Dedication

Or stupidity. But lets go with dedication, as this author was out there riding as well.



17 Degrees is too cold for most people to accomplish even the most mundane of daily tasks. Slater's list of chores happens to include riding bikes no matter how frigid the weather(and convincing others to join in). The beauty of the low temps is twofold; the jumps are frozen solid and faster than a buttered Porsche, and the local kiddos are locked away inside playing Wii or something, leaving the trails clean and quiet.



Get off the internet and go ride!

You remember that bad show "Pacific Blue"

Well TAG does and if you don't then consider yourself lucky. Looks like Tag thinks that us bike people only have a 30 second memory. They are truly trying to reinvent the wheel.
TAG Wheels will be offering a new wheel system next week at Interbike.


“Our wheels provide long term value in a classic stylish (to be read "SPIN") look,” says Mike Thomas V.P of TAG Wheels. “The wheels are extremely easy to use, offer a great ride, and with MSRP starting at just $429 per set our TR3 wheels are affordable for any rider.”
Stay tuned for in-depth Interbike coverage next week as we report all the latest and greatest, needless to say this product will not be one of them.

Troy Lee Designs 2009

Yeah thats right, they want us to wear this and not laugh.
Troy and I have gotten along in the past but now... well things have changed.

Loose ends...

For those of you who have not seen the trails at Lonnie Paxton's house, they are supreme! Heath Pinter and Lonnie have been busy little beavers sculpting huge hips and transfers with long run ins. Some people drink green beer and whiskey (David) and others boost the lip. Check out the vid. Chase Hawk is crazy, high speed, brakeless!



Claire Buchar received her new Intense Socom with a kickin paint job. Translucent brass finish over the raw metal, will it be available to the regular customer? WideOPEN has the details. Her bed buddy Chris Kovarik pulled the overall win at the Fontana Series. He won every race of the series with the exception of the last. He had sprained or twisted or tweaked his ankle a few days before the race and did not place as well as the other races. The point is, he still raced.

Gary "The Flipper" Perkins is one hell of a photographer. He covers the World Cup circuit and his images grace the pages of all the big magazines. One of his newer projects is entitled "My Bike", highlighting how the bicycle effects our lives from work to play. Take a gander.

Americans love their guns. Although it may be a controversial issue to some there is no denying the fact that we love bustin caps. Kyle Cassidy feels the need to document these people in their homes. The pictures speak for themselves.

Parenting 101

Is your child a drug addict, does he or she use alcohol? Does your child worship Satan? Is your child a tagger? Well with the help of this new diagram you can certainly be able to figure out the latter. This illustration was released by the Santa Ana Police Department. They are trying to get a handle on all the miscreant graffiti popping up around town. Look carefully and study the diagram, I never knew that I was a tagger. Now I can be honest with myself and my love for hoodies and come clean. Other tips include:

Your child has large quantities of “Hello My Name Is” stickers, priority mail stickers, or number or letter stickers. These stickers may have drawings or a tagging moniker written on them. These stickers are used to “slap tag.” They are slapped upon a surface and are difficult to remove and generally leave a residue.

Your child has or carries a black artist notebook that contains tagging or drawings. These books are called “bibles” or “piece books.”

On a side note, in South Baltimore a "tagger" has orange and black stripes and lives in the jungle.

East Coast Mentality?

G2 is to LG1 as RPM is to MRP

You got to hand it to the guys at E.13, a few posts back "Jeru" made a bit of a statement about "Imitation being the highest form of..." Well we see your G2 and raise you RPM, the new color way that is very reminiscent of that company, with the three initials that made those chain thingys and they came in that very visible and highly recognizable color. Love it. They may not have made the connection but we did. The connection may be totally false but wheres the fun in that?



e.thirteen is proud to announce the release of their third edition of the Limited Colorways product. Limited Colorways product has been turning heads around the world for the past year, and this next colorway is sure to catch the attention of everyone.

The newest Limited Colorways color will be "RPM Orange," and the chain devices will be released worldwide through the e.thirteen distribution channels on February 29, 2008. A limited number of chain retention systems will be sent to each distributor worldwide, and once each distributor sells out of the Limited Colorways, the color will no longer be available.

The RPM Orange chain devices will be offered only in the LG-1 model, with e.thirteen's worldwide patent pending direct-mount ™ bashguard technology. To accentuate the classic look of this colorway, its backplate is bright silver in color, with RPM Orange sliders.

Distributors are already taking orders, so run down to your local bike shop and pre-order your favorite e.thirteen chain retention system in the RPM Orange Limited Colorways color.

Imitation is the highest from of...

MRP will be releasing there new fangled chainguide at CrankWorx, named the “G2”

Dejavu?

I am constantly amazed at all the companies that produce some of the most innovative and advanced products available. They burn the midnight oil to solve some of the more pressing issues that we encounter on these bikes of ours. The chainguide in particular has come along way. Many companies have come and gone and our jaded memories are filled with these products. The spotlight and focus has shifted from company to company, AC, Mr. Dirt, MRP, E13 and Gamut are a few of those popular names. Lets face it as new products are devised and created many companies are quick to jump on the wave of success of a competitor and rake in some profits for themselves, such is business. Imitation is the biggest form of flattery? That’s what they say at least.
There is no question that in the pursuit of building the most efficient component possible engineers are bound to travel down the same path and that each answer to the problem will at times be very similar. One brand will adopt characteristics of another brands solution, which can be seen as a polite nod to the fellow engineer and or designer. That is an ever-fine line that gets crossed quite often. Enter patent law, a quagmire of the kings English that only the most seasoned esquire can decipher. He also charges by the hour, making the pursuit of justice an expensive one. So I ask, when have they gone too far?

Bike Wars

It seems as if Specialized is in the market for some new blood. The yanks at Cannondale aren't having it. There immediate response had some bite but the more thought out, public response is sweetly sinister. Check out the cold sting here.
"Paging Mr. Sinyard to the HR department, Mr. Sinyard to HR..."

Back to the Drawing Board.

Now my somewhat feeble understanding of the birthing process of a product includes a step where it is presented to the target demographic to seek approval. I believe the step is number 72 out of the 94 step process. This process made popular by the book "Salesman of the Century" by Ron Popeil. That great book and all its valuable secrets never made it to the hands of the employees at T.H.E. Many sites have been praising the latest offerings of goods to be released, not Jeru! Jeru takes personal offense at all products that are unworthy.

This helmet bag...First it looks like the blood pressure machine in the grocery store I used to play with when being yelled at by my mama. It fails not because of the "flava-ful" or "played" pattern that it sports, not even the jingle jangle of those bulky ass zippers. It fails for two reasons. (1) The relief under the visor, are we shaving weight fellas? Oh, I see we want passers by to whisper under breathe "he has go a legit THE full face helmet in that designer satchel." That ain't happening, more like "what is with the busted ass purse, sweetie?" (2)They didn't stop there a voice from some cubicle screamed out "don't forget the celly!" And they attached a CELL PHONE HOLSTER to the bag, because when you are sporting that sac around town, you must be connected to all the fellas...How in the world could they justify placing a cell phone holster on the strap. All it needs now is a little clear plastic holder for my bus pass.

Taken from there site:
THE VISION We are committed to developing the best and most innovative products in the industry. This dedication pushes us to the edge, and very often we are the only ones out there. "We Like It That Way". We are proud of the fact we listen to enthusiast everywhere, and work very hard with the world's top pros to develop and test new ideas. This effort allows us to deliver fresh new products like you've never seen before, products that fill the need and bridge the gap left by the rest of the industry.

GrandMaster said it best: "Don't push me, 'cause I'm close to the edge / I'm trying not to lose my head"


Now the hoodie...
I can get with the quilted look, really can. The full zip on the other hand is a stretch, all the new
kids at lunch way be rockin the full zip, not this guy. The full zip is one thing, the grommets for your eyes and mouth though are a completely different avenue. Maybe if you were waiting in line at the bus with symtex strapped to your jelly parts and the aspirations of eternity on your mind. Either way, poor execution my friend, poor execution. Send one to Mr. Lucas, I'm sure he'll love it.

Back to the drawing board.