Pijin Custom Bike No.2 ?

The money is no object Pijin bike got sold within a week of being built. Didn't even have time to take some pics and post on this blog... which is a shame as it was simply the best bike Pijin has built so far. So how do we top that one? We've just managed to get in the Metal Rebel Contender frame which we have been waiting months for. Definitely worth the wait... Carlos should be building it up on Tuesday unless Jingles decides to buy it before then (you know you want it James!).


It tips our scales at 5.02lb which is slightly less than the manufacturer's quoted weights (must be a first!). Has lightning streaks cut out of the dropouts the integrated seat clamp means there is hardly any seat tube protruding from the top tube - be good for those who really like to slam their seat down. Look out for our custom build in the shop window. Should be on display with 2 other custom builds. We're getting one from Profile Racing. Should be a Mulville frame decked out with the best Profile bits. And Steve from Shindig is doing a custom build using a Take Ivy frame with Drive parts...

Backyard qualifiers up in Bristol today. Good luck to Carlos, Jake, Slosh, Farmer Dan, Tom (little Slosh), Alex (little Joe) and everybody else who is entering!

Last bit of news for today is that Carlos bought a pair of girls jeans from H&M yesterday. Oh dear...

Pretty Joe in Sugar Magazine!

Joe has always been the pretty boy of Pijin. His presence on Saturdays always seems to attract the emo girls into the shop - it's the hair that does it everyime! Now he gets his own monthly column in Sugar Magazine! He's already been to a photo shoot up in London, so expect to see his column appear in the next issue. So grab your sister's copy of Sugar to see what it's all about! Can't wait. xxx LOL

Pijin website back online!

Our website has been down for over a week now. Just to reassure everyone that Pijin is alive and well. I've just not had time to fix it as I've been tied down with my other job. Anyways, the problem was due to a faulty router to our server... A nice girlie gave me a brand spanking new one for free this morning which I got promptly installed and running - so everything is working again. Yay!

Have spent the last 6 months away from Pijin (during weekdays) but I should be returning back in October. Been helping with a new website for THQ Games which went live yesterday! Just a few more bits to do and I will be a free man again! No more long days looking at the computer screen... just building bikes and wheels. Bliss! :)

Shirley Warren Jam Sunday 20th August

Hmm... been lazy on the blog updates again. Didn't know what to write. Slosh suggested writing one titled "Slosh kills Emerald Weapon!"... I might write that one later... keep checking back!

So what's happening this week then? Here goes...

The annual Shirley Warren Jam is happening this Sunday. Good luck to everyone entering! You might even win a prize donated by us. :) Haven't decided what to give yet though...

We're in the process of building 2 Pijin custom bikes at the moment. One is a high end money doesn't matter bike and the other is gonna be a bit more affordable. Been arguing with Carlos and James about what parts to put on... in the end, we had to resort to pulling votes out of a hat. Pictures coming soon once we've managed to build them up!

Slosh rides America!

Mr Slosh recently went across the pond to ride some parks in the USA with fellow Totton local Matt Watson. As well as wowing the Americans with their style, they also tested their English accents on the unsuspecting American girlies...

You might have seen these pics already on Slosh's MySpace... but here they are posted again for the benefit of the sensible people without MySpace.

Photos taken by Matt Watson

Wanna be trendy? Smaller is better?

As with just about everything in this world, trends come and go. Right now, the trendy BMXers are all wearing super tight (girls?!) jeans and T-shirts. Is it just for looks? Or does it actually serve a purpose? Sometimes it's hard to tell. I guess having super tight jeans means you'll never have them chewed up by your sprocket and chain...

Go back a few years and nobody was ever worried about weight. Things seemed to have changed a bit since then, and there are probably just as many weight freaks out there as your girl jeans loving rider. Someone said to me a few weeks back that he'd yet to see a Pijin bike that wasn't light... I guess that statement is probably true... As can be seen from the table below, most of us are running biscuit sized gearing... It saves weight... it's nice and small so there's loads of clearance and you don't have to worry too much about bashing your sprocket up... But is smaller better? Maybe... but the downside is that making things smaller and lighter places more stress on the components. Things will wear out or fail before their larger counter parts. There's no real answer to what's best. You decide for yourself! (I really wouldn't recommend wearing girls jeans... they hurt too much!)

