Reviews of BMX Bikes, parts, frames, videos, clothing and more

Review: Props – Issue 79

If you told me I’d be writing a review of an issue of Props on my 29th birthday a year ago… I would have told you that you were full of shit.

It’s weird how much things change as time goes forward and technology evolves. When Props started they were on VHS, then came the era of DVD’s and then Blu-Ray. Once everything started to land online and the floodgates opened with affordable camera equipment and editing software you could run on your phone, it got crazy. Everyone became a filmer and editor and producing a BMX video didn’t take nearly as much effort. Unfortunately running a video magazine wasn’t quite as lucrative of a business anymore and Chris Rye made the decision to put the Props Video Magazine to rest while focusing on deeper projects like the up coming Jimmy Levan Documentary, the Baco Box Set and some how managing to cram ALL of the old Props videos into 5 Blu-Ray discs. It was a bummer, but it made complete sense, even if a lot of the older guys weren’t very happy about it.

Fortunately, things in BMX tend to go full circle and every now and then we get a reincarnation that kicks a lot of ass, even if the reason behind it isn’t the best of news. A little while back BMX legend Chris Hallman was diagnosed with Colon cancer and Chris Rye decided to get the band back together and do a one off, special edition issue of Props to raise some much needed funds for Hallman and his battle with cancer and the ridiculous medical bills that come along with that. Chris charged up the camera batteries and enlisted the help of filmers Darryl Tocco, Steve Crandall, Bob Scerbo, Jerrod Glasgow and Jeremie Inflelise to go to work filming different sections for the video.

Even on a pretty short timeline, the guys were able to cook up some excellent sections with the support from a bunch of BMX brands that were able to chip in to help make this one a reality. The sections you can find in Props Issue 79 are…

– Bobbie Altiser Profile
– Day In The Life of Van Homan
– Steady Rollin’ with Cody Diggs
– Everyday We Do It (In Texas)
– FBM Lost Bowl Sessions
– Trey Jones’ FloriDeah
– Iowa Barn Fools
– Relic Road Trip
– Dan Coller Bio

The bonus section features the Taj Mihelich “Life After Pro” video that is some how even better on an actual TV.

Needless to say, the video brought together a ton of amazing riders, filmers and people in BMX that put in the work to produce another timeless Props issue that you’ll want to replay over and over again. If you have been missing that spark to motivate you to ride, this will do the trick. I wasn’t even through the first section and I wanted to grab my bike for a session and it was cold and snowing out. Having something like this come out on DVD was a much needed break from the Youtube and Vimeo videos that are constantly flowing across the computer and phone screens day in and day out. It was a good reminder that even as times change, sometimes going with a classic form will produce a better result than what might be easier. In this case, it was producing a DVD versus just releasing it online and hoping for enough likes, comments and shares to get it seen.

Now, this might not appeal to the younger generation of riders out there, but just know that proceeds are going toward a great cause and you get a piece of history in return for your generosity. Props Issue 79 is now available in the PROPS WEBSTORE for $19.99 (DVD) or $24.99 (Blu-Ray) and through BMX shops and mail-orders like Empire BMX worldwide. Full proceeds go toward Chris Hallman and his battle with Colon Cancer!

Big shout out to Chris Rye and everyone that had their hand in producing this video. It turned out even more amazing than expected and it was a good reminder that BMX kicks a lot of ass. Do yourself a favor and go order up a copy today!

Review: Wethepeople – “Foundation”

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There’s been plenty of buzz going around about the new Wethepeople full-length video, “Foundation“, the past few weeks. Now that the video is officially available, we figured it would be a good time to do a quick little review for those of you on the fence or didn’t realize it was available yet!

The Wethepeople “Foundation” video is a look into the past year for the team. They started filming for this video in January of 2016 and spent the next 12 months bouncing around to 10 different countries, hitting up 20 cities in the process. To say the team was busy logging some heavy miles this past year would be an understatement.

