Products: XLVII
Spring is starting to show signs of life around these parts (at least in the midwest) and I’m sure there are a bunch of riders who have been stuck inside just itching to get their bikes all dialed in and get back outside where we’re supposed to be. It’s definitely a good time to get your bike all ready to roll since nobody wants to start the first sessions of the year outside with a beat up bike. This week we’re going to take a closer look at the new Ben Lewis bars from Fit Bike Co., the new Banana wax from Sunday, Deluxe‘s new F-Light wheel sets, Madera‘s Mast topload stem and 34R‘s Roto Twister gyro. Let’s take a closer look!
Photogallery: Profile Racing X Madera Midwest Sessions – Bluff Valley
Last weekend, a heavy crew from Profile Racing and Madera spent some time floating between Wisconsin and Minnesota hanging out at 4Seasons, Ray’s and Bluff Valley for a laid back tour that’s ultimate goal was to come hang out and ride with all the locals. On Saturday, the crew consisting of Jeff Klugiewicz, Matt Coplon, Mark Mulville, Grant Castelluzzo, Jeff Dowhen, Mike Hinkens, Dylan McCauley, Wade Lajlar and a few other Milwaukee dudes made their way to Bluff Valley to meet up and ride with the locals along with a few extra guys like Reed Stark and Erik Elstran who decided to make a trip down for the session. The turn out was real good and I’m pretty sure everyone that was there had a real good time riding and hanging out.
While I was hanging out.. slacking on riding… I pulled out my camera to snap a few photos from the riding that was going on. Check out 30 photos from the day in this new photogallery! Just a side note… My flash decided not to play nice so sorry for the grainy shots, I had to crank the ISO way up for this one, haha.
CHECK OUT THE FULL PHOTOGALLERY HERE
Through The Lens: Catching Up with Stevie Churchill
Anyone who follows BMX closely knows that Stevie Churchill is a kid from the East Coast that absolutely kills it. He is known for doing ridiculously difficult tricks that some pros would hold onto for enders in legit video parts, only he does them in everyday web edits. There is something about his riding that is crazy to watch because he makes everything look so effortless. There isn’t a single rider out there that could disagree with the fact that Stevie is changing the street game as we speak. Not only does he kill it with how technical his riding is but he also mixes in the big moves that would make anyone’s ankles and wrists cringe. He is humble, doesn’t let his talent get to his head and has the skills to be on top of the podium at any street contest out there. I got the chance to chill with him for the day before he headed back East and took some time to fire some questions his way to fill everyone in on what’s going on. Enjoy.
Photogallery: Undercover Trails
Words and photos by Blaise Olson from Killemall Distribution
BMX trail season in a rain forest like the west coast of British Columbia is short lived, and in the harsh winters of Canada, pretty much non-existent. Sometimes it can rain up to 30 days in a row, so even riding the abundance of concrete parks we have at our disposal, unfortunately isn’t a reality. Street riding happens infrequently in the winter months, and it can be downright depressing if you’re one of those riders who needs to constantly search out new spots to shred, and then can’t ride them until the spring thaw.
Fortunately for the last year or so, a dedicated group of diggers and riders have been working on this spot to make the best of a season that has no mercy on bmx. The jumps are under a highway overpass, and are being shredded and worked on all throughout the winter months. Strangely enough, even though the trails are in view of houses, city workers, and passing traffic, they endure and thrive in plain site (knock on wood).
For 5 weeks in January and February, we shot photos to capture the jumps, and the riders shredding them, for posterity. As you’ll be able to see in the pics, the lighting conditions on most days were less than ideal: intense fog often came off the adjacent river, when it’s not dark grey and raining the sun only hit there for a few hours a day, and then it would get dark again early. Regardless of the difficult lighting, I’m pretty happy with the outcome and hope you enjoy the photos!
