If you’re heading to 5050 Skatepark this Friday for the Outlaws of Dirt contest, here’s the schedule of events so you know what’s going on! Should be a good time, so if you’re in the area, make your way!
Mark Burnett Is On That Strong
Check out some clips of Mark Burnett tearing apart some of his local indoor parks this past winter in this edit that Javaun Crane-Bonnell pieced together! Tons of goodness in this!
Merritt – Trifecta Tool
Merritt dropped this quick promo video giving us a look at the Trifecta Tool that should be hitting shops soon!
“The Trifecta multi-tool is a simple, pocket size, and inexpensive tool that is perfect for the most common fixes. Includes a 17mm socket, 6mm and 8mm allen keys in an assembled packaged, so there are no parts to lose. Includes velcro straps to attach to frame.”
Hoffman Bikes To Offer Two Lines of Bikes
A few hours after the post Hoffman Bikes Available at Dick’s Sporting Goods, we received a press release from Hoffman Bikes explaining how their new partnership with Pacific Cycle will work. It turns out that they will be offering two lines of bikes along with their full aftermarket frames, parts and accessories. They will be offering their lower end range at Dick’s and their higher end range along with all of their parts and accessories through shops and mail-orders which is real good news. They have also released a look at their full range that can be found “RIGHT HERE. Now, check out the official word below…
“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hoffman Bikes Partnership with Pacific Cycle to Include 2 Lines of Bikes
July 9, 2014 – Mat Hoffman announced today a new licensing partnership between Hoffman Bikes and Pacific Cycle to expand the brand’s exposure and distribution with the highest quality standards Hoffman Bikes stands for.
Hoffman Bikes is continuing to release a line of bikes that will be sold in Independent Bike Dealer (IBD) shops. The brand has also expanded to provide entry-level and intermediate-level BMX Freestyle bikes, as a recruiter series, through a new partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods.
“I have designed two lines of Hoffman Bikes this year. The first line of Hoffman Bike will be available at Dicks Sporting Goods and are made to help promote and grow our sport by recruiting a new generation of riders with the best quality of bikes at the best prices. My second line of Hoffman Bikes will only be available at IBD and are designed with the highest level of quality standards to support riders throughout their entire career, no matter how big they wish to go.”
Hoffman Bikes will continue its IBD line of bikes with high-end, professional models: Seth Kimbrough’s BAMA, Ben Hennon’s Lady Luck and new models: Crucible, Immersion, Seeker and the 18-inch Imprint. Mat Hoffman’s Condor and Kevin Jones’s Strowler frames will be available along with other parts and accessories. This line will be launched in the UK in August. Details on USA IBD distribution are being finalized now and will be announced soon. To see the new IBD line, go to http://hoffmanbikes.com/products.
The sporting goods 2015 line provides entry-level and intermediate models: the Condor in 16”, 18” and 20”; Aves, Carrion, Cirrus and Talon. The line will also introduce the first Hoffman Bikes 26” trail bike model called the Version. :
Red Bull – Raditudes – Ripping Up Joyride 150
For the 3rd episode of Raditudes from Red Bull, we get a look at some of the action that went down at the Dirt Conquers contest along with the benefit jam at Sheep Hills for Mike “Boozer” Brown. After that, Drew Bezanson and Anthony Napolitan head north to Drew’s home park Joyride 150 in Toronto with a big crew of heavy hitters like Morgan Wade, Zack Warden and Dean Cueson for some riding time! Check out what went down!
Cult – Clubhouse Vol. 2
Cult just dropped the second video from the Cult Clubhouse giving you a little tour of the shop along with a ton of dialed footage from their shop recruits, David Pendleton and Forrest Holland! Check it!
“Summer is here and the CLUBHOUSE is in full effect, new product from CULT, VANS, PRIMO, LOTEK, ANIMAL, STRANGER, FLY, THE TRIP, MARKIT, CRACK DAD, S1 and more…Also peep DAVID PENDLETON and FORREST HOLLAND stacking clips on their VX and repping the CLUBHOUSE…”
Hoffman Bikes Available At Dick’s Sporting Goods
The new 2014 Condor complete
Some of you might have caught wind back in February that Hoffman Bikes had partnered with Pacific Cycle, who would be handling their distribution worldwide. Along with that partnership was access to their factories and really everything Pacific Cycle does. When that was announced, I’d imagine a few of you figured that we would be seeing Hoffman Bikes in some places we traditionally have never found their products. Today, Bicycle Retailer announced that Hoffman Bikes have become available in Dick’s Sporting Goods stores here in North America. Hoffman is joining brands like DK, Diamondback and CG (?) on the sales floor at these major sports stores all over now with Mat planning a tour to visit a select number of stores to do demos and more.
Obviously this is a move that will be leaving BMX riders pretty torn on their view towards the brand with some core riders that will be pulling the “sell out” card and others that will be psyched on the added exposure for BMX to a more mainstream market versus the traditional bike shops and online mail-orders they had previously been available in — I’d presume they will continue to have their higher end after market stuff be available in most of those previous places, despite them no longer being available on Dan’s Comp as of right now.
Personally? I can understand the brand going the route it has gone since it had been suffering for a number of years due to the BMX economy and was no longer the powerhouse brand that it was years before. Am I a little bummed? Of course. Mat Hoffman is one of the first guys that was out there doing the rider owned and operated brand, producing quality products over quantity and profit margins to save riders from waking up at the flat bottom wondering where they were because of a shitty product.
Do I think it was the best route they could have taken? Financially and exposure wise… Yeah, I mean, they will be selling a shit ton of bikes through Dick’s and I’m sure the other massive retailers around the world that Pacific Cycles will get them into which will be a great opportunity to get some revenue pumped back into the brand and I’d imagine we will be seeing a ton of kids popping up on Hoffman’s for their first sessions at the skateparks which should be a benefit for the aftermarket brands out there which is great. More kids riding actual BMX brands bikes is always a good thing!
From a core BMX perspective? I think if they would have taken a step back and revamped their product line, put more into exposing their team that’s actually pretty stacked (Morgan Wade, Seth Kimbrough, Ben Hennon, Zack Warden, Trent McDaniel, Jeremy Hrabal, Mikey Babbel and Dylan Sparkman) and made Sidewall Distribution just a distributor again instead of a distributor and an online competitor with Sidewall Action Sports for online retailers along with every shop that carried the brands they supplied, they would have been able to get some fire back in the brand that they needed. But then again, it’s 2014 and maybe that business model doesn’t really work like it should anymore.
Overall, I guess I would say I’m honestly a little bummed to see such a legendary brand popping up in these big box retailer stores because I’ve always grown up with knowing that quality came from the shops, not these stores. But at the same time I’m happy for Mat and the entire Hoffman crew for finding a way to get the brand some momentum again. I really hope these increased sales will lead to more money being put into R&D of their aftermarket frames and parts or maybe even bringing back the classic CFB series with some proper funding (I can dream). Morgan Wade deserves a signature line too!. I guess we will see where things go with the future of Hoffman Bikes.
EDIT: Hoffman Bikes sent over a press release explaining that they will actually offer TWO lines of bikes. One found through Dick’s stores and the other being offered through shops and mail-orders along with a full range of frames and parts! FULL PRESS RELEASE HERE!
That’s just my thoughts and opinion on this… What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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Woodward West – Spots: Jeremiah Smith and The Plaza
Jamie Bestwick Jeremiah Smith spends some time riding The Plaza at Woodward West for this quick new edit! Take a peek!