The “Foundation” video features full sections from Ed Zunda, Dillon Lloyd, Mike Curley, Pete Sawyer, Max Gaertig, Felix Prangenberg, Moritz Nussbaumer, Dan Kruk, Jordan Godwin with footage from their flow and distributor riders from around the world mixed in for good measure. When you look at the line up, it’s easy to see that this video is STACKED full of guys that absolutely crush it out on the streets. With that being said, this is a 100% street video. You won’t find any trails or skatepark action in this one, so if that’s what you’re into… This video probably isn’t for you. This video is focused on the grinds and the streets.

The video was filmed and edited by Cal Earnshaw. We’ve been big fans of Callum’s work for a few years now and it seems like every time we see another project from him, we’re blown away with just how much more dialed and clean his work gets. With that being said, the “Foundation” video has some excellent film work. Everything is smooth as butter, there’s a good mix of close up and long lens shots and he didn’t over do it with second angles like we have seen in other videos in the past. We really liked that the transitions and any graphics in the video were clean and simple. Obviously that’s personal preference, but we’re all for the clean and simple route versus overly done graphics. The “Foundation” video just made us even bigger fans of Cal’s work.

The soundtrack selection for the video was unique as well. Sometimes you go into a video and every section is the same genre and feel. It works or some videos, but it can get boring quick. Luckily, this video mixes things up from start to finish with songs from Los Under Heavy, Action Bronson, Marley Marl, True Widow, Mogwai, Daddy Kev, The Charaltans, Cults and The Man.

The entire “Foundation” video runs for 35 minutes. In a world of super short clips or extended Vlogs that are 90% of random non-sense that kills time that you will not get back, we feel like this length was perfect for the project. There wasn’t much filler in the video, which means it’s a majority of dialed riding that will keep your attention from start to finish. Everything flows together really smooth, so it doesn’t feel like it’s 35 minutes long, either.

Would we recommend this video? If you’re looking for a dialed new street video, definitely! The video turned out damn good and we really enjoyed every aspect for the video from the riding to the spots, filming and editing, song selection and more. Plus, it’s super cheap in price. You can pick up the DIGITAL DOWNLOAD for $5 RIGHT HERE. We’re not sure if there will be actual DVD’s being made, but it would be rad to see that option… Does that make us Mid School?

What was our favorite section? That’s a super hard one. We’re a little biased toward Dan Kruk since we’ve been watching him since he was an unheard of young gun, his section was his first as a Pro rider. We’re big fans of Dillon Lloyd and Ed Zunda’s section, as well. But if we’re talking favorite section, gun to the head… Make the decision. We’d say Jordan Godwin definitely brought the heat.

That wraps it up! If you have already saw the video, let us know what you think about the video in the comments below!

Review: Sunday Bikes – “Grow Up”

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It seems like it’s fewer and further between when we get the chance to do a review of a full-length BMX DVD. The times are definitely changing, but with the fewer opportunities, we’ve come to appreciate the full-length video more and more. Especially when we get flooded with videos of people talking to their camera all day on the regular. A couple of weeks ago, Sunday Bikes started spreading the word that their new “Grow Up” full-length video was wrapping up and we would get to see what their team had been getting into during all of the trips they have been taking over the past year or so. One thing that we feel made this exciting was because we really didn’t hear much about the video until it was ready to drop. It avoided the pre-build up hype that set the expectations higher and higher, and it more or less just let the video do the talking once it was ready to go.

Going into this video, we were pretty excited just because Sunday Bikes have an amazing team that consists of Aaron Ross, Jake Seeley, Erik Elstran, Mark Burnett, Chris Childs, Gary Young, Brett Silva, Julian Arteaga, Alec Siemon and Jared Duncan. This is a team that has a diverse mix of styles of riding, but all give off a really positive vibe. They also have filmer, photographer, team manager, get away driver (you’ll get that one once you see the video) and all around rad dude Walter Pieringer keeping things together. That’s a hell of a line up that you can expect to lead to good things.

