Just like every year around this time, there’s a lot of sponsor changes for pros, brands announcing some new products and things start getting fired up for the following year. One thing is that right now, there definitely have been some big changes happening the last few weeks. If you caught Adam’s Top 20 of 2011 on The Come Up or Brian Tunney’s 2011 Sponsor Changes or his Look back on 2011 on ESPN you got a good look back on 2011. I figured it’s a new year and I’d toss out ten things to look out for in 2012. Have a look and then definitely drop your 2 cents into the comments on things you expect to see as well.
First off, this is in no way the order of importance or anything. Just a few things that popped into my head I think will be popping up in 2012.
Dan’s Comp Pro Team: Chad Kerley – More BMX Videos
Team Stacking… Unless you have been living under a rock, it’s clear that Dan’s Comp has been making some real good decisions and it’s highly unlikely that 2012 won’t be a very positive year for them. I’d like to give Scott Towne a big high five for turning their program around and lining up a stacked team. In the last few weeks they have added the likes of Trey Jones and Alex Magallan to their flow team and Seth Kimbrough, Tony Neyer, Shane Weston, Stevie Churchill and Chad Kerley to their pro team. Not enough for you? Don’t forget they have Corey Martinez, Nathan Williams, Tony Hamlin, Ben Hucke, Edwin DeLaRosa, Hoang Tran, Nigel Sylvester, Morgan Long and a few others who have been on their pro team for a little while now. I’d predict they will be dropping a number of edits, doing some team trips and more that can only lead to good things… as long as they keep using guys like Christian Rigal to handle the filming and editing. There’s no way you can get this many good riders on one team and not see good things.
A number of teams have been seeing new additions or riders parting way for new opportunities. Regardless, Dan’s isn’t the only team getting some life pumped into them or having the air kicked out of them. That’s for sure.
Bad Idea… Flash back to 2009… or was it 2008. I think it was actually 2008. My first year at Interbike, during NORA Cup, Dave Parrick comes up to a few of us and says “Want to see a trailer for the new Empire video?”. When I saw this, I knew good things were coming. What I didn’t expect was for it to be released in 2012. The video that will feature full parts from Tom Dugan, Chase Hawk, Kevin Porter, Aaron Ross, Sean Sexton, and Tom Smith; includes George Boyd, Tony Cardona, Chris Doyle, Danny Hickerson, Hanson Little, Sergio Layos, Dylan Smith, and Morgan Wade will be finally released, in full, at the end of the month (Fingers crossed). A little birdy told me that the video Empire premiered was actually a shortened version missing 15 minutes of footage. What does that mean? It means Parrick dodged another deadline, but promised it would done how he wanted it, duplicated and available by the end of the month. It also means that 15 minutes missing was probably some of the best footage. Nobody knows if this will be how it actually pans out, but damn… It has to be. Regardless, 2012 will be the year that “Bad Idea” finally becomes available. You can actually pre-order a copy here for $14.95 or on Blu-Ray right here for $24.95. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect, but I know it will be good.
Talk Is Cheap… Love it or hate it, Cult has been on fire since its launch two years ago. Over the last year, the team has been busy filming for their next DVD “Talk is Cheap”. I had the chance to talk to Ryan Navazio earlier in the year and I asked him what to expect from the video, and it sounds like it will have that same vibe as their first release “Let ‘Em Talk” but with a bigger reach of places they went and a few new additions to the rider line up. Based on how well the first video did and the following the brand has, this one will probably be a real easy sell for shops and mailorders. I know I wasn’t disappointed with the first video and knowing Navazio is behind the majority of the filming and editing, this one will definitely be one to look out for this year.
Freecoasters… Over the years a good number of riders have ran freecoasters. In that time, you also heard pretty much every single one of those riders talk about how much maintenance they required and the number of bearings they blew out. BMX is a simple thing, but when it comes to the design of something like a freecoaster, it gets complex pretty fast. 2011 was a good year for freecoasters. More riders started running them again and due to that, there has been a push to make them even better. A few weeks back, KHE released not one, but 3 new freecoasters based around their past experience with going backwards and put the things they knew worked with some of their new ideas to create the Greyhound line. The design is the same, but there’s a a chromoly female axle, female alloy axle version and a full chromoly male axle for those peg users. I personally haven’t heard how well these hubs are running, but then again I haven’t heard anything bad yet. From my understanding, you should be able to find Charlie Crumlish’s signature Coastersaurus from Stranger soon, and Karl Poynter’s freecoaster that has been in the works for the last few years between Shadow Conspiracy and now EZRA out this summer. Both hubs sounds like they have cleared up a lot of the issues freecoasters have had in the past, so it will be interesting to see how well they sell.
