FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Over at Federal they're calling it a "Winter Drop". New products have arrived and they need to give the puppie a name to build some hype around it and to let everyone know that they sent their riders Ty Morrow and Dan Lacey to Barcelona to film a clip. They're tying this into this product release so maybe you're getting curious right now on what they've got to offer for this winter. Check one-two.

Today we received some DK product info from Catfish who, when he's not on the road, works at DK Bicycles in Ohio. Check them out:
DK Random Wrench V.2 • Refined version of the first Random Wrench • New backpack-friendly form • Integrated spoke wrench cap • 15mm pedal wrench • 5mm allen• 6mm allen • 15mm socket• 17mm socket • Extension Now available in Chrome and Gold

Sometimes I feel like a jerk for not getting back to people in time. In this case I've slacked on getting back in touch with the Spanish people who run BMX A Tope! magazine. They inserted another full page FATBMX ad but I had taken down their banner in the media section and failed to put it back up. But I'll get to that later today but first I'll have to make a new one for them as the last one looked terrible. So if you want to learn more about the Spanish mag, that has both BMX racing and freestyle in it (but is in Spanish), just hit their banner in the media section and it will take you there. Also BMX A Tope! has a report about the 2009 UCI BMX World's in Australia, and an interview with Cristian Becerine. They've got some Spanish old school BMX pages, lots of race reports and when it comes down to the freestyle side of things issue number 12 brings the Festi Bike event in Las Rozas that Naran won and where Sergio Layos ended second. They're both from Spain you know. The FATBMX ad can be found on page 74. Thanks for that and sorry about not getting back to you any sooner.

Just when you think you know about all the BMX magazines that exist on the planet I got surprised by the existence of  Fastlane BMX racing magazine. In fact, I got a copy from Mark at the Cycle Show in London. It had a 4X photo on the cover but the new issue has a BMX racing picture on the front. I rather use that one before you think that Fastlane is a mountain bike magazine. But as Mark put it, it's all bikes isn't it? Well, maybe for some, but not for all. If you can't handle an MTB photo in a BMX mag than Fastlane is not for you, but most of the content is about BMX, or rather BMX RACING! With Ride UK not covering the race scene any longer the UK needed an alternative. They're at issue number 4 now (the Marcus Bloomfield cover) and this issue has interviews with Roy van den Berg, Marcus Bloomfield, Andy Ruffell and Clarke & Kent. Next to that they've got a report from the BMX race world's in Australia, the Cheddar European series, nationals reports from Peterborough, Manchester and Bournemouth and a write-up about the Deluxe road trip. 

This year United Bike Co have added the RN2 into the Recruit line up, longer top tube, integrated headtube, United parts and a host of other features. Check the spec:

FRAME
-UNITED 2010 DESIGN, w/INTEGRATED SEAT CLAMP
-TOP TUBE LENGTH:    21"
-CHAIN STAY LENGTH:    13.75"

Got a DVD in the mail this morning. It's Saturday and it's raining like crazy so I popped it in. Nik Ford from the UK sent it over and I'm sure he put a lot of time into this project. With all the bonus sections it's a full on production. But I believe there's a big difference between a video produced of top pro riders by companies like Nike, Levi's, etnies and FIT and the video of Nik and his friends. Nothing against it and I'm sure the buddies are stoked to have a part, but it's hard to compete with the big boys in DVD land. DVD sales in general are tough and I hope these productions don't disappear but with tons of daily web clips I'm not sure how many people are waiting for a less than top notch DVD they can buy at their local shop.

Loads of riders made a presence in the video. Some with just a few tricks, others with a bigger section. Ben Sutor's section is up to par for sure and also these people show up: The Forte brothers, Simon

-Frame: Eastern Journey 20.5”
-Forks: Eastern Hawkeye
-Headset: Eastern
-Stem: FBM Crown Royal
-Bars: Sunday Triumph
-Grips: Eastern ID
-Bar ends: Plastic
-Brake lever: My feet

Kaboom. 2 issues of Zwanzig Zoll arrived today. Quality full colour magazine for only € 3,50. Includes a pin-up spread too so all good. The contents:
-BMX Worlds
-IFA BMX Challenge
-DISCOstar LISA
-Berlin Bike Bäng
-Fixed Gear in Hong Kong
-Local Support Darmstadt
-Gallery
-Gypsy Caravan Tour
-Josh Betley Interview
-Big in Bavaria
Not thrilled on the fixie stuff in the mag. I've said it before and I'll say it again; fuck the fixies! Just not my thing, that's all. Keep it Zwanzig Zoll.

Issue # 62 arrived of Soul BMX experience, one of the main BMX publications in France. And yes, the mag is in French so it's hard for me to read the pro interview with Garrett Reynolds (10 pages + cover) and the articles about the Kill The Line dirt comp, the Geneve Jam, the Brian Yeagle interview, the Proper Trio article and also the interviews with Waldemar FATkin and Kiki Granier are in French. The layout has changed but isn't quite on the level of Rebelyell yet. The number of ads don't make it easy to go that way but the mag needs them to survive. For me it's enjoying the pics and work on my French.

The other day we received 2 VHS tapes in the mail. VHS!? Yes, I was suprised too. But then, when I slid out the tape, a T-shirt came out. The WE ARE LEVEL people got me fooled. I like original stuff so we're off to a good start here. And the WE ARE LEVEL crew recently did a cool photo shoot too with girls and BMX bikes and stuff. Here's what the company is about, they know better than I do:

WE ARE LEVEL is a small UK company, set up from the frustration