Spotted these two nuggets of awesomeness over on Dig - firstly, The Works have now made it so that it's free to enter over the summer for under 18s, and £2 for over 18s. Gotta try and survive the summer somehow! Secondly, they put up Van Homan's interview (Which created one of the best covers Dig's had - it's also funny how a portrait of someone can be considered a 'risky' cover, but that's the media world we live in I guess) - click here for that.
You can clearly see that the guys who run the Dew Tour obviously realised that street was pretty popular. As people who are constantly after increased ratings and more exposure for sponsors and logos and all that jazz, so they appeared to think that trying to appeal to street riders would be beneficial. No doubt they also noticed that street web-edits were pretty popular and received a hell of a lot of views - especially if they contain the 'big names' - so, what better way to attract street riders than have the biggest names ride street, and make a street web-edit? Well, that kinda makes sense (Apart from missing the non-competitive point of street riding, and the no pressure, do-what-you-want point of it too), but when that 'street' is actually a pretty linear park format, and the riding is limited to just doing back and forth runs on that particular setup, it's not really the same thing. At all. Although the riding's pretty insane in these videos, there's no real connection to street whatsoever. Must be pretty stressful for the filmers too, having to try and make uniformly painted ramps with sponsors logos all over the place actually look good, and try and get different angles in. No fun at all. Ah well, I'm sure they'll get some £££'s from it, but it does seem to be a return of the 'big' competitions just trying to milk BMX for all it's worth. After some of the people running those biggers comps had turned it around and actually seemed to be more concerned with the way that they interacted with and represented BMX, it's pretty disappointing to see organisers doing stuff like this...
Anyway, the videos are pretty cool I guess (Although nowhere near as cool as it would be with the different backgrounds and cool environment that street brings with it, as well as unique setups that allow riders to be more creative (The point!)), it still seems like they could've done so much more, and so much better.
James Coxis UK street. There's just something about the hop tables, proper barspins and suicide no-handers, I guess. The fact he's also riding better than ever and dropping multiple hammers helps? Either way, always keen to see what he's up to of late, and now it appears to be that he's on DC? Weird fit, bearing in mind the rest of their team (And the relatively recent James Cox/Farren Downes "Welcome to Nike" vid?), but hey, if it's a good deal for him, why not? This is his welcome vid anyway, good stuff:
And this is the web-edit that the Fortes did of the recent DC trip to the Continent, featuring a fairly hefty ender from Lima and some cool lines from all the other dudes involved.
Blogging might be a little erratic for the next few days, 'cos I've just moved to Newcastle so life's a bit everywhere at the moment, hence this update being posted at 5:15am on a Sunday morning. C'est la vie!
Taliban sent me a link to this (does that count as a name-drop? Haha...), and then Deluxe posting it reminded me of it - a rad video from They Ain't Ready.
Is it wrong that "EINBITTEN" amuses me? Guessing that's "Embed" in German. Either way, poached this from over on Woozy. This video utterly rules in every sense.
Semi-related (In that they're a Vans Half-Cab bite), here are the new colour-way Lotek Eddies. They look sweeeeeeet.
The Federal blog is now up on BMXFeed, meaning I got the chance to see this Dan Cox updated bio with the greatest of ease.
Similarly, there's this rad update on FBM. Being able to make whatever frame you want has gotta be pretty damn awesome.
Will this work? Seriously, this embed code is utterly insane. Anyway, Mark Losey talking about Nigel Sylvester (who does some riding) who's doing his thing for Gatorade.
Well, Michael Jackson has died. Downer. However, the 'downer' continues for these people. Is Michael Jackson alive?£1,750 for 2 VIP tickets? Bet they're hoping that auction gets cancelled...
Macneil have updated the DeuceDeuce, so if you want to make a BMX limo, buy that frame, get some spinners and go nuts...
Dig have put up a "Behind the scenes" kind of interview thing about the Random Wrench. I had the old one and it was sweet, but I wish I had the new one 'cos it'd make packing my bag to move to Newcastle on Saturday 100% easier...
I've only watched the first 10 seconds of this video and stopped it afterwards to post on here - watch as Terry Adam goes to toptube just getting onto his bike. Flatlander style for you I guess...
Lloyd's got himself a shiny new frame too, the new Kink Issue "Sean Sexitime" (His words, not mine) sig frame. Some new Empire forks too, blingingingignigginginging.
More photos of his bike plus other assorted rad photography on Lloyd'sFlickr.
Rich Wilson (Or Forne depending on what video you happen to watch), the guy who did Hull's One More Brew section and Us & Them, produced a bangin' entry, and then a bangin' final edit too, which you can check out here:
You can check out all the other entrant's stuff here, and mine here.
