here's a new release from Kink. Buy their DVD, it's in the Shop!
Kink 08 French Trip from JB on Vimeo.
6. Alex Liiv: 'nuff said.
7. Megatour8 trailer. The first Megatour that I might actually buy? Who can say!
8. This probably should've been number 1, so just imagine I swapped them round - RIDING! It feels so good to be out riding again after not being able to for quite a while. It definitely makes you appreciate any time you do get to have a roll around, so if you're just sitting at home bored and it's not raining, head out now and get some riding in!
9. Finding a PrettyShady video up. Good times! (For trails dudes, if you're that desperate to ride, Newport indoor park has a set of 2 fairly large, fairly steep jumpboxes in a row so it's almost like trails...)
10. I remembered seeing a video by Kevin Kiraly ages ago that I thought was pretty rad, and it seemed strange how he was so unknown, despite being incredibly good. Here's yet more proof.
Go to BNQT for more videos.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
éclat
As some of you may know already, this is the new parts company run by the guys behind Wethepeople. One thing that I hate seeing are bike companies that just stick their own logo on generic components from Taiwanese bike factories and sell them as if they designed them. So it really is refreshing and exciting to see a company like éclat. Ok, so their stuff might not be to everybody's tastes, but at least a bit more thought and work has gone in to designing the parts and it's not stuff that other people have already brought out.Interesting facts you might not know:
éclat is french for "shine".
éclat is pronounced "eclair" - like the chocolate covered fresh cream filled variety. yum!
They are the only company to charge different prices for their sprockets. Bigger ones are more expensive than little ones! I guess this makes sense, as there is more material on the bigger ones, and more machining time is required.
Whilst most brake pads feature rubber over a steel retainer, the éclat pads are the only ones I know of that use an aluminium retainer. Probably something that would go unnoticed to most people but I'm sure will give the weight freaks sweaty palms. :Phttp://www.eclatbmx.com
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Snowflake
The Snowflake pattern.
I've never understood why anybody would have come it with such a pattern. To be honest, I think the guy who invented it bought spokes that were way too long for his hub/rim combination, and improvised by twisting the spokes around themselves in order to take up the excess slack! :P
It's something I've only ever seen on obscure wheel building websites... until now.
Matt came in one week and decided to have a go. I squirmed as he twisted the spokes round as he laced the wheel up. Surely spokes are supposed to be straight and not twisted?
Anyways, I can report that Matt has been running this wheel for months now with no problems. He reports that it feels really stiff and doesn't go out of true as much as previous wheels.
So if you ever buy spokes that are too long and can't be bothered to swap them for the right length, have bucket loads of patience and expert knowledge of building wheels, just remember you can always try the snow flake pattern.
Just don't ever ask me to build one as the answer will be a straight "no"!
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Apologies...
Apparently, Deadline Week isn't busy enough, so my laptop decided to blow-up leaving me with 3 months-worth of work to re-do in 3-4 days, so apologies for the lack of updates. SPRFLS is being updated again, so you could always go and check out Russ's latest post. Be sure to come back though...
In unrelated news, it's Pijin's 4th anniversary (Congrats to everyone, it's rad that it's still going strong!), which means Go-Kart night. Things are probably going to get messy, have fun dudes!
In unrelated news, it's Pijin's 4th anniversary (Congrats to everyone, it's rad that it's still going strong!), which means Go-Kart night. Things are probably going to get messy, have fun dudes!
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