Products: Vol. 57
Well would you look at that… It’s already Saturday again. If you don’t know what that means by now, you’re blowing it. It’s time for another round of Products! This week we’re going to take a closer look at the new Key sprocket from Fit, the Cloud seat from Sunday, the Protocol heat-treated cranks from Madera, the new Imperial sprocket guard from Profile Racing and finally the ROTO front hub from 34R. Let’s get into this because I’m sure you’re itching to go out and ride like myself!
Review: Animal – MTT Tire
A few weeks back, I built myself up a fresh set of wheels. I figured new hubs, new, spokes, new rims… I gotta put some fresh tires on, right? With so many options available these days, I was in a pretty heavy toss up on what I was going to run. I decided to hit up our Facebook to see what people suggested. There were a ton of suggestions, with a pretty large number of votes for the new Animal MTT tires. I was already kind of leaning that way, so I figured I better pick up a set to give a go. After riding these for a few weeks, I figured it would be a good time to put together a review for those of you who are on the hunt for some new tires as well. Let’s take a closer look!
On The Horizon – Pandect Zine
I think at some point, a lot of us in BMX dream about doing something more with it. Not just riding, but getting into the other things from the photography, writing, filming and editing, design and everything you can some how tie into this crazy lifestyle we live. Cory Beal is one guy from Canada who has always been doing everything he can with BMX from being a sponsored rider and traveling all over to running the media game through Repset while managing side projects like screen printing.
One thing about Cory that I’ve always been a fan of is that he’s ALWAYS cooking on a new project and when he gets into something, he’s usually going at it balls deep and making sure it is done right.
A few weeks back we were talking about his new venture, Pandect which is a limited edition zine that he officially launched today. The first issue is ready to ship, so we figured it was a good time to talk with Cory to find out just what he’s got going on with this one… Let’s take a closer look!
Free One Year Subscription to Red Bulletin
I’ve got a sweet hook up for you guys. The other day I was talking to my friends at Olympia Media when they asked if I wanted a free one year subscription to The Red Bulletin, Red Bull’s magazine, and if I had any friends that would want one too. I told them I had a bunch of friends that would probably be into that idea and some how they went for me dropping this on the site for all of you (if you live in the U.S… sorry!) to get in on it. The magazine covers all sorts of stuff from BMX to skateboarding, legends like Clint Eastwood, cars, music and different events Red Bull is doing all over the world. It’s a pretty interesting read, so if you want to get in on 12 free issues, Get Your One Year Free Subscription Here. Easy as that!
“Olympia Media Group has partnered with Red Bull Media House to bring The Red Bulletin, Red Bull Media House’s new monthly magazine, to those that define today’s culture of music, adventure, action, and travel.
The Red Bulletin has some of the most exciting content available today, focused on action, sports, travel, culture, and music. From covering Red Bull Stratos (Felix Baumgartner skydiving from space), to the newest DJ on the coast, to exotic trips around the world.
The Red Bulletin also features your favorite BMX riders such as Zack Warden, Chase Hawk, Drew Bezanson, Shanaze Reade, Anthony Napolitan, and many more with the insider’s look on how they developed their passion for BMX or their latest trick, you can catch all of it in The Red Bulletin (including sick videos online as well).
Red Bull Media House and Olympia Media Group are working together to get The Red Bulletin in the hands of those who thrive on the adrenaline rush of a new trick, are dedicated to BMX and similar thrill-seeking sports, and those that aspire to be featured and look up to those leaders in the sport.
Because of this Olympia is giving a free year’s subscription to each of you, the readers of The Union, because this magazine was meant for you. Just sign up at the link below and you’ll start getting a copy each month for a year.
Through The Lens: The basics of archiving photos
Today’s feature is all about archiving. The importance of it, what it really means to “archive” your images and how to make sense of it all. This is something that every photographer has to deal with on some level regardless of the medium. If you grew up shooting film, or still do, you most likely have binders full of negative sleeves. If you shoot exclusively digital or even mostly digital like myself then surely you have hard drives filled up with gigs and gigs worth of images. If I had to guess I have over 75,000 or so images floating around from the past six years since moving west, which takes up quite a bit of space. Am I the most organized person in the world? Probably not, but I put forth a solid effort to try and stay on top of my archiving as best I can. When you work freelance and constantly put out different projects for different outlets it can get a bit overwhelming making sure that everything is neatly organized, labeled and safely stored for future use. On that note, if you are interested in learning a thing or two about archiving check this out.
Insight: Proper – Wedge Stem
Over the years, stem technology has changed up pretty drastically. They’ve gone from these blocks of alloy steel that had 6 (sometimes 8!) bolts in them to keep your bars and fork connected while holding that headset in place all the way down to these crazy CNC machined to the max stems with one bolt holding it all together. It just goes to show how much innovation has come to a part like a stem over BMX’s fairly short history. A few weeks back, the guys at Proper Bike Co. let me in on a wedge based stem system that’s been in the works for a couple a years now. After being put on the back burner for a while, they’ve finally designed something they’re totally happy with and are getting the test results they want in order to really give it that Proper stamp of approval. All though the stem won’t be out for a few months, we figured it would be cool to give you guys a sneak peek at both versions of this stem and find out what really went into the making of it. This is what Jamie over a Proper had to say… Let’s take a closer look!
Photogallery: FBM Lost Bowl Jam
I feel pretty confident to say that I travel because of FBM. They are the ones who started me off on my long journey in the world of traveling and living the “BMX lifestyle”. Back in 2004 I attended one of the Ghetto Street Jams up I’m Binghamton, New York. It was my first event I had attended in BMX. It changed my life forever. Ever since then I have tried to go to as many jams, contests and events that I could possibly go to over the years, near and far. I have never been disappointed by any of those trips. So, with that being said, when I heard about this FBM Bowl Jam in Richmond, Virginia, it was full speed ahead with a couple friends. Good times were had and many new memories were made. If you ever have a chance to make one of their jams, I would highly recommend it. Thanks to FBMX for putting on events like this and keeping the BMX spirit alive! – Nick Steben
CHECK OUT THE FULL PHOTOGALLERY BY CLICKING HERE!
FBM Lost Bowl Jam Photogallery
All photos by Nick Steben
Ben K x America
Video Recap: 5/6 – 5/12
Well… Another week is coming to a close and damn was it a busy one. We had a ridiculous number of dialed videos drop this past week in the DAILY SECTION. This weeks Video Recap is absolutely stacked with 21 videos featuring the likes of Reed Stark, Chad Kerley, Nathan Williams, Jacob Cable, Drew Hosselton, Eric Bahlman, Lino Gonzalez, Chijioke Okafo, Trey Jones, Tyler Fernengel, Geoff Slattery, Mike Hoder, Diego “Mono” Navarro, Glenn Salyers and many, many more. Let’s get into this because there’s a lot to see!
Products: Vol. 56
It’s that time of the week to dig into some BMX goodness to get you and your bike all sorts of dialed. This week we’re going to take a closer look at the Noster frame from Subrosa, the new Cult X Vans Waffle grips with flanges, the Deluxe V2 bars, Freed‘s Classic Logo hoodie and The Shadow Conspiracy‘s new Dissonanace Snapback! Let’s get into this one!