“Grow Up” was filmed over the course of the past year or so and features full parts from Aaron Ross, Jake Seeley, Mark Burnett, Gary Young, Chris Childs, Erik Elstran and their newest Pro team addition, Brett Silva (who definitely earned that spot and his part will prove that), with a mix section from Julian Arteaga, Jared Duncan and Alec Siemon. The team hit up spots from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis, Chicago, Spain, China and more throughout the filming leading to a really diverse batch of spots from the cities to small towns. There’s even a little skatepark and trails action mixed in for good measure, which is always a perk.

Going through the video, it was really easy to see how well that team meshes together and just how much they motivate each other to have fun and get creative. One thing you will notice is how much celebrating goes on from the hilarious cheers after clips to plenty of high fives and more. It was definitely one of those videos that each section quickly became our new favorite section of the video. By the end we were stuck trying to decide just who took the win for the best section. Quite honestly, we couldn’t land on a favorite, but that’s definitely not a bad thing. We really liked how much creativity went into this one from the riding that each of these guys came up with to some of the doubles action that gets mixed in there. “Grow Up” didn’t have that “just another street video” vibe that is pretty easy to make.

The filming was handled for the most part by Walter with a few clips filmed by other filmers and the team riders that chipped in to get the second angles and more. We really liked how clean the film work was and that it had a good mix of long and fisheye angles and moving and stationary shots to help keep it mixed and flowing well. Walter handled the editing and that was another thing we really appreciated. The video didn’t have over the top graphics or anything and we’re big fans of that. We also liked that some of the film burns and coloring that went really well with the transitions of the footage from old shots of the team as kids to the riding footage, you can get an idea of what we’re talking about with the trailers below. The sections also flowed well from one to the other. We were thinking about how they could have put these sections in any order and it would have all gone together really well just because each section brought so much to the table.

The music selection was on point with some classic rock, a little rap action and even some technoish dance music which kept things interesting. It’s always good when you get that diverse mix of music since some videos stick to only one style and it can get a little old. This doesn’t have that problem.

Overall, Sunday’s “Grow Up” video turned out damn good and we’re beyond pumped on everything. Sometimes we watch videos and we can pass on watching it again, but this one made us want to hit replay and give it another watch right away. It’s one of those BMX videos you will get good use out of if you end up picking up a copy, there’s no doubt about that. The video runs for 45 minutes which is a good length for getting your pre-session hype going, too.

The “Grow Up” video is available as a DVD and Digital Download. You can pick up the DIGITAL DOWNLOAD for $5.99 now. The DVD will be available soon for $10 and that also includes over an hour of Bonus Footage! You can pick up a copy direct from the Sunday Bikes website, along with a few free wallpapers for your computer, tablet or phone RIGHT HERE. Otherwise, it should be available through BMX shops and mail-orders that carry Sunday Bikes worldwide very soon.

Insight: Vans 50th Anniversary SK8-Hi Pro Shoes

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As you probably have heard by now, the crew over at Vans are celebrating 50 years of producing some of the best BMX and skate shoes. One of the ways that they have been celebrating, Vans have released some special edition 50th Anniversary shoes that highlight some of their heritage. The other day we received a surprise package from Vans and inside was a pair of their new 50th anniversary SK8-Hi Reissue Pro ’86 shoes that are available in this navy, baby blue and white combo. We were really digging the look and figured it would be rad to give you guys a closer look just incase you’re on the hunt for some new shoes!

The 50th anniversary SK8-Hi Reissue Pro ’86 was brought back for Dennis McCoy who has been one of the longest standing BMX team riders for Vans. The color combo was one of the most popular color combos back in the 80’s, so it made complete sense to celebrate Dennis since he’s been a key part of the Vans family over the years.

Taking a look at the shoe, it features a suede, canvas and leather upper with the iconic wave logo, a small Vans tag on the heal, a sewn patch on the tongue and the DURACAP reinforcement rubber underlays in some of the high wear spots. Inside you can find the UltraCush HD sockliners with a high level of cushioning to absorb impacts like a champ. Of course, you can also find Vans’ iconic Waffle sole to wrap things up. You know your feet won’t be sliding around on your pedals with those.

