• Sean Burns is on éclat?
Seriously, Sean Burns is on éclat? This is nothing against Sean Burns—I thought his section in Dead Bang was one of the greatest video parts ever, and dude is everything that BMX should be. Still, something doesn't sit right, even if he is running a 33t sprocket these days (28t by 2012!). Burns being on éclat feels like Deicide signing with Tooth and Nail or McDonald's being an official sponsor of the Olympics.
Oh wait, that's true.
Still, Burns being on éclat just feels wrong. If he's gonna be sponsored by a company with an accent mark, it should damn well be an umlaut. Who's he gonna pick up as his next sponsor, PETA? And the little bio on the site doesn't help, either. I quote: "In an age where tech is the flavor of the month and XXL t-shirts are a standard proponent of the BMX uniform, Sean Burns pedals fast whenever possible and squeezes into used leather jackets." Um, not sure what decade that was written in, but XXL t-shirts are only a "standard proponent" of the BMX uniform for guys who weigh 300-plus pounds, and even those guys are probably trying to squeeze into mediums these days. Might wanna edit that.
• Two-piece cranks.
Everyone seems to be making two-piece cranks today. They're the new three-piece. And éclat's, cringingly named "Tibias," seem to be a cross between Flys and Demolitions. They even have that second drilling so you can run an 18t sprocket if you're into that sort of thing.
Both arms come drilled so you can run them either LHD or RHD. And given that, I can safely assume two things—you don't have to order them specifically for either side drive, and they're not a "2.5" piece crank like Flys. I can't tell from the photo which arm is the one that comes off, but either rightys or leftys will have to take their cranks entirely apart to change sprockets, which is is one of the major downsides of two-piece cranks. And since they use a Profile-style spline interface, that seems like a lousy tradeoff just to lose one bolt. (They're 22mm, which is an advantage over Profile "race" cranks, but if I'm going to stay with the splined setup, I'd prefer to be able to replace either arm independently of the spindle.)
(Two asides—one, why hasn't Profile made a 22mm version of their cranks yet, and two, if I'm wrong about half of this stuff, I promise to explain further. Or let someone from éclat explain.)
• Front hub.
Yeesh. MEDIC!Once again, this seems to be all the rage these days—internally-laced hubs. They look all fancy and lightweight and stuff. And the design would seem to protect the spoke better than their conventionally flanged brethren. That said, when a spoke does break (and it will), enjoy taking your entire hub apart to replace it. Do that enough times, and you'll be ready to go back to something simpler.
• Plastic pedals.
Dude. Everyone has plastic pedals. What's wrong with you? And why not get the grippiest nylon pedal on the market? I'm sure it's been independently verified. Makes you wonder why they bother making aluminum pedals at all. Other than the fact that Burns would probably rather run clipless than plastic.
• Window sticker.
Can I really find fault in a window sticker (scroll to the bottom)? Of course I can! It's just a little thing, though—when your company has been around for 47 minutes, none of your logos are "iconic." Just saying.
Oh, and when you click on the bottom bracket, the main photo that comes up is of the pedals. Might wanna fix that.
But hey, hope it all works out.
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After reading all that—or scrolling past it—you're gonna need this:
29 comments:
I'll look into it. Who makes them?
Rick Moliterno-Domination.
In his Dig interview it said he was a vegatarian, so a peta sponsorship might not be far off.
You need to make a joke about how those brown plastic pedals look like a fancy bar of soap from one of those mall body shop stores. This sponsorship really surprised me. But with Chet on the team also it seems like theyre hooking up some good riders. Im going to call out thier next team member...Albie Bennett!
profile ss cranks used a 22mm, no?
SS's were some weird diameter, I think. Either almost 22mm or not quite 22mm. I forget which.
consulted the Holiday 2001 Dan's Comp catalog and the Profile SS was 7/8 and cost $219.99
So this was it for the Éclat post? I'm surprised that there were not more things upsetting you about their self proclaimed "most unique and functional product line to date" (or something along those lines).
