The latest BMX Videos, Products and News!
BSD have released another banger of a section from their “Transmission” DVD for your viewing pleasure! This time around we get Luc Legrand‘s section that is loaded with big gaps, rails and wallrides. Lucc brings plenty of speed and style to the table, and had a great eye for spots many people might not consider. Enjoy!
“Luc Legrand tackles a multitude of unique, unusual and burly spots on the streets of Portugal, France, Scotland and Spain in his part from the BSD TRANSMISSION DVD…”
The Cyclops stem from Terrible One has arrived!
Over the years there have been countless products released, but anyone that has been riding for a long time knows not every great idea makes its way into production. Most of those ideas and designs are forgotten, but every now and then there are these parts that almost become this most sought after thing that NEEDS to be released. There has been a lot of talk about “Mid School” lately, and it’s safe to say any and every Mid School guy will tell you that the Cyclops Stem has almost become this unicorn of a product that people really wished it would eventually come out, but kind of lost hope. Over the years there had been rumors that it was done, that it would be available, but then it would disappear again and those hopes and dreams were once again shattered. Well, today we’re excited to tell you that the wait is over and the stem is now available in a very limited edition first run. We got ahold of Joe Rich to get the full scoop on the now available Cyclops stem and what it took to get to this point… This still doesn’t seem real.
Alright, Joe! Yesterday you made an announcement that probably caught some people off guard. How long have you been waiting to release the Cyclops stem now?
In all honesty, we’ve been working on these stems for over 9 years now. So this is a very long time coming to say the least. ha ha
Over the years the design has changed a bit, right? What were some of those changes? Care to take us through the history a bit?
John Povah originally came to me with the concept for how the stem worked. At the time it was a rough sketch and an idea. I talked to Phil Wasson from SuperRat Machine about it, as he was making our American Flyer sprockets at the time. He was interested in taking a crack at it. We got the first samples fairly quick. They worked pretty good, but they had some flaws. The wedges were way too small to hold the steer tube properly. And it was our first try at what angle that the wedges work on. So I redesigned the shape of the wedges with an idea I felt could work better. From that point Povah, Phil and I all worked together with refining all parts of the stem. Slowly things started taking shape, and it resembled more and more how they are now. With each sample that we had done, they progressed both in function and the visual appeal. The wedge size, wedge angle, material grade, and the tolerance of them, took the most fine tuning. We did several samples over our time with SuperRat. And of course as luck would have it, when things took a nose dive. We had a complete version of the stem that we were finally happy with, and were ready to go with, and SuperRat basically went belly up. It just vanished seemingly into thin air.
I know you worked with a bunch of different places to try and make this stem happen. How many different people did you work with prior to finally finding the winner?
Phil at Super Rat Machine, and Ken Spaulding with Zodiac Eng. were the 2 main ones. After things hit a dead end with Phil, I had a working sample, but that was it. No technical drawings for anyone to go off of. My friend Jimmy Rathbun gave us the first glimmer of light, as he managed to reverse engineer a drawing from the one good sample we had. I met Ken Spaulding and his partner John at Interbike in 2010, they came to our T-1 booth one day during the show. We talked for a bit and eventually got on the subject of the stem, they were very interested in taking the Cyclops project on. We worked for a good bit on dialing these in with them. The drawings that Jim had done for us were fine tuned even more as we started moving forwards with samples . We had a few runs of samples done and once again. We got to the point where we were placing the order, when Ken and his partner split. Ken had been doing all of the drawings and technical info, and his partner was working at the shop that actually made the samples. There are too many details to go into, but after working with Ken for a good number of years trying to make a run of these to happen, we hit a dead end as well. After that I was feeling very deflated. I talked to a lot of other machine shops about them, and either they were too expensive at the time, or just couldn’t make the stem. . . That was until Jimmy Wood, and Iron Gate Machine saved us !
Could you have done this in Taiwan or China or was it strictly an American made project?
Stems are the one thing that I’ve always felt a difference when tightening down bolts on a American made stem. I don’t really know how to explain it, but when you tighten the bolts, they just have this really good feel to them. Strange that tightening a bolt can feel different, but it does. Of course other places could do them, and I’m sure they’d be good, but some feelings you just can’t shake, and that’s why I never could quite commit to going that route. Plus, anytime you can work with a manufacturer, that has a rider with the skills to be in charge of a project, is such a good feeling for me. I really feel like there is that little extra bit of universal magic that goes into it when those circumstances are present.
