METZ on troy lee

Mikes coming back.. Look for a Metz Oakley goggle strap later in the year and frame colourway.

protos and works rigs.

Andrea Bruno's works keeper 4x

cove proto video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yVrzXWn5Ec

little GOPRO head cam of a local mini 4x track..

http://elbry.pinkbike.com/channel/first/

my 09 worls keeper 4x frame being built..

http://elbry.pinkbike.com/album/MDE-KEEPER-4X/

Thomas Vanderham off Fox, Andrew Shandro off HH

Thomas, Geoff and Andrew are all on the new Dakine clothing Team.

24" rig gets ready for SWE OPENING

A week on saturday will be the grand opening of the 4X track at SWE in north devon, we will be at the event having a blast on the race track and shore play trails. Lets hope for good weather.. Look for me on my little brown rig.

Mike hopkins on monster

Joining us on the Monster energy will be ski ace and freeride mtb big boy Mike hopkins!
http://vimeo.com/4073171
cool little dh pump track edit.

Tomac Releases Limited Edition Johnny T Painting

Tomac Bikes announces today the completion of a limited edition John Tomac painting commissioned over two years ago. The painting is based off a 1995 photo by Tom Moran, which features Johnny drifting through a corner at the Kamikaze, and was painted by Tomac graphic artist Randy Rigg.“The Kamikaze has always been a very special event in US downhill racing history,” says Tomac owner Joel Smith. “And I think Johnny style and aggressiveness epitomized the racing at the time. The painting really captures the race’s essence of speed, and for those of you who attended those events, it will surely evoke the majesty of racing back then.”Tomac will do a limited run of 20 John Tomac autographed giclee prints on canvas, which will also be hand signed by the artist. The prints will cost $250 with $50 of each print going to the Tara Llanas Road to Recovery Fund. “My goal was to create a realistic portrayal of Johnny’s racing” says artist Randy Rigg. “The painting is just snapshot of a moment, but there is this inherent movement that I hope was captured in it.”The giclee prints are produced by the artist himself on museum quality acid-free, canvas using a high-end archival printing process. They measure 15 inches by 20 inches by 1.25 inch deep and can be hung as-is or framed. Tomac Bikes is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Tomac Bikes strives for high performance, innovation, and superior products. www.tomac.com

sea otter results..

Mick Hannah - Pro DH winner!

Mick Hannah 2:08.1
Greg Minnaar 2:08.2
Andrew Neethling 2:08.8
Justin Leov 2:09.0
Brian Lopes 2:09.2
Eric Carter 2:09.3
Dan Atherton 2:09.6
Jared Rando 2:09.9
Bryn Atkinson 2:10.3
Nathan Rennie 2:10.3
Cody Warren 2:10.3
Sam Hill 2:10.9
Cedric Gracia 2:11.2
check the 30 plus boys ec and lopes both in the mix!

Sam Hill win's the dual slalom

New ride and South West Extreme

quick look at my new ride! complete bike check coming soon, but we got this for riding trails this summer and since my 4x bikes still a few weeks away we took it to SWE this weekend, South West Extremes looking real good, its 4x tracks just about done and we put in some real hot laps, Right now the tracks a little one lined for racing and i hope we see some small changes to make it a multi hit track, We cut up some inside lines and had a blast even if it was blowing a gale, Tom from SWE was on hand and showed me the shore what was fun but not that tech as i hit it all up first go with out looking at it and on the second go tabled the lot, table drop, table step down to table off the bank. All good fun, next time i hope the winds not blowing so hard and i can go ride the trails that the bmx guys have built, because they look so good!

OG hardtail

more detail and pics in a future blog, but for now have a look at this shred rat of a rig from OG. It just looks plain fast. loving to double top tube..

Vandal blog site goes live..

about bloody time you may think, Vandal has a site again, its a blog site and looks like i will keep it updated a lot with some cool stuff coming down the pike this year. http://vandalclothing.blogspot.com/

new intense..

click the pics..

