Hard Anodised Sprockets?

If you ride motos then you probably know the name Renthal. You might even know that they used to make some bmx parts, at least bars, back in the 80's.

Well they must have got some new management in that have decided to "diversify their market" or something, cause now they're back having a nibble at the bmx and mtb side of things. I guess you could see it as a natural progression for a company that are already making similar parts and already have the production set up for said parts, or you could take the "stick to what you know" approach.

But "outsiders" could potentially bring new idea and production processes into bmx. Take Renthal's new bmx specific sprocket for example, it's 7075 t6 cnc'd aluminium just like 80% of bmx sprockets around, but it features a hard anodised finish that they use on their road and road racing chainwheels to increase durability. It also creates a unique burnt grey type of colour. As far as I know, this technology hasn't been used on bmx sprockets yet and if it increases the life of the sprocket, then it's only good.

They've got a real hard machined moto look to them too. And since plenty of bmxers also ride motos and vice versa, there might just be a ready bunch of riders that already know and rate the brand, like the way they look and are prepared to part with their cash. So it's an effort to diversify (read: cash in) that might actually have a chance.

I don't know about this thing though:

It's a downhill stem, so don't get too offended yet, but don't get complacant either - remain alert, there could be a bmx version around the corner waiting to take your money.

Infectious Hub Love

Infect BMX is a new company coming out of Russia (that is without website) and distributed by Underground and these photos of their hubs that have been getting a bit of attention recently:

The X-tra LITE front hub

The Transformer front hub

Those photos are nice but there are some digi scale ones that shed the light on why they've been getting the attention that they have. The X-tra LITE (see how they got creative there and dropped the "E" from extra, added a dash, spelt "light" lite and put it all in capitals - you know there's something special going on there) weighs 5.3 oz (150 g) and the Transformer hub is a bloated 6.4 oz (181 g). Personally, if I were looking to get infected I'd sacrifice the 31 gram difference, go for the Transformer and run a nice simple looking hub, rather than one that obnoxiously shouts "LITE!"

There's also the question of why they've used the titanium sleeve in the hub body - Titanium is heavier than alloy so...?

Anyway now they've clarified details of the hubs by posting up some blurred photos.

Seats are pretty much the T-shirts of bmx. They're all more or less the same, but you can try and choose one that broadcasts a reflection of your personality to the world. They're sometimes rad, sometimes bad. These ones are new from UGP and I'll leave the rad/bad catagorisation up to you:

UGP pivotals

There's also some new stuff from UGP themselves, the like sprockets and bar ends, up on their site and you can check them here.

We Have a Winner

Hold on a fucking minute! I hadn't seen this thing, and if I'm not mistaken, it's the gold medalist in the 2009 Most Expensive Bmx Part by Weight final. And that's with not a bit of titanium in sight, nor even an invisible titanium coating!

The 16 tooth St Martin's English sprocket weighs just 15 grams and will set you back about US$40. That's an impressive $2.67 per gram. When you consider that it's 4mm thick and 7075-t6 aluminium, 15 grams is nothing and it really makes you wonder "how did they do it, where has all the weight gone?" ....oh, I see.

Anyway... the podium is as follows:

St Martin's English Sprocket: $2.67 / g

BlueSix Titanium Brake Bolts: $1.75 / g

Kink Ceramic Headset: $1.67 / g

Well done. Very impressive. Now the first person to run them all on one bike wins.

Americana

Pics of FBMs full range of 2010 completes are up. Specless as yet, but looking mighty fine. And... some of them even have stoppers.



Here’s a video check of two of the 2010 fit completes. Specs are at the end.



Odyssey are now doing their Vermont sprocket in 25 tooth. That’s not exactly big news, but I’ve always thought that was a fine looking piece of sprocket – maybe doesn’t translate as well to 25t, but what d'ya do?



On the Light v.s Heavy, Old v.s New front, In the Gnar have weighed in with some sensible words on the new T-1 GB frame. This is very un-American of me, but since I’m not American… I think it’d be cool to see T1 move more of their production offshore so they could put out a bit of post-weld heat treated trickery with a T1 flavour. But you see Australian manufacturing died years ago so we don’t get patriotic about that shit.

Zen Minimalism, Metal and Death

Well InterBike's out of the way and I managed to get through about 1/100th of stuff that was on show, but you can bet your titanium Ratchet axle that there'll be a flood of re-caps and reviews, reminders and re-launches coming up - so it ain't over yet.

I never did get round to saying anything about the morsels on offer at the Fly booth at InterBike and they've already posted up their re-cap. So you could check that here, or bear with me while I pick out the tasty bits:

So that's basically how it all looked - flat colours on white, simple graphics. Translated, the names of the frames and forks are Moon, Lakes, Mountains, Earth and Water. All very minimal and zen. But then, of course, there's the Pantera, which is more metal and death, but hey, you gotta stick with the classics.

That said, the Pantera forks are no more. And neither are the Tierras. Instead Fly'll only be making the Agua forks - the ones with the investment cast dropouts. And speaking of discontinued models, there was no sign of the Campillo frame on their stand either. I'm not sure whether or not this means my current ride is now officially an antique, but since it was one of the lighter frames going around (4.3 lbs) it'd be interesting in that it would be another manufacturer joining WeThePeople in moving away from lighter weight frames. Yeah, sounds doubtful.

Another fairly doubtful scenario is the mass re-emergence of brakes and that's just not going to happen until Fit's street kids put 'em back on. Regardless, Fly just keep pumping out brake related stuff - which is admirably untrendy:

Just a bunch of brake pads? Yeah, I suppose so, but apparently they're a different compound and are a bit fatter so you've got more rubber on rim, and they use a female bolt system to keep them looking tidy. Also the curved adjustment surfaces are integrated into the bolt and the pad so you've got a couple of less washers to faff about with. Incidentally Odyssey have just posted up some new pads and cables and are saying that the clear pads work the best for painted rims. So there you go.

Rigid straddle cable = less flex and easier set up.

Possibly the most boring photo I have ever posted, but anyway, it's a close up of their Spanish removable mount set up that Sergio explained in a web vid not long ago.

They dropped a new sprocket at InterBike as well - The Circulo. What did I tell you ... Zen.

The red stem pictured is a new topload stem. And like superstar they seem to be suggesting that you should run it upside down. Bottom load stems are officially hot right now.

And lastly, but definitely not least, a chance to have a decent look at the PC Ruben pedals. Fly are pretty much the last to jump on board with PCs, but at least they're not just hijacking a Wellgo and calling it Sliced Bread.

So in homage to the pedal, to the man, to the middle name of my first born, to no-footer to flatty wall rides (@1:11) and to Built to Spill: