www.backlashbmx.com: Issue 40 comes in at close to an hour of running time, so you know Props isn't skipping out on content.
Chris Rye is on a roll lately, the last Road Fools was amazing, Baco 9 is better than all of the rest and Props 40 is pretty damn close to being the best Props ever, if not The best (not counting Road Fools 1). The theme of the issue is one where Leigh Ramsdel is hosting an evening talk show, just like the Tonight Show, complete with the dirty hessian band.
Opening up with the Toronto La Revolution contest, your eyes are opened right away. For those who have read the reports and seen the photo's, some of the best riding in the world went down this weekend, and Props was there. All I have to say is 180 Handplant over the spine - what the hell? I was at this contest and the way this section was put together really captured the excitement and level of riding that was being done.
Florida CFB and a Road Trip to the CFB were both amazing. The road trip crew was stacked with insane riders, but my favorite stuff came from Bruce Crisman and George Dosantos. George and Bruce are not only two of todays biggest innovators, they are also two very nice guys. The Road Trip was great and then it's topped off with highlights from the Florida CFB, which held it's own.
The FBM/New York Scene gets a profile that let's you see a lot of East Coast riders that don't get much coverage at all. Plus the usual antics you would expect from the FBM guys.
The Colin Winkleman interview is great. Done like a talk show interview, with Leigh playing the part of the idiot talk show host who doesn't know anything. Not only do you get to see Colin working through a variety of parks and ramps, his distance jumps and some burly wipeouts, you also get to see some great 'back in the day' footage. Definitely the best rider profile I've seen in Props.
Some people don't pick up Props issues, but the simple fact of the matter is that Props gives you the most bang for you buck out of any video out there. Great contest footage, riding from the best riders in the world, close to a hour worth of footage and a price cheaper than most other vids on the market. If you don't buy Props, do it, you might just like it - if you like it - subscribe and save yourself some money.
Music:
Intro Benzito.
La Revolution Toronto Recover "Not a Word".
FBM Binghampton Snapcase "Break The Static".
Road Trip To Kona The Jealous Sound "Priceless".
This Bike is a Pipe Bomb "R.O.D.A.D.".
Samiam "Dull".
Jets to Brazil "Air Traffic Control".
Cap'n Zazz "AOK".
Jimmy Eat World "H Model".
CFB Florida Alkaline Trio "Bleeder".
Colin Winkelmann Profile Feature Cat "Salt".
Knowledge / New Products Brother El "Pay Close Attention".
Credits The Jealous Sound "Quiet Life".
Alistair Whitton, La Revolution, Toronto. Photo by Large Edward.
Coverage of the Red Bull World Championships in Birmingham, England.
Round 3 of the HSA's CFB Series from Woodward.
A Northwest scene report by Blueprint producer Shad Johnson: Ben Hucke, Andy Merrall, Justin Inman, Bruce Crisman, John Bristol, James Cox, Chester Blacksmith, Rich Hirsch, Matthew Puorro, Ben Ward, Ryan Evans, Eric Walter, Jeremy Davis, Lee Rajsich, Daniel Randall, Shad Johnson.
The Roots Jam 2001 from Orlando, Florida.
The La Revolution comp from Binghamton, New York.
47 minutes in length.
Jason a. Davis, www.notfreestylin.com: I have played all the bmx video games that have come out so far. Each one has good points and bad points but none of them have it all together like the Props 41 video game. The graphics are very realistic looking. I know a lot of the people and their representation in the game was perfect. Good graphics are one thing but how does it play ? The game play was great. One of the things I like about a game like Props 41 is that you get to pull off tricks that are just humanly or physically impossible. Especially when you play as the Ruben Alacantara character, you can put tricks together that in no way should be possible. This game also had awesome levels. The Northwest scene level was expansive. The Woodward level in this game was a lot better than the Woodward level in the Dave Mirra game. The Taj character was a good one to use in the level. There was some flatland in the Woodward level also. The character selection was a little limited compared to the other disciplines. One high point was the Scott Powell character doing an upside down decade. You can do just about anything in a video game. The Roots Jam was a good level also. The Colin Winkleman characters Flair to tail tap and the Beringer character's flair to wall ride were nice to see in a game becuase there is no way those are gonna be done by real people. The credits are good if you make it all the way through the game. The soundtrack is typically what you would expect from Props. I kinds miss the variety they use to have. Though there are lots of riders really digging the "props" music now a days. If you have played some of the other games, there is something better. It is Props.
