We The People Against Seatpost Clamps

You know, I never set out to be the person who saved the seatpost clamp. But the more I see where BMX frames are headed, I think someone needs to take up that mantle, no matter how heavy. I present for your consideration, the upcoming Max Gaertig // Mike Brennan signature frame from We The People. It's going to be long, it's going to be light, and it's going to require an Animal Wedge post:

The reason given is that hey, Max and Mike both ride for Animal, and Animal makes the wedge post, so why not build a frame specifically designed around said post? (This is sort of like designing an entire car around a specific stereo, or planning an outfit around your socks.) This might make sense if WTP was making custom frames for Max and Mike. Not so much when it's meant for mass consumption. The wedge post is a cool option for some—making it a requirement just seems short-sighted and dictatorial. I'm sure the extra half-inch of seat tube that would have been required to run a seatpost clamp would have been heavy and ugly, but providing options is never a bad thing. Is it?



I will give WTP this: they're one of the first companies to make drilled-out stay caps look cool. In the renderings, at least (nice shadows and reflections, fellas). Dropouts appear to be merging with the stays, which isn't a bad thing—more on that tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see what they look like in real life. Now just extend the seattube, and it might actually be a cool frame.

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Looks like we'll have a correspondent shooting at Interbike this week. Psyched. Thank you, Jacob.

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You Down With SPC?

Before I get going here, an apology to the people whose stuff I was (and still am) going to review. Got both, enjoyed both. Just want to make sure I do both your efforts justice. Cool? I promise they won't fall by the wayside. Um, like the FAQ, which I still have every intention of doing. Someday.

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Dear Stolen,

Interesting approach with your non-wedge wedge Pivotal. While Animal chose to go the traditional stem-wedge route, you chose to emulate Cinelli. Cool. Perhaps the fact that the entire base expands will put less pressure on butted seattubes. And kudos for actually making the post in two different lengths and acknowledging that not everyone wants their seat to double (make that triple) as a fender and toptube pad. Some of us still like sitting down on occasion.

Still, we can't help but think that that huge aluminum insert is heavier than a simple seatpost clamp. (Damn thing looks like a Russian nesting doll.) And the fact that you'll be offering a frame with no clamping area whatsoever, well, that's just plain wrong.


"Clampless frames are the future, the future is now"? For shame. Although we are curious about the other "unique Pivotal post" you'll be unveiling at Interbike. Just not curious enough to actually go. Hopefully it's honeycomb tubing sleeved with carbon fiber.

Sincerely,
–SPRFLS

P.S. Wanna buy a shirt?

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We The People cordially invite you to reconsider the simple fork:


What we have here, I believe, are hollow, closed dropouts. Which means you can kiss your faithful Vandero hub goodbye.

There is this: most new front hubs are being designed with three-piece axles, which means they would be compatible with this style of dropout. In fact, We The People is proposing a two-piece axle (more or less a nut and long bolt) that would simplify things even further. And such a design would prevent this from happening, which is good.

However.

(You knew there'd be a however, right?)

(Right?)

There's something about being able to take your bike apart easily that appeals to me. It's the reason I don't run an Elementary stem, and the reason my Wombolts occasionally drive me crazy (they work great, but I'm not eager to take my cranks entirely apart just to change sprockets). And with these forks, you'll obviously need to take both bolts out (and, in the case of us four-peggers) both pegs off just to take your wheel off. A small price to pay for increased strength and decreased weight? Perhaps. But there's something to be said for convenience. And I don't even travel with my bike all that much. Or, um, at all. It'll be interesting to see whether these catch on.

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Two more shirt designs I spent at LEAST five minutes combined on. Apologies to the real designers who read this blog:



I'm pretty psyched on the squirrel thing. Whatever it is. Meant to stretch the fur up to the shoulders, but that would have taken more time. And, you know, effort and stuff. It should also probably read "SQRLFLS?" on the hem. Dammit.

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I'd have been tempted to post this video even if the song wasn't used in a BMX video. Which it was.

Friday Quiz (featuring Farside)

I feel remiss for skipping last Friday entirely (not to mention Thursday), so you all deserve a decent quiz today. Maybe—just maybe—I'll post something over the weekend, too. Just to try and catch up. Anyway, on with the show.



1. It's hard to look threatening when you a) appear to have highlights in your hair, b) are wearing professionally worn-in jeans, and c) are recognized universally as more or less the nicest guy ever. However, one has to give Chris Doyle credit for trying as he brandishes his Demolition signature fork.

Which iconic image should they have tried to duplicate instead?


a) Malcolm X

b) Dirty Harry

c) Reservoir Dogs (with, perhaps, Brian Castillo)

d) John Rambo

e) Tony Montana



2. The UK's Segment Clothing made this shirt as a response to the "STREETS IS TALKING" shirt Fit made a while back:

Which discipline can we expect to respond next and how?


a) FLATLAND IS WHISPERING

b) PARK IS WHINING

c) VERT IS WITTERING

d) RACING IS LECTURING




3. This bike is:


a) Eddie Cleveland's fault.

b) The subject of Bikeguide's Bike Check of the Week.

c) A mass-market complete.

d) Your ticket to instant cool with just a swipe of a major credit card.

e) Most of the above.




4. There are big bars, there are bigger bars, and there are Solid's Roseanne Bars. Nine inches high and 32 inches wide, you won't find bigger bars unless you make them yourself. Assuming a little wider than shoulder width is about right, who are these bars designed for?


a) Andre the Giant

b) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

c) Sasquatch

d) Micah Kranz

e) Duh



5. Colony's new plastic pedals differ from all the other plastic pedals already on the market how?


a) Since they're Australian, they spin in the opposite direction of pedals from the Northern hemisphere.

b) They have black endcaps instead of white or red.

c) They say "Colony" on them.

d) They look like they should come stock on an $80 complete.

e) Absolutely nothing.




6. These stunning platform pedals are available from Bike Nashbar for the low, low price of $39.99:

What's the worst thing about them?


a) They only have three strings.

b) They're not available in 1/2".

c) They're not painted to look like Eddie Van Halen's guitar.

d) They don't offer a Dimebag Darrell version.

e) They exist.



7. This Nike Olympic trucker hat is supposed to be for the BMX team. You can buy one of your very own from Dan's for just $23.99:


If you were to buy one and wear it around, what percentage of people would look at it and think "oh, BMX"?


a) 22

b) 14

c) 9

d) 2

e) 0

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And now for something completely different. The audio isn't the best, but it's still worth it. Farside playing some New Jersey college in 1995. Wish I was there.







(Doyle made me think of them, so thank—or blame—him.)

Mercyfully Late

So many good intentions today, so little follow-through:

My first thought was to write about the new-new S&M stuff that I mentioned yesterday, but I was waiting for an e-mail back from Chris Moeller. Anyway, that should be good to go for tomorrow.

My other brilliant idea was to do an FAQ (Fucking Annoying Questions), that will definitely happen, except I haven't started it yet. So that's going to have to wait. Maybe next Monday.

And there's another idea I've been kicking around for a semi-regular feature (kind of like the quiz), but I haven't started that either.

So, yeah.

Anyway, in the meantime, here's a photo of Chester Blacksmith's new WTP signature frame:



How is a hole in a toptube better than a seatpost clamp?

Of course, given the seat it has to hold, a little duct tape might do the job.



To make up for how late this was today, here's a great video on how to do a tailwhip: