Insight: Shape Bar Ends

Some of you may recall the On The Horizon we did with Shape Bicycles a few months back. Shape is a fresh BMX brand from France that freelance product designer Sylvain Taro started up to fill that void for originality and quality craftsmanship he felt most products were missing these days. In the interview, he talked about doing something slightly different that most brands aren’t doing. A signature bar end for one of his riders. All right, so bar ends are pretty simple, how could they do anything different? Well, they did manage to do something a little different and it’s the fact that they put time and effort into something that most brands these days are mass producing as a plastic plug with their logo on it.
The other day he sent through a few photos of the final version for me to check out. I figured it would be pretty cool to give you guys a closer look at this one…
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Random Photos From The BV Jam

Pretty decent turn out, yeah? This wasn’t even the high point in people at the park for the day.

Every year for the last like 8 or so years, I’ve been able to get involved with an annual jam at one of Minnesota’s skateparks. Some people might remember the ones I was able to organize and help out with at Board To Death, Renegade, Mankato, Midwest and 3rd Lair in the past. Each year the events have been getting better and better with more and more support. This year was definitely awesome since it was by far the most we’ve ever been able to give away for prizes.
The only down side to organizing an event is that you’re so busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off to make sure everything keeps rolling smooth. I’ll be honest and say that’s my least favorite part of the day. The other 90% is awesome though and at the end of the day, it’s always worth it.
I was able to snap a few photos throughout the day to help keep track of what went down and everything. I decided I’d upload a bunch to give you an idea of how things panned out. Expect a full photogallery from Tristan Theil at some point this week and once Blake Waters gets back from a quick snowboarding trip the rest of the footage should start popping up.
So let’s see what I had on my camera…
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2nd Annual BV Jam – Pro / Expert Edit

^ – Turn it up to 720p

Yesterday, the 2nd Annual BV Jam went down at Bluff Valley’s Over The Top Skatepark in Zumbro Falls, Minnesota.
The park was supposed to open at 10:00 but by 9:30 there was already around 20 kids riding the park, so things got rolling pretty fast. As the day progressed there were over 200 people between the 70 or so people who entered the contest and the people there to watch and hang out. So the turn out was awesome. Shout out to the people who came all the way from Nebraska, Chicago, Milwaukee and what not. Definitely psyched people from all over the place were able to come out for the good times.

Above you can check out some of the highlights and results from the Expert/Pro class that Blake Waters got together for us. There’s a ton of real good footage of guys like Reed Stark, Erik Elstran, AJ Haines, Colton Walker, Nick Harkins, Spencer Sullivan, Dan Kruk, Pirate, Tim Oliver, Dan Nelson, Kuba Cerski, Ben Eyelander and more!

Expect photos from the day and more footage from the Beginner and Intermediate guys, best trick, highest air, the rail jam, highest bunny hop, longest manual, longest skid and more later in the week!

Thank you to all the sponsors! We couldn’t have done this without you!
Mutiny, S&M, Fit, Deluxe, Kink, Volume, Demolition, Etnies, Sunday, Dan’s Comp, Profile, Madera, Sun Ringle, United, Colony, Divison Brand, CULT, Animal, FBM, Bone Deth, Shadow Conspiracy, Subrosa, The Make
Tempered, Verde, DUO, Cinema Wheel Co., Fly Bikes

Johnny Stevens Bike Check

There’s always riders who are super good that disappear for one reason or another. Some move on from BMX, some just try to stay away from cameras and some just have other priorities that take over their life. Some of those riders eventually make their way back to the good life and some don’t. Johnny Stevens is one of those riders who was making waves a few years ago and then just disappeared. Then in May of last year an edit popped up with some footage of him. Since then he has been making his come back to BMX and in the process dropped a few really good edits. I figured since he is riding for Proper now that it would be a good time to take a closer look at his bike and find out where the hell he disappeared off to. Let’s see what he had to say!

Name: Johnny Stevens
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Sunday Trails Squad Fall Trip Q&A

Last fall, before the weather shut down all the lines, the Sunday Trails Squad loaded up in the van for a 12 day road trip. The crew consisting of Scot Draper, Chris Hilbrich, Aaron Day, Bobby DeLaat, Logan Beyhl and photographer / filmer Andrew Brady piled into a van in Chicago and made their way to some of the finest trails and skateparks that Chicago, Cleveland, Pennsylvania, New York and Rhode Island have to offer.
The other day the full edit from the trip consisting of 18 minutes of pure goodness dropped online for everyone to check out. We figured it would be pretty cool to get ahold of Scot, Chris, Aaron and Bobby to find out what some of their favorite parts of the trip were. Check out what they had to say, a bunch of photos and the video after the jump!
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Reminder: 2nd Annual BV Jam

Just a reminder that the 2nd Annual BV Jam that I’m putting on is going down at Bluff Valley’s Over The Top Skatepark THIS SATURDAY (February 4th). I’ve got stacks on stacks on stacks of product from all of the sponsors to give away… Like… I need a truck to get everything there. Everyone is leaving with some goodies! Be there if you are looking for a good time! Doors open at 10 a.m. Session starts then. Noon for the Beginner and Intermediate contest… Pro / Expert class starts at 2 with a bunch of jams throughout the day and I’m sure a product toss will get in there at the end.

Shout out to ALL of the sponsors for the support. Couldn’t do this without you guys.

Name: Subrosa

It’s almost weird to think about how much goes into just the name of a brand. The whole image of the brand is based around that name and its meaning. If you really think about it, the name can sink or float a brand right off the bat, it can start a war with another brand with a similar name, logo or image and a unique name can be the difference between remembering it further down the road or not.
A while back, I got an email with an idea from a reader who asked if I could start doing a series to find out about the meaning behind a bunch of different brands. It took a little while to get the ball rolling, but it’s finally going. So let’s kick this off with Ryan Sher and Subrosa.
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Insight: Fly Bikes Electron Complete

The other day the UPS guy stopped by to drop off a few more boxes for the BV Jam that I’m putting on next weekend. After I got a few of the boxes, I said thanks and the delivery guy said “There’s one more, it’s bigger.” To my surprise, Fly Bikes hooked the event up with one of their new Electron complete bikes that they introduced to their line up for 2012. I got a pretty good look at the bikes during Interbike but definitely not as good of a look as I wanted. Since I needed to build up the bike, I figured it would be a good opportunity to take a closer look at the bike. So let’s do this!
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Updated Videos Page

We’ve been starting to make some of the tweaks that you will be seeing with the site over the course of the next few weeks. They won’t be anything too drastic, just some stuff to help clean up the site a little better and open up some new opportunities.
The first change is that we have dropped a video player into the site. So now, instead of having to shoot you over to the old BNQT page, you can get all of the Original videos that premiered on the site in the past by going to the Videos page. There’s also a link up top in the navigation bar.

Also, for 2012, I’m looking to get a few regular contributors from around the world involved with the site. Whether that’s video contributors, photographers or writers, the site has been growing and I want to give the people who are producing high quality work a place to showcase it and get paid for it. If you are interested in joining the crew, get ahold of me. Please have samples of your videos, photos and / or writing work ready to preview.

The new year is looking to be a good one.

Mat Olson Interview

Mat Olson’s name is one that has been popping up more and more the past couple years. This Deco rider floats a little under the radar but definitely kills it on a bike and lives on the road doing shows. About a week ago, Chris Smith hit me up wondering if I’d be interested in seeing an interview with him. I was more than psyched on it, so here we have the interview that Chris did with him. Check it!

Name: Mat Olson
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