Insight Archives – Page 5 of 7

Insight: Animal PYN Hub Guard

May 21, 2012

Animal PYN Hub Guard

A few weeks back, Animal had released their new PYN hub guard to the public. Over the last few years, a number of hub guards have become available from pretty much every brand with versions being as simple as slipping it on your axle, to ones that fit your drive side, all the way to ones that work completely off compression and remove your hardware completely. Animal took a slightly different route with their guard and took what they knew and liked and created something that definitely gets the job done properly. I recently picked one of these PYN guards up to give a go and decided it would be a good idea to give you guys a closer look at what makes this one stand out. I also stepped it up a bit more and got a Q&A going with Animal’s pro team rider, Mike Brennan and product designers Frank Lam and Jay about the process it took to create the guard. I don’t think you could get any more detail going on this one, so check it!
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Insight: Tree Bicycle Co. Discontinuing Frames

March 30, 2012

Tree Bicycle Co.
Nathan Parker and the Lil’ Buddy

The other day I was talking with Nathan Parker from Tree Bicycle Co. about some of the new projects they have going on. We talked about some of the changes they have been making with the brand like bringing on more employees, adding more products to their line and going over how the decision to move their production to Taiwan has been. During that, he mentioned that Tree would no longer be making the Lil’ Buddy frame. I figured, okay, well what’s next? An all new frame? Well, in short… No.
I was super curious about their decision to discontinue their frame production since the Lil’ Buddy always seemed to be a well liked frame and I never heard anyone say a bad thing about it. We decided it would be a good idea to do a quick Q&A to give you guys the low down on their decision. So let’s see what this is all about…

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Insight: iPath Stash and Iconic Shoes

March 23, 2012

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More Information on the Ipath Stash shoe. Also available at Dan’s Comp.
Iconic shoe is currently available through Journey’s.

Check out the review of the Grasshopper Vibram shoe right here.

Insight: S&M 22″ Bikes

March 6, 2012

S&M Bikes
“Dan Closser’s custom S&M trail machine next to the 22” proto type.”

Over the last few years, there’s been a lot of talk about 24″ and 22″ BMX bikes. The bikes are aimed more towards some of the older guys in the crowd or just somebody looking for something a little bigger with more stability. If you are a member on Bikeguide, you may have seen this thread that has been on going for a few years now about 22″ bikes and if they are even possible.
A few weeks back, I had emailed Chris Moeller about some stuff and he breifly mentioned that I should look into the 22″ bikes. I never really thought anything of it beside that he must have been cruising around on one. It didn’t click to me that S&M and Revenge had been working on doing a whole setup from the frame, forks rims, spokes and tires for a complete 22″ setup until a few spy photos surfaced a week or two back.
So I figured I better get ahold of Chris and find out what exactly they have in the works. Check out what he had to say!
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Insight: Shape Bar Ends

February 7, 2012

Some of you may recall the On The Horizon we did with Shape Bicycles a few months back. Shape is a fresh BMX brand from France that freelance product designer Sylvain Taro started up to fill that void for originality and quality craftsmanship he felt most products were missing these days. In the interview, he talked about doing something slightly different that most brands aren’t doing. A signature bar end for one of his riders. All right, so bar ends are pretty simple, how could they do anything different? Well, they did manage to do something a little different and it’s the fact that they put time and effort into something that most brands these days are mass producing as a plastic plug with their logo on it.
The other day he sent through a few photos of the final version for me to check out. I figured it would be pretty cool to give you guys a closer look at this one…
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Insight: Fly Bikes Electron Complete

January 28, 2012

Fly Bikes Complete BMX bike

The other day the UPS guy stopped by to drop off a few more boxes for the BV Jam that I’m putting on next weekend. After I got a few of the boxes, I said thanks and the delivery guy said “There’s one more, it’s bigger.” To my surprise, Fly Bikes hooked the event up with one of their new Electron complete bikes that they introduced to their line up for 2012. I got a pretty good look at the bikes during Interbike but definitely not as good of a look as I wanted. Since I needed to build up the bike, I figured it would be a good opportunity to take a closer look at the bike. So let’s do this!
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Insight: Quintin Apparel

December 21, 2011

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Quintin Co. has been on the scene since 2009. In that time, they’ve made it clear they are down with BMX by sponsoring guys like Ben Lewis, Gabe Brooks, Aaron Ross and Jackson Ratima. They have also done a number of collaboration hats with multiple brands like Mutiny, Odyssey and even The Union (hopefully out early 2012. Fingers crossed). It’s easy to forget they make things other than just hats. The other day I received an early Christmas present in the mail and I was pleasantly surprised to find a box from Quintin. Thinking maybe they got the hats done early, I opened it to find shirts and a sweatshirt which I was psyched about. Always good to freshen up the wardrobe. Since I felt like their clothing doesn’t get much shine, I decided I’d snap a few photos to give you guys a closer look…
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Insight: United Beacon Line

December 8, 2011

Corey Martinez BMX

I’m always bouncing around ideas with different brands for different projects from interviews with the teams, product reviews, On the Horizon’s and in general, things that give you a better understanding of what makes a brand tick. I’m always tossing ideas back and forth with Dean Hearne from United and we were thinking taking a closer look at some of their products would be pretty cool. The other day when Corey Martinez won the street portion of the Rebel Jam, it was pretty much was enough of a reason for me to want to focus closer on Corey’s signature Beacon line. So let’s take a closer look at what makes his frame and bars his…
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