BMX Plus is Minus Jeremy Pavia

We admit it, sometimes, we surf other BMX websites. Hard as it may be to believe, there are others beyond News, Vintage and siblings .

One of our readers tipped me off about an article Adam from thecomeupbmx posted, entitled “Why I Ride.” I thought it was a very good read.

While clicking around TCU, I noticed an article announcing that Jeremy Pavia from BMX Plus! had moved on from his post. Here’s some of what it said:

“I wanted to take a minute and let everyone know that I will no longer be working for BMX Plus! Magazine. I moved across the country from New York to California over four and a half years ago to come on board at the magazine as a photographer and editor.”

Read the rest of it on TCU

We wish Jeremy the best of luck in his next gig, and hope he’ll still hit up some races. Good dude, indeed!

Check out Jeremy’s Blog

—Mike Carruth

Photo pinched from jeremypavia.com

Toby Henderson Shows First Box Branding

Caught this on Facebook a few minutes ago…Toby Henderson’s Box Components moves ever-closer to market, with the first flash of their new logo for the brand.

Toby, Michael and Michelle are obviously spending their time this Santa season making their list and checkin it twice–with a major scroll of “to-dos” getting checked off before the initial rollout in Reno next month.

Stick with BMXNEWS.COM for all the latest on Box Components and BMX Industry News in general.

—Mike Carruth

Quick Change: Speed is Now Speedco

Got an email from the guys at VSI today with some breaking news on their Speed Bicycles brand. Seems there will be a slight change to the name, effective immediately, due to some potential trademark conflicts with the name. Here’s what the email said:

The Speed Bicycles brand has been rebadged to Speedco Bicycles to work around a possible trademark issue. The brand name change is effective immediately, though there will be a transitional period until all the products are updated with the new branding. The general look of the brand remains unchanged and the company will continue to produce the winning frames that brought Marc Willers and Dominique Daniels their 2011 ABA #1 Pro Titles. There is no need to discontinue the use of the original Speed Bicycles brand by teams, vendors, or consumers, as this change is being made only as a preventative measure.

BMX News will keep you posted on further news out of the VSI camp, as it develops.

Gamstetter and Enriquez Leave VSI for Team Toby

Some industry scuttlebut this weekend has it that VSI Marketing Chief, Michael Gamstetter and Sales Manager, Michelle Enriquez gave notice to management that they would be leaving–destination: Toby Henderson’s new company, “The Cycling Group.” It was decided internally that this past Friday should be their last day, and official word should be coming from both companies on their respective go-forward plans, sometime Monday.

Check in with News throughout the day for updates on this story, as they become available.

Photos pinched gently borrowed from Facebook

Podcast: Toby Henderson From the “Box Office”

Pretty much from the moment we learned Toby Henderson would be starting a brand new company (as we were midway to the ABA Land O Lakes Nationals), we were on Toby’s call sheet for an interview. I was pretty much prepared to pull over and do the interview on my laptop at a truckstop, if I had to…it was big news that took the industry, more or less, by surprise.

Well, the truckstop wasn’t necessary, and it ended up being about three months, but today we got the interview. Toby, on the record, speaking candidly and openly about his plans for a new line of “Lamborghini-quality” BMX Racing components, and some later forays into “big wheel” stuff (MTB, Road, CX, etc). He even drop the name of the new brand here publicly, for the first time.

Toby’s trademark timing was helped along today by some news that broke on the Dale Holmes Podcast yesterday. TonyD dropped the big bomba that Marc Willers would be wearing Toby’s jersey in 2012 (012, 013 and 014, as it turns out).

In a 20-minute interview, Toby talks about the vision for his product line, the over-arching goal of bringing a higher degree of sizzle to BMX Racing, and what he sees 2012, with all its changes and big events, netting out to look like.

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http://www.bmxnews.com/podcasts/at_045_toby_henderson.mp3

—Mike Carruth

VintageBMX.com Discussion on this Topic

Lee Lewis Goes for the Steak Knives at VSI

We are always stoked when riders make the jump from the track to the “front office” of an industry stalwart. Lee Lewis has been on the road with Burlin Harris and the Supercamp posse for the past year or two, replacing Karl Clark (who’s back and making A Pro mains again, by the way).

Lee is a great instructor, very patient with the kids, and knowledgeable enough to talk turkey with the “gear chart dads” (like me) who are on his jock from the moment he sets foot out of the van, asking about optimizing gear inches, which frame has the shortest back end, and “should my bars be this wide?” (Note: in Gear Chart Dad parlance, when you say “my bars,” or “my” anything, related to the bike, it is universally understood that you are referring to your seven year old’s bike).

Back to Lee…it takes a certain kind of guy to coach kids, handhold BMX parents, and still train to make a splash in the A Pro ranks. So when VSI was looking to add some bench strength to the sales force, Lee’s talents in the above were all over their radar.

Lee joins Sales Manager Michelle Enriquez (NAG 1 Cruiser), Erik Engstrom (pro freestyler), Robert Burgos and fellow A-Pro Brian Schrimpf on the sales floor.

No word if VSI has “Glengarry Glen Ross” style sales contests…but remember the golden rules of sales, Lee:
 
1). Monster is for Closers Only
2). Second Prize is a set of steak knives…third prize is “you’re fired!”
3). Always Be Closing
4). It’s a sin to say “SINS” (esp. if Toby or Michelle are in earshot)
5). Never take out a rider who’s sponsor you have to call for an order on Monday

Speaking of Glengarry, we are reminded of this educational video clip, which Lee can use to stoke his motivation (CAUTION: Contains adult language, turn sound down if other sales reps are closing deals in the next cube, or if young ears are nearby).

Lee with be racing what he sells at the upcoming ABA US Nationals in Bakersfield. Watch for him in the lead aboard a Speed M-Series 20″ bolted up with the full catalog of Sinz Elite, Sinz, THE and ITS SKUs.

Congrats to both parties on getting together!

Exotica: “Print” Yourself a New Frame

Every once in a while, we’ll run a story that peers over the horizon of current manufacturing techniques, and asks “what’s next?” European Aerospace giant EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space) published an article on their website this week which uses a bicycle as proof-of-concept for a developing technology known as ALM (for Additive Layer Manufacturing).

The process uses a computer blueprint to drive a laser which “grows” the product out of a variety of materials, from resins (plastics) to metals like titanium and aluminum. The Airbike was produced using this technology, and is fully rideable, boasting a construction said to be as strong as steel. The entire unit was popped out of the machine as-is, no assembly or wrenching required.

Give the full article a read, and start thinking about how unreal this technology could be for those dads who want the newest, trickest, lightest stuff technologically possible. Or, imagine a vendor at the 2018 Grands who will take 96 measurements off of you to make you a one-of-a-kind custom frame/fork/bars, complete with your name sunk right into the downtube.

Read Full Article

Interview: Founders of Ssquared Bicycles + 1

John Sawyer is a busy man these days. He recently became partners, with Geff Ssengoba, in the newest BMX enterprise to come out of the Sunshine State, Ssquared Bicycles…and in his spare time he has been rebuilding his baby—the Oldsmar BMX track, so it gets broken in just in time for the ABA Gator Nationals.

BMXNEWS met up with John, Geff and their main man Josh Meyers for a chat on the Ssquared product, how it differs from other frames on the market, and also some of the long-view vision for the company.

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Be sure to visit John and Josh in the Ssquared pits at the ABA Sooner nationals for a firsthand look at the goods.

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