When we started working on this On the Horizon piece with Sputnic it was right around the time Johnny Devlin had broke the news that he would be moving on to new projects and leaving his position as team manager. So, with that and the usual changes always going on with companies now days it was a good time to catch up with them and see what was going on. Dave Erecitano who is the sales and distribution guy took some time to answer some questions.

When did Sputnic originally start and where is it based out of?
Sputnic BMX has been around for about 5 years and was originally from Germany but now resides in Orlando Florida.

Who are the other people involved in Sputnic nobody ever hears about? From designers, team manager, to help around the warehouse, to the guy who gets the coffee? About how many people does the company employ?
As many of you know Sputnic BMX is a part of Sparky’s Distribution, so we are really lucky to have all of this support. Sparky’s has an amazing crew of people that help in product development, web design, graphics, from packing orders to collecting the money and paying bills. Big shout out to Ronnie, Greg, Rachel, Mike, Ashley, Mark, Eddie, Chip, Evan, Byron, Mr B, Arnaud and all that have helped us along the way!

The product line for Sputnic has been looking real good lately, what are some of the top selling products and what are the plans for the rest of 08′-09′ for new products?
Thanks for the kind words. Everything has been doing great! The new Skyline and Vow frames have been really well received. And the Sputnic Playback cranks and Rewind hubs have been killing it too. We have a bunch of new products coming out for early Summer so we’ll keep you posted about those on our site.

Is there any new softgoods in the works at all?
For sure, Sputnic is releasing a bunch of new soft goods that will be hitting the streets and store shelves in Spring 2009 .

What is the current team looking like from pro to flow, and is there any plans for some new additions or people leaving?
Well, as many have heard Johnny Devlin is stepping down as TM to pursue a life of helping others. We are super stoked for Johnny and as far as we are concerned he will always be on Sputnic. So that is the big news of who is leaving Sputnic, but as for who the Sputnic crew is, these guys are super down and are truly a part of the Sputnic BMX family : Tony Neyer, Bryce Toole, Rickey Bates, Mike Hinkens, Talem Cowart, Casey Strong and Ryan Flesch.
We also have some international flow riders like James “Bruza” Ivett in the UK and Australian rider Chris “Flagz” Mathews. You will see more of these dudes and the rest of the team on the website for sure.

Is there any road trips or videos in the works from full length to web videos anytime soon?
We just dropped a web edit of Rickey Bates and Johnny Devlin which is posted up on our site now. Casey Strong is filming with Grant C. as we speak to drop another web edit in the coming weeks. Everybody in the crew is in the mist of knocking an edit out, so look for more in the coming months. In 2009 we plan on doing a lot of road trips but those details are still in the works. Check out our website for more information as things happen.

Do you guys have any contests or deals going on at all through the Sputnic website or events that will be attended?
We will be at the Baco Jam and will be set up under the Sparkys Distribution tent. Come on by and hang out!

How do you go about finding new riders for the team? Do you do much with sponsor me videos or is it more word of mouth now days?
Mostly the team picks the riders, as they are the ones out there in the streets. We are not opposed to riders sending in videos, but we are really down for the organic process of picking riders.

So lets say a kid cracked his frame, what is the warranty department looking like, and who should they contact to possibly get it fixed?
We fully stand behind our products. If any riders have an issue they can go to www.sputnic-bmx.com and click on the button for warranty info. It will then take you to an area that you can easily fill in all your information and attach photos of the issue. Once this is submitted we will contact you back within one working day.

What if people have general questions or want to see if Sputnic can sponsor their event. Who should they contact?
All inquires would go to info@Sputnic-bmx.com and their questions will be replied to promptly.

What are the current goals for Sputnic and where does the company see itself in 5 years?
Just livin’ the dream and making parts for BMX that we can be proud of. Whatever else happens is just icing on the cake of life!

Where can people pick up Sputnic product, and who should shops and distributors contact to get Sputnic in their shops and warehouses?
Retail shops can contact Sparkys Distribution (407-599-7255 ext 102 ) or www.sparkysdistribution.com and riders looking to purchase products can contact their local bmx shop or mail-order stores like Dan’s Comp, OBMX and Staff Bmx.

Is there anything else you would like to say?
Thanks again to you for looking out for us, and thanks to the team and all the riders that believe in us with their support of our products!

Check out more videos on Sputnic’s video page.

With so many years involved in this sport, I figured it was time to talk to the guy who helped shape it. Chris Moeller was nice enough to answer some questions about what S&M has going on these days.

Starting off to remind some of us, and tell the new kids in BMX. What does S&M stand for, when did it all get started, and are you the only owner or is there some other guys involved?
It was originally Scott & Moeller which was my partner and my last names. We got out first frames in 1987, and he was my partner until 1990 when I took it over solo.

There are many different brands under one roof at the S&M warehouse, what are those brands, and what is a typical day like in the building?
We are currently doing S&M, Fit and Revenge stuff in the building. There really isn’t a typical day, except to say it’s always busy and a cool place to work.

Is there any plans of adding more brands into the building, moving, renovating, expanding, or is it pretty much set as far as you can see?
We are pretty set for now. We won’t be adding anything anytime too soon but we are trying to make better use of the space we have.

Who are the guys who run things behind the scenes from design, welders, and other hands that nobody ever hears about really at S&M?
Neal Wood is the head designer, Jason Ball is the shop manager, Nick Benson is on Sales, Juan in the warehouse and Elise and Chris Iten in the office. Everyone at S&M/Fit kicks ass and we wouldn’t be around with out all the effort.

With the recent re-release of the Dirt Bike, and the release of the L.T.F; what does S&M have going on for the hard products people know and love?
Signature frames in 2009 for Tony, Randy, Cam for starters.

How about the things like t-shirts, stickers, and other just miscellaneous things that go along with the things S&M offers, anything new in that department?
Just got a batch of new Tee’s and hats. The orange war bird is bananas, and the Stones shield logo Tee is hot.

