Vans opens a new retail unit in the Westfield centre
Westfield is Vans’ first mall based store in Europe, set to open on the 30th October 2008. From iconic product features to our brand tagline, the Vans Westfield store represents Vans in its best possible light and will be stocking a fully comprehensive range of footwear and apparel products; Classics, Core skate, Girls, Kids, Surf and our exclusive Vault line.
In keeping with the brands long history within board sports culture, a skatable element has been built into the store front. Keep an eye out for a skate demo happening soon!
A NEW ERA FOR THE GROWTH OF MTB & BMX RACING
Freecaster.tv enters into a 3 year partnership with the UCI to offer worldwide high quality free access to LIVE and on-demand MTB & BMX racing.
4th September 2008, Eurobike, Germany: Freecaster.tv, the World’s leading free source for high quality action sports videos and Apple Design Award winner, is proud to enter into a three year agreement with the UCI to feature LIVE, and on-demand, the MTB and BMX World Championships as well as exclusive coverage of the MTB and BMX World Cup races.
WELCOME TO THE TEAM SEAN BURNS
éclat is proud to announce the addition of Sean Burns to the team roster. Sean joins Chester Blacksmith and Ashely Charles on éclat, and has been riding select components from éclat for the past two months. “Loving the éclat cranks,” said Sean just this week. Yup, éclat’s range is holding up to even Sean Burns.
Burns calls Pembroke, Massachusetts home, and also rides for Metal Bikes, Bonedeth Products, DuFFs Shoes, Kill City Jeans, Whipperman Chains and Dick Maul’s Bike Shop. éclat is psyched to have him on board and to finally get the official word out.
éclat will be announcing several more additions to the team over the next few months, and will also be working with Sean on a line of signature t-shirts and components.
The official éclat Web site is up later this week at the following address: www.eclatbmx.com
Sean Burns ‘Lizard Tongue’ Polaroid photo courtesy of Jeff Allen
Vans Summer Sessions
Vans release Summer Session plans for 2008
Following on from the successful launch of the Vans Summer Sessions in 2007, the six stop tour is back this year to entertain you over the coming months at key action sport and music festivals. It consists of a combination of skate vert comps, BMX and Skate mini-ramp sessions as well as the VANS Rococo Wakeboard Rail Tour which all come together to create a not to be missed experience.
Featuring top UK and European athletes, you can check out all the action from the Vans Team at the following events:
14th &15th June: NASS, Shepton Mallet. Vert Comp and Euro Skate Team Demo
27th – 29th June: Wakestock, Blenheim Palace. Vans Rococo Rail Jam
4th – 6th July: Wakestock, Abersoch. ?Vans Rococo Rail Jam ??
11th – 13th July: T in the Park, Balado, Scotland. Mini-ramp Skate and BMX Demo
4th – 10th August: Boardmasters, Newquay. $20,000 Vert Skate Comp and Mini-ramp Demo ??
9th – 10th August: Unleashed Music Festival, Newquay. ?Vans Roccoco Rail Jam ??
About the Vans Roccoco Rail Tour ?The hugely successful head to head competition takes place on the Vans pool gap construction which consists of a top pool and a winch system that launches the riders forward towards two straight down rails and a gap rail, where they can show off their trick skills. The construction holds 200,000 gallons of water and truly is a spectacular event to watch.
Red Bull Empire of Dirt Ticket Application Open!
TODAY – Applications for the coveted Red Bull Empire of Dirt tickets are NOW OPEN at www.redbullempireofdirt.com
The 2008 Red Bull Empire of Dirt will be held over two days: Friday 25th and Saturday 26th July on a farm near Newton Abbot, Devon. The crowd will witness some of the world’s best all-round BMX riders hit the most
insane course ever built: the world’s first BMX dirt slopestyle!
The rider list, released last week, reads like a Who’s Who of BMX and includes Gary Young, Brian Foster, Chris Doyle, Corey Bohan and the UK’s very own Forte brothers – Kye and Leo.
Tickets for Red Bull Empire of Dirt are FREE, but strictly limited.
Ticket are allocated for the Friday, Saturday or both days, and are PER CAR, so everyone is encouraged to fill their cars up (legally) with BMX fans.
Those folks who scored a ticket for last year’s weather-cancelled event are eligible for a PRIORITY TICKET. Which means their application will go to the top of the list (provided the contact details match those submitted last year).
Tickets will be allocated on a strictly first-come-first-served basis, so don’t miss out! Applications for tickets will close on June 23rd, or when tickets run out, whichever comes first.
Ride to Glory…
For the first time ever Ride UK BMX Magazine presents the Ride to Glory.
25 of the best riders (twenty from the UK and five from abroad) will be competing against each other for the prestigious winners award. The 5 competing teams are Federal, Fit Olde English, Volume, Proper and Wethepeople.
