Preload.

31 seconds.

Misunderstood...

Hidden X Liberty, or Liberty X Hidden? The video's definitely from Hidden, but judging from Liberty X's last chart entry, they're pretty 'hidden' now too...





As we all know, X is the Roman Numeral for 10, and while we're talking numbers, here's the trailer for Tres, which goes live on Fly's site on the 24th December. Gonna be worth it!



Lastly, if you're finding it hard to sleep tonight, just put this video of Mike Hoder getting a hair-cut on. Weirdest video ever...



Saw that over on S&M's site, or 'SandM' depending on if you go from real names or URL names.

Consistency?

You betcha.

First thing that you, as the reader of this blog, need to do is go and check out Benson's portfolio site, then check out the BMX section and the photo of James Cox doing a suicide. When it first came out in print it was awesome, and this just reminded me how good it was. There's also plenty of other good stuff in there, apart from the photo of Jimmy Rushmore at Rom which made me want to claw my eyes out.

Dig have a couple of things up today that didn't really interest me but may interest you. Firstly, I don't run brakes so Fly cables don't really appear on my radar, and secondly a Scott Ditchburn video bikecheck with what you might describe as a flawed riding-to-talking ratio. Still, if you - like here - are being blessed with a cold, rainy evening as a vicious blow from Mother Nature to make up for the last week of sun and ridiculous warmth, it's something to do, eh?

Speaking of sun and warmth, this video of Josh Eilken is a glimpse of what might happen if we actually get a summer this year. That, and if you get rad on a freecoaster and learn flairs...



I've got to go and edit a video now, so it'll have to be toodle pip.

www.ratemyspot.com

Man alive, check out the new Partners In Crime edit over on Freedom - those spots are amazing! Pretty rad video too, but hot damn, I wanna ride Spain/Italy now! Linkage.

Don't know whether it's 'cos they've got some holes to fill in their range now, or just that 4Down have been working on this for a while, but Ben Lewis is getting a signature frame according to Ride.



20″ – 21″ TT, 13″ rear end, 75.5 HT and 69 degree ST - interesting.

Apparently Seventies have a bit of room in their warehouses after Xmas, as they've managed to build a pretty nuts looking indoor setup there. Fair bit more to that than there was last time I was there!



In some ways I was glad I missed the NCSL prem so I didn't have to watch myself ride. Unfortunately for Sean Sexton and Darryl Tocco, this video got made. I guess on the flipside, they're actually amazingly good so it shouldn't be quite so much of a hardship...

Reminisce.

I remember seeing a clip of Chase Hawk doing a 360 to manual on the T-1 ramp in You Get What You Get (You need to see this vid if you haven't) and thinking it was amazing, turns out he's got them awesome and indeed brakeless according to this new video from Nuno.



Saw this video over on Deluxe, and it's amazing! Haven't seen anything like it before, looks like such a fun session. Top marks to those who put spade to dirt to make them.



Seventies have a cool 'team' video up where they show some of the shoots for their new catalogues 'n' stuff - some old footage that people won't have seen yet, and some more recent stuff. Fun fact - when Niki does the whip on the bank to 180 off, then high fives a Shelter worker, he got her number. Seeing Niki work his magic on her was amazing, like putty in his hand.



Saw this on the Fly site when I was looking for the not particularly interesting video of Kevin Porter putting a tube on his bike, but got reminded about it by TCU - here's a bikecheck with Stefan Lantschner, featuring a frame I was nearly going to buy tomorrow. So near, yet so far. In related news, see all you Southampton dudes tomorrow!

Time to poo, gotta run.

New Fly site.

Fly have a new site, with plenty of new info on all their shiny new stuff. Go 'n' have a look!

Blimey.

The new Ride (#135) is out sooooon, featuring one of the nicest cover photos (and indeed designs) in aaaaaaaages. Check it oot, to quote a Scottish colleague of mine.



Go here for some sample spreads. Also got some samples of Chase Hawk's new Cult frame.