EDIT: Just spotted this video that explains it all a bit more:
Enough about me - time for another M.W., but this time Mark Webb, who spent a day with Robin Fenlon. That sentence made it sound way more romantic than it appeared to be.
Well, I posted up the link before that apparently shouldn't have been posted - sorry dudes! Anyway, Ride posted the Vimeo version up today, so it might be alright now? If not, I guess you've got my number...
Dig are apparently not quite up to date (which makes a change, 'cos their new "Something new on the site every day" thing's meant they're making the news, not re-posting it) today, in that in the Randy Taylor bikecheck they posted online an hour and a bit ago they list his parts sponsor as Demolition, yet that isn't the case any more. Hand-bags at dawn?
In other bikecheck - how interesting - news, Justin Inman's got a bikecheck up on Ride US. That is one pimp setup, although I spent the whole time thinking "2.3" on the back and 2.25" on the front? That's gotta feel weird..."
Lastly, Orchid made it into Maxim?! Pretty crazy, although those shoes do look pretty sweet. If they were actually vulc soles I'd probably have bought every existing pair of UK10's that are available. Subtle hint for free product? Always on the look-out...
This isn't the most cutting edge video I'll ever post (Heaven forfend, no hang 5s so it can't be!), but riding BMX tracks is fun as hell, manualling sets is fun as hell, and riding in general is fun as hell, so it's being posted...
One for the car guys this time round (Yeah, that's right, no skating...) - spotted on ***NAMEDROP*** Robin Fenlon's ***NAMEDROP*** facebook status update, pretty sweet Shell ad. Yeah, yeah, Shell are evil and all that jazz. Still, that first Ferrari is "ossum".
Weird - weekends are usually dead for news! Anyways, here's some:
Taj has a "Now and Then" piece up on Dig. Talks a lot about his worse-than-I-thought-they-were back injuries - sounds like a pretty savage deal. Link!
New parts news! Federal and Subrosa this time - Federal have got all their new stuff in - check out how sweet the Twilight looks, and Subrosa have a 10° laid-back Pivotal post. Keen on this:
In other Seventies-ish news, Shadow have done an "X" with Streetphire for this video, and indeed interview.
This is Alex Magallan's 'scrap' footage from the new Sunday. The theme of badly chosen songs for video parts certainly holds true in the real DVD itself.
If you were wondering how to Stay Fit (Diet Pills, Dieting, Weight Loss - boosting that search engine optimisation, boom boom!), this is how, according to Dakota Roche:
Man, I love Ricky Adam's work, and similarly, I love what Dig are doing, so when I saw that there was overspill for their awesome NorthWest article from the latest issue was up, I had a hunch it'd be good. There's some rad stuff online, and even rad-er stuff offline (In the mag, duh). Click here to check it out.
For some reason Odyssey have decided to try and destroy their own credibility by releasing all their parts in neon pink. God knows why. It sucked when companies like Gusset milked it until it was literally dry a few years ago, and there's virtually nothing that's changed in the period from then 'til now.
Literally, no idea why.
Anyway, in more positive news, Team Jeff DuPaul have done an exclusive edit for Defgrip that you can non-exclusively check out here:
According to Lloyd Wright, "if you don't like this video you're either a virgin or a henid, or both". I don't really know what a henid is, but I'm neither 'cos I was well into it.
I'm pretty sure I saw these being done before somewhere, possibly in the trials world? Seem familiar. Not entirely sure how well they'd work, but we'll see. Just seems that it might end up being like when you've got a bent axle and you try tightening it up and your wheel moves a bit (EDIT: Seems like Russ has some similar concerns, the issue about more tightening = more chain tension was something I'd thought about too). Either way, ta-daaaa:
More pics 'n' un-questioning general marketing blurb over on Ride US.
The main aim of this blog is to of course try and promote Pijin, and as such I generally try and avoid doing things that won't directly get sales or anything along those lines. So, I hear you say, why are you linking to Retribution's site which now has new DVDs and stickers to be purchased? Well, the reason is, as James states on their blog, the more of these they sell, the more money they have to get their clothing line up and under way. Once that's happened, hopefully they'll make their way into fantastic bike shops such as Pijin, helping out James, the shop, and you the discerning customer. It all works out in the end.
Whilst we're talking about the shop, it's new! So new, it had an advert dedicated to it in the newest issue of Ride. In case you're broke and can't afford to buy Ride (Which you should, 'cos it's got some rad stuff in it this month), here's the ad. Hefty shop is hefty!
There's a pretty cool video of Kriss Kyle floating around courtesy of BSD and Dig, and due to new online fashions you can now only view it over here.