And BTW... you don't really have to take the whole hub apart to replace a spoke with that design. Take wheel off, remove one endcone (it's easy it slides off, at least on the hub I use), push axle through slightly and presto! Spoke holes magically exposed for spoke replacement wonderfulness.
Surely the real issues with the front hub are.
*It seems to be a carbon copy of the one from Simple/Eject and KHE
*You HAVE to run these hubs 4-cross, and 4-cross on a 36 spoke feels like having front suspension
You seem to have missed the rims which use an opposite lacing style to Fly and Gsport rims' (and spoked motorcycle rims) crossover style which supposedly makes them stronger, does that mean that this pattern makes them weaker?
I think it means no one knows anything. Either that or a properly built 36-spoke BMX wheel is strong enough that you can lace it any which way and as long as you keep things nice and tensioned it should be OK.
Can't wait to see Burns's signature parts line.
And I'm glad that they note the barends are "easy to install." Which way do they go again?
I want to like Eclat but the problem is that all of their products are already available from other comanies. The only original part the have so far is that Pivotal adaptor thing.
As for the Sean Burns thing I think the haters need to give Eclat a break. I appreciate where you're coming from, that his bmx persona does not fit that of Eclat but Burns is the one culpable for diminishing his metal/punk image. But, it's not like they've poached Burns, at the end of the day the decision was his.
This is a pet hate of mine which I have difficulty explaining but bmx is terrible about creating a coherent brand image (Metal are one of the few successful examples).
There's no off the shelf 22mm bottom bracket bearings, companies have to custom order at least 1000 of them at a time, so they're really expensive. Plus, for a Spanish BB, they aren't the longest lasting bearings out there, because the balls have to be so much smaller. You all know the handicaps (and heartbreaks) that small balls lead to, I'm sure.
4 cross 36 hole wheels feel like front suspension? Are you familiar with the concept of spoke tension? As in you should have a lot of it on a BMX wheel?
Overall, I expected more from Eclat. This stuff could just as easily have Demolition, Premium, Colony, or Eastern stickers on it, and noone would be the wiser.
As far as Burns goes, riders need to eat. This isn't a slam by any means. There are a bunch of "pros" who are guinea pigs in medical research studies to pay their bills out there. I'd by far rather ride some parts that I might not otherwise ride than get shot up with the best that the pharmaceutical companies can dream up.
Regarding the cranks, saying they're a "Cross between Fly and Demolition" cranks is a bit unfair, seeing as the Demolition cranks are a crap rip-off of the WeThePeople Royal cranks anyway? These are essentially a revised version of the Royals - which are great cranks, and seem far less susceptible to the trademark 'wobble' of Profile cranks - and although I'm not sold on the '2 piece' aspect of it, they still should be pretty decent. They've been tested for a fair while now (I think they were originally posted on the WTP site a few months ago?), and as they're a revised version of their existing crank I doubt they'd be able to make a total hash of it quite like the FlyV1s or the Wombolt V1s (Crank arms don't fall apart at the pedal boss or have the arm fall off the spindle boss as a result of 'installation error').
The rest of their line seems alright though. They appear to have thought everything through, and are testing everything out before even releasing weights and so on, so they're obviously not doing what some companies do and just say a weight that people want to hear, then try and manufacture it down to that weight.
"As far as Burns goes, riders need to eat. This isn't a slam by any means. There are a bunch of "pros" who are guinea pigs in medical research studies to pay their bills out there. I'd by far rather ride some parts that I might not otherwise ride than get shot up with the best that the pharmaceutical companies can dream up."
Exactly. At least someone is hooking him up now. The umlaut comment was funny though.
And I like the look of a lot of Eclat's parts. Sorry.
We still have some Profile SS Cranks left, Russ, if you really want to get your 22mm spindle on. You'll need a crane to assemble them, however, they weigh damn near 5 pounds. $159.95, get them while they last.