WIDEOPEN

Latest issue of free download mag wideopens now out, dont for get to check the freeride news done by me !
www.wideopenmag.co.uk
It's packed with over 100 pages of exclusive features, interviews, bike tests, gorgeous photos and of course UK race reports:

- Tracy Moseley interview
- Propain Rage world exclusive test
- Exclusive look at ‘Rowan Sorrell’s’ proto DH bike
- Genesis Alpitude test
- Winter in Southern Spain with DHSpain
- Al Evans interview
- Gawton scene check
… and loads more

Alan foster has bust back..

B-Markets Carter gives us the scoop.
I went down to ride Sheep Hills with a bunch of SHL's from yesterday and today. Unfortunately during Alan Foster's first run into French Connection ( which is so fuckin' steep and tall if you tag... keep reading.), Alan got a bit leaned and stiff and if that wasn't bad enough... he clipped both wheels of his 20" on the top of the first landing sending his to his head at bottom of an easily 8'.
Alan hit the ground hard enough to literally shake it. He gave himself a pretty good shiner, bloody nose, busted lips and hurt some ribs pretty bad from what we knew because was having a hard time breathing. He was taken away by the paramedics to be safe and that turned out to be a good thing. Alan suffered a broken back that will require surgery tomorrow, so wish him well.

Vandal decals are coming..plus mini update

Spring = trails!
sweet vid to get you in the mood from brian
http://vimeo.com/3941958

Vandal clothing family member Jonathan took some shots of one of our first riders we supported, Some young gun called kye forte! Kye rules.
check the shots
http://www.unitedbikeco.com/v2/tm/kyeforteblog.html

Vandal ransom decals are coming!!! here very soon..

Free 4X RACING!

Get your ass down to SWE on May the 3nd and try the new NPS 4x track as well as the shore play trails and jump zone.

update for updates sake..i think not..

Factory MDEbikes/MONSTERenergy/MACEgear team rig shod in some sexy geax rubber
testing another box fresh set..

this bikes riding so nice..

Last two days have been packed, press rel out soon but i can tell you i ride for Geax tyres and last week a van load of tyres turned up from italy! no joke i now have so many new treads to test with two to four of every type of tyre in the geax range from xc to dh/freeride. The last two days i have been blasting out runs at my dh spot and trying out a range of the dh rubber.

Other news.. we need to sort some new Vandal decals, anyone know a good sticker company? drop us a mail bsxworld@tiscali.co.uk .

new Vandal family/team riders to be named soon..

I have also started to build my new little 24" trail frame ready for the summer :)

Vandal Clothing update: we are a trails company since 1995

this week some new fresh T-shirt blank colours turned up that we ordered and the new art work i did with stan was also sorted, we have now sorted one of the limited edition colourway combinations and that should be out in about a week, the other we are doing some test colourway combos and i hope we have that out the week after! So look for 2! new vandal designs out this month ready for summer 09, Now vandal has always been a trails based brand, Seeing this vid i had to post it,

http://vimeo.com/4032259

dave king makes some of the best trail vids right now and with some spring weather this will get you out wanting to ride be it 20", 24" or 26" you roll on.

Know your purpose,vision,mission and the message you want to send!

represent Vandal, show you ride trails and support a company that gives back.

World cup rigs..

above and bellow; thanks to Dirtmag.co.uk for the pics of the new monster energy team bikes of sam and bren.

SC team will run works bikes this year with longer stroke shocks than the stock V bikes you can buy @ your local dealer.

dirt mag give us the scoop with its pic of the world cup Trek, its good to have Trek back in DH racing.