One of the bonuses of online videos is that, at blogs such as this (Or whatever your favourite online video checking out haunt might be - although it should be this one...) you can see all the decent videos in one place. If your video is slightly under-par (Not saying this video is, 'cos it's actually pretty cool), or if it's a rider who's not as well known and so isn't instantly going to get you hits (Again, not saying that's the case here), then one of the benefits of blogs that pick out the best videos for all to see is that you're more likely to get views from convenience. Essentially, what I'm saying is - if you've got a video that's of, say, a slightly un-known rider or isn't the best production wise, or is just a really short little clip, if someone just has to click 'play' and then watch the video, then your video will get more hits than if someone has to click through to another site, then get to the video, then click play. I'm not saying it's right, but people are lazy and won't want to have to go round the houses to check out a video that may/may not be any good. Again, just to clarify - seeing as a lot of people seem to have a habit of taking what I say out of context/not getting the point - I'm not saying this video is anything other than 'pretty sweet', just refering more to the current trend to set videos to be 'exclusive'.
...do we really need to see all new products in a "Flipbook"? It's pretty much the worst way of showing new stuff online. No joke. With that in mind, here are two from Subrosa and Fit. In Fit's defence, their's is actually more interesting to look at (Incl. some new pivotals that look similar to the Odyssey Senior Pivotals?) and has more interesting info... All the products are available to view on their respective sites without the flipbook format, too...
Put up a couple of photos over here as well as re-posted that Claremont HD video that I put up here before that was both awesome and rad - a difficult and often unattainable combination of qualities, but one that they properly nailed there.
Made with a cheap little video camera, one that you could probably afford too. Why not get one and do your own? Like I said, you should probably make it happen!
I think the word I used to describe the last trick in this video was "Pyoooaaar". No joke. Either way, comes from Ride - it's the shoot for the Benny L interview that's in the mag. It's actually out now, and the magazine in general is pretty worth reading.
Javier Ortega has a new Fly edit up, which I caught over on Dig (Where I also got weirded out by suddenly seeing my face in the Nike banner at the bottom):
Speaking of Dig, again, you dudes really need to check out the Nike Europe trip video I posted the link to (badly...) yesterday. Seriously, Click 'n' View!
Taliban sent me a link to The Ride Journal today, and told me to check out Issue 1 - there's some cool stuff in there, so if you get a chance, have a peek. For the record, the tyre lever shown on page 31 (60/61 of the actual thing) is the best kind of tyre lever ever made. They're so good...
I ain't scared. Esc's been in the pipeline for time. Now, finally, the content's about 90% sorted, the lay-out's pretty much sorted and it's gonna be go time once I've moved Oop North. Stay tuned to the blog, or, if you've got no soul, the Tweets. Totally worth it.
Anyway, other stuff's been going on:
Forgot to post it before, but Shadow did a flow trip and Ride US covered it, with the following online presence - a video and a flip-book.
H-Man's been putting his new studio to full effect, check out the Lacey bike-check.
This made both Tim and I laugh yesterday, so it's getting posted today: The new WTP videorama. Sweeeet.
Where to begin? Newrick seems as good a place as any... 4Down have continued their 'At Home With...' series with James Newrick being the next candidate. Pretty interesting guy, refreshing style of riding.
Nigel Sylvester's got a new Gatorade 'infomercial' thing or whatever they're called up. Interesting seeing some more behind-the-scenes stuff.
Speaking of "behind the scenes", the Nike 6.0 Media Apprentice behind the scenes stuff is up on the Mpora site riiiiight here. Notice how I'm the only one without an interview? Well, that's what happens when you spend your entire interview talking about how you hate indoor skateparks and why street is a million times better. What can I say - it's the truth! In related news, I'm pretty glad I didn't have to get on a boat to do my 'bootcamp'. I wonder how many people are humming 'I'm on a boat' right now...
Chase Hawk's got a signature Vans shoe out, so who better to talk about it than Chase Hawk? What? You got Colin Mackay to do the talk? Right...
Well, when I first saw the pics of the Odyssey 4/4 bars on the IMG site (Click the 'odyssey' tag below to find it), I thought they may have been a work of fiction. Turns out they aren't, although apparently the bars are so big Odyssey couldn't actually fit a whole pair in one photograph? Weird. Anyway, pictures and stuff.
Although this sorta counts 'cos Chris is actually capable of doing BMX tricks on whoever's bike he steals a go on at Southbank. Either way, the guy's got awesome style and a great way of looking at spots. Really makes me want to go out, ride, and skid down some flatbanks. Get inspired!
I started off riding in a small, little town in Wales with nowt but a little mini-ramp, a 3-set and what could potentially be considered a flat-bank in so much as it's theoretically a bank, and isn't transitioned. Either way, it meant that we had to look at things differently when we were out riding to find stuff to do, so naturally seeing edits of people in roughly similar situations interest me. *Name removed for confidentiality* first e-mailed me a link to his friend's Youtube videos a while back, but then I actually got an e-mail off Joe himself with a link to a pair of new Vimeo videos. Some really creative riding here, proving that you don't have to live in a BMX fashion city to be able to put out a cool edit. Click here for his vimeo channel (Which has another vid on there).
