Dirt Cartel Interview

Vince at DirtCartel gave me the opportunity to do a little interview and being the kind of guy that loves to get a chance to connect with the riders out there, how could I pass.
Check out the site, its got a cool little spin and if you figure you got something important to say then even you could contribute.
http://www.dirtcartel.com/

Customer Video (Dean in the Woodlot)

Here is a video sent in by Dean, a customer from BC, Canada, who is a trailbuilder at the woodlot!

Here is is riding his new Rune down one of his creations 'snakes and ladders'.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7933441014538164658

Amazing trail building and great riding Dean!

Back to the factory... Legends ready soon

I'm off to the factory in a few days and in a week or so after I arrive I'll have the first bits to show you of the Legend Mk1. We'll be showing it at the industry bike show in Taipei for the first time and I'm just scrambling right now to find parts to build it up.

Here are some pics I took of my trip up the 101 which is the tallest building in the world althought the UAM's Burg Dubai will end up eclipsing this tower soon.

The yellow globe thing is the counterweight that keeps the building stable so you don't get motion sickness and its suspended by cables and underneath are dampers so it doesn't swing erratically.

It was cool to see what looking out a window that highup actually looks like. Basically the pics I took were all in the clouds so nothing came out very clear. It was funny to hear that they built the building but didn't consider the flight paths of the airplanes so once it started to go up they realized that now they'd have to change how the planes landed. You can also go upstairs outside but its super windy up there and 2 guards are posted as they don't want another repeat of spiderman scaling the building again.

At the base of the Taipei 101 building is a cool little piece from Canada. Its a marble sculpture with a ball that rotates in the water and it was neat to see that even so far from home there was something that came from home.

Traffic definitely takes some understanding of the driving culture. Basically anything goes but don't speed or drink and drive because that is totally serious. However sitting in the passenger seat driving into oncoming traffic with Steve from Niner at the helm I had raced against him at the performance go karts so I figured if we got in trouble he'd get us out quick.... he's pretty fast and I was only a 10th of a second behind but this trip I'm gonna get the better of him.

Greg at Straitline and I were talking today and I had mentioned that upon leaving, getting my ticket and going through Customs I wandered towards my assigned gate -the Hello Kitty gate. He didn't believe me so I showed him this pic. When I first saw it I walked right past it looking for the "right" gate because it looked like the kids area, to my shock it wasn't the kids area at all. FYI ... Hello Kitty is not cool as an airport gate... but maybe a Banshe pumptrack gate would be something I could be seen in.

Winter on Wildcard

Hi from Czech Republic.

Normally in this mounts(January, February) is in our country freezes and ground is covered by snow or is at least cold, rainy and muddy. Simply fu**ing weather. But this year is different, its quite dry weather and temperatures are relatively high(about 5-15°C). Perfect weather for riding and trail building. So I can Ride my new Wildcard very often and love that bike more and more. Its perfect in all condition and on all kind of trials.

Here are some "winter riding" pictures.


















As a bonus I m posting a video filmed in 2 summer days 2007

Latest news on the Esher Slopestyle Park

TRICK JUMP SESSION IN THE SS PARK
The good thing about having my bike on test with a magazine, is that i've got the perfect excuse to let others "try out" my latest creation...ha ha

Keith Scott (Mythic AMP), Marshall Blundell (Mythic Chaparral) and John Holme (Mythic Wildcard) all got "persuaded" to give the new trick jump a go, well we had to make sure it worked before we went any further....

They all seemed to have a blast riding the jump, and even threw down some shapes...let's say Keith went home a little bruised, good work fella ;)

Now we know that the first jump (expert line) is working, we can move forward with the rest of the SS park...hella lot to do out there...gonna keep us real busy for the next few months

More info found here: http://www.eshershore.com/slope_style.htm

cheers!
Rob C

It turned out pretty damn good...of course the landing is taking some tweaking to get 100% right and it still needs to be a little steeper, but its a great start to the SS park

A fun vid from the boys at Session Brasil

Found this on Youtube and thought I'd throw it up.
I said this year I'd be in brazil but alas it didn't happen... well next year for sure cause it looks like a fun place to ride.
The vids a little old but its still fun to watch and its not been on our blog before so enjoy.