It has been a little while since the last dvd was released, do you have any plans for a new please kill me, web videos, or just anything related to filming planned anytime soon?
I Wanna Live is in the works now. There is a trailer on Def Grip. Once we get a new website… we’ll start having regular web edits.

Is there any plans for some trips with the team?
They’ve been all over filming I Wanna Live, the UK, Australia, Canada, you name it. They’ll do some more traveling in 2009 for the premiers.

Speaking of the team, recently Matt Beringer was named TM which is pretty self explanatory as to why you picked him. So, what is the current list of Pros, flows, and other people you guys are hooking up? Is there going to be any new additions to the team this year?
Things are kind of up in the air right now for 2009. Things should be set by December so I’ll let you know then.

It says on the site that you suggest people go through there shop to get involved with a sponsor deal from you guys. How do you and Matt go about picking people for the team after that?
Right now we’re pretty set…we can’t afford any new riders. Normally we just rely on the other team riders and/or friends. For instance, Van really helped get Randy on, and Empire really pushed for Tony. In both cases it worked out great!

In your interview not to long ago you said that people take things so seriously now that you can’t do the ads like back in the day. What are some of the biggest changes with S&M as a company since the start so many years ago compared to now?
The parts are definitely more tech so it’s a little harder to manufacture, but the business is still basically the same. Starting Fit and growing it with the complete bikes has been a big change for the business so that’s been cool. It’s definitely been a learning curve dealing with all that but I like the challenge. This business is still fun and I can’t imagine doing some regular job.

When was the last time you saw an ad of a pro pissing?

What is your ideal goal for S&M in the next 5-10 years? What can people expect and count on in that time also?
I would like our American manufacturing operation to grow and all our products get better. Expect it when you least expect it!

The warranty department is on top of things obviously, who is in charge of that department and how can people go about contacting him to get things checked out or replaced?
Mckinney and Dylan are handling it now but we are looking for a full time Customer Service person now…so apply if that sounds good. You can call or e-mail either of them at anytime.

Where can people pick up S&M products, and who should shops and distributors contact to get your stuff in their stores and warehouses?
Check out any of our Partner Dealers on the website dealer locators, new customers should call or e-mail Nick Benson.

How often does your company get mistaken for the sex industry with S&M gear those nymphos love so much?
It happens once in awhile…and it’s always a treat. I got an e-mail from an undercover vice cop that busted a prostitute while he was wearing an S&M shirt. She never saw it coming.

Is there anything else you would like to throw out there for us?
Thanks for the interview

Tree has been a name people recognize in BMX for the last few years. When running a company between two people and that is just about it, it can be a little crazy. I had a chance to get Andy Chapman some questions about the company and this is what he had to say. Somehow I managed to get 20 photos and like 5 videos into this interview also. Let us know what you think in the comments!

Tree bikes have been around for a while now, who are the creators, when did it all get started, and where are you guys located?
Sam Schulte Creator and owner has known he wanted to start a bike company since he was 16. The ideas behind Tree started in high school when Sam wasn’t paying attention in class and was doodling in his notebook. Tree the official company started in 2002. It started with a ½” inch thick sprocket sold out of Sam’s backpack at contests. I think people were into it because they could tell Sam was sensier and put a lot of thought into the design of the products. Tree has continued to grow from there. The tree world headquarters is currently located in Saint Louis, Missouri.

What was the main reason for the company to start, and what is the main goal of Tree as a company?
Get rich and pick up chicks duh. Just kidding. Sam started the company to make all the ideas he had in his head, a reality. The main goal of tree is make the best parts we can come up with and let the parts sell themselves not the advertising.

Is it just you (Andy) and Sam who run the whole show or are there more people involved and who are those people that nobody ever hears about? and is there any plans on hiring more people?
It’s just me and Sam full time but we have friends that help us out a little bit.
Sam’s girlfriend Crystal helps us with graphic design and web work
Jeff Brockmeyer does video and photo stuff.
Right now, we run a pretty tight ship so we don’t need much help right now. In the future it would be nice to have a massage therapist on staff maybe.

With the popularity of Tree growing (no pun intended). Do you guys ever plan on expanding into a bigger location or is the house you guys work out of really all you guys need?
I think its every company’s dream to have there own warehouse with ramps in it but right now the house works fine.

What is the product line looking like these days and what are the plans you guys have for your hard goods? I know you guys have a frame in the works? What can people expect from Tree in the coming years?
Right now we have headsetcap bolts, bar ends, handlebars, pegs, and of course sprockets. Later on this year we should have our new straight pull front hub and frames out. Shortly followed by our straight pull rear hub. After that we have some top secret stuff planed.

How about the other things like shirts, stickers, and small pieces of your guys product line? Do you have any new designs or anything in the works that will be available soon? Any plans you can tell us about?
This last year we decided to let our team design their own shirts. So lately we’ve had some interesting designs like skeletons doing table tops and unicorns battling dragons. We do have a new design we are working on below it’s a ruff sketch but I think its awesome check it out.

Who are the pros, flows, and bros you guys hook up these days? What is the plan with the team such as changes and additions?
Right now our riders are zack warden, eben fischer, cole todoravich, Nathan parker, zak early, ty Stuyvesant, and Thomas stellwag. Along with some new young gun flow riders bobbie altiser, adam “ginch” guilliams, and David gamble. We are always looking for cool new people to hang out with.

How do you guys go about picking new people for the team? What are some of the most important things you guys look at when picking these new guys?
I Think the easiest way to pick a new team rider is to imagine yourself on a roadtrip with that person and see what that person would add to the trip. For example would that person make a 15 hour drive feel like a 4 hour drive or a 20 hour drive. Also when you get were your going and you go do some bike riding how many times that day would that person make your jaw hit the floor.