-GOB
More like "Se'an Burns", am I rite?
I'll buy that hub if it plays mp3's.
The world got a little more odd. Next thing you know, Corey Jarman will start riding a Pork.
DREW K SAID:
You need to make a joke about how those brown plastic pedals look like a fancy bar of soap from one of those mall body shop stores.
Man,we gotta be great minds,as we think alike.....
Wow, someone that rides for a hardcore respectable brand and a new out of a taiwanese catalogue brand
wow
i wonder why they only have an english website, considering that they are wethepeople's daughter company.
e'shat is an easy company to pass on when you're a 32 yr old hack such as myself. However, colored brake pads, for some reason, make me very happy.
kool stop has been making colored pads for years.
I gotta admit that i like the seats,much better of some stuff i see here and there.Also the pedals are kinda cool looking,atmo.
I somehow doubt Burns will be riding a combined seat/post combo. Probably won't be running one of their seats at all, but a Metal.
While it doesn't fit with their skimpy portions, white wine, goat cheese and arugula image, I think it's a wise/bold decision to sign Burns. He's the ultimate acid test of parts, right? So you're standing in a bike shop (or browsing through a catalog), looking at 12 different sets of cranks that all basically cost the same amount of cash. And you think, "hell, if Burns runs them, they've got to be strong." Of course, he might be breaking them by the case, but he'd do that to any other cranks. Didn't he break 3 or 4 pairs for that death drop at the apartment complex in Dead Bang?
In terms of his being on Eclat not being punk enough, fuck that. The guy sends it on HUGE gaps/drops every day. He shouldn't have to break his piggy bank to buy parts. Eclat should just send an entire shipping container of stuff to his house right of the bat. If it all breaks, they'll have some good feedback on why. (Well, I guess it'd all be put down to "X number of feet to flat.") His signature series will be Uclat, with an umlaut over the "U."
In terms of their parts, the hub looks easy enough to put together, the cranks look as strong as any others--maybe stronger w/the 22mm, and the alloy pedals look really grippy/thin/comfy. Why not?
Oh, and Burns being a vegetarian has to be the most disappointing thing. I figured dude at raw meat 24-7. (Also, the lack of a 45 is a bit of a bummer...I saw an old Kink at the shop yesterday. Maybe I'll mail it to him.)
Internally laced hubs are for road bikes and theres a reason for that. When I was younger no one wanted two piece cranks everyone was buying three piece, be it solids, profile ss or djs, etc.. And there was a reason complete bikes came with plastic pedals because they were cheap crap.
I've still got profile SS cranks. Even with that evolution thing BB, USA BB ofcourse. It's nice to know that whatever you do, the earth will shatter underneath you before your cranks give away.
Anyway, what's with the bashing of éclat? WTP, as we can all agree, is a very respectable company, and I think it's completes helped a lot of kids get hooked on BMX. éclat is just a company for WTP's wild idea's. Why bash cranks on their looks? For all you know they're up there with powerbites, I know the royals were tough as hell.
Same with the fronthub. Sure, like 2 or 3 other companies have the same style fronthubs, but is that a reason to knock 'm? EVERY company has normal style hubs, why not bash on every new hub that comes out?
Sure, BMX isn't perfect these days, and I understand why you're doing this. Writing about something every day isn't easy, but don't just bash for the sake of it.
the hub shell looks like its made of plastic. Maybe that could be the new thing?
Brien said: kool stop has been making colored pads for years.
You're absolutely right! And the Vans shoe pads do work like a dream with 990's, what was I thinking? You win!
youaintno
Outta curiosity...why such hate for Sean Burns?
Burns rules. I'm pretty sure Part of the reason why he is on éclat is because the metal bikes frames were being made by wethepeople. He would be getting along with the guys over there. He is a really good rider, and probably just as good a person. Why do you guys bother to speak negativity on others? Focus on yourselfs, if all you can blab is negativity. It's all Bmx. We are all human.
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