CHECK OUT THE PHOTOGALLERY BY CLICKING HERE
Roy Van Kempen Bike Check
It was announced the other day that Roy Van Kempen had parted ways with his long time sponsor, United. I had a feeling that a rider like Roy would have a new opportunity lined up when an announcement like that is made, so I decided to hit him up to see if he was working on a new bike. It turned out that he did have a new opportunity and that would be Federal Bikes. We figured since he was building up a brand new bike that it would be a good time to get the first look at that dialed new ride. Check out this full bike check along with a few bonus questions to see what’s new and what 2013 has in store for Roy!
Name: Roy van Kempen
Video Recap: 2/25 – 3/3
After a week hiatus, the Video Recap is back! Things fell through the cracks last weekend, but we’re making up for it this week. I’ve gone through the Daily Section and compiled 18 of the best videos from the past week all into one place… and damn is this week stacked. We’ve got videos featuring Brian Foster, Ashley Charles, Kevin Kiraly, Waldemar Faktkin, Ryan Taylor, Jack Birtles, Stevie Churchill, Alex Hiam, Bruno Hoffmann, Mike Curley and MANY, MANY more. You’re going to want to take this all in for sure.
Products: Vol. XLVI
And a day late. I apologize, but I had a valid excuse… Profile Racing and Madera team riders were at Bluff Valley yesterday so I spent the day hanging out and riding with those guys. Either way, I’ve got a fresh round of Products: for you today. The 46th edition gives you a closer look at Cult‘s Spline Drive OS sprocket, Nathan Williams’ signature stem from Eclat, Diamondback U.K‘s Resin pedals, Hoffman‘s Generator front hub and the Aegis hub guards from Profile Racing. Let’s take a look!
Photogallery: Devon Denham March 2013
Any time I get an email from Devon Denham, I get stoked. Mostly because he usually sends through a sample of photos for me to check out that are always super on point. This time around he had more than just photos to check out! First off, Devon has just redone his portfolio website, DevonDenham.com had been completely re-designed and loaded up with a bunch of his latest work. Then Devon also included a link to his latest edit called “For the Photographers” where you can check out Devon putting in work in front of the camera! You can check out the edit along with a selection of his latest photos for this fresh photogallery for you guys to check out. Get a look at 19 fresh shots featuring the likes of Garrett Reeves, Greg Henry, Alfredo Mancuso, Cory Foust, Dylan Stark, Mike Gray and Brandon Begin along with a couple rad landscape shots! So check out the photogallery and edit by hitting the link below, then head over to his site to get a look at even more of his work!
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE PHOTOGALLERY!
Insight: GoPro Hero 3
Intro: Kurt Hohberger
Words and Photos: Cody York
There’s no denying that one of the biggest things pushing the growth of BMX is the exposure of it online through web videos. Years ago, it was pretty difficult to produce an edit. Filming on tapes, capturing each clip, editing and then finding a hosting site to upload the video to was always a bitch. Who remembers having to actually download the video to your computer before you could watch it?
Over time, technology has progressed amazing with cameras and computers which has made it a whole lot easier for people to film, edit and distribute their videos for everyone to see. One brand in particular, GoPro has been simplifying things and making it affordable for everyone to get their riding filmed and put out on the internet for everyone to see.
A few months back, GoPro released their latest version of their camera, the Hero 3, which produces some high definition footage at frame rates that can look like it was filmed on a high end camera if done right.
Cody York recently got his hands on one of the new Hero 3′s and decided to put together a quick write up of why he’s stoked on the camera. Check out a few more photos and words along with a few videos that give you a look at the quality!
Through The Lens: Unseen
Typically when I shoot photos these days it’s for a specific purpose. Either for a print project, an ESPN feature, something for my column, something for an ad, catalog or anything else a company might need photos for etc. In some cases though I have shot photos over the years that never end up going anywhere but my hard drive. Typically it’s just that they become leftovers and aren’t needed at the moment. Other reasons include riders changing sponsors. For example, if you shoot a rider that is wearing a pair of Etnies and then they get sponsored by Vans you can’t really do anything with the photo of them wearing the Etnies anymore. It sucks but that’s just how it works. Either way though, that is why I love doing this column because I have complete creative control meaning that I get to finally give some of these photos a home and give them a bit of shine-time.