Is there any plans for road trips, filming for web videos or DVD, or anything else related to the team coming up at some point?
Definitely we try to do at least 1 big trip every year and we try to make it to Woodward sometime during the summer. Other than that we have been concentrating on some web video stuff we just had one from eben and from bobby come out so check those also we should have a little miny roadtrip one coming out soon

When somebody has an issue with there Tree product, who should they contact to possibly get it warranteed? What are the typical procedures for getting a damaged good to you and a new product to the rider?
Sam is the warranty man email him at sam@treebicycleco.com or give us a call at 314-352-1501. Send us a picture over and we will help you at.

How about just getting in contact with you guys or to check out what you guys got going on?
Keep up to date with what we are up to at treebicycleco.com The best way is either emailing us at andy@treebicycleco.com or if you want an instant update give us a call don’t be scared. 314-352-1501 we would love to here from you. Also since I just posted our phone number to the world wide web I’m expecting some awesome prank calls and sweet drunk dials in the middle of the night please leave us a funny message it makes our day much better in the morning when there is a funny message on the machine.

Where can people pick up Tree stuff? And who should a shop or distributor contact to get you guys in their store or warehouse?
People can pick our stuff up at their local bikeshop or mailorder. If your bikeshop doesn’t carry us have them pick our stuff up from blackout distribution. Or seventies in the uk

Oh yeah before I forget, How do you feel about Kyle Carlson?
Its hard to explain in words how much I love kyle so I will just tell you one of our conversations and you will be able to tell from there.
Kyle: if I were a chick would you leave your girlfriend for me?
Andy: mmmmm not sure, but more importantly if I were a chick and you were a chick would we be lesbians?

Primo has been a company in the game for years now. There has been a lot of changes going on around the company in the last few months and I thought it would be a good time to catch up with them and see what was going on. So I asked Nate Moroshan some questions and this is what he had to say.

Primo has been in the game for years now. When did it all get its start, who were the original people who started the brand, and where are you guys based out of?
Originally Primo started out as wheelchair racing tires in the late Eighties, In 1991 Colvin Hsiao and Gene Roden turned the brand toward the Direction of making BMX racing components with the Primo V-trak tire. We are currently located in Long beach CA under the Tipplus roof.

Who are the other people involved in the company nobody ever hears about? From designers, to help around the warehouse, to the guy who gets the coffee?
Anton Petrov is behind a lot of our product design lately John Warren and Eric Stefano handle sales, Eric Cuiper handles our warranty department, Joel Gurga is our operations Manager and the guy who makes sure everything is shipped is Nacho and I get the coffee.

Photos: Tommy Blanco

It seems like the Primo building is pretty big, with a full sized skatepark even. Is there any plans on moving to a larger building, expanding, redesigning the ramps, anything along those lines? Also, are there any other brands under the Primo roof?
Nah no plans of ever moving the building is big enough with plenty of room to grow, I have actually been talking with Aaron Bostrom about redesigning the park so we’ll see what happens. Primo is actually a Brand under the Tipplus roof along with Lotek, Fremont and Integral Tip also distributes Federal, Eastern, KGB and Colony.

There really hasn’t been any huge changes to some of the products you guys have had like the powerbites changing to the hollowbites in the last few years. What do you guys have planned for new products, changes to current stuff, or discontinuation of other products? What can people expect to see product wise as time goes on that have been talked about and planned?
Well right now we are working on a lot of signature stuff, Tony Neyer will have a stem and Sprocket that he designed with our engineer Anton and a Kurtis Elwell grip. We have playing around with our Mix hub to update that a little, A drive side hub Guard should be available soon as well as a collaboration Grip between us and Lotek there are few other things but that we should see come about in the next year.

The new Tony Neyer stem

What about softgoods and other little things like stickers and stuff, is there any new designs or cool things in the works at all for that?
Yeah we actually have some new shirts in right now.

The new Primo DVD What!? is in the works right now. What can we expect from this DVD, who all has parts, where all have you guys been filming, whose in charge of the filming and editing, when will it be out, etc? Everything you got on that for us works!
Well for starts the name will most likely change and the whole team will have parts and anyone on flow who comes through with enough footage will have a part too, so far we have done two trips for the video one to AZ and one to Nor cal another one Planned in Toronto. Glenn PP Milligan is in charge of the filming and editing. Im hoping to have it released in November.

Will there still be web edits and stuff popping up from time to time?
Yeah will still have web edits popping up from time to time.

Clearly there have been a few changes in the team lately with Corey, Nathan, and Dakota taking new paths. So who is all on the Pro team now? Who is on Flow, and anybody else you guys hook up? Will there be a few new additions to fill in those spots or what is the game plan right now with the team?
The team now consist of Tony Neyer, John Heaton, Brian Foster, Josh Stricker ,Kurtis Elwell, Anthony Flores and Manual Cantero. And the Flow team is Sam Lowe, Tony Malouf and Lee Dennis. And there is a long list of riders we help out from time to time. I’m not really looking to replace the guys we lost right now the team is really good and everyone gets along well so all is good.

What do you have planned road trip wise for What!? and just other team things. Will any of the team going to be appearing at the Dew Tour, X-games, or other contests anytime soon?
Right now like I said we planning a trip to Toronto, and possibly Germany. As far as contest’s I know Bf is in the super park for x games that should be pretty cool but I think everyone else is pretty much chilling on the contest scene unless its something fun like Brawlin at the Belmar or a local contest.

Being team manager you have clearly got a lot of stuff going on, how do you go about picking new guys for the team? Are you into kids sending you videos or how do you do things now days?
Picking new guys for the team is pretty hard usually it’s a recommendation from someone on the team but getting a few sponsor me tapes every now and then is definitely entertaining.

What are the main goals for Primo as a company? What is the future looking like for the brand? And what can we expect as a whole in the next few years?
My main goal for the company is just to make sure it stays a reliable parts brand with a team that stands behind the product we make, the next few years hold a lot of possibilities just keep an eye open for us.