Sydney Pumptrack coming soon

So just got off the phone - actually skype - with Greg at Straitline Components. We were talking about the new pumptrack park they're putting in.
It sounds totally wicked! The plans and the people behind it are pro and they've already got the piping dropped for drainage right into the municipalities sewer system - you know its gonna be killer if they're going to that much trouble
Banshee will be sponsoring the park along with other people from the industry and I can't wait to get out there with some of our local dealers like Lorien from Sooke Cycles for a little ripper session. Greg even said they'll be having comps and best part is they can get a liquor license... hahahaha awesome! a cold brew after some pumptracking... is this what heaven is like??!!!

It'll be a great place to ride our new DJ/pumptrack bike the AMP which is super light weight to pump the jumps and carry the momentum, uber flickable, and because pumptracks are usually buttery smooth you really don't want or need a full suspension bike.

The track is in Sydney on Vancouver Island just north of Victoria and about 10min bike ride from the Ferry. I wish Vancouver city would put in something but alas they suck... skaters get their parks but we still don't have anything and have to go to North Van where they've got a sh*tload of stuff to ride.

Make sure you check out the blog Greg is working on right now http://freeridebc.blogspot.com/ . Ha, he's gonna be so pissed I put up a link already cause it looks like crap - he's just started making it.

Anyway I gotta get back to doing the spec for 2009... yes thats right 2009

Rebel TV

Troy at Rebel TV got me started on their site where you can create a profile much like myspace but its more focused around people who dig their extreme sports. You can post up pics and videos like this one. Its only just started like maybe a week ago but it looks like it could be a cool place...
Chris had to bail out of his flip whip but it looked like the bike at least nailed the trick sans rider tho :(



So give it a whirl if you want to upload vids do it there as it seems to load pretty fast and the quality is better then you-boob

Teh D/L on how SL components are made

Update: Ken got the Scirocco back!!!! Looks like someone bought it off some stealing dude for 400 bucks and then started doing some searching and realized it was stolen and that it was pretty rare so that he could get thumped by accident if he decided to hang onto it. So props to the kid who was honest and returned it. Ken cut him a reward but the dude is still out some cash which sux cause it really wasn't his fault.
To bad the inside thieves at TNT courier are getting away with the Rune tho, and they're not going to do anything about it so we're out a bike. Thanks TNT for standing behind your stealing employees and not doing anything to investigate who did it or stepping up and giving us the replacement cost, rather hide behind the policy of no compensation for such a high value item.

This was far too funny not to post up. Ken from OZ sent me this of Greg at Straitline mashing keys and partaking o the sauce - so thats how they make their stuff. Kens got the lowdown on his blog here.
Straitline components are sponsors of the Banshee 22Pride factory freeride team with Alan Hepburn, Chris Soinenen, and Matt Brooks.

Also make sure you check this out if you're from Australia cause we've had 2 bikes stolen in less then a month. The Rune was on route to Revolution Mag and someone at TNT nicked it, and then 2 days ago one of the demo Sciroccos was stolen right under the nose of Ken. It should go without saying that if you own a Banshee don't let it out of your site for even a second. If you see someone on any of those bikes punch them in the face and take the bike back.

Slopestyle Park at Esher Shore

*updated shot showing new roll-in down ramp*



*John shows the scale of the ramp by balancing at the top on his Scirocco*

more info: http://www.eshershore.com/slope_style.htm

Work is well and truly underway on Esher's new "Slopestyle Park" which is being built on the site of the old, defunct Dirt Jump park next to the Freeborn Shop at Esher Shore



*sketch idea for intermediate and start of expert lines*

First step has been figuring out what to do to make use of the limited space, and how to re-use the existing materials - 350 tonnes of dirt and lots of timber left over from the Shore park


