One-Sided Arguments

Well.

Apologies for the disappearance. Spent much of last week and the weekend watching the X Games—odd parts, too, not just the BMX. Nope. Since I didn't exactly keep track of what was on when, I just took what came: Jake Brown's return to Megaramp (and the ensuing multiple crashes of a drawn-looking Danny Way), the BMX Street final jam session (which seemed rather difficult to judge), a few minutes of FMX Best Trick (whose competitors seem about as culturally relevant as Mudvayne and Slipknot—and equally well-dressed).

I don't know, the X Games just seem to get increasingly stranger and more removed from real life every year. Pro skater Rune Glifberg bitches about the "Super Park" course enough to have an L.A. Times story written about it—then wins the event. Podium regulars Travis Pastrana and Dave Mirra both medal—in rally cars. Rally cars? Why not a demolition derby or monster trucks?

••••••••••••••••••••••••

Someone please explain to me the appeal of one-sided pegs? You know, ones like the Eastern Slit pegs, which have a bunch of undoubtedly NASCAR-approved slits cut in them, or the off-center machined Macneil Fashionably Lights or Colony One-Ways (which are aluminum, to boot). Or, of course, the new EXTERNALLY machined Fly pegs.



They're lighter, sure. Which is the whole point, I guess. But the fact that you can't rotate them—when you grind through one side, they're done—seems to be a steep price to pay. And on the internally machined ones you'll want to be careful not to grind on the wrong side by accident. (Of course they're all advertised as "park pegs" or for "light street," but whoever pays attention to that sort of thing?) What they are, more or less, are pegs that are pre-worn. If I'd known something like this would become popular, I would have kept all my old ground-down Kinks.

I'm also curious how the off-centered machining affects the strength of the peg as a whole. What if you hit one of the "thin" parts against an upright? What if you bail and the bike lands square on the end? Like a lot of parts these days, I understand the appeal of these if your sponsor is sending them to you. Otherwise? Not so much.