If somebody has an issue with a product and has questions about warranty or how-to’s to make it work who should they contact?
They should call Eric Cuiper 1-800-821-9443 ext 153 he does all the warranty and will definitely help you out with getting what ever is broken, fixed, or replaced.

Where can people pick up Primo products? And if a shop or distributor does not carry you guys yet how can they go about getting Primo in their store or warehouse?
Anyone can get primo products at any bike shop that has an account with Tipplus or any of our Distro’s world wide. For a shop who doesn’t already have an account with Tip all they have to do is call and talk to a sales rep and they will be able to set them up with a dealer application and get them going.

Is there anything else you would like to say?
Just thanks to everyone who has supported Primo over the years.

Profile is a brand that if you ride BMX and haven’t heard of you should probably just quit. They make some amazing cranks, hubs, and other parts. The history of profile goes back a long ways and after all these years they are a brand you can depend on. I caught up with Matt Coplon and asked him a whole bunch of questions. I hope you like it, leave some comments if you want.

All photos by Grant Carter

Profile has a long history in BMX. Who was/is the original owner? When did the company start and who runs the show these days?
Jim Alley is the founder. He started the company in New Jersey in 1968 making race car parts (hence the trademarked name…everyone always asks why we don’t take the “Racing” out of our name because we make freestyle parts. Well, we’re legally bound to that name.) Jim is still in the office everyday, he actually works six days a week; he’s the only person here on Saturdays.
He’s the overseer of everything that goes on in the shop.

Madera is a group effort started in 2006 by Profile Racing. Its focus is to produce more streamlined parts (more simply made) here in the shop so that we can offer a less expensive (MSRP wise) alternative to Profile. Madera’s goal is to offer an American made product close to the same price of something made in Taiwan.

Profile has always been american made with a lifetime warranty to back it, why is this the most important thing to you guys, wouldn’t you make more money if it was made in another country?
Jim started the company so he could have control over most, if not all, aspects of manufacturing. Yes, it would be cheaper to do things overseas but there are a ton more advantages doing things in-house. Some examples are:
1.As soon as product is finished it can be shipped out the door.
2.Product can be more immediately tested.
3.Prototyped product can be modified a dozen times (if needed) in one day through the machines.
4.Much less lag time on getting brand new product on the market.

Besides our prices being a little higher because of production costs, warranty on cranks and limited warranty on hubs is built into the cost.

How many people does Profile employ, and who are the people behind the scenes nobody ever hears about at profile, from designers, to machine operators, to the dude that gets your coffee?
There are 16 of us here at the shop at all times.

Jim and his wife run the overall show, call the ultimate shots, and pay the bills.
Corey Alley (Jim and Nancy’s son) is the designer.
Six full time machinists.
One overall promotions guy.
One web designer.
One warranty guy.
And then Grant, Tracy, and myself handle sales.
Besides that, I handle the freestyle teams for both Profile and Madera.

Just a random thought after thinking about being a coffee slave, do you guys offer any internships? If yes, how would somebody go about getting involved in that? How about full time/part time jobs there?
Sorry, we no longer offer Internships (we had some bad experiences). However, getting hired is just timing. If someone leaves, we’ll need to fill that spot. I’ll keep everyone posted.

I would imagine your cranks and hubs won’t be changing too much anytime soon. What does Profile have planned for the future with their products? Any new things you guys will be releasing soon, colorway’s, pros getting signature parts, or changes to current products already available?
We always have so much new stuff in the works that is hard to keep up, seriously. Two weeks in to having something finished it becomes old to us. Unfortunately, it’s still new for three months afterwards and sometimes gets forgotten about in the mix.
Mulville is getting a signature stem and seat.
Degroot is getting more signature seats and his shirt was just released.
New platform pedals will be available in three months.
Two new component colors will be released before September.
By Interbike in September, we should have about 10 new products, some of them being hush-hush for now.

What is the soft goods and other small things you guys produce looking like these days? Is there going to be anything new or in the works?
We’ve left the soft goods up to the team almost exclusively at this point. Currently, Mulville, Saavedra, McDermott, and Phil Aller have designs available. Degroot just did his “Burt Reynolds” shirt which came out a couple weeks ago. Now, Ludwick, McDermott and Hinkens are working on new Madera designs and Mulville is working on yet another wild Profile idea.

For the most part, our designs more recently have little continuity but neither do our riders. Each one has a different personality, so each will produce a completely different design. It keeps things fresh.

Since you are the team manager for profile, who is all on the pro team and flow team these days? Is the race team going to grow with the olympics coming up? And will there be any changes or additions being made to the team you can tell us about?
As far as the US team goes, nothing is changing anytime soon. We have our seven Pros: Mulville, Degroot, Klugiewicz, Cardona, Alavarado, Saavedra, and Keenan. And our newest flow additions have been Greg Smee (Mulville’s addition), Jared Eberwein (Saavedra’s addition), and Chris Gille (Alvarado’s addition). There’s always room for a flow addition or two a year, but I’m leaving that up to our Pro team to decide.

We have been adding flow riders Internationally through our Distributors:

Profile Europe: Levi Rogers and James Harrison.
Sunex (France): Ben Gea and Thomas Calcagno.
Elite (Australia): Liam Fahy-Hampton and Mick Bayzand.
Country Bikes (Germany): Hasn’t really changed as our team in Germany has been tight for years!
Brazil: Leandro Moriera (Conall Keenan addition)

As far as the race team goes, there is no huge change in the near future. As far as the Olympics go, we flow Jill Kitner and Mike Daye hubs so they’ll be shredding on those in China, and hopefully not becoming human rights victims while over there.