*sketch idea for the roll-in tower rebuild*

We've started by rebuilding the roll-in tower to raise the height of the roll-in deck for riders on suspension bikes to get some extra pump, and shifted the roll-in four foot to the left to get a better line into the first jump...which will be a speed jump type construction


*these dirt take-offs will be replaced with timber for all-weather durability*

Adding transition to the top and bottom of the roll-in will also improve the "pump" and once the tower is done, we are integrating the bottom of the tower into a timber deck leading into a timber take-off ramp, and huge dirt landing

Drainage is key, so we are paying close attention to making sure its correct - we want the SS park to be usable in all but the wettest weather, as the old DJ park got shut down for weeks at a time due to flooding and soggy jumps

The bulk of the take-offs will be made from timber, with a north-shore style ladder section, timber quarter-pipe and "kona" box type structures - with the majority of the park being "intermediate" so ideal for riders who ride the "red" trail at Esher Shore

To the right will sit an "expert" line for the more advanced riders with a timber volcano, big trick jump and timber kicker ramp to elevated wallride and hip line



* roll in tower rebuild is going well *

I'm busy building out there whenever possible, which is a little easier during what is typically a quieter time of year in the UK bike trade, before Springtime gets people back onto their bikes and things get super busy at Freeborn

Big thanks to volunteer trail crew : John "Jesus" Holme, Steeev, Keith Scott and his two friends Dave and Alex - the Mythic AMP and Mythic Wildcard have been used for testing so far, which is giving a good idea of how the jumps would ride on a DJ hardtail and slopestyle suspension bike

We've not setting a solid date for opening, but are aiming at around May 08 to get the SS park open to the public, ready for the annual Freeborn / Esher Shore park Jam

More info on Esher Shore can be found at http://www.eshershore.com/

cheers!

Rob C

Mike Rothengatter XC Team Racer

With Banshee finally getting some bikes that are more XC oriented in terms of the new Pyre and Viento and with another weapon in the works... which we'll let you know about as we start the development process - carbon *cough*- it was important to get someone that could really give some of these other XC guys a run for their money.
Mike Rothengatter will be our guy. He's actually a track guy ... check out some of his finishes here , but he also can be found dirt jumping on his Banshee scratch and when I was at his house which is on a hill I saw him do the longest manual all the way down the hill so the kid has got some mad mtb skillz too.
Right now he's in Palm Springs with the BC Provincial Team and sent me the pic.
He'll also be a contributor to the blog as well once the season starts so that'll be pretty cool.

Vids from Down Under

While we are making the most of winter up here, Alan and Chris have been shredding in their southern hemisphere summer! They have both put together some riding clips to show how the last year or so went down for our Aussie young guns!

Check em out!

Alan


Chris



It's good to see that the pride is enjoying the outdoors come snow or sun. Keep it up!

little winter love!

Zack Robertson playin' around in the trees near my house in Crested Butte Colorado

winter in Colorado

I don't know about everyone else, but I miss my bike. Sure, I have my whole collection of cycles in perfect working order and ready to ride in the other room, but there's deep snow everywhere. I can't even get out and hit my beloved street sessions because ice makes everything more painful. Wheelies turn to cascading falls down the street and all those summer wall rides turn to snow banks too tall and soft to carve a lip in. In other words, this has been an epic snow year in Colorado. I took up skiing and stopped snowboarding at the perfect time. Just ask Devon, He's living in a place that has seen like ten feet of snow this season. Curt and Rachel both live in Aspen and ski those mountains almost daily, so I think the team will be in prime condition for the upcoming race season. I'll try and get some pictures of the winter fun so you good people can see a little more of my side of Colorado. It's so much cooler than all those ads for vail and aspen. I am after all, a Colorado native and know all the good secrets.

I've been keeping a close eye on the scene here in Colorado, and I think we'll have an incredible season. I have a lot of trips planned and I'll try and update so folks in my area can see the new Banshee lineup in person and pedal one around. I have several demo dates that I'm working out with local shops in Glenwood, Avon, Gunnison, Crested Butte and a few other towns that have good local trail systems. I hope to see some good turnout, so come talk me out of some stickers or something.