Not content with releasing some photos of a bangin' looking Tierra, Fly have bobbed up some new photos of the Pantera frame. Looks pretty fly (InstantRimshot.com). Got some new Pantera bars too that are now 8.35" tall, and feature a non-kinky crossbar. Apparently Sergio learnt to work around a normal crossbar to get his no-handers done.



Precious little info on any geometry changes or anything, but hey ho.

The ever-interesting (for want of a better word) Miles Rogoish is now riding not just for fun, but also for Subrosa. Look, proof!



I've eaten too much fish and chips.a

Bits and/or bobs.

Firstly, two items rinsed from FBM - the bonus section from Gypsy 2our, and then the promo for Melon 3 from Tom Blyth's blog.





If you want to win the back wheel on Niki's bike in this photo:





Do what he says. Or else.

Dig put up the new specs for the new Tierra 2010 line. Just look at this frame:



In semi-related news, I once stripped a Tierra frame. It took a lot of time because it had apparently been comprised mainly of powdercoat rather than good old fashioned steel. Well, last night, I decided to strip my haggard looking A2B frame. 3 hours. 3 damn long hours of Nitromors and wire wool/brushes. That was some thick paint, and the rust-proofing didn't help much either.

Not worth it.

Special Boat Service

Fly have just put up a news post about their SBS system. "For brakeless riders, You might get to a spot like the trails or a street spot where you need brakes so you can put them on without the hassle." - I don't really know many brakeless street riders who ride around their chosen town/city with a brake in their bag, but maybe that's just me? It also seems kinda weird that with their mantra of "Fewer parts = better", they want to add more, but I suppose for the one or two people out there who find it incredibly hard to set a brake up it might be good. I suppose the whole system relies on your wheel being in exactly the same place it was last time you set your brake up, otherwise you'll have to adjust the spring tension and so on all over again anyway? Not to mention if your wheel had moved you'd have to adjust the pads and stuff too. Either way:

New Fly stuff.

Lago? Montana? Hmm...

Revelation.

Pretty sure I mentioned on here that Fly were working on some new brake system - turns out they were. Observe:


Go to BNQT for more videos.

Hmm...

New Fly Stefan Lantschner frame and bars? Speaking as someone who's got high bars, they look like high bars.

The last few days...

Well, as a result of the Tim Lewis Live Text Update service I was getting I had a rough idea about the whole Ride to Glory gig, but a H-Man (Namedrop!) call on the way back from Leeds confirmed that WTP won this year. Good stuff. Go here for the legit coverage. Heard some interesting Jim C./Ben Hennon stuff, haha.

Anyways, as I mentioned, I was in Leeds for the Charles Prow "King For A Day" jam. Good times were had, and I think it was a great tribute to Charles. I put up some 'proper' words on the subject (and some photos) up here.

The day before, I ate a piece of fish that was as long as my forearm. All fish, right the way up the batter. Bangin'! I know, I know, I put it on my blog too, but it's a remarkable piece of food!



On the same weekend, P5 re-assessed whether Brighton Was Ready and held another jam. Ollie from Streetphire put this little edit together of the day.



In other news...

J.J. Palmere is back on Premium and back on your screens:



And finally, another video, courtesy of Madera, who took a trip to Memphis.

EDIT: Forgot to mention as well - I said a few days ago about Fly having proto plastic pedals - well, they do, as well as a new type of stem with a different way of clamping your forks, and some other little trinkets too, including a weird new rear hub that everyone kinda knows about anyway. Super precise info there, revel in it...

Shiny!

Well, looks like Fly have some plastic pedals in the works, unless they've got some kind of incredible translucent metal shenanigans going on with their Ruben pedals? Bikeguide notices these things!



The latest Let It Ride video from that big Vans thing was up on Woozy:



Pretty fun little BMXFU edit:



Other than that, the internet video world is reasonably barren. There are videos around, but nothing that great, so I'm sparing all of you!

Oh - the King For A Day Charles Prow jam is on tomorrow at Leeds, in Hyde Park. Kicking off at 1pm. If you can make it, go there. They're always good, and you've got nothing else to do*.