How did you come across the company that made the Cyclops stems that are going to be available soon?
I thought things were pretty much over with the possibility of having them made here in the states. I did an interview with you earlier this year, back when the ramp was coming down and you asked me a question about the stems then. A rider from Washington, Jimmy Wood, read that article and contacted me. He worked for a very dialed machine shop named Iron Gate Machine, and was certain they could help breathe some life back into these. So thank you so much Kurt for doing that interview with me. Without that, this may not have ever happened ! In a very short amount of time they had a working sample to me. The stem body was perfect straight away. The wedges took some fine tuning and a few more samples until we reached the point we are at now. This all happened in a few months time so its very surreal to me after the amount of time, and ups and downs these have been through. I can’t thank Jimmy and Iron Gate enough. Every time I talk to him I try and express how much this has meant to me. They have been an absolute pleasure to work with. They care about every last detail the same way I do. So stoked. After all that time, all I wanted to do was at least have a few done that worked right and were available. If no more ever happened besides that, I would at least have had some good closure with this.
Did you have to make any changes to the previous design to make this one happen?
Just more fine tuning on the tolerances on the wedges. Jimmy was really really helpful with all of this. They are pretty exact and are meant to compress a certain amount. Its very finicky. I guess the only problems that really can come up with this would come from the fact that we don’t make our own forks and can’t quality control the diameter of for steer tubes. And one thing I learned during this whole process, is that all fork steer tubes are not the same. They vary in steer tube diameter quite a bit. And that makes developing a part, and how it works, to an exact spec is quite tricky.
Can you give us the full specs and details on the Cyclops stem?
How many of the stems will you have available? Do you plan on doing another batch if they sell quick or is this a one and done kind of thing?
I got 50 stems done this time. It was a number that I felt comfortable with. I have NO idea what people will think after all these years. At one time, I know there was a lot of interest, but that was a long time ago, and a lot has changed since then. There are way more options out there, and there is going to be a certain type of person that gravitates towards picking one of these up. There are a few steps you have to take to install them as well. But, these are the best versions of this stem in the 9 years we’v been working on them. The last part of that sentence sounds absolutely ridiculous ! But I’m very proud of these to say the least.
How can people buy one of these stems and what is the price? Will they be available through shops or mail-orders like Empire, or are you doing a direct sale kind of thing similar to the SFA frame?
People can either get them directly from us on our online store, or from a T-1 dealer ( shop or mail-order). We weren’t able to offer these to any of our distributors due to how much they cost us. They just couldn’t fit into the pricing pyramid of distro to shop to rider. There wasn’t enough room in there price wise. So the only way to do them, without making them a LOT more expensive than other stems, we had to cut out one step. Price on them is $85.00
The Cyclops stem has sold out already. There are more that will be ordered. We suggest you give Terrible One an email or call if you want to order one.
Now that you finally have released a stem that has almost “cursed” you for nearly a decade, do you feel the pressure is finally off your shoulders?
There was never any pressure I felt from it, I just love these stems and was frustrated that one thing after another seemed to take a turn for the worse at the exact step I thought they were going to happen. So many times I thought they were really happening, and I was let down time and time again. It was pretty tough. I’m very emotionally invested in everything we do. Its not just another product. Turning what were just ideas, into realities, is one of the best feelings. I love this stuff.
What’s next for you? Any new Terrible One products in the works you can tell us about? What about trips, filming projects and more?
Yep, there are a few things in the works, but ever since the experience we’ve had with the stem, I’m very hesitant to say anything, until things are more solidified and happening. Ha ha. I’m sure you can understand.
That about wraps things up! Anything else you want to say?
Thanks for taking the time to read this !
Below you can find a How To video Joe put together on properly installing the stem. Due to the design, there is a little more to how you install this one than a traditional BMX stem. Take a peek!
Now this is an awesome way to start your week off right! Kink just sent through this new video featuring Chad Osburn slaying spots all around the Southwest on his signature 2017 Mudrunner frame in his matte trans copper colorway! Hit play and hold on tight. This is packed full of speed and style!
“Kink Pro Chad Osburn going full throttle through The Southwest, USA. Ripping on his Matte Trans Copper Kink Mudrunner Frame Colorway, available now, worldwide.
