Willers To Ride DK Frame in 2012

Just got the word that Marc Willers will be on a DK Frame in 2012. The freshly-crowned (well, as of November, anyway) ABA National Number One Pro, who will debut his #1 at next week’s USA BMX Gator Nationals (and UCI North American Continental Championship), was previously committed to riding the frame of his former sponsor, Speedco, after a jersey change to Toby Henderson’s new “Box Components” line.

The official press release from Cycle Group, Inc. (parent to Box Components) tells it as such:

Last week, the staff of Cycle Group Inc. (CGI) and DK Bicycles spent the day in a rented meeting room in Fullerton (CA) finalizing the details of a one-year deal that makes DK the official frame sponsor of Marc Willers and the BOX Components Test Team.

Negotiations with DK started last year, when the company was among a half dozen frame suppliers that approached CGI about sponsorship.

“We’re excited and really looking forward to working with DK. The company has a long history in BMX going back to 1979 and a very strong presence in the sport,” said Toby Henderson, CGI’s founder.

“We were very fortunate to get several offers to sponsor Marc and BOX Components. But in DK we found a strategic partner not only willing, but ready to work with BOX Components as we develop new and innovative BMX products,” he added.

The day after Toby and Bill Danishek, DK Bicycles’ director, agreed in good faith to work together, DK product managers started the process to build Marc a frame.

“All of us are really excited about all the possibilities of working with BOX Components. Toby’s successes as a product designer and innovator are a big part of why we wanted to team up with the brand. It’s also great to have a rider like Marc Willers on a DK frame. We’re looking forward to a long-term relationship,” Bill said.

As it turns out, both companies were on the same product development path. DK began working on a 20-millimeter frame last fall. With BOX, Toby plans to continue developing 20-mil BMX components, which he successfully introduced some 18 months ago. Marc Willers won the 2011 ABA National Number 1 Pro title, 10 ABA Nationals and two UCI World Cup races using Toby’s 20-mil products.

Coincidentally, Marc’s good friend and fellow New Zealander Corey Stafford is DK’s rep in Australia. It was him who urged DK to develop 20-mil frames and components. The deal means DK can focus on building frames and bikes while BOX supplies the 20-mil parts.

“We’re working on a lot of new products and technologies for BMX. We’re very lucky to have a partner like DK that is willing to work with us as we develop our line,” Toby said.

BOX Components also will provide support to the members of DK’s factory team, including Barry Nobles and Tommy Zula, whenever possible.

Marc and the BOX Components team’s other sponsors include Promax, Fly Racing and ODI.

It bears noting that the bike in the above photo is a DK-stickered Speedco frame, which Marc will ride in Oldsmar, and until the 20mm DK frame is ready, which is expected March(ish).

Willers Box Threads Unwrapped

Last week, just as the one-horse-open-sleigh was ready to push off to Grandma’s house, we got this nugget in to the BMX News control center. It may not be much of a “sneak peek” anymore, with a few days in the rearview, but here’s a gander at Marc Willers’ forthcoming Box Components kit. It’s just a mockup, to show the colors are dialed, and all the logos will fall in the right spots in photos (absolutely essential for the full factory effect–as are the “A” and “B” jersey colors)…but we thought it’s be cool to post.

The uniform has Fly pants and a Fly helmet bookending the torso treatment. One thing we did not see on the jersey was a Speedco logo. As you remember, Marc would be riding the Speedco frame, even though he was no longer on the team. We asked Box marketing man, Michael Gamstetter about the omission, and he underscored that this is just a mockup. Final jersey logos are still inbound, and placements are still being worked on by the designers. So, no “grassy knoll” moment in this photo.

With the change in the 2012 ABA schedule, look for Marc to debut this kit at the ABA Gator Nationals in Oldsmar, FL on February 11-12.

—Mike Carruth

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

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

IPOT Splits and Doubles Up

The rumors of the what was to come for the storied Intense/Phantom/OnTrac team started circulating a few weeks before the recent ABA Grands. Some reports had everyone except a few choice riders going their separate ways…others told tale of a new creation taking shape to replace name of the team, with most of the players staying the same.

In a release obtained by News today, it looks like the former is going to be the new reality for a 19-member posse.

VSI Products will effectively take over the team, and create two new squads–one running an Intense BMX uniform and frames, and the other rockin the “new” Speed uniform and hardware–all supported by VSI brands Sinz and T.H.E.

The team will be managed by IPOT honcho Donavon Long, whose deep knowledge of the sport and rider development was at the center of the team’s long-standing success. IPOT team owner Chuck Colton will take on more of an “of counsel” role, and will be stepping back to concentrate more on family and his garage door business (the “OnTrac” in Intense/Phantom/OnTrac).

As you’ll read in the release, below, the vision of VSI ringmaster, Toby Henderson, is for the new teams to continue the dynastic stature that IPOT has established, but to step that up to be reminiscent of the “True” factory teams Toby and his contemporaries remember on teams like the SE Factory Boys, Hutch, GT (and related brands), and others of the time.

Here’s the release:

VSI Products is pleased to announce that it will take over the management of the Intense/Phantom/OnTrac Team (IPOT). The change will result in the team being divided into two—Factory Intense and Factory Speed—and the addition of three of the world’s top professionals.
 
Through Intense, VSI has always been the primary financial backer of the team, in addition to the number-one source of frames and components. Next season, VSI will provide even more financial and product support. OnTrac owner Chuck Colton will reduce his involvement in the team so he can spend more time with his family and focus on his business. Colton will continue to follow the racers and make the familiar IPOT rig available to the teams.
 
“I want to thank Chuck for his dedication and support of the team all these years. He’s been a great partner and a big part of the success of the team. I wish him well and look forward to seeing him at a race or two in the future,” said Toby Henderson, VSI’s founding partner.
 
Donavon Long will continue in his role as team manager of the amateur riders while VSI will take care of pros David Herman and Arielle Martin, who will represent Intense, and new Speed racer Marc Willers.
 
“I’m very excited to be working with VSI to help continue the legacy of the IPOT team. The new addition of the Speed Factory Team will bring a whole new level to the Factory Title hunt for 2011. We put together some of the fastest riders in the world and they will all be ready to help take VSI and BMX to the next level,” Long said.
 
“And, I can’t thank Chuck and Terry Colton enough for the support that they have given to the riders and family’s over the years. I know that they will keep on giving back to the kids in this sport and others as their grand kids grow and play sports themselves,” he added.
 
The team has won multiple national titles and is stacked with NAG riders. It narrowly lost the Factory Team title at this year’s ABA Grands, but with two beefed-up rosters it could reclaim the number-one spot and take number-two, as well, next November in Tulsa.
 
The Intense Factory Team will ride Podium frames with SINZ Elite forks, XXX cranks, bolt-on grips and wheels, Sinz brakes, handlebars, stems and seatposts, THE saddles and number plates and ITS MK2 and Hustler tyres. The Speed Factory riders will race in similarly spec’d Speed M-Series bikes. Look for a few of them to breakout the new 20-millimeter bikes this spring.
 
“We’re really looking forward to having a closer working relationship with the team. I think it will benefit VSI as we develop and introduce new products and it will help the riders since we’ll be more attentive to their needs. I want this program to be as professional as the factory race teams of the past—like the GT, Hutch, Diamondback and JMC teams of the 1980s,” Henderson said.
 
New members of the team include Nick Koehler, Shelby Stacy, and Brodie Spott
 
Factory Intense Team
Dane Gilbert, 7X
Brodie Spott 9X
Bryant White 11X
Madison Martinez 11 Girls
Christopher Blevins 13X
Christopher Abernathy 14X
Sean Gaian 15X
Kristen Long 15X
Rusty Nesvig 17-18X
Chad Street Vet Pro
 
Factory Intense Team Pros
David Herman
Arielle Martin
 
Speed Bicycles Factory Team Roster
Wyatt Bell 9X
Brock Heffron 14X
Cole Tesar 15X
Derik Bergh 16X
Felicia Stancil 16 Girls
Nick Koehler 17-18X
Bryce Hocking 17-18X
Shelby Stacy 17 Girls
Fernie Jaquez 19-27X
 
Speed Factory Team Pro
Marc Willers
 

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 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.

Interview: Toby Henderson is Still Intense!

Toby Henderson’s products touch just about every BMXer on the track. Whether you’re riding an Intense frame, using one of the hundreds of Sinz products, running ITS inner tubes, rockin a T.H.E. helmet on your noggin, or waiting in line for one of the new Speed framesets, staging is never without his hardware. Since BMXNEWS ran a piece earlier this week, talking about Speed’s new sponsorship deal with the ABA, we wanted to catch up with Toby to talk about the new brand, and how it will fit in to the VSI family of products. We also talk about Toby’s vision for BMX Racing in the future, and how his old nickname “The Coca-Cola Cowboy” came about.

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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.”

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