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.

Won't Get Fooled Again

OK, I probably will.

The S&M Bars were/are fake. Good. Did I believe they could possibly be real? Yes. Does that make me gullible? Sure. Kudos, Mr. Moeller. Now buy my Mad Dog.

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Saw that two more companies (Fremont and S&M) knocked off Fit's "Stay Fit" t-shirt. The font is a common one—Edwardian Script ITC—so I think everyone with Photoshop should do their own variation on it. All you need is a blank t-shirt template, which I'll even provide:


I already did mine.


I've been playing with a lot of t-shirt ideas lately. Not sure how many, if any, will ever actually get made. But I welcome your input. Here's eight for starters:


1.



2.


3.

4.


5.

6.


7.


8.

Feel free to name your favorite—not that it'll necessarily do any good one way or the other. I'd pretty much guarantee the "SAY SHIT" one will never happen. And it's not like anyone buys BMX t-shirts anyway.

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Another easy one that Derek Adams should enjoy.

Honeycomb's Big; Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

Well, either the Lumberjack Slams are real, or S&M is perpetrating their best hoax ever. I e-mailed Moeller to ask for more details (sample question: "Dude, WTF?") and this is what he sent back:

For production parts, all the honeycomb tubes on frames/forks and bars will be sleeved with carbon fiber. The diamond pattern of the material will be filled with epoxy so the tubes will actually be smooth and look totally normal. As of now the only paints we can use on the epoxy is almost neon so that should be interesting! The thin outer sleeve of 4Q Baked Supertherm really just gives us something to miter and weld to. This process is sometimes referred to as Bilateral Structure and we are also working on a (3 lb) frame utilizing it as well.

Neon paint only? Carbon fiber sleeves? Epoxy filling? Three-pound frames? Bilateral freaking Structure? You got me. Just for the fun of it, I looked up 'bilateral structure'. Most of the results had to do with either fibers or finance. There was also this definition:

Bilateral structure is an organization system that relies on reflection and / or duplication to achieve closure and equilibrium within a field. All bilateral fields can be divided into two identical or relatively similar halves on a single axis. The lateral axis within a field of absolute symmetry will delineate the two identical halves, while the lateral axis within an asymmetrical field will delineate two similar, but not identical, halves. The relative amount of absolute symmetry determines the orientation and position of this lateral axis within the field.

Yeah, I don't get it either. Well, I sort of do, but not how it fits this particular design.

Whether this whole thing is real or not (Chris never mentioned price, which I also asked about and I'd imagine would be rather prohibitive), I fully expect companies to start using materials like carbon fiber soon. Because how much lighter can you make a frame/fork/bar out of heat-treated chromoly? Seattubes and chainstays can only be so short, butted tubing so thin. And if lightness is going to remain the be-all and end-all, carbon is a cheaper alternative than titanium. I also fully expect to see an aluminum park/trails frame sooner rather than later. The Pulled Pork?

So whatever. Either we're all being taken on a ride (me especially), or things are about to get real interesting. Ever since S&M showed that one-piece clear plastic sprocket/guard combo, I've been at a total loss about what's serious and what isn't. I knew I should have booked a flight for Interbike.

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The video this song is from really needs to be released on DVD.

Scam Bars?

Apologies for the later-than-all-hell post—I'm just awakening from the coma the new S&M bars sent me into:


(For more, check the S&M website, specifically the news section.)

Much like last time, I'm not sure whether these are supposed to be a real product or not. A year or so ago I would have called fake based on the 9" x 32"dimensions alone, but what with Solid already producing a 9" x 32" bar, it's entirely possible that S&M felt the need to join the even-bigger-bar party. Hopefully if it were a joke, Moeller would have went with something ridiculous like 10" x 35"—bars that size probably won't be produced for real until say, next year. Then there's the matter of the name, Lumberjack Slams, which recalls both Denny's (two pancakes, a slice of grilled honey ham, two bacon strips, two sausage links and two eggs, plus hash browns or grits and choice of bread) and Odyssey. Be curious to see whether that name makes it to the production stage. If there is one.

Then, of course, there is the matter of that crossbar. I can't decide whether it looks more like a pair of Chinese fingercuffs (word to Rick Derris and Cohee Lundin), some sort of woodworking tool or the decorative trim on—well, something. Whatever the case, it sure is different. And by different I mean totally awful. Imagine getting a handful of that on a barspin gone wrong? Or knocking your chin on it on a big gap? Or if it takes a direct impact from...anything? I understand it for a show bike or as an example of what you can do with steel, but as an everyday set of bars? Hell no. (And going from what was said in the news section, it appears that they might try a frame with the same tubing? Yikes.) Oh well, at least they're bringing the Challenger stem back.

I'll be e-mailing Moeller this week to try and find out more. That is, if I ever recover sufficiently from the initial shock.

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Take a walk.

Pollcraft

Just from checking BMXfeed compulsively on an hourly basis (more often than it gets updated, I think), I've noticed there have been quite a few polls in BMX lately. Profile asked what limited color you all want to see next—personally, I couldn't decide between "waiting room beige" and "vulva pink"—and Orchid posted a bingo-card like offering of former models and (gulp) colorways for potential re-issue in recognition of their fifth anniversary:


My reaction to that one was swift: Orchid has been around for five years?