Recovery… There are a number of riders who missed out in 2011 with injuries. Anyone who saw the above edit knows that Drew Bezanson made up for his 5 months off by blowing the water out of pretty much every web video that dropped in the past. Other riders like Alex Magallan, Garrett Reeves, Josh Bedford and Brian Kachinsky have been either getting back into things or nearing the okay to ride from their doctors. The list of riders who were forced to take some time off this past year was pretty long, but I have a feeling 2012 will be a little easier on everyone and production of amazing riding will be popping up from a number of riders whose name you might not have heard in a while.
Brakes… I’ve been saying this for a few months now… but if you have been watching, there’s a number of riders who have been tossing on brakes once again. I’m not saying brakeless isn’t cool or anything like that. I just think there’s a reason a few brands have been focusing on revamping their brands brakes or creating new ones. Generally, these decisions are dictated by sales and demand. The Shadow Conspiracy should have Drew Bezanson’s brakes out this year and Fly have re-designed their beloved brakes. Don’t forget that Odyssey have been expanding their brake cable line as well. I might be crazy, but just wait and see.
Non-Endemic Sponsors… What the hell is a “non-endemic sponsor”. It’s a term that’s used to describe a brand that isn’t directly related to the industry, but is still able to relate to people like BMX riders. For example, a few years ago Levi’s sponsored Corey Martinez, Nathan Williams, Dakota Roche, Morgan Wade and a few others. Levi’s isn’t a BMX brand, clearly, but they did flip the bill for an amazing video and made it a lot easier for a few of your favorite pros to keep doing what they are doing. With the growth of BMX the last few years along with the growth of things like the X-Games and Dew Tour, the sport has gained a lot of attention from these corporations outside of BMX. I have no idea who or if this will actually happen, but it seems like there has definitely been an influx of BMX popping up in commercials. I should also mention, the brands that saw some success from BMX were the ones who didn’t try to create a BMX brand with their money. That’s the good side of this situation… Now the not so good…
Non-Endemic Brands trying to get into BMX… All right, there’s that term again. What the hell does this one mean. This means brands that are trying to make a buck off BMX by creating BMX products, but will most likely give up pretty quick if stores like Wal-Mart and Amazon.com don’t pick them up. This has been happening since, well, as long as BMX has been “popular”. Some of you might have heard about professional snowboarder and skateboarder, turned “endorse everything” Shaun White. A number of weeks back his name popped up in the news when Shaun White Supply Co. launched. Not only is he making BMX bikes with his name on it, they have been tested by him personally. It doesn’t look like it has ended there either. Popular snowboard glove brand, Grendade have decided to try and get involved with BMX. However, if you creep around their site you won’t find anything mentioning it. After a quick Google search, the bikes are definitely real. Now there is a bright side to this… With these low price entry level complete bikes comes that 1 in 10 chance that after that bike snaps, the kids riding those bikes will come looking for a real BMX bike and that can lead to more actual BMX brands selling more bikes or after market frames and parts. More sales = more team trips to your local shop, videos, or even a bigger budget to hook up more deserving riders. We’ll see how well that goes.
Dream Lines… Another Red Bull Dream Line? I can’t say if that’s actually going to happen or not because well, I’m not that important and have no idea. But, I’ve seen a few Tweets between Anthony Napolitan, Brian Hunt and Adam Aloise that would indicate that this just might be happening again. All that matters is that it could happen again because it was by far one of the all time best dirt jumping contests to ever happen. I can only imagine it will just be bigger and better than the last (I don’t know how), but if this does happen I’m sure Red Bull will figure out a way to do just that. Keep your eyes out for this one because if it does happen, it will be good.
Presence… Keep your eye out for BMX having a bigger presence outside of the U.S, U.K, Canada and Australia. 2011 proved to be a pretty big year for more countries other than than the ones I listed. Places like Russia came through with what seemed like an endless supply of videos showcasing a ton of riders who are starting to become recognizable names through this constant flow of videos. This has lead to a number of riders getting hooked up through their countries distribution centers. As BMX continues to grow, it is becoming more available in a number of countries that really didn’t have a very big presence. China and Japan have stepped it up, and Anton Arnarson has been pulling hard to get Iceland on the map. It will definitely be interesting to see where else talent will be coming from next…
Obviously, this is just a few things that stand out as things to expect in 2012. You know you will be able to count on a ton of real good riding, brands producing parts that keep you rolling strong, videos, jams, contests and more. As far as I’m concerned, every year has brought more good than bad and that’s what you can count on. Thanks for checking this out. Did I leave anything out you think will be noteable for 2012? Let us know in the comments…
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