Dirt mag help us with some super bike pics from the world cup round one: Yeti works 303

Intense proto.. Seems intense are hunting down the shots of this team bike and removing it from the net as its not out till the sea otter.. its an all new short stroke dh rig and looks very clean in its lines

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VJHMKwJ88THrd373-gAUfs-0wcwBf3k_fS_UpkYOOJovuuC_f91j_4CVC4PPquVNtL0U2LvTi5sVr8Bcmq3zCc60xZeZZga_5z8vuJB3_xfgQI8_MRYbgkBfjEDcb5Ajn-JCE33IFtKF/s1600/_MG_9639.jpg

Ryder Kasprick on Geax tyres

BC based slopestyle Ryder Kasprick and Cove bikes star rider this year looks set to be in the hunt at crankworx 09 and his rocking Geax treads .


check him http://www.nsmb.com/page/s/2899/ryder-kasprick-on-cove

VIENNA AIR KING

Vienna, Austria, April 6th – The best dirt jumpers from all over Europe, the United States and Australia celebrated the beginning of the contest season during the Vienna Air King on April 4th and 5th. The 19 years old Swedish young gun Martin Söderström showed the most stunning tricks and became first. Paul Basagoitia from Minden, USA, secured himself the PANASONIC-Best-Trick-Competition with an excellent 360 tailwhip on the step down at Vienna Air King’s starting tower.The conditions were just perfect on the first weekend of April: it was not only sunny and warm, but the dirt track and its big sized doubles were also great shaped by the course designer and local Andi Brewi. No wonder that overall 100.000 visitors made their way to the ARGUS Bike Festival, which hosted the Vienna Air King the fourth year in a row. The riders showed the jelling crowds their newest tricks in three runs during the finals on Sunday, whereof the best one counted. It was Martin Söderström, who had a lot of pressure on his third run since he blew the first two runs. But he was rocking in his last run: a clean 360 at the step down, double tailwhip at the first jump, followed by a 360 on the second, and a bar spin on the third set, as well as a 540 at the quarter pipe. That’s what a winning run should look like – well-deserved, Martin took home 2.500 Euros of prize money and a Panasonic cam. The German Amir Kabbani also showed a stunning run: no foot can at the step down, no handed Backflip, 360 barspin to x-up, a tailwhip at the last double and a barspin at the quarter. The second place, a Panasonic cam and 1.800 Euros made his day. Third place was reserved for Paul Basagoitia from the US after showing a 360 at the step down, a backflip at the first set, a 360 one foot to x-up at the second set, and finishing with two tailwhips – one at the last double and one at the quarter. Congrats to the KONA rider, because winning the best trick comp and placing in the Top3 in one event is more than ordinary. The Brits, especially Sam Pilgrim and Lance McDermott, were in great shape, finishing 4th and 5th with tricks like flairs in the quarter (both), a backflip no hand (Sam), a backflip at the step down or a frontflip in the first set (Lance). It was also Lance, who already stoked the spectators with his huge flair look down at the quarter-pipe during the PANASONIC-Best-Trick-Competition on Saturday afternoon.The other finalists of the Vienna Air King did their best to impress the crowds. The spectators went nuts and were screaming until the final Top 15 riders of the Vienna Air King 2009 had finished their three runs:

1st Martin Söderström (SWE) NS Bikes 2nd Amir Kabbani (GER) Cannondale 3rd Paul Basagoitia (USA) Kona 4th Sam Pilgrim (GBR) Diamondback 5th Lance McDermott (GBR) Scott 6th Thomas Zejda (CZE) Horsefeathers 7th Sam Reynolds (GBR) DMR 8th Bartosz Obukowicz (POL) NS Bikes 9th Andi Wittmann (GER) Giant 10th Linus Sjöholm (SWE) Scott 11th Ferenc Horváth (HUN) Orbea 12th Daniel Madzia (AUT) 13th Ramon Hunziker (SUI) Specialized 14th Philipp Frühwirth (AUT) 15th Pascal Breitenstein (SUI) Kona

SENSUS grips!

