I’ve been posting a bit about Tempered Bikes upcoming products, the Bones stem and the Anchor Down sprocket. I just saw some new shots of the two fine products on a nice blue bike on the Tempered site. This looks so sweet!
Here’s a little something that Tempered Bikes just put up on their site. Their new “Bones” stem got that nickname for obvious reasons. I’m really impressed with the finish and the workmanship on those units.
Like Matt says, they will be hitting the shelves real soon. Check the website for more pics.
Jamie over at Proper Bikes posted this on their blog earlier this month. Reading through it, I have to say that I found it very accurate and to the point. That’s why I decided it is worth spreading the message some more.
This was posted as some do’s and don’ts for their stems hat are about to hit the market, but seeing that 100% of stems have bolts and threads in some form, this goes for all stems.
- Make sure there is steerer tube under both of the rear allen bolts. If you cut your steerer too short then don’t crank the top allen bolt up as hard as you can and wonder why your new stem doesn’t like it.
- Tighten the bolts evenly. That’s right, you need to clamp the bolts (the four front ones and the two rear) with a similar amount of torque. Don’t try to achieve this by cranking one allen bolt after the other as hard as you can.
- Don’t use a 6ft extension bar to tighten the allen bolts. A 10cm long allen key will supply enough torque to keep your stem tight.
- Don’t spray your stem (or bars) and wonder why either slips.
- If your stem starts to distort in any way you are doing something wrong. Do not continue to tighten your stem at this point.
- Once your stem is plenty tight enough to grip your bars and steerer tube (whilst a hippopotamus performs a footjam whip or gaps to flat from numerous storeys) there is no need to put in a few extra cranks ‘for good luck’.
I just learned that there is a pretty big bicycle tradeshow here in Melbourne — Ausbike. It will go on for two days, Sunday and Monday, and there will be a bunch of local BMX brands and distros showing their stuff.
I’ll be there checking stuff out and hanging around the KickassBMX stand (#48).
Should be interesting to see what will be on display. Lots of BMX parts with holes in them maybe?
Kert Petersel, who used to ride for Simple but now rides for Metal, got a hookup with éclat.
From the éclat blog:
Sean Burns told me that we needed to give Metal team rider Kert Petersel some parts, so we did. And even though Kert lives in Estonia, he somehow managed to be working at the exact same place that distributes éclat there. So we said, “Please, take what you need,” and he did. He was also nice enough to send over some pics of his new bike built up, and he said that the parts are “Boneproof.” I need a drink. Thanks Kert!
Seems he didn’t want need a new front hub.
Here are some “spy shots” straight off the factory production line of some of the new Simple products that will be out shortly. Not all of them are new products, but most of them have been refined from the previous batch. The biggest change would probably be on the System-stem which has received a total makeover.
Excuse the photo quality, real product shots will be up on the Simple site shortly.
The other day I got sent a link to this german site called Leichtsinn, which is a weight-weenie site mostly dedicated to bmx products. The main story on there now features a modified version of the Simple stem, the System. He’s done a really good job of it and it looks way more tech and way less “simple”. It’s cool to see anyway and I hope it works well in it’s modified state.
The fact of the matter is that during the design stages of that stem I actually had a version that had just about those exact same cutouts, but we decided to go for the more clean, straight forward look.
Focalpoint has got a new promo video for their new clothing line up on their index page featuring the FP crew doing some nice street stunts. The new flat peak caps look great, so does the new tee designs.
Also, I’ve added a new link to an aussie bike company, Nightfall Bike Co., based in Cairns. They’ve got some nice products out and more on the way. I really like the sprocket (see the pic that I borrowed from their site).
A couple of days ago I received a nice little package of things to be tested. It’s the new “Symmetric stem” and the yet to be named cassette hub from Simple Bikes.
The stem is short (49mm reach) and works about the same as the previous frontload stem, the “System”. It’s got an internal wedge/piston that transfers clamping force from the four front bolts via the handlebars to the streerer tube of the forks. It’s called symmetric because it is the same either way you run it.
The cassette hub is based around the same internals as the Proper hub and has been modified to utilize an internally threaded female axle with 10mm studs. The axle has been custom made to use push-on endcones for easy assembly/disassembly. The hubshell has got big radiuses, no sharp corners and minimal flanges with a staggered spoke hole pattern for lacing all spokes on the inside of the flange, aka “superlace”.
This is not the final shape of the hub shell and some things may probably change before production.
…what a disappointment!
Interbike is over. I’ve been scanning bmx news sites and forums for interesting new parts and products from other brands then the one(s) I’m involved with. But there was seriously nothing new or really cool. Unless you think 20+ new pivotal seat graphics (on the same seat shape), or new limited edition colorways are groundbreaking.
The most interesting thing for me was that the G-Sport Ratchet hub finally seems to be ready for release and that they’ve figured out a way to make a 9-tooth driver. It was also interesting to see the JC/PC pedal from Odyssey. It’s a cool concept and I think it will work really well. So in my book, the only company that really delivered was Odyssey/G-Sport, even though we already knew both those products were coming.
And of course I have to say that it was fun to see Niels Thanild showing off some of the new Simple parts we’ve been working on in his product highlight on VitalBMX.