Mark Noble Archives – Page 2 of 2

Firsts: Lloyd Ramsay

Interview by Mark Noble

For this instalment of FIRSTS we track down Lloyd Ramsay – a rider who, after spending a few years in the UK, moved back out to South Africa to work in the bike industry, and then break out on his own to work on a new site and branding – or, as he puts it; “I wasted a large amount of time producing digital media for a bicycle company recently and decided I was done making other people rich and working on a BMX frame they were being underhanded with. So I started my own company. The focus is on the lifestyle and passion of people involved in Action Sports. No pro riders. No regurgitated videos / photos. No competition coverage. No press releases. Simply real people who pay for their own bike or skateboard telling a life story we all can relate to. The people that keep our sports alive. I’m not going to plug it and say what it’s name is, but I am sure readers will figure it out.” Prior to this, Lloyd has produced some really impressive video work for a wide range of subjects, from Rockstar’s BMX racing team to Nike’s Pool contest. So we figured it would be a good time to work out Lloyd’s FIRSTS.

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Firsts: James Cox

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Interview by Mark Noble

James Cox is flat-out one of the best filmers in the game – but don’t just take my word for it, he’s in possession of one of the few highly-coveted NORA Cups for Video Of The Year resting on a shelf at 4Down HQ to prove it, for his production work on the United video. Whether it’s his filming skills or production and editing techniques, James has it down – and has done so for a pretty long time; “I’ve been filming since I was about 17 years old, so over a decade ago now. I’ve been filming professionally since about 2008 after leaving my job as a Senior Creative at a graphic design agency to pursue a BMX videography career and never looked back. I started off freelance, and made videos for all sorts of different companies, but eventually I ended up on the United / 4Down payroll as their staff full-time filmer. On top of that, I now produce videos for Etnies Europe and undertake the odd personal project…” Whether it’s travelling worldwide for United, or 4Down, or for Etnies, James Cox has it well covered. We caught up with him between projects to figure out his FIRSTS.

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Firsts: Will Stroud

Insight: 22 Inch Wheels

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Interview by Mark Noble

That’s a pretty bloody big question right off the bat. But it’s worth thinking about for sure – the recent addition to S&M Bikes’ product line is a Holmes frame and fork kit which is sized for 22-inch wheels, alongside a new wheel kit from Revenge, with suitable sized rims and tyres. So, if it’s good enough for S&M, is it good enough for everyone?
With this in mind we approached to Keith Easom at Faction Bikes; Keith and his brothers raised the 22-inch wheel question a long, long time ago and, convinced that they had something worth pursuing, set about creating a bike company that only made bikes with this wheel size – which is definitely a very bold move for Keith and his brothers. They put their money where their mouths were, and have spent considerable time and money investing in this concept.
But, does it work? Keith and co have done tons of research, and have gone through all the feedback from people who have bought and rode their prototype bikes – so they know what they’re talking about. They’ve used extensive feedback and testing to fine-tune their latest bikes, and these things are looking good. Apparently, compared to a standard BMX bike the 22-inch bikes are faster, more stable, yet at the same time lose none of the flickability and agility we all know and love. The 20-inch wheel size is a throwback from the birth of BMX and the old Stingray-type bikes. Maybe, just maybe, is it time for a rethink?

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Firsts: Chris Wilmshurst

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Intro: Kurt
Interview: Mark Noble

Things have been crazy over here behind the scenes lately and we’re slowly sorting a bunch of things out that we think you will be really stoked on and we should be able to announce the next few weeks. One thing we can let you in on is that Deluxe‘s Mark Noble will be coming through with an Original every now and then. Some of those originals will be in the form of this new series called Firsts where Mark will be catching up with different riders and industry members to find out some of the first times they did things. We’re kicking things off with filmer, Chris Wilmshurst, who has been on it the last few years with his work for different brands and Vital. So let’s see what he had to say!

Name: Chris Wilmshurst
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OTH – And Forks

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It’s not every day that I have the opportunity to introduce a new brand to the world. It’s not that there’s a lack of new brands these days, but there is a lack of brands that get me excited when I heard about them. And Forks is a new brand (so new that their website isn’t even up yet) coming from the master mind of Mark Noble, the owner of the trails directed brand Deluxe, that focuses specifically on one main product… forks. Don’t get the wrong idea, street guys. This isn’t a trails specific brand, in fact, I think you might be shocked at who is actually on the team for this new project.
And Forks wasn’t going to debut until Interbike, but after a little convincing, Mark decided to answer some questions about the brand to let you know what’s On The Horizon for this new project. So let’s take a look at what the And Forks is all about…
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Insight: Deluxe PAModel

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Photo: Brian Yeagle

A few months back, we caught up with Mark Potoczny to talk about how things were going with Deluxe and to talk a little bit about what he had in the works with his signature frame. One thing that I think a lot of people don’t know about BMX products, especially signature products, is the steps and how long it can take to get something from the idea to final production model. There’s a lot of options and angles to consider when designing a frame and Mark has been finding that out the last few months. I figured we could catch up with Mark Potoczny and Mark Noble (owned of Deluxe) to talk about how the process is coming along and find out what they have decided on for the production model. I’ve also got some sneak peek photos of Mark’s signature frame along with a few real rad riding photos courtesy of Brian Yeagle! Let’s take a look…
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