Filmed and Edited by Darryl Tocco
Additional filming by Bobby Kanode”
It has been a while since we last caught up with Matt Ray. Since we did that interview, things for Matt have changed up pretty heavily. As most of you know by now, Matt was recently given the well deserved bump on up to The Shadow Conspiracy and Subrosa Pro teams after crushing it for years. Add in that he has been working on some cool projects with Clif Bar, putting in work at college and more, we figured that was more than enough reasons to hit him up to see what’s new! It’s safe to say Matt has been on fire lately. Let’s see what he had to say.
Matt! Long time no talk. How’s it going? It seems like you have been plenty busy lately!
Yeah man, it’s been a while! I’m doing good just getting ready to deal with a New England winter at the moment, haha.
I feel you on that one. Minnesota winters suck, too. Last week your Welcome to The Shadow Conspiracy Pro Team video dropped and it’s safe to say it blew people away. How long did you work on that project for?
Oh man, I’m so psyched that dropped! The past year we have been traveling all over filming for that. I think we filmed in 4 different countries for it, which was crazy to me because I have never really worked on that big of a project before. I’m really happy with what Chadwick did with the footage, and how it turned out.
Did you go into the video with anything on your mind you wanted to make happen specifically for this video?
I definitely had some tricks in mind that I was hoping to get done. Luckily we went to spots that made them possible and they worked out. I like just riding new spots and thinking of something I think is cool to film. It gives me an excuse to work on tricks that otherwise seem impossible, too.
Out of that whole video, do you have any favorite clips? Any good stories from filming for the video that we wouldn’t know just watching the video?
There was one trick I tried for the first time in Arizona and couldn’t get it. I came back to Boston, and got it the next day, so I booked a plane ticket right back. I took only a small bottle of water into the Arizona summer thinking it’d be a one and done. Eight hours of filming later, I ended up in the hospital suffering from dehydration and exhaustion to the point my kidneys were on the verge of shutting down. I left against the doctor’s will to catch a midnight flight back to Boston. After only two months of specialists and doctors, I was back to normal, haha.
That’s insane. I had no idea that happened. Now that you’re back to health and wrapped up filming for that project, do you have any trips or other projects lined up with The Shadow Conspiracy crew?
Nothing yet. I just got home from a trip down to Florida with the crew. We all kicked it and filmed an edit on Trey’s insane backyard set-up which will drop soon. I also just did New England’s Sparky’s jam with Mark Burnett, so that was dope. We talk about travel for 2017, but nothing official yet– just everyone throwing out ideas for where they’d like to go.
Do you have any trips or other projects lined up with the Subrosa crew you’re looking forward to?
Since you asked, haha, I’ll say it here first, I’m extremely thankful to be in the beginning design phase of some signature products (a seat and bars) which will drop in 2017 if everything goes as planned. We are also going to start filming soon to work on new projects for products and what not.
That’s rad. We saw a prototype at Interbike, but that got shut down with a cease and desist real quick. Speaking of trips, Word on the street is that you will be at Simple Session this winter. What are you most looking forward to for you trip to Estonia?
I’m so psyched to make it back out there! I just can’t wait to kick it with everyone out there, it’s always such a good time to see everyone. Riding the amazing course out there will be so sick, too, and the locals are amongst the most stoked in BMX and very hospitable to us.
How do you feel about contests? Is it something you’re into and “train” for, or do you more go for the fun of it?
I definitely enjoy riding contests.. I ride my local park Rye Airfield before I dip out to contests and just get comfortable riding big ramps again. I always tighten up on my diet and nutrition, too (one thing I took away from the whole hospital scare). I never watch what other people are doing and think like, “Oh shit. I gotta put together a good run to beat this dude.” I usually just try to do the best run that will make me psyched on my own progress. Overall I just think contests are a good time.
Other than Estonia, is there anywhere you want to get to over the winter as far as travel goes?
I definitely want to travel a bit this winter. Hopefully go kick it on the West Coast for a few weeks. I want to try to plan something over seas too– just not sure where yet.
You have been working with CLIF Bar on some events lately, right? Can you tell us about how that all came about and what the overall goal of the events are?
A marketing manager in the Northeast used to ride and asked Beau of Rye Airfield if there was a rider who could show him the ropes of today’s BMX. Beau referred him to my mentor in business, Patti Burris, to see if I’d be interested in collaborating on an event. CLIF contacted us and we met up and brainstormed some ideas and after I told him I have always wanted to give back and asked him for the opportunity to do that, he gave me creative freedom and tons of support to realize my vision of an BMX series that would make a direct positive impact on the sport by getting kids on bikes.