After years of designing, switching factories, and many other difficulties, here are the first grips from Sensus. Featuring a super soft compound and simple, yet incredibly sufficient design made right here in America. Cut lines for easy chopping of either flange completely, or just partial for shifters.
“These are the grips I have wanted forever, so I took it upon myself to design and create them… Simple and perfect.” -CamZink
Made in the USA - Available in Black or White

support a MTB brand!

CAM ZINK on GEAX

Geax tyres are now becoming the number one treads in freeride, Reno's factory felt rider Cam Zink joins the list of riders rolling on the brand. see http://www.geax.com/

Park update

above: larger new lines taking shape on the left, smaller lines are getting more tech with pump bumps on the right.
bellow: the new skate parks taking shape, look for the trails to run all the way down to the park.

Dales no longer made in the USA

Dorel to make Cannondale's Bethel, CT, factory into an 'Innovation Center', reduce staff at Bedford, PA
From 2010, Cannondale frames will be sourced from Asia, there will be no manufacturing from the US.In a press release, Dorel put a positive spin on the restructuring by stressing the move was part of a plan to create five Centers of Excellence around the world.Dorel's other bike brands will also be part of the restructuring.
Dorel's five centres are to be:
Bethel, CT ("global headquarters and innovation center for high-end and enthusiast bicycles);
Basel, Switzerland ("for high-end and enthusiast bicycles sold/marketed in Europe");
Madison, WI ("for global mass market products");
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ("for active lifestyle and urban apparel and footwear" ie Sugoi)'
Taichung, Taiwan ("for coordination of sourcing, testing and quality of Asian suppliers/partners").All North American product development, marketing and business management functions for Cannondale, Schwinn, GT and Mongoose will be centred in Bethel, CT within the newly named Cycling Sports Group (formerly the Cannondale Sports Group).
Robert Baird, President of Dorel's Recreational/Leisure segment, said:
"Our vision is to create the most innovative and admired company in the recreation and leisure marketplace, and to become a global leader, which is why the Dorel segment was established in the first place."The strategy for transforming that vision into reality requires a unified, collaborative, and highly engaged workforce, relentlessly committed to innovation and supported by management in rapidly advancing the quality of the products and services we deliver."The Cannondale purchase led us to segment our bicycle business to provide best-in-class service to the distinct retailer categories. Mass market bikes are sold to consumers through Pacific Cycle, while high-end specialty retailers have been our channel of choice for premium and enthusiast bikes through CSG.
Naturally, Cannondale and CSG are key components of our commitment to our independent bicycle dealers as we realize how critical IBDs are to the cycling community and to us."To ensure we delight our customers with our distinctive brands, innovative products and impactful in-store programs, we are also consolidating our North American CSG operations to two locations from five."Dorel will create "one of the best bicycle testing laboratories in the world at its facilities" in Bedford, PA. CSG will also begin to focus its existing operations in Bedford on final bicycle and Headshok assembly, CNC machining, and customer support.Bedford's manufacturing operations will be fully outsourced by 2010. Headcount at Bedford will be reduced from the current 300 employees to approximately 100 by the end of 2010."Today is the beginning of a very exciting period for Dorel's recreational and leisure business," said Jeff McGuane, President CSG North America. McGuane has been with Cannondale since 1994 and until recently was President of CSG International.McGuane continued: "We have realised significant benefits from identifying and acquiring strong brand leaders in the recreation and leisure industries, as well as driving organic growth from our existing businesses. However, for us to continue on our quest to remain competitive and to become the world's premier provider in delivering the top recreation and leisure brands and products that consumers trust and want, we must continue to simplify and streamline our operations to help us drive forward.
"Creating the Center of Excellence in Bethel, consolidating our CSG resources within North America to two main locations, and leveraging the manufacturing resources at our Taiwan-based Center of Excellence are critical steps along the path of achieving our objective - becoming the global innovation leader in the recreation and leisure segment."

the last bit of intense news...

JD Swanguen's still on Intense along with troy lee designs and Nike 6.0