Along the way there will be various challenges, riding, non-riding and some down right bizarre. Each challenge is worth points for the team, with the team with the most points winning the cover of Issue 119, a cash prize plus automatic entry into next years event.
Traveling with each of the 5 teams will be a photographer [Ride spy/judge] and a filmer, and at the end of the trip the filmers will complete a 10 minute edit, which will be cover mounted on Issue 119 - The Ride to Glory Issue.
The riders from the UK are Dan Lacey, Mark Love, Derek Strickland, Dan Cox, Davey Watson, Ben Lewis, Marv, Scott Ditchburn, Owain Clegg, Matt Priest, Bob Manchester, Chicken, Ryan Elcock, Ashley Charles, James Smith, Farren Downs, Jason Phelan, Max Wood, Dan Fig, Gav Shortall and Mike Miller
The ‘Special guest’ riders are - Davey Watson, Dakota Roche, Mike Brennan, Alex Platt and Ryan Jordan
To keep everyone up to speed, and to highlight all the goings on, we will have daily updates on the road from every team online on the Ride website. Check it out every day from tomorrows start in Glasgow, Scotland until next Saturday where the trip will end in Hastings, England [*where we will finishing off the trip with a nibble and after party - of which you are more than welcome to attend]
There are also photos and updates here on the Ride site, along with more updates throughout the week.
Braun cruZer Tour
The first leg of the Braun cruZer Tour takes place this weekend. Read the press shizzle for more info…
“X-Games Winner Daniel Dhers confirmed for all three Braun cruZer Tour stops!
Nearly every BMX-fan all over the world will remember those three top athletes Mark Webb, Ben Wallace and Daniel Dhers battling for the Braun cruZer Tour crown in 2007 with it’s overwhelming final at the Suzuki BMXMasters presented by Braun. So we are seriously looking forward to experiencing the some of the same BMX highlights again As Daniel Dhers confirms his attendance at all three Braun cruZer Tour events for 2008.
T-Mobile Extreme Playgrounds ‘The Dirt Session’ Live on Freecaster.tv
The T-Mobile Extreme Playgrounds continues this year with a 3 event series in locations around Germany. The first, on Sunday April 20 is ‘The Dirt Session’ at the Kraftzentrale arena in the Duisburg-Nord country park, Germany.
‘The Dirt Session’ is an invite only BMX and MTB event where some of the best riders in the world will compete in a BMX Dirt Jump and MTB Slopestyle contests.
Some of the invited riders who will be competing in the BMX contest are Ryan Nyquist, Ryan Guettler, Tobias Wicke as well as world champion Great Britain’s Kye Forte. In the MTB Slopestyle event spectators will see the skills of Lance McDermott, Paul Bassagoita, John Cowan and Timo Pritzel. Live music acts Sportfreunde Stiller, Millencolin and Jack Peñate will also be playing, creating a great festival atmosphere.
‘The Dirt Session’ will go Live on Sunday, April 20 at 14:00 (CET)
Éclat Preview
What follows is a link to Zen Distribution’s product preview for Éclat. Detailed within the preview are close-up shots on everything Éclat, along with preview ads and exclusive sneak peeks at some of the products currently in development, such as rims, a few styles of grips and handlebars.
Check out the 70-page preview and spread the word. Oh, and in case you were wondering about the frame that you might spy in the preview, don’t. It’s a Wethepeople frame with Éclat stickers.
http://zendistro.com/images/products/eclat/Eclat_excibition.html
Freecaster Calendar
This has potential to be quite useful. Freecaster has this new calendar feature on its website (www.freecaster.tv/calendar).
It consists of 13 different action sports divided by color, corresponding to the Freecaster.tv channel color code. Calendars with the individual sports can be found on their respective page but the main attraction is the Monster full view with details of all sports, from all over the world, all year round. You can also select a few different sports to create your own view by clicking on the down arrow beside the agenda tab.
Éclat
Press release:
Introducing Éclat, a fresh new component brand from the creative forces behind wethepeople bike company. Based at wethepeople’s international headquarters in Cologne, Germany, Éclat will exist as a separate entity, manufacturing an innovative collection of seats, brakes, grips, hubs, rims, tires, pedals and brake levers, with plans to expand coming further this year.
To begin, Éclat will be represented by Portland, Oregon’s Chester Blacksmith and the UK’s Ashley Charles, with the initial collection of components arriving to retailers by late summer of 2008.
“In a time when the majority of BMX company’s components are becoming more identical by the day, we believed it was time to create a brand that manufactures unique components based on function and simplicity,” says Éclat owner/art director Klaus Dyba.
In regards to the brand name, “Éclat” (?-klä’, ?’klä’) is a French term, which, roughly translated means “excellence.” Éclat’s first foray into the component market is marked by a brand new patented seat and post design, which is remarkably simple and lightweight without sacrificing strength. Using 3D Torsion techniques, the seat material has been reduced to the fullest, with the final seat and post combo being ready for sale by late summer of 2008.
“I’m really exited about the new Éclat line. They’ve put a lot of thought into the new products and the people at Éclat have done a great job designing the finished product. I know riders won’t be disappointed with the line,” says Éclat rider Chester Blacksmith, currently on a European trek and testing a few products from Éclat’s line. Additionally joining the Éclat brand is Brian Tunney, who will serve as Éclat team manager.
Website: www.eclatbmx.com
Analog DVD
Word from Gunnner… “Yep…Analog - a trails inspired DVD filmed and created by Daniel ‘DD’
Dolan is now in the Segment store. The DVD that showcases various trail spots [Chertsey, Epsom, Alianos, Winchester, Decoy, Melbourn and Ashford] as well as trail riders [Kye Forte, Scott Edgworth, Jon Robinson, Martin Murray, Leo Forte, Matt Priest, Rikki Gunner and many
many more…].
Analog is £10, or Free if you spend over £30 on Segment products.”
http://www.segmentclothing.com/blog.php
Shred or Die
ShredorDie.com is a new action video website, with a BMX channel featuring Corey Martinez, Nathan Williams, Kenny Horton and others. You can check out their BMX channel here: http://www.shredordie.com/channels/bmx.
Mike Rooftop Escamilla session at Kat Von D’s tat shop:
Vans’ welcomes Jon Taylor as UK BMX team manager
Press release:
“Vans are proud to announce the appointment of Jon Taylor as UK BMX team manager.
Jon has been part of the Vans family as a sponsored rider for 10 years. He says ”I have loved every year I’ve been a part of the Vans team, doing more stuff for the team and getting more involved with the whole thing. It was a natural progression for me.”
On Jon’s appointment Nick Street, Vans Marketing Manager says ‘As Jon has been riding for Vans for over 10 years now, it seemed like the natural progression to offer him the job of TM. We are happy to have him on board and are looking forward to some more ‘MAD’ Jon Taylor antics. Stay tuned for the full blown UK BMX Tour coming up this Summer.
Segment Brian Foster T-shirt
Segment Clothing introduce ‘Creative Influence’ series…
Brian Foster - out of respect for Brian’s riding ability, style, longevity and out right creativity, we at Segment [and more so, Segment team rider, Scott Edgworth (isn’t he an actor now?!!) decided to run the ‘Creative Influence’ tee.
An absolute influence to the whole Segment team….
Southbank
You might have seen on various other sites the future of Southbank is in jeapardy and the petition to save it. In response to the uncertain future of the South Bank, the film ‘Save Southbank’ has been made.
There is a premier at the Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place (Leicester Square tube) on the 7th of February at 7.45pm.
Entry is free, but you must get a ticket from Slam City Skates. No tickets will be given out on the evening.
Slam City Skates
16 Neals Yard
W2CH 9DP
020 7240 0928
You can also sign the petition at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/saveSB/
Ride It Winter Jam
The webpage for the Ride It Winter Jam is now live (more details of the jam in a an earlier post).
Ride It Winter Jam 08
More Eastern European contests, this one in Latvia. The RIDE IT Wintejam 08 is on the 16th of february in The Cinema Studio Of Riga (Latvia).
A new park will be built (sketches are in the add) and there will be BMX, Sk8board, and MTB competitions, BMX flatland jam, Snow and Ski jam (sketches are in the add).
The afterparty will take place in 2 large halls, with DJ and VJ show, and you will be able to relax in Chill-out hall.
There is a website here: http://www.rideit.lv, although the contest page isn’t up yet. Alternatively, get in touch with Murgonis, one of the organisers.
re:traction
Dig issue 62 is out now and has Lino’s writeup about the 2hip uk trip from september. I missed the deadline by 2hrs apparently so my text’ll end up on the dig site at somepoint. We were at Cantelowes the other day and we were talking about whether they’d actually have printed it. I was’nt so sure and said “but what about the bit where i talk about that skatepark as though its an underage girl and we take her up the pooper”, only to turn round and see a family with a young girl of about 8 standing right behind me. The skaters opened the gate for us Peado’s to leave.
Nang is also out now with Jenkins’s sexy packaging graphics, through 4 down, a new trailer is up on Defgrip . Its worth it just for the last clip in the end titles. I wanna know what happened to all the pictures of us as kids going on the sleeve.
To square thing off i’ll end with the real news that’ll rock the bmx fraternaty to the core, i quit Madera.
i know i know im weepy too.