Inside you can find Vans’ UltraCush insole which is designed for comfort and absorbing impacts to prevent bruising on your feet.

The Vans 50th anniversary SK8-Hi Reissue Pro ’86 shoes are available now through BMX shops and mail-orders that carry Vans worldwide now. They’re available for $70.00 – $75.00 and come in sizes of 6.5 on up through 13 in mens sizes. You can also pick the up on Amazon right now, or through the Vans Website
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Overall, the shoes turned out absolutely dialed and it’s safe to say they definitely picked a rad classic to bring back to celebrate 50 years of Vans. We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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Review: BSD – “Transmission” DVD

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When it comes to BMX videos, we’ve always been a really big fan of the way BSD have done things over the years. They have always done a really good job of putting out quality BMX videos, versus just firing out a bunch of mediocre videos to keep the flow of content steady. So, when we found out a little while back that they were just about to release their first full-length Team DVD (Keywords are Team DVD since they have put out full videos like Any Which Way back in 2012), we were really excited to find out just what Grant and the rest of the crew were cooking up! The “Transmission” video was a surprise since they kept things pretty low key about it prior to launch (pun intended), so luckily it wasn’t one of those videos we were stuck waiting months and months for. Over the weekend, we finally got our hands on a copy and gave it a look. We figured it would be a good idea to put down a few words if you’re on the fence about checking out the video… So, if you’re interested… Keep on reading!

Alright, so let’s first start out with something we mentioned just a moment ago above. BSD kept their “Transmission” DVD pretty low key prior to it being ready to be released. In a world of social media that doesn’t let secrets last too long, especially when you’re bouncing a team of riders to countries like China, Australia, Canada, USA, Israel and more. It was pretty rad to get the email about the video being close to release and just finding out about it. The surprise that it was kept low key was actually something that made us really curious about the video. Now, finding out about a video just before it is released could go wrong, mostly just for a video that’s made by a brand or crew that nobody is really that familiar with and don’t really have much to base what could be expected. In BSD’s case, they have been producing really quality web videos and more, and we are very familiar with the film work of Dave Sowerby because of that. So, we knew before we even jumped into the video that the film work was going to be top quality, and you can definitely count on their team to throw down.

When you look at BSD’s “Transmission” DVD case, it has a little line to explain the video… “A crew of intrepid bike riders embark on a two year mission taking them to the ends of the earth and beyond.” Yes, the video was in the works for two years and they managed to keep it pretty low key until it was ready, even with social media and bouncing around to a number of countries and cities around the world. The crew, which consists of Dan Paley, Kriss Kyle, Alex Donnachie, Reed Stark, Mike “Jersey” Taylor, David Grant, Liam Zingbergs, Sam Jones and Luc Legrand had plenty of miles clocked for this video and it’s definitely easy to see. Based off what we saw, they were in China, Australia, Canada, USA, Israel and definitely a few other places for this one. So, you can tell they were going all out to make this one happen.

We’ve never been a fan of giving away too much detail when it comes to what the video actually includes, but the video includes full sections from Dan Paley, Kriss Kyle, Alex Donnachie, Reed Stark, Mike “Jersey” Taylor, David Grant, Liam Zingbergs, Sam Jones and Luc Legrand, along with a split section between Jason Teet and Matt Allpress. There’s also a bonus “Worldwide Crew Section” that features their different team riders through shops and distributors around the world. In the 51 minutes the “Transmission” video runs, each of these guys produced some heavy clips out on the streets while bouncing around the world. This video is 100% street, with no park and trails footage… Sorry, guys!