The clinics were so successful (350 kids on bikes), we’re working on a bigger 2.0 version for the Spring. I’ll let you know when I have more to share.
That’s rad. Looking forward to seeing what comes from that. You just wrapped up your first semester of college, right? How did that go for you? What are you planning on majoring in?
I love college. I never really planned on going to college but my liberal riding schedule made it possible to have the time, and with the business matters which come up when you become a pro rider, I wanted to understand the behind-the-scenes machine for myself. One of the things I’m most proud of this year is to have taken what I’ve learned in business from college and have been able to apply it to what I’m doing in BMX.
Currently, my major is undeclared. I’m interested in marketing, entrepreneurship, and business, so I’m taking basics until I decide which path is the best for me.
Not a bad route to go with school. Going back to the thing about your kidneys and everything, the level of riding and tricks you’re doing has to be pretty hard on your body. What are some of the things you do off your bike to help keep you rolling?
I eat healthy, drink protein shakes and go to the gym daily. I am hyper-conscious about stretching and warming up before I send myself to try some trick.
Other than school and hitting the gym, what have you been getting into off your bike?
I don’t have a lot of time outside of riding and school, lol, but I enjoy going on adventures with my girlfriend and friends. A group of us just hiked Mount Monadnock, and in the summer I spend most of my free time at the beach.
How can people keep up with you these days?
Instagram (@matt1ray) is the best platform for riding news and actual interaction. My Snapchat is mostly for my friends and family. I don’t do Twitter, and I have a Facebook but don’t interact on there a whole lot.
I’m in the final stages of dropping my website, too, and I plan to dedicate time to that daily, so that will be a great place to stay in the know about anything i have going on.
That about wraps it up! Do you have any shout outs or thanks?
The usual suspects plus a few. My sponsors: Shadow, Subrosa, and Rye Airfield. Ronnie Bonner and my TMs Ryan Chadwick, Ryan Sher, and Beau Lambert. A couple of friends in the industry who keep me looking part, haha, Mark Losey and Ethika. My family, my mentor Patti, my girlfriend, Deb. My new good friend, Nick, at CLIF Bar. And lastly, I’d like to give a shoutout to my local Hadley Park crew who have been so supportive: Maicol, Aaron, Trevor, Eddie, Pablo, Zach, Brian, Lil Ben, and Blue.
Here is one we’ve been anticipating since we first heard about it, about a week ago. Monster Energy have released Dakota Roche‘s new “Bay Roam video from his time he spent searching out spots around San Francisco! Amazing riding and spots, dialed film work… Get on this play button right now!
“BAY ROAM /bā rōm/ (verb):
To pedal about the greater San Francisco area in search of the spots less travelled in an unsystematic, but thorough way. And, if you’re Monster Energy’s Dakota Roche, you blast through every piece of spot gold with confidence, power, and speed…the way it should be done. Follow the one and only Dak as he cuts into the streets of SF in his newest edit, Bay Roam.
Filmed and edited by Calvin Kosovich.”
Although Mike “Jersey” Taylor decided to retire from professional BMX, he did leave off on a very high note with his BSD “Transmission” video part that is an absolute BANGER! Today, BSD have unleashed this one online for everyones viewing pleasure. This is packed with MASSIVE grinds, big wallrides and more. Absolute must see!
“Lost in Space? Mike ‘Jersey’ Taylor certainly isn’t lost on the streets, hold tight and check out his part from the BSD TRANSMISSION DVD…”
WATCH: Sam Jones “Transmission” Section
WATCH: Sam Jones “Transmission” Section
WATCH: David Grant “Transmission” Section
WATCH: Dan Paley “Transmission” Section
WATCH: “Transmission” Intro
Over the course of the past few weeks The Merged have been putting out different Top 5 lists for different products. For example they released their Top 5 Pegs today that was pretty interesting. Looking at those lists, it got us thinking about all of the different innovations that we have seen in BMX over the past 15ish years that we really love. There is no denying that there has been A LOT of innovation making bikes lighter, stronger and look a hell of a lot better over the years. There has also been a lot of things done to simplify the process of working on your bike, which is always a perk. You can pretty much build a bike up with a allen key and a 17mm socket these days. That wasn’t always the case. With that, we decided to take a look at a few items in particular we have a lot of appreciation for.
If you have been riding BMX for more than 10 years, there’s no doubt that you have a great appreciation for the Integrated head tube and press fit bottom brackets. Prior to that, you had to pound in your own headset cups and bottom bracket bearing cups, which usually also used unsealed bearings. This was a pain in the ass and an extra unnecessary step. We’re sure some of you are having a flashback of a cracked headset cup, followed by 100 little silver ball bearings bouncing around on the floor. Once S&M Bikes introduced the Integrated headtube and brands ditched the American bottom bracket bearings for Mid and Spanish sizes, life got a whole lot easier. Drop the headset in place and tighten it down or give the bottom bracket bearing a push into the frame and you’re good to go. Less work, cleaner look and overall more reliable product. That is why we love this innovation.
Thanks to integrated head tubes, we have far fewer parts to deal with when it comes to headsets. Bottom brackets also looked similar to the old headsets if you were wondering, too.
Over the years we have seen A LOT of innovation in the chain tensioner department. When they were initially introduced, they were these over built, adaptors that were essentially a combination of a washer, bolt, plate and nut that pulled it together. Now days we have the integrated chain tensioner that runs directly through the dropouts. Not only is this a 100 times cleaner and lighter, it’s simple. Simply grab your allen key and adjust in and out to where you want your axle to sit in the dropout. How couldn’t you love this innovation?
Talk about simplified…. Fewer parts, less weight… So much cleaner!
Now, this is one of those innovations that might not necessarily appeal to everyone. We still see the railed seat and brands like Relic have even released a new railed seat recently. However, the majority of us are running Pivotal or Tripod seats, eliminating the need to battle it out with the railed seat post guts that were notorious for being a big pain in the ass to get set in place initially. Not only are they easier to install, but Pivotal and Tripod seats are lighter and look cleaner, too. Both systems use different designs, but both use one bolt to hold it all together and eliminated all the small parts that railed seats use. This is another one of those innovations that saved some time and frustration… So we love it.
The old railed seat posts essentially took two plates and one or two bolts to sandwich the rails of the seat. This is a look at the Snafu posts that came in a number of colors, but still were a whole bunch of fun to dial in.
The Half-Link… This is one of those pieces I think there is a love / hate relationship. Some people love how it allows them to get their rear wheel in the exact spot thanks to the shorter links and others claim they are weaker and break easier (depending on the chain). However, having that shorter link has been an innovation that has made its mark on BMX and is undoubtably loved. Whether you’re using a full half-link chain or a regular size chain with one half-link to get the benefits of that adjustability, it has made life a little easier… Except working on chains are still a bit of a pain and messy.
Hub guards is one of those innovations that we have seen a lot of focus on in the past few years. Once street riding and grinding really took off and people were tearing the shit out of their hubs and spokes, it was a no brainer that there needed to be a guard to help resist all the damage. Over the years we have seen a number of different styles like G-Sport’s plastic guard that you could tie to your spokes with zip ties or shoe laces to the more modern style guards that replace your hardware and slide onto the axle. Whether you’re using a plastic or full chromoly guard, there’s a good chance that little guard has saved you a lot of time, money and hassle by having less spokes to repair and extending the life of your hub.
While looking for old photos of the original G-Sport hub guards, we stumbled across an old bike check George French did from around 2004 that had some prototypes of the guards, which have been modified a bunch over the years and are still available. This bike also has the old headset and bottom bracket, railed seat and more. This also has a number of creative / concept ideas that George was working on for G-Sport at the time. Either way, bikes now days look A LOT cleaner and are a lot lighter.
That’s 5 innovations in BMX we love. Did we miss any that you love? Let us know in the comments below!
Vans have released their second part of The Palmistry Guide series featuring the Vans France team. This time around the crew made their way to Iceland to explore spots with their tour guide Anton Arnarson, who we haven’t heard from in quite some time! This is packed full of amazing riding, excellent spots and super good film work. Depite the weather not always being the best, Iceland is definitely an under rated travel destination for BMX. Check it!
Watch: Vans – The Palmistry Guide PT 1: Morocco
“as a guide.
The Palmistry Guide is already written on your hands; you just have
to follow it.
Featuring:
Matthias Dandois, Justin Fouque, Theo Zannettacci & Alexandre Valentino
Filmed by Arnaud Wolff & Alexandre Valentino
Edited by Alexandre Valentino
Soundtrack by Anthony Clain
Photography by Vince Perraud”