Andrew G, ugzine.com: This is obviously the 41st in the props series which has been going for something like 7 years now I think. It starts off with the Primo La Revolution comp in East Coast Terminal, New York. All I can say is that the riding in it is amazing. Colin Winkelmann pulls a flair over a gap about 10 feet wide. Edwin Delarosa does a fakie 360 to backwards feeble grind. After the comp is the Red Bull championship in England which had some very good riding. Then there is a profile on the English rider Sebastian Keep also known as Bas. He is very original with things like lookback to opposite fufanu. The Portland Scene report is right after that. They have a big number of very good riders One of them is a kid named Ben Hucke who has good style. Then is the roots contest. I wont say much but Colin Winkelmann pulled a flair to tailtap and Matt Berringer pulled a flair to wallride. Oh yeah Butcher does a superman-seatgrab-barspin-footplant. Then the last is the Woodward CFB contest number 3. Some amazing riding by Sandy Carson, Taj Mihelich, Rob Darden and Kevin Porter (who does a xup-tailwhip-crankflip).
Music:
Intro Benzito.
La Revolution Binghamton D.R.I. "Think For Yourself".
Red Bull Comp Favez "Its Always Ten To Ten".
Sabastian "Bas" Keep Alli With An I "Let You Down".
Portland Scene Seafood "Easy Path".
The Weakerthans "Watermark".
Roots Jam Ex Number Five "Go".
CFB Woodward Sig Gloria Transit "Hurts To Smile".
Bodyjar "The One We Forgot".
Knowledge/New Products Zero Zero "Pink And Green".
Credits Moods For Moderns "Do Ya".
Ryan Sher on the cover. Photo by Vincent Guedes.
Portland Scene Report.
Jason a. Davis, www.notfreestylin.com: When Props was doing 6 video a year there would typically be on interview with a flatlander a year. Since Props has gone to 4 issues a year the yearly flatland interview equals about about 1/4 of the interviews for the year. That sounds fair to me. I hate to be a person who notices things like that but flatland is a part of out sport and should be fairly represented. This year it was Matt Wilhelm. That dude is amazing. When that guy does a time machine the dude at the end the trick 15 minutes before he started the trick. My only complaint was I would have rather seen a interview instead of just Matt speaking. In the past it just seems that the interviewer would bring a lot to the table when interviewing. The Joe Tiseo tribute was great. It is weird to think that he missed the whole 9-11 attack by about a week. The Metal Trip which Leland named "Roach Fools" was dope. The Blacken commercial was hilarious. I am tempted to say this is the best issue of Props this year.
Music:
TISEO MEMORIAL NICE & SMOOTH Sometimes I Rhyme Slow.
TISEO JAM GENIUS/GZA "B.I.B.L.E." Liquid Swords Geffen www.geffen.com
VAN'S TRIPLE CROWN AVAIL Taken.
SWINGING' UTTERS Windspitting Punk.
METAL TRIP GLASSPACK Smut.
KINGHORSE That.
X-GAMES HOT ROD CIRCUIT Supersad.
LIFETIME Rodeo Clown.
MATT WILHELM BIO KAMMERFLIMMER KOLLEKTIEF Gras.
WOODWARD CHOCOLATE KISS Impurities.
KNOWLEDGE/NEW PRODUCTS VACUUM SCAM Pastel.
NICK DRAKE From The Morning
CREDITS MAURO Let Me Know
Joe Tiseo on the cover. Photo by Chris Hallman.
Joey Cobbs, Ride BMX US august 2002: By this point in time, there is no doubt that the guys at Props have their shit together as far as videos go, and this issue goes on to support my statement.
These videos are a great chance to see all the crazy stuff that people talk about. Whether it be a contest or scene report, the riding in Props is usually ridiculous. Due to contest conditions, filming angles are limited and that affects the look of some tricks, but Props makes it so you barely even notice. This issue also demonstrates why Ian Morris is where he is today, and how he is the sole reason why street riding is where it is today. I subscribe to Props, and I think everyone who rides and enjoys a good video should do the same.