As we mentioned above, Dave Sowerby was in charge of the filming and editing, with some assistance from the team and a few other filmers along the way. As you can imagine if you have ever seen a previous video from Dave, it’s easy to understand that this video is super on point when it comes to filming. It has a great mix of long, short and wide angle shots, along with a good balance of second angles when needed. We saw a good balance because you can easily over do it with the second angles, and we’ve seen it before in other videos to the point where it gets annoying watching every trick twice, haha. So, you only get them when they’re necessary for this one.

When it comes to the editing, if you couldn’t figure out from the cover or the trailer (watch that below), this video has a space theme that is based around NASA. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but they worked some old style news and NASA film work into this one for the intros for each rider and it turned out really cool. We’re usually not a huge fan of longer intros with more over the top graphics, but what Dave and the crew did with this one went together well with the overall feel of the video. We weren’t crazy about all of them, but most were pretty rad. You will definitely get a good laugh out of it.

The soundtrack for the video was something we really enjoyed. It sucks when a video is all rap, all rock or some mainstream stuff. The “Transmission” video has a pretty balanced mix of classic and current with bands like Beastie Boys, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, The black Keys, Nate Dogg, Wiley, The Jamestown Massacre, The Vacant Lots, Ty Segall, Luh and Moonface Sinii all coming together to keep the flow of the video rolling. Maybe we’re just so used to seeing these raw cut edits and vlogs that anything with music is just that much better? Nah, the sound track for this kicks a lot of ass though.

So, to tie this all back together, BSD’s “Transmission” DVD wasn’t over hyped, it features their stacked team putting in work on some amazing spots all over the world, the filming and editing is definitely on point and they had a unique twist to it with the NASA style theme.

It’s hard for us to pick a favorite section for this video. We’re probably heavily favoring Reed Stark’s section since we’ve known him for years and watched him grow up from a lanky little kid to a lanky savage, but beyond that we were really stoked on some fresh Mike “Jersey” Taylor footage and Alex Donnachie’s section. Either way, everyone killed it for this video.

What did we think? We were definitely stoked on it and it’s one of those videos we were thinking will definitely be a contender for the NORA Cup video of the year. The video is just short of an hour (not including the bonus sections) and it keeps your attention from start to finish easily. It’s also one of those videos you will want to watch more than once, so plan on keeping it in the DVD player for a few rounds. Do we think the video is worth checking out? Definitely. Even more so because it’s literally FREE. Any shop that carries BSD can get you a copy through their distributor in your country. If I remember right, for a limited time, every order from Dan’s Comp will come with a copy of the video, too. If you cannot find a shop to get it, you can also pick up a copy from BSD directly, you just have to pay for shipping… You can do that RIGHT HERE.

BSD also have a LIMITED EDITION 100 page book that features words and photos from the trips, along with the DVD, that you can pick up for £9.99 GBP (Roughly $13 U.S) RIGHT HERE.

Below you can check out the trailer and get an idea of what the video has in store… Minus a ton of incredible spots and tricks.

Have you seen “Transmission” yet? What did you think? Let us know below!

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Review: “Dollar Bet” DVD

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It’s not every day that we get a new DVD to check out, and it’s definitely not every day that we get the chance to check out a BMX video that we’ve been anticipating since the initial trailer dropped announcing that video. Today, the mail-man stopped by with a copy of the Shawn “Elf” Walters produced “Dollar Bet” video that we’ve been anticipating since December! It didn’t take us very long to pop this one in the DVD player and hit play, so we figured it would be a good time to do a quick review for those of you on the hunt for something new!

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Review: United Bike Co. – “Still United”

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By now, there’s a good chance that you have seen United Bike Co.‘s new, long awaited, highly anticipated “Still United” DVD that was a two year long project that was finally released the other week. This project, with Peter Adam taking care of the filming and editing, features Jeff Kocsis, Christian Rigal, Geoff Slattery, Corey Martinez, Alex Valentino, Nathan Williams, along with some of their flow and AM squad from around the world. We got our hands on a copy the other day and have given the video a watch a few times over now, so we figured it would be a good time to give some of you sleeping on the video a little insight into just what “Still United” has to offer! Ready? Let’s do this.

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