The latest BMX Videos, Products and News!
S&M Bikes and Fit Bike Co. owner Chris Moeller might be 48, but that hasn’t kept him off his bike even though his body doesn’t quite get down like it used to. Here’s 31 clips that he filmed over the course of May from street, trails and warehouse sessions.
“48 years old, fake hip, no signs of stopping: Chris Moeller aka Mad Dog aka the boss man committed to filming a clip a day for a month and he killed it!
Guest clips from Arnold, Ben Silver and Keith Mulligan!”
S&M Bikes owner Chris Moeller has been doing a series on Instagram for the past few months called “Hey Chris What’s Up” where we get a look at what’s going on in the warehouse. Well, they’re moving it to Youtube to do some more in-depth style videos and they’re looking for people to chime in on what they want to see! Hit play for a look at the new book that’s in the works, followed up with an explanation on what the new series could be!
“Moeller has been having fun with a little series called “Hey Chris What’s Up?” on his Instagram where he shows how things are done over here at S&M Bikes. It was only a matter of time before we brought it to YouTube and for the first episode we thought we would ask the viewers what they want to know. If you have a question regarding manufacturing, shipping, accounting, sales or business as a whole, drop a comment down below and you might just see it on a future episode of “Hey Chris What’s Up?”” – S&M Bikes
S&M Bikes uploaded the Mix section from their “Hot Dogs Who Can’t Read” DVD!
Here’s another gem from the S&M Bikes “Hot Dogs Who Can’t Read” DVD for your viewing pleasure. This section is PACKED with riding from a mix of familiar faces and a few you might not be familiar with that hold it down behind the scenes. This has footage from S&M owner Chris Moeller, a few from legends like Matt Beringer, Def Paul and Cam Wood, to their flow guys like Kyle Mileski. This is a good mix of street, trails, pools and more, with plenty of different styles and tricks. Hell, Matt even busts out the snow bike for this one! Needless to say, this is an interesting watch from start to finish. Check it out!
“Moeller, Cam Wood, Def Paul, Beringer, Fathead, Stahl, Joe Simpson, Bevan Cowan and many more dunkin their dawgs!”
Have you ever wondered what the S&M Bikes and Fit Bike Co. warehouse looks like? Let Chris Moeller show you!
USA BMX made a stop at the S&M Bikes and Fit Bike Co. warehouse in Santa Ana, California to take a tour with the one and only Chris Moeller! If you have ever wondered what’s going on in the warehouse from the offices to where they keep the inventory to the mini ramp and all the machines that make the the frames and parts! This is an awesome watch, so hit play and take the tour!
Want more? Check out this video we did from a tour of the Profile Racing warehouse!
It looks like S&M Bikes have been working on a new plastic pedal for you guys. Here’s a little sneak peek Chris Moeller posted during his trip over to Taiwan (not everything S&M and Fit is made in-house) giving everyone a look at the new GNS Pedals that are made from a nylon / fiberglass blend and have an oversized heat-treated chromoly spindle. Despite the oversized spindle, the pedals are wider but still maintain a slim profile. You’ll be able to use a 6mm hex and 15mm and 17mm wrenches to keep these tight on your cranks. It sounds like these will even be spec’d on a few of the 2018 Fit Bike Co. completes. Check out a few photos in the slides Chris posted on Instagram below…
We’ll keep you posted as soon as these are getting ready to hit BMX shops and mail-orders worldwide.
Have you ever wondered how BMX handlebars are made? Here’s your chance to find out. Chris Moeller posted up this clip from the S&M Bikes warehouse giving us a look at the machine they use to bend two piece bars into shape. Obviously after this process is done, they weld a crossbar into place to finish them off. Also, if you’re wondering why these bars are so small, it’s because these are their 4″ rise Race bars for the young guns out there. Pretty awesome seeing this process, though, right!?
Curious how they add knurling to the bars? Check this out: How Knurling On Bars Is Done
We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think in the comments below!
VISIT: FRONT PAGE // DAILY SECTION // BMX COLOR APP // BMX VIDEOS // RANDOM // BMX Games
Curious how bicycle tires are made? Here’s a video that shows how it’s done!
