Friday, February 27, 2009

The Drop

Hi. My name is Russ Bengtson and I'm a hypocrite. I admit this of my own free will—proudly, no less. I'm sure I couldn't even begin to count the number of times I've said one thing, then gone and done the exact opposite. That said:

THIS IS NOT A BIKE CHECK.

Hanson Little promised long ago that he'd send a flick of his chrome Mutiny Mystic, and this week he came through. Devon Hutchins took the photo, and—to reinforce that this is no bike check—I have no information regarding any of the parts on the bike. It sure looks purty, though, don't it?


Also, Hanson scored the cover of the new Dig. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

••••••••••••

To be fair, the new Snafu Splitter stem is certainly distinctive-looking:

And it sure is minimalist. We seem to be reaching the limit of how much material you can remove from a six-bolt stem (counting the ones on the back) and have it still function as a stem. It kind of looks like a Redneck's skeleton, if Rednecks were Terminators (and I'm not entirely sure they aren't).

I don't think I could run this stem, and it has nothing to do with the fact that it's made by Snafu (well, not entirely, at least). Looking at those slim plates in the front and the narrow tubes that house the bolts makes me feel nervous, and the stem is a part I don't like to feel nervous about. (running a close second to forks). I'd rather run an 11-ounce stem and feel safe. Well, safer, anyway.

I'm totally psyched on the fact that there's a "drop date," although I'm bummed there's no mention of colorways. Maybe I'll camp out overnight so I can be the first to post my new Splitter on the internets. Hm, I've always meant to get back to Austin. Hey Hanson, save me a good spot out front—and have a list of your parts ready when I get there. You'd better know what kind of chain that is.

••••••••••••


34 comments:

ryan said...

I was hoping the snafu stem was a joke when they first 'unveiled' it.

Anonymous said...

1: that stem isn't even light enough to justify looking that scary.
2: Hansen is a pretty big prick most of the time.
3: that bike isn't even "all chrome", or even polished.

Anonymous said...

THIRD

Anonymous said...

Hanson's no prick. You just gotta understand his sense of humor.

G.S.GUCCILIFE said...

Im waiting for blue Hazards...Russ,talk to them guys...

nate said...

Well at least Snafu is branching out and making something that looks different than every other front load stem out there. . . I guess.

But again, nothing terribly innovative: 4 bolts in the front, 2 in the rear, machined to within an inch of its life, looks like it'll snap at the worst possible time.

Honestly, in my opinion the 6 bolt front load stem has reached perfection. No reason to mess with it anymore. Yet that never stops anyone from trying.

Anonymous said...

i've never met hanson before, but his riding sure is gnarly.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what anonymous up there is talking about, but that bike looks pretty much all chrome other than the sprocket. If you're including seat, grips, and tires in your "not chrome" thing, then you are a complete and total douche

Anonymous said...

Chain tensioner, pedals, brakes/hanger, hub/misc bolts, and most importantly, valve caps.

Anonymous said...

That first paragraph seems a bit contrived. It's obviously not a bike check, it's a pic of an all chrome bike. There's no need to be so apologetic.

SNAFU SUCKS

Word: hettion

Anonymous said...

There's a photo of a rider doing a 12 step steep grind on the ad SO IT MUST BE STRONG.

Also Dave Mirra is sponsored by them so they are doing something right.

You people are just being haters!

Anonymous said...

post photos of broke stems that broke please. overtorqueing the bolts doesn't count.

Anonymous said...

sorry for my ESL!

Anonymous said...

when have bmx companies produced and SOLD bike parts that weren't considered commodities?

the it's nothing innovative meme has grown as tired as russ's face.

Anonymous said...

Proverbial muffintops, cabbage pedals, seat made of cheese, Trojan rubber tires!

Anonymous said...

Have you noticed which area on the Elementary has been increasingly filled in as it's been revised? That's where stem-stuff needs to be. If your stem has stem there, you won't break it riding. The one in the picture has it. All the new light ones (except Sequence's) do.

Maybe not enough, but you can't eye that. Installed, that Snafu would look less breakable than a Race XLT. Do those ever break? You can sabotage one if you Conan the bolts in, but I've never heard of an XLT just snapping off in somebody's face.

You might be a stemophobe, Russ.

Anonymous said...

I like it too.
Pee Pee wee wee too.
Chromed out like my moms bike.

Anonymous said...

More importantly, Team Dilly is listed on the cover of Dig.

Anonymous said...

FuckYouOdyssey: The material they cut out of it won't make it any more likely to bend. You probably incorrectly tightened it or didn't have enough steer tube in it...

Anonymous said...

hey john from redendo. your a tool box. get off the damn computer and get back to your pump experiment or whatever you call that bike with no drivetrain. if you do need a name, the rest of bmx calls it a scooter.

verification:douche bag

Anonymous said...

Word Verification: installation error

Chris from Odyssey said...

Anonymous shit-talking is meaningless.

We post under our own names.

Thanks for your support.

-Chris

http://tinyurl.com/cuwfct

Anonymous said...

Good thing he wasn't running first gen Wombolts.

word verification: arrogance

Chris from Odyssey said...

J.L. never broke the first gen version of that crankset.

Do a word verification on cowardice.

Thanks for thinking about us,

- Chris

Anonymous said...

more important than all this light stem drama: is the post title a reference to the Brian Eno recording from the mid 90s? sweet, if it is.

Russ said...

The Viktor Vaughn recording from the mid '00s, actually. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

i LOL'ed at the word varification "arrogance" towards odyssey.

hahahahahah. so true. and hahahahahaha. they wont be cool for much longer, so its all good. you can only come out new colors to old parts and not new parts at all for only so long.

word verification: your shit isn't that cool, dude.

G.S.GUCCILIFE said...

Well,if odyssey comes out with blue hazards,ill cop apir,theyw wont go too far with that money,but it will help.....

ps:i started the whole verification word trend,pretty remarkable on the bmx world of today.....remember,you are not the width of your verification word....

Chris from Odyssey said...

The only people that have ever blamed us of being "arrogant" are other people that are either working-in or are closely connected to this industry. We’ve checked the IP addresses in the past.

These posts remain anonymous for reason.

Believe it or not, we're actually humbled by the riders we meet everyday and we honestly feel very privileged to be able to do what we do.

Thanks for caring,

-Chris

GSG: The hard-anodized blue Hazard Lites are on the way.

G.S.GUCCILIFE said...

Hey Chris,thanx for letting me know,it was cool of you,i appreciate.

Chris from Odyssey said...

I'm happy to help. If you want to send me a reminder e-mail I'll get the shipping date for you.

chrisc@odysseybmx.com

G.S.GUCCILIFE said...

Chris,i have odyssey among my feeds,so if you guys gonna write about it on the daily word,ill know,without having you reminding me!Thank you very much!
GSG

ps:hey anonymous,before you hate,yes,im paid by Odyssey to have Chris show publicly that they have a pretty good customer care service......(Chris,ill email you privately about where to send them free hazards......)

pps:verification words are so yesterday right now....

Anonymous said...

For the record, I run a V2 Elementary as well as Odyssey rims, pedals, grips, and tires.

The Elementary is an engineering marvel and an amazing stem to those who understand it.

To those that don't, have fun running Shadow and Alienation parts. LOL.

Word verification: odsy4lyfe

Unknown said...

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I most definitely agree with a lot of people in here, throwing differnet views, different discussions. THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR!
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