Orchid mentioned on their site yesterday they'd be putting up a little Geoff Slattery edit, and lo, they have. I really like the word 'Orchid'. Orchid.
I also really like the way that Geoff rides tight little ramp setups like that. You just know that was hard as hell to ride...
Speaking of Orchid, they also point out that Kevin Porter's now got a coffee sponsor. Hectic! Go here for irrelevant details that won't make a difference to your life.
In similar news, Eli Platt's quit Subrosa and Shadow to focus on uni. Fair play I guess, although my experience of uni hasn't exactly been favourable. Good to see him stand by his ideals though, Ride US have an interview up with him about it all. Shallow interview with a deep person.
Skating doesn't have anything to do with this blog, but I do and I like skating, so check out some cool skate company ads riiiight here, thanks to a link from InTheGnar, thanks to a link from BMXfeed.
Sunday have a new trailer up for Up, Up & Away, but it still won't make me buy it simply because I don't really want to spend money just to see the Ian Schwartz amazing double-section again. It's really good, but not good enough to buy for me. However, I'm told that I'm 'really negative' and that the video's 'sorta alright', so don't take my word for it. There's definitely some other good stuff on there, but we're pretty much talking better than Electronical (Not a challenge), but not as good as... say... That's It or I Wanna Live (Which most definitely is a challenge, because both those videos rule). I should probably also take this opportunity to point out how much I really want to see the new Empire video. So I will. I really want to see the new Empire video.
Oh, and S&M have some pics of their latest cash-cows on their news feed. Seeing as they're still sticking with their flash site, I can't deep-link to that page so you'll just have to either do battle with their site, or just take my word for it that you probably won't want a re-issued Holmes, you'd probably buy the Fit Shiv forks instead of the first "US-made tapered leg and integrated race" Pitchforks and that the seat (Which comes with Eclat-esque Pivotal adapter. Taiwan 1 - 0 Eclat) does it for me but won't do it for you. Just bear in mind I used to run race seats on my BMX 'cos I thought they looked cool - what would I know?
I am tired. That should also suggest to anyone offended by anything in here that they probably shouldn't take it personally. Getting my Kerouac steez on.
Still don't really get the point of it... 'Street' and 'Park' comps are generally ruined when they stick a great big jumpbox in there 'cos you end up just getting the trick ferrets trying to blast their newest fancy tricks over it without really coming up with any lines around the course or anything like that, yet this appears to be a course that is purely jumpboxes in a row. I guess they're technically doubles so they're trying to hit up that trails/dirt mindset, but it just looks like a half-hearted attempt to do a dirt contest? I dunno, maybe I've missed the point or something but for the build-up it seemed a bit 'meh'...
Michael Sieben's work is (not quite) literally everywhere, and in this video he talks a bit more about what he's up to. Interesting dude, sweet art = winners.
It's weird - when I first started buying (Well, reading, 'cos I used to tax them off Dan) BMX magazines years and years ago, whenever there was talk of the X-Games they were generally seen as this big, awful corporate affair. It's was generally in a fairly negative light, and they were definitely considered the riding choice for those who were more interested in chasing the American pro park rat lifestyle rather than so-called 'legit' riders. Interesting how that's turned round these days - for the most part. Pretty cool video of Nigel and Garrett either way!
Kink have put up a cool edit from their trip to Taiwan. Turns out Sexton's got some new cheat codes for BMX - toothy hanger up rail to twist out and indeed to 180 bars out? Really?
In unrelated news, the Dew tour are apparently trying to make their overall brand more cohesive with the action sports environment and participants as a whole, or some other tech business speak... Vital has the info.
Having left Federal to ride for - of all people - KHE, Bruce Crisman's got a 'farewell edit' up from Edd Allen. All good inspiration, especially as I'm currently rolling (sorta) on a freecoaster.
Melancholy classical versions of Radiohead songs isn't what I need in my current mood, but this new Focalpoint edit is rad:
Ollie who part-time posts on Streetphire now helps out with the Aversion blog while Louis' tied up with uni work (Speaking of, don't go to my uni). This is an edit he fired up from the bank holiday weekend:
Nick, creator of Holeshot, has put up a photobook on In The Gnar. Click Here to see it!
Lastly, Sean "Sexytime" (To quote Lloyd) Sexton has a bikecheck up on Dig. Some nice pics of his new frame, good times.
Dig have a new post up about Fly's new forks. Go here for all the details 'n' stuff.
Lastly, Ride UK have put up their interview with Steven Hamilton (Just gotta wait 'til Dig put up the interview from #42 (I think...?) with Hamilton to get some before/after contrast), click here to check that out.