	Gearing	T-shirts	Jeans
Carlos	25-9	super tight	mens - tight
Jake	25-9	tight	girls
John	25-9	loose	mens
James	27-10	tight	mens
Dave	28-10	super tight	mens - tight
Joe	28-10	tight	girls
Slosh	28-10	super super tight	mens
J.P.	33-12	XL	mens
Flo	39-14	never	girls

Jake's very chewed up 25T sprocket...


Farmer Dan's 2T (originally 9T) titanium driver...

Curly's bike check

Okay... it's pretty hard not to have a good bike when you work in a bike shop... you have all the latest gear sitting under your nose, it's just too tempting not to take a few bits every now and again. I guess Carlos spends more time in Pijin than anyone else (even me!) so it's understandable that he finds it a little harder to keep the same part on his bike for more than a couple of months without changing to something better. Slut! So what has he got now? He's been a bit slow out of the starting block this month... and got himself a new Simple Enigma frame (but only after Greg, Ryan, Scot and Scott (Angry) got theirs first...).

Too bad he can't ride it though... ankle injury should mean 5 weeks of no riding! He'll just have to make do with polishing it up over the next few weeks... Oh well, at least he has a new Profile mini cassette hub body in purple coming tomorrow. Rebuilding his wheel should keep him from wanting to ride his bike for a couple of hours at least...

Frame	Simple Enigma 20.8"
Fork	Odyssey 41 Thermal Pro Race Svelte
Headset	FSA Orbit CE
Bars	Odyssey Civillian Svelte
Bar Ends	Fly
Stem	Coalition Povah
Grips	Odyssey Team
Brake Lever	Odyssey M2 Small
Brake	Fly with Koolstop dual compound BMX pads
Gyro	Odyssey GTX-R
Gyro Cables	Odyssey M2 top cable, Snafu astroglide lower twin cables.
Seat	MacNeil Capital
Seat Post	MacNeil
Seat Clamp	Profile Slim Jim purple
Front Wheel	Profile blue mini hub 36H with ti bolts, Primo Balance rim
Back Wheel	Profile mini cassette LHD 9T ti driver & axle, Odyssey 7K-A Rim
Tyres	Front - KHE Premium Street, Rear - Primo v-Monster 1.95"
Cranks	Profile Race LHD with titanium axle
Sprocket	Profile Imperial 25T purple
Chain	KMC Kool SL
Bottom Bracket	Fly Spanish
Pedals	Primo Balance Magnesium
Pegs	Profile Alutanium
Mods	Cut down seat post
Weight	Light!

Disclaimer : The contents of this bike check are accurate at time of writing, but no doubt will have changed by the time you read this!

Another Saturday in Pijin...

Is it a coincidence that they have the same hair styles? Tom and Alex try to emulate the Pretty Joe & Slosh poses... see the likeness?







Will gets the biggest nose ring ever! (Which got promptly eaten after the picture got taken. Yuk!)








Tom showing Will some love on the Pijin floor...







Mr Barclay had a nasty fall at Barend... must be those new bars that he got!

Sprite Urban Games 2006

32°C at the Sprite Urban Games on Clapham Common. Sat in the blaring sun watching the Pro Street Comp early afternoon. Now I know what a sun ripened tomato feels like!

Left the SLR camera at home this year so no good photos to show... the little pocket digital camera wasn't really up to the job so I really didn't take many pics at all. It's no fun seeing all the action through a view finder!

Riding was absolutely amazing this year! Flip-whips, flairs, 720s, 360 double whips, front flips, double whip taps... big tricks, big style... it was all there somewhere today. Can't really describe what happened... my words just wouldn't do justice to the riding. You just had to be there!

Skank!

Read this in the paper while on the bog today... is this for real? It did appear in the credible paper that is the Sun so maybe skank like this does exist in real life?

Pretty quiet in Pijin today... I guess most people are out and about enjoying the sunshine! Had the odd mountain biker and crying girl to deal with... but that's nothing out of the ordinary!