How do you go about picking new guys for the team? Do you ever go by “sponsor videos” or is that more of a thing of the past?
It’s funny you ask because at the onset of the youtube revolution, we are constantly flooded by sponsorship videos. I do check them out and respond to the sender, but our sponsorship program has turned into 75% personality and 25% riding. There are so many amazing kids out there now that personality has become the main issue for promotions. Firstly, getting to know the rider is the most important thing…At this point, I leave new additions up to the team itself. We’re all friends (the team and I), we’re all on the same page as far as who we like to ride with/who we like to see ride/who we like to hang out with. I trust their judgment. So when someone is up for consideration, we chat about it, get into conversation with the rider, and feel them out for a bit. Then we decide yes or no. This process always seems to work best.

Who is your favorite person on the team?
They’re all my friends, all awesome dudes so there’s no favorite. However, it’s a toss up between Mulville and Degroot as to who is the funniest. Both of those guys could make you laugh for days.

What is a typical day like for you as TM?
Drive to work which takes an hour and a ton of gas.
Flick off the dude in the hummer pulling his boat to the bay.
Drink a ton of coffee.
Arrive at 7:30am and check emails until 10am. Work on orders (which involves building cranks and hubs), take sales calls, handle team stuff, order shirts, handle shipping to the anodizer, take stock, and work with our web designer and print advert designer on ad layouts among a ton of other small tasks.
Clock out at 4pm, take the toll road home to avoid road rage, drink a Steaz, and then go ride street or the Skatepark of Tampa for three hours.
Repeat.

Will there ever be another Profile DVD anytime soon? Or is it just going to be the web videos you guys have been producing for a while?
We’re trying to continue doing one web edit a month for both Profile and Madera.
As far as an actual video, it has been talked about. Most likely that will happen with Madera first. I’ll keep you posted.

How are you guys looking on the road trip side of things? Is there anything planned at all you can tell us about?
We always have roadtrips planned; they’re one of our most important parts of promotions and the best way to spread the word of both companies. We’re actually traveling so much up until this November that I had to take the semester off from school.

July 2nd, Madera is taking off to Milwaukee for a week.
August 13th, Profile is heading up to New England for a trails roadtrip.
Sept. 6th, My band, Light Yourself on Fire is touring for two weeks. I’m sure we’ll do some promotional things with that trip.
And at the end of October, me, Mulville, and McDermott will be heading to Interbike in Vegas.
And sometime in November, we’re doing another Profile trip from Riverside, Ca. to Arizona.

So a kid snaps his crank or blows up a hub, who does he contact to see if his part is under warranty? and what is the typical procedure to go about getting it replaced?
As far as warranty goes, it’s always good to call us first to go over the protocol.

For cranks, as long as you are the original owner and you have the receipt or warranty card, you’re entitled to a warranty against bending or breaking of both the arms and the spindle.

For hubs, there is a crash replacement warranty available where you can send in your hub to get it rebuilt at a very low cost.

Our entire product line is covered under a manufacturer’s warranty. So, basically, if you get something that is defective, we’ll handle it.

What are the current goals and plans Profile has in the coming years?
We’ll have a bunch of brand new stuff for both Profile and Madera on display at Interbike…Until then, we’re designing that stuff and getting prototypes shot out of the bowels of our machines.

Other than that, our goal is to have fun, party, ride bikes and hopefully discover Ponce De Leon’s fountain of youth so we can stay young in order to keep up.

Where can people pick up Profile goods, and who should a shop or distributor contact to get Profile in their shop or warehouse?
Our Main Distributors in the US are Quality Bike Products, KHS, Tip Plus, and Custom Cycle Supply.

Because our product line is so extensive, some odds and ends you cannot get through our distributors so you’d have to get your shop to contact us direct.

As far as Madera goes, shops can only get it direct from us.

How does somebody go about contacting Profile about product complications, sponsorship questions, just to chat it up?
The General number here at the shop is 727-391-7370. Be careful dialing those digits, one wrong move could send you in touch with a shady massage parlor.

However, emails are easiest and the best:

For Freestyle sponsorship: matt@profileracing.com
For Warranty: Shane@profileracing.com
For Race: Grant@profileracing.com

Anything else you would like to say?
If you’re ever in Tampa, contact me to ride some street and park. We always welcome out of towners and would love to show you around.

If you see me around, don’t hesitate to say hello and shoot the shit.

If you haven’t tried Ethiopian food, make it happen. I’m addicted.

If you ever have any questions regarding Profile, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thanks for the interview Kurt!

Clearly one website that you should be aware of is DefGrip. Why? Because it is one of the top BMX websites with some very creative people behind it. To be entirely honest it was one of the few big influences that got me into doing this site. I caught up with the big dog Harrison Boyce to see what the story is behind the site, whose involved, and what is to come from them. Enjoy.

For the kids who aren’t really familiar with Defgrip, What is it all about and when did it get its start?
The first post was on July 5, 2005 at 11:42pm. It’s pretty crazy that I know that… Actually the first version of the site was just done using blogger and is still up. If you want to check it out, you can see it here – www.defgrip.blogspot.com

On average about how many visitors a day/month does the site get?
We get quite a few hits, but one thing that is interesting is to see how much the traffic spikes when we post BMX videos. We try to have a nice variety of content on the site, but if we only posted BMX stuff, our traffic would be quite a bit more.

Who are the original people who started the site and who are the current contributors and just people associated with the site?
The original crew was me, Rich Hirsch, and Andrew McMullen. A few months after the site was launched, Ardelean hacked into the blog somehow and started posting (for real! http://defgrip.blogspot.com/2005/10/intrusion.html) and then a few days later I asked Nuno to join the crew. We didn’t add a contributor for a while after that, but the next dude was James Fairbank, who started blogging in November 07. Next was Josh Clancy who came on board in August 07 and the most recent contributor to join is Chad Shack who has been blogging since March 08.

What kind of content can people come and find there? It isn’t all about BMX all the time right?
We really try to mix up the content, but it’s mainly just an extension of our personalities. We are all BMXers that are into BMX as well as a wide range of stuff. Aside from BMX you can usually find content about photography, graphic design, architecture, art, music, movies, technology, and just youth culture in general. We are trying to give BMX a look into the outside world as well as showcasing BMX as best as possible.