Polls have been part of BMX forever, of course—from reader polls to NORA Cup voting. I think I may have even voted for Greg Hill and Mike Dominguez once. And if I didn't, I definitely meant to. This recent rash of polling made me think: why don't more companies look for direct input? Instead of telling us what we want, why don't they ask us? I've come up with poll suggestions for a variety of companies. Some are too late, but others could still do some good.


• EASTERN: What part of our frames should we cut full of holes next?

a) Downtube
b) Toptube
c) Seatstays
d) Whatever Kyle Busch thinks is best

• S&M: Should we destroy the 21" Stricker by lowering the toptube and eliminating the anchor brace?

a) Yes
b) No

Additional question: What country's flag should we wrap around our stems next?

a) Canada
b) France
c) China
d) Angola

• Odyssey/G-Sport: What part should George French entirely re-imagine?

a) Headset
b) Handlebars
c) Grips
d) Bolt-on framestanding platforms

• Fly: Should we keep re-inventing the bottom bracket?

a) Yes
b) No
c) Dude

• Terrible One: Should we manufacture the Barcode overseas?

a) Yes
b) No
c) You still make the Barcode?

• Primo: Which rider should we kick off the team next?

a) Tony Neyer
b) Josh Stricker
c) E-Man
d) Someone who isn't even on the team yet

Additional question: Do you think Josh Stricker would ever run plastic pedals?

a) Hahaha
b) No, seriously, hahaha

• Giant: 我們為什麼要作出為BMX自行車?

a) 為愛
b) 為錢
c) 為犬

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Great song whether you know where it's from or not.

Unshaven

First things first: a correction.

(Not sure about you, but I hate that newspapers and magazines hide their corrections way at the bottom of a page. I'm gonna buck the trend—and this one wasn't even my fault!)

Turns out the new Simple frame I talked about on Monday won't have a shaved headtube after all. I got an e-mail from Jimmy Röstlund at Simple/Eject that cleared things up:

I saw a short little note on about Simple going into production with the "shaved" headtube thing. I know that Sidewall posted that on their news page, but it's a miscommunication and I have taken the appropriate action to get that corrected.

We did do prototypes with that style headtube, but we decided to go with a normal style headtube after testing. If you look at the photos that were posted of the frame you can clearly see that it's the same headtube as we've previously released. I've attached a photo that shows the headtube more.

Thanks, Jimmy. I'll be curious to see whether Sunday goes forward with it.

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Heat-treated. Colorways. "Super Bake." What could I possibly be talking about? Frames? Bars? Nope—try stem bolts. Hollow, powdercoated stem bolts. They're the 21st century equivalent of dice valve caps.

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If you're like, a downhill/freeride/urban MTB type or a fixed-gear freestyler, now there's a stem to go with all your pink Chris King stuff. Pretty and strong indeed. It's Hollywood Mike Miranda!

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I meant to link to this earlier—Brian Tunney recently posted an interview he did with Joe Rich about the future of Terrible One. Seems like some production will be shifting to Taiwan. Makes sense to me. Knowing the little that I do know about frame production and profit margins, it's hard to believe any company can survive selling US-made frames that aren't produced in-house. BMX frame retail prices haven't increased appreciably in the past decade, while the costs of everything—from raw materials to transportation—have increased a great deal. Factor in that the framebuilders and company owners (not to mention sponsored riders and other employees) probably like eating a couple times a week and living under roofs with luxuries like electricity and hot water, and either prices need to go up or costs need to go down. Probably both.

(I wanted to sprinkle some quotes in here, but assblasters isn't loading for me right now. Shame.)

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Went and saw The Dark Knight in Imax last night. Not bad, although they could have easily cut 10 (or maybe even 20) minutes without doing any damage to the main storyline. And while Heath Ledger was really good, I feel like his portrayal of the Joker wouldn't be getting this much attention if he was still alive.

Anyway, did this remind anyone else of something like this? Flat black and fat tires, woo hoo.

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Easy one?

Rim Jobs

I am not an engineer of any sort. The only college science course I took was earth science—rocks for jocks—and while I did allegedly pass calculus, I can't remember a single thing I allegedly learned. As for physics, I didn't even take that in high school. Combine that with the fact that I've only built one wheel in my life—using the time-tested hold-the-new-rim-next-to-the-old-wheel-and-transfer-the-spokes-over method, and it should be abundantly clear that I am entirely unqualified to criticize a new rim design. Like this one, from éclat:







They look cool, I guess. Nice colors. And as everyone seems to be trying their hands at rim design lately—Animal, Fly, Stolen, Shadow—I suppose that each company needs their own unique design to help them stand out from the ever-growing crowd. Will they be stronger than time-tested designs from Odyssey, Primo and Sun? Damned if I know. Then combine all the new rim designs with new hub designs from (among others) Tree and Simple, and it's enough to drive a simple wheelbuilder crazy. (I'd like to see someone 5-cross crosslace a Tree front hub to a Fly rim without breaking something.) No wonder Pierre Pierros III has been on vacation for months.

It would be interesting to see some sort of independent testing as to which rims are stronger, and which spoke patterns (close to the edges or all in the middle?) and lacing patterns work best. Anyone?

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