Taj's Team move .... your thoughts?

[Steve Shindig]

Best Taj advert had him contemplating life while sat on the toilet, was it a Play ad? 

UGP Ad I believe.

[Lazarou]

Classic though!

[SaMAlex]

wasnt there an ad recently with someone riding a spine ramp on all deffierent types of bike? IE a bmx, road bike, mountain bike etc... was that  Taj? someone told me about it...

On  Taj's Blog on the Etnies site a while ago he was doing a massive no handed fakey on the T1 ramp on some ratty old beach cruiser. That might have been what you were told about.

[Steve Shindig]

wasnt there an ad recently with someone riding a spine ramp on all deffierent types of bike? IE a bmx, road bike, mountain bike etc... was that  Taj? someone told me about it...

On  Taj's Blog on the Etnies site a while ago he was doing a massive no handed fakey on the T1 ramp on some ratty old beach cruiser. That might have been what you were told about.

Was that a fakie?  damn.... nuts.

[SaMAlex]

Yep, it was on the Etnies Blog. Id forgoten about all the pics. After lookin at them again, it almost makes the move to Giant make more sense!

If it was anyone else you'd think the photos were fake!


















Read for yourself what he had to say about it all

http://etniesbmx.com/blog/category/tajs-blog/

[TwoBobRob]

If it was anyone else, I'd call photoshop......... 

[Philbert]

i'm more concerned at the fact he's letting his ginger barnet grow again.

fair play to him for going to giant. if anyone deserves a good pay out in his last few years of pro bmx then he does!

and personally i think t1's days are numbered. just like a lot of 90's rider owned companies. just don't see them in the skateparks anymore. its all light weight, wafer thin tubing, £200 frames. thats fashion for you!

[TwoBobRob]

Yip. I was having a chat to Mason at Epic.  He still has S.I. frames in stock that he took delivery of over a year ago..... can't shift em.....

Damn shame   

[SaMAlex]

It is a very shame that quality built, well engineered frames aint what the kids wanna buy. Part of it has got to be cost, but they just aint "cool" frames to have now.

I know that most NS frames look the same, but Standards and T1s really do look like Old frames now, even tho they are still really good.

I think that S&Ms LAF and now the LTF have opened them up to a whole new market of kids. If they want to stay around, some of the other older companies need to be able to give the kids the frames that they want.

[Philbert]

this opens up another little debate.

should these companies die a peaceful death and be remembered as the greatest companies, with the greatest engineered frames to date, from arguably the greatest period in bmx where bikes were strong, styles were unique, and technical abilty was highly respected.

or should they pull through, bow down to recent fashions, and produce frames for the cloned rider to go to the park/trails and look cool on doing tailwhips and riding with there knees together.

[SaMAlex]

Ohh, now thats a good question. Is making a modern frame "sellin out" to the frames you made 10 or 15 years ago?

Surly if you are bike company, you have to make bikes that are directed at what people want and what they are buying. Didnt people say similar things when we all started wanting 990 mounts and thick drop outs?

I think the LTF shows that you can make a bike that ticks all the girls jean wearing boxes but its also very well made, quite individual and full of hand made quality. But I would say that! 

[TwoBobRob]

I think we're all in love with the LTF.  It's a quality item with some nice personal touches and most of the time that'll do the trick.

As for the 90s companies; well, I think it depends on the owners. Hoffman is now rich probably beyond his wildest dreams because of the x games, and the sale of HB I assume is his pension all set up.

Chris Moeller clearly wants to keep on building frames.  Big Rick?  I dunno.  Firm slowing down, park closed, is he a wealthy man? I have no idea. Presumably at 40-41 years old he needs to continue making a living.

But the one that interests me the most is Ron Wilkerson.  Does he still do the Warped Tour? thats a money spinner for sure. As for 2hip, well I never saw that as a profit making bike company - it just never shifted the numbers surely?

T1.  I'd like this one to last. Dunno why, just would.


I've never fully understood the 'selling out thing'.  I nearly got myself killed one time coz I dared to suggest to someone that baggy shorts, chain wallet and a bike company t shirt is just as much a 'uniform' as owt else   

[Philbert]

i'm in total agreement alex.

i think s&m are the only company at the top of the engineering tree that will survive at the moment. their latest frames are amazing, the engraving and attention to detail has taken frames to another new level and i think for some of these 90's rider owned companies to survive they are going to have to produce something of similar quality. the last frame that standard produced that had the wow factor was the 250l back in 2004 ish! they need to come up with something really good from the new factory. T1 are still pretty much doing the same frame they did when started albeit with some tweaks but is far to heavy by todays ethos of riding, and for the price is nothing that special. except to us older lot who appreciate the whole T1 movement

[TwoBobRob]

I suppose you could call it progression. Nothing stays the same forever.  When Standard released their ox platinum material I recall that being one of the earliest forays into lightweight stuff.  Market leading stuff.  Perhaps it's just my memory of it, but I don't recall another bike company doing it earlier...

Shame then that they weren't able to keep the pace up either in product or price, and continue to sell well.

[Philbert]

absolutely. they were the first in the bmx industry to use air hardened tubing. and i think the second was pashley if my memory is correct with reynolds 853. which basically what 'OX platinum'. first i ever saw of it was on Kona xc mtb frames in the mid 90's. the downside was a £480 price tag on the standard frames at first. i think it took about 2 years for the other big names to catch up.

this is the biggest thing that annoys me in todays frames. they're mostly still not using light tubing. just wafer thin 4130. and selling to the masses at £200 a pop.