*Sweeping generalisation.

Catch-up.

Dig put up another cool Refresh edit yesterday, some "Solid riding", as they say.




Chris Harrison's got a cool little "Rapid Response" thing over on Dig too.

I didn't really realise just how big the Fly team is, but yeah, pretty big! This is a cool edit of their whole crew riding the Worlds. Kevin K should've won the spine comp purely for dropping out the coping tyre slide thing, Taj style. I love those!



The controversial Mutant Bike company have another 'new idea' out, the peguard. Essentially, a peg with a built-in guard that appears to have a few flaws. The reasoning they give on the site such as "Hub guards are not simple to assemble and too large for its functionally" (Really? How?) and so on seems pretty debatable, and I'm fairly sure the lack of compatibility, limiting it's lifespan by having one point to grind on (Not the only peg like that, I know, but that doesn't make it good) and having a guard that could potentially bend upwards into the hub/spokes doesn't really count in it's favour either. I'm just still amazed that they're planning on releasing that frame with that seatpost setup (Apologies to the anonymous commenter who was unhappy I only listed 5 bad points with it, apparently that's not 'backing it up' enough)...



Don't get me wrong, some of their products are nice, but some of them just make no sense whatsoever.

RideUS are planning a follow-up to the awesomeness that was Insight, in the form of "Range Of Motion". To quote their release:
The Concept
Four riders who are well-rounded, able, and astounding on anything you put in front of them—Dennis Enarson, Tony Hamlin, Sergio Layos, and Dave Dillewaard.
Take those four riders on three trips focusing on each type of riding. Trip number one, a park trip up in the Great Northwest, has already gone down. A dirt trip up in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York is going on at this very moment. And a street trip along the California coast will go down about a month from now.
Now add in four more shredders on each trip that specialize, if you will, in what we’ll be riding that trip. Drew Bezanson, Simon Tabron, Darin Read, and newbie Ryan Wert went up to Oregon to ride cement. Cory Nastazio, Adam Baker, Mike “Hucker” Clark, and Luke Parslow are with us right now in the Northeast. And Aaron Ross, Garrett Reynolds, Sean Sexton, and Rob Wise will be with us in Cali.

...and this is a video from their first trails trip. Serious business!



Retribution have their Owl T's available now, and also have this Saturday Shenanigans video up. Controversial! They say they got it from an "Undisclosed location" but I'm fairly certain I know who made that...



Tony Watkinson rode for 20 minutes after the Worlds, and Mike King documented.





Morgan Wade has something to say, to quote the title of Ride's old Chase Hawk interview.

Random one, but Ani- er, I mean "A. Bike Co." have some wax out. Street dawg approved?



But for now, everyone needs to look below this post and check out again how insanely good those WTP completes are. My my!

Onomatopoeia?

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.



Vans at FISE from WTP:

Vans Team @ FISE 2009 from AtotheZ on Vimeo.

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):

Flybikes Javier Ortega in Portugal from Vespa Produções on Vimeo.

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...

LightsInTheWoods? LimasInTheStates to be more accurate...

lima at sxsw from lightsinthewoods on Vimeo.

Brutal.

Get well soon, Banners! Savage...

In slightly less horrific news, P5 have both a new site and a new video. Here's the site and here's the video:

P5 Spring Mix from Project Five on Vimeo.

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.

Love this pic...

Represent.

Southampton RPRZNT.



ET Variations RPRZNT.



Fly RPRZNT.

Gazza RPRZNT.



Old school KP/DS RPRZNT.



Federal RPRZNT.



Trails RPRZNT.



Vic Ayala RPRZNT.

But yeah, enough of that. I'm pretty tired from riding a hell of a lot then going and playing football for 2 hours in a big metal flood-lit cage, so apologies for the lack of effort. I'm gonna go take my pegs off and see if my hub's fallen apart (again). Something feels awful back there.

Bike maintenance RPRZNT.

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.