Making a BMX tire is a complex process of combining a bunch of layers of rubber, wire and nylon together to make a single tire. The other day, Chris Moeller dropped some videos on Instagram giving us a look at some of those processes while a few of the S&M Bikes tires were being made over in Taiwan, which for some reason were deleted later. After we watched the videos, we decided to see if we could find more in-depth footage showing and explaining just how tires for bikes are made. Luckily, Schwalbe had a super good video to show just how the process is done from start to finish and how tubes for bicycles are made. It’s definitely interesting to see how much goes into a single tire. Above you can find the video that Schwalbe made giving you a look at the full process of how a bicycle tire and even how tubes are made. These aren’t BMX tires, but it’s a very similar process that is used to do a BMX tire, just a smaller diameter, thicker rubber and different tread patterns. Pretty cool, huh?
Watch: How BMX Bars Are Tested
Watch: How Logos Are Laser Etched
Watch: How Vans Shoes Are Made
There’s a lot of features that BMX frames and parts have that make them stronger, better looking, function better and more. There’s a lot of little things like butted tubing or heat-treating that we talk about quite a bit, but today we figured it would be cool to focus in on another feature that is almost taken for granted. That feature would be knurling. You can find knurling on your handlebars, stems, pedals and tires most commonly, but there are instances where we find it on hubs, pegs and more.
What is knurling? Knurling is a manufacturing process that is typically done with a lathe, where a pattern of straight, angled or crossed lines are cut or rolled into the material. In the case of a tire, it would be applied to the mold like grooves would be.
What does knurling do? Essentially knurling is done to improve the grip. For example, when you clamp your handlebars down with a stem, you can find knurling on the bars because if they were smooth it would have a much better chance of slipping. The knurling on the bars helps grip the bars to the metal of the stem, making it much less likely to slip, especially when you properly tighten the bolts down evenly. When it comes to something like pedals, it gives the soles of your shoes more to grab on to than if they were on a smooth surface with only pins to hold them in place.
The most common form of knurling can be found on handlebars and in some cases stems. Above are the Aaron Ross signature Boss bars from Odyssey and below that is the Geoff Slattery signature stem from Eclat that also features knurling. Not all BMX stems feature knurling, but all bars do. You can also see that the bars feature a cross style of knurling and the stem features straight lines. Two of the three most common forms of knurling on BMX parts
With the plastic pedals being very common on BMX bikes, anything that can be done to increase the traction is key. We frequently find knurling on plastic BMX pedals, along with molded pins which help to increase grip. Above are the Fly Bikes Ruben Pedals and the Shadow Conspiracy Ravager pedals for examples. The Ravager pedals feature a more aggressive pattern in comparison to the Ruben pedals.
Another common place we find knurling is on BMX tires. Above is a close look at Kink‘s Lyra tire which features knurling all over the knobs and onto the side. This helps give you more traction on slick concrete, dusty trails and smooth ramps.
Another place we find knurling from time to time are on BMX grips. Above is a close up look at the Matt Roe signature Roey grips from Fly Bikes that are based off the classic Tri Ame grips. There’s knurling all over each triangle to help prevent your hands from slipping as much.
Although it’s more of an aesthetic touch, many of the Eclat hubs feature knurling on their lock nuts. Above is their Kolbri hub which features knurling that also helps the hub hold in place on the dropouts of the frame.
Speaking of hubs, did you ever notice the knurling on some axle nut washers? Here’s a look at BSD‘s 14mm axle nuts and washers that feature straight knurling to help keep your wheel from slipping in the dropouts.
Although most BMX pegs are smooth because you want less resistance while grinding, flatland riders tend to run pegs with knurling because they do a lot of tricks while standing on them. Above is a look at the Quest BMX Turbine pegs that feature knurling for example.
So, that’s a bunch of examples of places we find knurling on a BMX bike, and there’s definitely other spots you can find knurling on when it comes to a BMX bike.
How is knurling done? Well, that’s where this rad video from S&M Bikes‘ owner Chris Moeller comes in. Below you can find a video of one of the lathes adding knurling to a set of bars they were making out in California. This is how they add knurling to metal products, but plastic and rubber is just added to the mold they pour the plastic or rubber into, so it’s not added with a machine like this.
So, that’s a detailed look into the sometimes overlooked and under appreciated knurling that you can find on a BMX bike. It’s in a lot of places, probably kept you from getting hurt more times than you can count and it even looks pretty damn rad if we may say! Big shout out to whoever invented knurling and everyone who applies it to their BMX products.
We want to hear from you! Let us know what you think in the comments below!
VISIT: FRONT PAGE // DAILY SECTION // BMX COLOR APP // BMX VIDEOS // RANDOM