[TwoBobRob]

And it is fcuking thin.  I've seen some broken stuff recently and I'm shocked.  It'll be interesting to see how the next few years pan out once there's been a few more headtubes snapped off and forks bent back into the downtube.  Perhaps they'll stop chasing the 4lb frame and start to concentrate on a reliable 5lb frame....

What is the air hardening process, do you know?

[easyroller]

What is the air hardening process, do you know?
[/quote]     http://www.waterfordbikes.com/site/tech/tubesets.php   kinda covers it down the bottom.         

[RyanPartridge]

This new era of bikes reminds me of when skateboards went from all being different with their own shapes, to all looking like popsicle sticks. It's a disposable, throw away world we're in nowadays. Everyone just needs something new that is built enough to last till next years model.

Personally, I dig the LTF minus the steep head angle.

I'm way stoked I got my FBM Deployer out of the last batch of straight gauge tubing, before they switched to butted tubing. Just because some teenage boy wearing his sister's pants and haircut thinks my bike is heavy doesn't make it so.

Maybe like skateboards, years down the road they'll be making old style frames again. Like a mid 90's "re-issue Holmes" in small runs. Maybe?

[dialledbikes]

Good luck to Taj.  I've always loved his riding (I even wanted to call my lad Taj, but the Mrs wouldn't allow it).

I guess working for Giant will give him much more stability and a regular pay cheque than being sponsored by the regular BMX companies he's ridden for in the past.  Some people might call it selling out, but that's bullshit.  Taj has made his mark on the sport and progressed BMX on so many levels.

Those photos of Taj on the previous page are great 

[dirtyvans]

Good luck Taj, he doest care if is move doesnt look cool, as long as he's having fun riding different stuff

I've spent several month trying to find a frame of the LTF quality with a mellower head angle, even asked alex if they could do   a special one, i wasnt the first to ask! Theres nothing out there (again standards look dated), so sod it i've bought one, in black nickle  hoping it will turn up this week, if i cant get used to the steeper head angle i''ll sell it, but will try some different bars and stuf first.

[Lazarou]

standards look dated

  Dont count Rick out yet! Standard not only started the lightweight fad (I hope it's a fad) but also were the first to have small dropouts and the low-slung geometry, last year's 250L looked just as good as the 'modern' frames but with the superior quality of the LTF, I'm sure they'll be back and showing everyone the way soon. 

[Lazarou]

....gorgeous!.....

[billstup]

Good luck Taj, he doest care if is move doesnt look cool, as long as he's having fun riding different stuff

I've spent several month trying to find a frame of the LTF quality with a mellower head angle, even asked alex if they could do   a special one, i wasnt the first to ask! Theres nothing out there (again standards look dated), so sod it i've bought one, in black nickle  hoping it will turn up this week, if i cant get used to the steeper head angle i''ll sell it, but will try some different bars and stuf first.

Perhaps you could get some forks that would make that head angle less steep Rich ?

[generallee]

Its weird, but the head angle thing worried me when I forst bought my laf - i thought it wold feel totally different from anyting id ridden before - but to be honest my LAF is just the most amazing ride - all the head angke seems to do is make the toptube feel a bit longer than it actually is, which feels fine for me. I dont have any twitchy nervous front end feelings, but perhaps some might find it a 'lively' front end, but personally I love it so much I wont ever go back to a regulat head angle again. Esp as ive just bought an LTF too!!!

[teamsano]

my predictions for '08

1. taj mysteriously gets a 'behind the scenes position' at giant. i think giant/mosh always seemed to have a kinda chilled bmx program, and i always seemed to like the mosh parts for some reason. with ardelean leaving giant to work at quicksilver, theyre gonna need a bmx manager/designer.

2. frames are gonna beefen up again. someone always has to make something that bit lighter/wider/taller/hollower/uglier(gsport)/wilder looking. we've already had the heavy times, now frames are as light as they can be without being unsafe. its all gonna go pearshape.

3. if standard continue without advertising, they aint gonna sell shit. sure their frames nowadays may be asthetically pleasing, but picture the first shortys and lengthys with dinner shaped sized dropouts-ridiculous. at that point moeller was forced to make the h.a.f. and next gen dirt bike/holmes to meet consumer demand. these were frames s+m never wanted to make, and started a bad period for the company imho. think of moeller at the early backyard jam era circa 93, the bike he rode was a custom holmes with thin gauge tubing ala challenger, if standard never came along with the heavy frames, we wouldve seen the lightweight revolution 5 years earlier.

4. i dont want to ride a sub 5lb frame, i dont care how well its butted or heat treated, it cant take what i want to give out. i remember robbo was stoked to tell me the first fit frames were lightweight at 6lbs.

5. i consider myself to be up to date with bmx news and all the current trends although i dont adhere to any of them lol. however i dont give a shit what taj does. no one can stay at the top forever, and if you aint a big contest rider, chances are you wont make the money to finish your career off. i think taj is a great rider and a super nice guy, but the only reason folk are freaking out about this, is down to taj airing his beliefs over the past few years. i dont think he's selling out, i think he's a realist.