Marc Willers as “Speed Racer?”

YouBethca…Well, not in the “Trixie and Mach Five” sense of the word…but he is a racer who will be riding for Speed, so yeah. Marc is the first new pickup to be announced in advance of the ABA Grands next week. Speed Bicycles sent News the following release this morning:

Speed Bicycles is pleased to announce that it signed New Zealand’s Marc Willers for the 2011 race season.
 
“Marc caught my eye a couple of years ago and he has been really fast since the summer. I really liked what I saw at Chula Vista and decided there that he was the guy to lead Speed. We’re really happy to have him on the team and we look forward to a long relationship,” said Toby Henderson, founding partner at VSI, Speed Bicycles’ parent company.
 
Willers, the silver medalist at the UCI Super Cross Finals, in October in Frejus, France, and a consistent ABA podium finisher, will ride a Speed bicycle equipped with SINZ Elite, SINZ, ITS and THE gear as well as THE helmets and Fly clothing next year.
 
“After having such a bad year last year, I’m pleased to join with Speed and the guys and I’m looking forward to working with them as I try to take the number-one spot in BMX,” Willers said.

Unclear if Marc will be rockin the Speed uniform and bike at the Grands, or if he is going to keep it in CNZ “Privateer Mode” until after the big race.

Congrats to two winners!

Speed Rolls On With the Rolling Chassis

On November 22, 1988, the B2 Spirit (Stealth) Bomber was rolled out of the cloak & dagger world of black ops, and onto the tarmac at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. People had their hands over their mouths, awed by the advances in design and technology that the Stealth represented (and how unbelievably cool it looked).

A BMX-equivalent rollout (without members of congress in attendance) occurred recently at the Orange Y track in Southern California. There, VSI products’ new Speed Rolling Chassis showed up, in complete bike form, under factory Test Pilot, Nick Koehler.

Like the Stealth, The Rolling Chassis employs some technology that has not been seen ’round these parts before, namely a pair of 20mm axles and supporting hardware that make the Rolling Chassis stiffer and able to apply more power to the ground.

And that is not just a bunch of hocus-pocus marketing talk. Rennen Design Group president George Costa spent three days with some of the nation’s top riders at a recent USAC Junior Development Camp, using his G-Cog Powermeter and a headful of MIT smarts to measure dozens of data points on a variety of riders. Two bikes (a regular Speed frame and fork, and a Speed Rolling Chassis) were set up identically, down to the tension on the spokes in the wheels and even accounted for variations in the riders’ weight from one day to the next (which, surprisingly, varied more than you might think).

The testing yielded a spreadsheet that, if you saw it, would have you wondering if it contained calculations for the next lunar landing. Net result: The New 20mm design required less power from the riders to go just as fast, therefore they transferred power more efficiently to the ground.

Above, you see the first post-prototype, pre-production build, fitted with the latest Sinz components (including the new Elite four-bolt Cranks).

In a recent release, Nick said of the Rolling Chassis rig: “I can feel a big difference between the two bikes. My regular Speed is super-stiff, responsive and better than other bikes I’ve ridden, but the 20-millimeter bike is even better. It’s really noticeable, especially on the gate. I really like it…After the Disney Cup, I’m going to train on it, and race it at Grands.”

We’re looking forward to seeing Nick at Disney on his convention Speed ride, then at the Grands for the Speed Rolling Chassis’ first flight in competition.

Speed Gets Speedier

When you’re rollin’, you’re rollin’. Only a calendar page or so has gone by since Toby Henderson’s “Speed” brand name hit the stores and tracks of America. Many thought we’d see some kind of news from Speed come next season, as the “2.0″ gets booted up. Well, BMXNEWS got wind of this exclusive, which will be danced in front of dealers at the upcoming Interbike trade show.

Toby took some tips from MTB tech to bring to BMX what they are calling the Speed “Rolling Chassis.” The centerpiece of this innovation is the hollow 20-millimeter axle (check it out in the photo…dramatic) and related hardware built specifically to accept the burly hub. The larger axle brings a heretofore unseen stiffness to the chassis. Toby explained it this way in a release prepped for News:

“This is the first, real, significant evolution in BMX frame design since the chromoly unicrown fork. Our testing indicates that a racer will have a significant speed advantage out of the gate, down the straight and while cornering over other racers on frames with traditional axle configurations.

With (the Rolling Chassis), you don’t lose valuable power through flex. We’ve had people testing this for the past few months and one thing they all agree on is that the bike accelerates fast. Because more of your power goes into propelling the bike forward, you can go down the track faster using the same or less energy as you would on a normal bike.”

In addition to the revolutionary axle system, the Rolling Chassis “iHub” also features straight-pull spokes, further boosting torsional rigidity, making for stronger wheels. Straight-pull spokes are approximately 30 percent stronger than J-bend spokes and there are no hub flanges to break. The six-double pawl cassette body fits Shimano-compatible cogs.

So, the inevitable question, whenever talking about “future-tech:” How soon, and how much? Well, let’s just say it looks like you’d be able to gate up at the ABA Grands aboard one. As for the how much, MSRP for the whole shootin match will be $1495. But remember that you’re getting frame, fork, stem, headset and wheels in the bargain.

Speed will offer the Rolling Chassis in five sizes including M 408 (Expert XL), M 520 (Pro), M 533 (Pro XL), M 546 (Pro XXL) and M 534 (24” Pro Cruiser). Here’s a little 007 for ya: the numeric names represent the length of the top tube, in millimeters (Pro XL is darn-near 21″).

More information will be available on the Speed Website (http://www.speed-bicycles.com/) in the coming weeks (Interbike is September 22-24 in Las Vegas), but News felt you’d want this info as soon as we got our hot little hands on it.

Speed Frames Moving Quick

BMXNEWS has been following the progress of Speed Bicycles’ “M” line of racing frames, from the concept phase, through prototypes and into the launch, with the announcement that Speed would be coming on as an ABA National Series sponsor (BMX NEWS April 27). The first frames started hitting shelves in the past couple weeks, so we wanted to check in with a couple in-the-know sources to see how things were going for the new red ride.

Seems that “speed” is an apt name for the line, as it is moving well off shelves, and is also the chosen whip for some of the top am talent on today’s national tracks (namely Nick Koehler, Jesse Day and Shelby Stacy).

BMXNEWS contacted our pals at J&R Bicycles, to see how things were looking for the Speed product from their P.O.V. J&R Marketing man, Bert Morrison had this to say when asked if they had product in stock, and how interest was in the line:

We have them in stock, and they are selling well.

The frame looks great! The tubing design is out-of-this-world and the frame
looks super stiff. It’s a little on the heavier side (for the pro model) but that isn’t an
issue for the bigger guys….if you want an aluminum frame but always
worried about it breaking…..well, the Speed frame is the one you should be
on. Solid ride.

Great to hear from Bert, as J&R is a key retail point for BMX Racers looking for reliable stock at a competitive price.

Check out the speed line of BMX Race frames at http://www.speed-bicycles.com. Or, if you have your mind made up, and are ready to move on a Speed today, hit up J&R bicycles for the quick ship.

You can be your beagle that we will be keeping our eyes on motoboards and main event gates in the coming months, watching for more and more “Speed Red” out in the lead.

Nick Koehler Shows Speed Scoot

Quick Nick Koehler sent BMXNEWS a quick snap of his Bakersfield-bound ride this week. One of only a few flying ams to be rockin Toby Henderson’s new “Speed” frame, this thing gives us that Ferrari feeling.

Nick gave us this notable quotable:

“I love the new speed bike! I like the way it rides…it is really strong and there is no flex but, at the same time, it’s light. The frame has great geometry and feels real smooth on the track. With the new graphics and cool design I have been getting a lot of questions about it— everyone likes the way it looks because it looks different from the other bikes out right now.”

We’ll be watching for Nick in the results, come Saturday night, and gotta give him a big thanks for sending the photo.

Speed Gets Traction With ABA Rollout!

Back on March 1, BMX News reported on the newest brand to come out of the secret labs at Toby Henderson’s VSI Products (home of other marquis names such as Intense BMX, T.H.E., Sinz* Products, ITS and Vigor helmets). This week, Speed Bicycles announced they were ready for the starter to hit the cadence button and get the race started: building a brand new BMX brand from scratch.

A release said:

The Speed “M Series” frames are constructed from custom-drawn, 6061 alloy, triple-butted, hydroformed tubes, with integrated head tubes. Lightweight and strong, Speed frames offer the perfect blend of engineering and design for BMX racing.

The Speed M Series Frames will be offered in 7 sizes –Mini XL, Junior XL, Expert XL, Pro, Pro XL, Pro XXL, and Pro 24”. MSRP is $399.99 and each frame includes a headset.

Bikes will begin shipping within the next few weeks, and the web site should be up & running by the time you read this (or very soon thereafter)

As part of the rollout (to continue with our starting gate analogy), Speed is kicking its promotional machine into hyperdrive by joining as an ABA National Series Sponsor. Quoting, again, from the press release:

“As it has been for over 30 years, the American Bicycle Association is the leader in BMX Racing.” said Toby Henderson, CEO of VSI. He continued: “When we decided to launch Speed Bicycles, of course our first contact was with the ABA. They have been a key partner in marketing VSI brands for many years now, and we are very happy the relationship focuses on the growth of BMX Racing. This Team effort makes us, again, proud to be an official sponsor of the ABA with the new Speed line of bicycles.”

We assume the debut of the Speed/ABA partnership will be at this weekend’s US Nationals in Bakersfield, CA.

Check out the line of Speed Bicycles at speed-bicycles.com

*You did know, of course, that Sinz is properly pronounced like “Signs,” not as in “acts forbidden by God.”

Excessive Speed

Toby Henderson and Scot “OM” Breithaupt have a history that goes back to the stone age of BMX. Toby rode for Scot when he was in the captain’s chair at SE, and the two have been like peas & carrots ever since. After a three year tour of Europe, Scandinavia and the Sub Continent, the OM is back in bikes, and slangin spec sheets for the new “Speed” racing bike line, as well as its companion freestyle suite, “Eye.” The first fruits of the fresh collaboration started popping up on Scot’s Facebook page recently, but it wasn’t until last week that the fully-built-up ride was revealed, complete with final “Speed” livery.

Toby characterized the collaboration in this way:

Scot’s vast knowledge of ALL aspects of the bicycle industry, coupled with his marketing, promotions and television expertise give us a great boost in accomplishing our goals and setting our sights even higher. Scot & I have worked together for over 30 years on projects and he has been my mentor on many ventures. To be with him daily is fun and positively-challenging at the same time. As he says: “Our ONLY limitation is ourselves…”… I’m a believer!!

The frames will be available in April, with the fully-tricked-out factory complete coming soon after, for the supermodel-attractive price of $899.

The official site (speed-bicycles.com) is in the “coming soon” stage, so keep your eyes on BMXNEWS for more info as launch day approaches.

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