Who are the people in charge of the coding and design of the website and what kind of work goes into that typically?
I’m in charge of most of the design and all of the coding. Nuno and Chad put together some smaller features, but I do everything else. The main blog was built using WordPress and I’ve been super happy with that blog platform, but the rest of the site is hand coded and has to be manually updated. I really enjoy doing all the design and site work, but I feel our content suffers because it’s more of a lengthy process. For example, I have two Autophotos, some photogalleries and a few interviews sitting in my inbox waiting to go up on the site, but since I’ve been super busy, I’ve been unable to work on them.

Photo Credit: David Lang

Did any of you go to school at all for web design or anything along those lines or was it something more or less self taught?
I have a degree in graphic design and many people don’t know it, but Nuno has one as well. All the other guys are self taught.

What are some of the tools you guys use for updating such as computers, photo and video cameras, editing software, and everything to keep the site updated and fresh?
We are all on Macs… Off the top of my head Nuno’s got a MacBook, Andrew’s on a new iMac and a PowerBook, Ardelean is on a old 12” PowerBook, Rich is on a iMac but he changes computers so much that he could be on a PC for all I know… Haha! Josh Clancy’s on a G5 and a MacBook Pro, Chad’s got a G5 and a MacBook Pro, James… Actually, I’m not sure what James is on… I have a black MacBook and a G5. The blog is built with WordPress and the whole Adobe suit is heavily used as well as Apple Final Cut and After Effects. For cameras, there’s a wide range, but Nuno rocks a Lomo, a Minolta XG-9, and a Panasonic DMC-LX2K. I use a Canon 1D Mark II, a Leica D-Lux 3, and a Canon Canonet as well as a Panasonic DVX 100b for video. Chad uses a Panasonic HVX200. And Andrew has a Sony VX2100, a Nikon SLR digital and film setup and a Mamiya RZ67.

It would seem like the site is more of something you guys don’t look to make money off of it but just to showcase what your all into?
Yeah, exactly. We all have jobs and this is just something we do for fun. We do have some amazing advertisers who help us out quite a bit and it’s really rad to have such great companies supporting us!

The people involved in it are all people of the industry, from TM’s, photographers, videographers, designers, riders, and owners, do you feel like having all these people who are involved with the industry makes the site more successful and unique?
The fact that all the people involved are part of the industry has been great for the site. It definitely helped kick start the thing and we were getting way more hits from the start that I could have ever expected. And I think that was a direct relationship with who was behind the site. Not too many people knew who I was at the time, so having Ardelean and Rich involved definitely validated what we were doing. It’s also been a benefit because it shows that people who live and breath BMX every day are into some rad stuff and that there is more to life than what’s inside the typical BMX bubble. We are definitely all consumed with BMX, but almost equally, we are consumed with other things, like design, art, music, etc.

What kinds of problems could you typically run into when running a website that has a lot of traffic?
Over the past few years, it’s been surprisingly smooth as far as traffic goes. We did have the big domain fiasco that most everyone knows about, but once that got sorted things have been good. We have the site hosted with Mediatemple and they have been great. We’ve posted a decent amount of videos and have been fine, but we did run into a bandwidth problem a few months back when the Ian Schwartz and Garrett Reynolds were posted, we went over and the site was shut down… The only reason the site went down was because I had no idea what was going on. I was in Mexico with no internet!

What kind of advice do you have for people who are looking to start up a website?
My advise would be to find a need in the internet world and fill it… There are soooo many websites, but there are still a lot of ideas out there that haven’t been used. Also, a lot of people have this idea that it’s super easy to run a site. Take Adam from The Come Up. He’s received a lot of criticism because people say all he does is post other peoples content… There is a few things that they don’t realize… He created the site to post other peoples content. He’s not trying to claim it’s his, he’s just a filter for all the crap out there… And it takes a lot of work to keep up a site… I’ve seen a lot of people that have a great idea for a blog, they get a few posts going and then never follow through. To have a successful site you not only need to create new content constantly, you need to get your name out there, spread the word, and market like crazy. That can be as simple as posting comments on other peoples site, to making stickers and shirts… You also need to be ready to take the crap and shit talking. No matter how positive your content is, the shit talkers will be there.

How can people get involved with writing, photography, videos, and things that typically get showcased on Defgrip? Is it something you guys typically do or are you into letting outsiders in?
Yeah, we are always open to working with new people. Everyone that is now part of the site, we’ve got to know just by emails or comments. With Nuno, he just hit me up to tell me about a new album, we started emailing back and fourth and it went from there. We always take submissions for photos/autophotos and the same goes for regular content. If we are psyched on it, we’ll post it!

Is there any big projects like videos, trips, or anything along those lines in the works at all for the Defgrip site/crew?
We are always working on new projects and we are going to try to get more videos going. I definitely feel that video is the future and we have a lot of great video projects we want to work on.

Is there any plans to re-design the site anytime soon or are you pretty well set for right now and how it all looks?
I’ve been working on a facelift for a bit, but I haven’t got too far with it… It’s definitely on my list, but it’s not at the top right now. I’m also going to work on some updates as far as the functionality goes… Like I said before it takes so long to get all of the features posted, so I want to build more of that stuff into WordPress and make it much easier and more efficient to update.

Photo Credit: David Lang

There are some Defgrip shirts that are available, do you guys have any plans for new designs or other Defgrip products anytime?
Yeah, we are going to get some new shirts going soon. It’s pretty hard to run a clothing program at such a small scale. The amount of money and time I put into the first few batches of shirts just wasn’t paying off, but I really enjoy doing it and as long as things go as planned we’ll be doing clothing from here on out.

What else could you tell us about the site or the people involved that maybe nobody really knows about?
All the guys that help out with the site are amazing. Nuno, Ardelean, Chad, Rich, Andrew, James, and Josh… If it wasn’t for them, Defgrip wouldn’t be what it is today. Also, all the viewers. If it wasn’t for them I don’t think the site would still be around. It always gets me so pumped up when we spend a bunch of time to create some new content and the hits go up like crazy. It really lets us know that people care about what we are doing and we really appreciate every single person that checks the site.

Anything else you would like to say?
Thanks to everyone who’s contributed, everyone who’s checked the site and especially Nuno, Chad, Rich, Andrew, James, and Josh. A huge thanks goes to my fiancé Michaela for letting me spend countless hours on the computer when I should of spent them with her. And a big shout out to anyone in BMX that’s doing dope stuff!

Remember to go check out Defgrip.net> right now!

Odyssey is an amazing company, every aspect from the team, to the products, to the guys who are keeping things running. To be honest, I am sure a lot of you reading this look to Odyssey first for a part before checking out what else is there to offer. So with all the recent things going on with Odyssey I caught up with Jim Bauer and Nuno on what the company has planned and a whole bunch of information about the company.

Odyssey has been around for years, When did it get its start and who runs the show these days?
Odyssey started in 1985 as one of the first aftermarket parts companies for BMX. These days , Richard Tang is the owner and he runs the show, very well in my opinion too .

Who are all the people who keep things running smooth behind the scenes most people never hear about?
Some people know Chris and some don’t. Chris Cotsonas is the Chief product designer here , but he also wears many more hats than that. He brought me on as Head art guy, Creative Director, TM etc etc. Ben is another designer and draftsman extraordinaire. G-Sport George is our engineer who lives in UK. Louie and Nuno run sales , while Nuno is all over the marketing front too. We all do a lot of everything.

It seems like Odyssey is the innovator when it comes to parts these days. What does the company have planned for new products this year or coming soon in the next few years?
There’s always new stuff coming and existing products being updated. The Ratchet hub is getting close, you can expect some unique JC/PC pedals and some new Tanwall tires that “look” like old school skinwall sidewalls, but aren’t crappy. The PC’s will be out soon in all the clear colors that are reminiscent of the old iMac computers, along with the new Griswald grips.

Ultimately though, our main goal is getting those parts out to the market . Manufacturing hurdles seem to have us slowed down, but its not from lack of trying. We are just pushing to get new stuff out ASAP. Our R&D is longer than most, but it pays off in the end.

What are some of the reasons for why something, lets say like the plegs, or the new Ratchet cassette taking so long before it goes into production?
One major hurdle has been the industry wide traffic jam. I’m sure most companies in BMX , and Bicycles in general have extra long lead times these days .

The Plegs took a long time because plastics are a crazy science, and there are tons of variants that effect it. We moved from one factory to a more advanced one, and we had to make many changes mid stream, but really we wanted them to be perfect when they came out. The Ratchet hub is designed from the ground up , and being built at a place that doesn’t make hubs. We mostly try to use factories that are unique to us, since other companies end up benefiting from our research and design. Many times, most of the improvements you have seen in other products on the market are our changes that were offered to everyone else by our manufacturers, after we spent our resources designing and testing ideas. The Ratchet will be the precision and innovative hub you expect from G-Sport and Odyssey.

How about soft goods, does Odyssey plan on rolling out some new tee’s this year at all?
Wow, like I’m not busy enough , haha. Actually , 5 new shirts are in production as we speak. And some non-tee’s too.

Odyssey’s team is stacked, which I think may be an understatement. Who all is on the pro and flow teams, any big news revolving around any of those guys, and do you have any plans on adding to the team at all anytime soon?
Mike Aitken, Chase Hawk, Terry Adams, Taj Mihelich, Adam Banton, Matt Beringer, Aaron Ross, Gary Young, Chase Gouin, Jim Cielencki, Jimmy LeVan, Kurt Rasmusson, Mike Gonzalez. Mike G is probably the newest addition. He is a racer and trailrider out of PA/Vegas.
Our team is stacked, and we have no plans to add anyone else. Its really hard actually when these riders that you think are amazing, and need to have a sponsor, and would totally fit on Odyssey…and then you see our huge team. I don’t want our team to feel like its too big to have our guys get the time to shine and what they deserve. I have to hold back very hard to not scoop up tons of riders. With that said, you still never know.

How do you guys go about sponsoring new riders, what kind of advice do you have for kids who want to be sponsored?
Get good! If you look at most of our team, they are all pretty well known dudes that just do thier thing . I think riders just need to get themselves out there and ride, have fun and the sponsorship comes by itself.

With the recent drop of Electronical which turned out amazing, what is the plans now for filming? Any new dvd ideas in the works, web videos for a while then maybe another dvd in a few years?
I ‘m giving everyone a break on filming for now, but web videos are on the horizon. With that said, Electronical exceeded our expectations sales wise, so we are still a fan of that medium, and aren’t ruling out another video in the distant future.

How about road trips, anything going on as a whole for the team?
Like I said about videos, a “break” for everyone. Break is in quotes because our team is never on break. This is the summer and people will be on trips, contests, and riding all over the world with their various sponsors.

What are some goals or plans for Odyssey in the next few years as a whole?
Keep on in the direction we have been on for years now. Push the design of parts to the next level and make what the riders want and need.

The Warranty department seems to be spot on, so if somebody has a warranty question who should they contact and what is the usual procedure for getting things fixed?
Usually Marco is in charge of Warranty issues. He is also who usually answers the phone if you call here. If he can’t help, he asks us and we will get you sorted. An email or call to Marco is the first step. Not posting a rant online somewhere. We usually can help everyone problems with little or no hassle.

Where can people find Odyssey products?
Any good BMX shop should carry our products, or be able to get anything you want from a distro . If they don’t, then they aren’t a good shop.
And who should shops or distributors contact to pick up some product?
Seattle Bike Supply / QBP / J&B Importers / Blackout / Custom Cycle

California Shops can call Odyssey direct at 562 623 9995 if they like.

What do you feel separates Odyssey from all of the other companies out there?
We work on our ideas from an educated design perspective. We have trained designers , engineers and riders applying all of their know how into the parts. Some companies don’t have one designer on staff, not to mention engineers. Most companies are trying to catch up and do what they see as “innovative”. It’s usually transparent that they are just doing what they think they should be to look “new”.

Is there anything else you can tell us about?
We have a new web guy starting soon, so get ready for that…

For more info: Odysseybmx.com and GSportBMX.com

On The Horizon if you haven’t seen it yet is basically an interview with a company, I think this is the 3rd one. For this one we caught up with Gaz and Joe from Mutiny Bikes to talk about the company as a whole, and what they have planned for the year. Check it out, I bet you didn’t know they won the company in a game of dice…

When and how did Mutiny get its start?
Mutiny was started by Mr. Steve Inge in 1998. Joe worked for Steve at sandbox distribution before Mutiny was started and was one of the first riders on the Mutiny team. As time rolled on Joe was more and more involved in helping Steve with the Mutiny team and videos. In 2005 Joe and I won the company in a dice game and the rest is history.

Who all is on the team and what do they all have going on?
The team, I like to think of it as one big Family. We have Morgan Wade, Brandon Hoerres, Justin Simpson, Mat Roe, Randy Taylor, Josh Bedford, Ryan Smith and Niki Croft all making up the pro team. These dudes are all awesome, apart from when they don’t answer important e-mails! hahahahaha. We also have a incredible bro team of young and upcoming riders, it has been good seeing Niki, Josh, Ryan and Justin all start on our flow team and make the move to pro team.

Who are some of the key people behind the scenes at Mutiny that keep things running smoothly?
We are a very small operation, for the most part I work full time here in the office. Joe comes in 2 days a week to help out, he has other commitments outside of Mutiny. Then we have Aron who is our art director but also will help with shipping when needed. Caleb Everitt is also involved in art direction. It really is all about multi tasking here.

2008 looks to be a pretty solid year for you guys, What is the line of hard goods looking like, what are the biggest changes, and when will the new stuff become available?
Thanks, we have had a lot of praise for all the new products and it means a lot. There was some serious hours put in on everything. Something new for us this year was the 420 baked range of frames and bars, we started on samples this time last year and messed around with different tubing till we got a really good weight/strength ratio going also these frames are at a higher price point which let us put some nice touches into the frames that we could not achieve on frames that would retail for $289.99. We are still offering frames at this price point too as we know not everyone can not afford $340 for a frame. Another thing I’m really happy with is the stem, Roey wanted a higher front end yet I didn’t want to make taller bars, he had been running a tower of spacers for a long time underneath different front load stems so we came up with a front load stem that does not drop your front end, I’m pretty sure pretty much every other front stem out there offers negative rise.Later in the year, hopefully October if all goes well you should see Mat Roe’s Cosmotron frame and a Randy Taylor grip and his frame the Loosefer. We also have a few other new products in the pipe line. Closer to the release date we will be releasing more information on all of the new products.

How about the soft goods and other random things you guys produce, anything new?
Same logic was applied to the clothing as the hard goods, lets find the best material and printing techniques we can and come up with a nice range of soft goods. When I get done with these questions we will be starting work on our fall clothing. You should see some new color ways, styles and designs out end of August.

The team is really solid, will there be any new additions or changes being made this year at all?
As you said the team is solid right now, I don’t see anything changing for a while.

What are the plans looking like for road trips? Anything in the works?
We have a trip planned to the North West in July; Niki, Justin, Morgan, Randy, George Boyd, and Hanson Little are all going up there to shred. Earlier in the year Ryan, Roey, Niki and I were all over in Brighton filming for the Brighton Ain’t Ready video.We have another trip planned for the east coast some time after Interbike and then hopefully have the majority of the team descend down to Austin in December.

You guys were one of the first companies using the HD camera’s, What is the plan video wise, any web videos coming along? How about a full length DVD?
We have some plans and when the time is right we’ll be letting you know whats going on.

Mutiny has been around for a while now, how do you think the time has changed how the company is ran and the whole brand as a whole?
I think the ethos of Mutiny is very much the same as when Steve started it in 1998 but Joe and I have made a point of changing the look and feel of Mutiny to our tastes and styles.

What are some of the biggest things you look at when sponsoring a new rider for the team?
With so many talented riders out there it is crazy, seems it is very easy for people to get picked up. For us, we are very much about promoting within and trying to get to know people to see if they will fit. You could be the best rider in the world but if you don’t fit in with what we are all about then it just ain’t going to work. We would never just want to sponsor a person just because they are good on a bike.

What are some of the most important things when it comes to BMX in Mutiny’s eyes?
Fun, nothing more, nothing less. That’s why we all started riding and just because we are running a business I don’t see why that should change.

What can we expect to see as time continues on down the road? What are some goals that the company has for the next few years?
To be there for BMX and support it’s growth, this is a lifestyle not some fad that comes back around every few years. BMX has given us all such amazing chances over the years and with Mutiny we want to be there for it weather that means developing new products, sponsoring riders, events or making high end videos to promote BMX.

Where can people go if they have any warranties, questions, or just in general comments for you guys?
Snail Mail: Snail Mail: Mutiny Bikes ,1209 W Oltorf Austin, Texas 78704-5330
E-mail: info@mutinybikes.com

What do you feel makes Mutiny stand out or different from other companies?
BMX is in a very interesting time right now, there is so much choice and I think that is great for the final consumer.It is great to see more and more rider run companies out there. We try to put the same amount of detail and care into everything we do from videos, to a $22 shirt to a $340 frame, to e-mail a customers e-mail. We all believe in what we are doing with Mutiny and that is to make BMX as a whole better.

Where can people pick up your products?
We have an amazing amount of shops who carry our products all over the world.

*Click on these photos to see them big!