Eh-D, www.notfreestylin.com: I'll be the first to admit, I hated to see Props go quarterly. I thought we would lose out. I was totally wrong. Issue 43 is loaded with cool stuff. The Contest footage from La Revolution, the Useless comp and the Gravity Games is really strong. The Ian Morris interview is something I have been wanting to see for a long time. I remember seeing the older footage in Dig way back, and being stoked. Killer interview. The Utah Scene report has some crazy riding, and you gotta wonder about Beringer doing a double front flip off a ski jump training setup. After living in Austin the T1/FBM jam footage was a treat. Shout out to Morgan Wade for making the video, that kid has been friends with the notfreestylin crew for a long time. This video came out only days after that footage was shot, you have to give props to Props for that shit. Close it all out with some credits that include Interbike and you have another great issue.
Andrew G, ugzine.com: This video is good, like many of the other Props visual releases out there. It has a bunch of real good sections... here are my notes
Utah Scene report:
- Berringer rocks, his weird opposite foot pedal grind rocks
- Fuzzy is crap (sarcasm intended)... he is sick (seriously)
La Revolution comp:
- Edwin = originality.
- Taj is one of the best riders i have ever seen ride. Style, originality, and large tricks combined.
Gravity Games:
- Dave osato owns yo' toy ass.
- Mike aitkin and Chris doyle are the definition of style.
Useless/Eastwood comp.:
- Good!
FBM/T1 Comp:
- Highlight of the video... one word... nuts!
Eastern Roatrip:
- Billy dexter is a redneck... with straight teeth... theyre fake... so that explains everything.
- Ryan barret looks (and rides) like Chris Doyle.
- Leigh ramsdell can ride a 20 inch bicycle.
Random Comments:
- Nate Dawg (walker) is a genuine bad-ass
- The DGC ads have good music, as do the ODI ads.
Music:
MILWAUKEE LA REVOLUTION TEN YARD FIGHT The Crew.
YOUTH OF TODAY Flame Still Burns.
EASTERN TRIP SIG TRANSIT GLORIA Thank You.
GRAVITY GAMES HEY MERCEDES The Frowning Of A Lifetime.
RAINER MARIA Broken Arrow.
PARIS, TEXAS Le Tigre.
UTAH SCENE THE EXPLOSION Hero.
GOOD RIDDANCE Queen & John.
IAN MORRIS PROFILE DJ LOGIC Soul Kissing.
EASTWOOD COMP LOVELIGHT SHINE X-Ray Vision.
FBM/T1 COMP THIS BIKE IS A PIPE BOMB Black Panther Song.
RECOVER I'm Betting All I've Got.
KNOWLEDGE/NEW PRODUCTS LLORCA The End (Hepop Original).
CREDITS MOODS FOR MODERNS Slacker Ways.
Ian Morris on the cover. Photo by Large Edward.
Props Issue 43 - Utah Scene Report.
Jason a. Davis, www.notfreestylin.com: Damn. I was tempted to end this review right there. "Damn" is all that really needs to be said. The contest footage from the CFB Florida and the La Rev Toronto made me say "daaamn". The Kink/Dragonfly will make you drop a "damn" a few times as you reach for the rewind button. If I were to list you the impressive stuff done in this video I would have to rent more space for the site. The level of riding has gone beyond what people would even think possible a decade back. I found the Ronnie Chalk bio a little baffling. The audio was poor. Sounds like it came off of the nat sound mic on the camera. I didn't notice a lavaliere mic on him anywhere. I am trying to figure out whether it was done for some artistic effect or they just didn't have a mic with them. I am more a fan of an interview instead of the bio. Props has done some great interviews. The interviewer always added a lot to the interview. I feel you lose something when you just see someone answering the questions. (...) The riding is incredible as is the shooting and editing. It could just be me but this issue just felt a little tighter as far as the video making than the last few issues.
Andrew G, ugzine.com: This video is rather rad. I wrote 2 pages of notes on it... so its a bit compacted as you would expect. I dont think my notes would be that intrieging to you either. However... this video does rock. The La Revolution comp in this vid is fucking nuts. Billy Borys does a sick 'Kickflip' on flat... and Phil Dolan is brakeless and nuts. The last four tricks of this section of nuts too... watch them, and Dave osato rules like i have said so many times before. The Kink/DF trip is good aswell... too much to mention in this section so i wont even bother. The wisconsin/illionois scene report is nuts, kevin porter showed to me why guru creams his pants every time he sees him ride. Brian Kachinsky is also rather radical, in the words of dave. The St Paul ramp jam is also good, but I forgot most of the stuff in it so dont worry... its good though. Ronnie Chalk also proved to me that he can ride, and his superman seatgrabs own yours, i dont care who you are! The CFB section is also pretty good, I love watching Jamie bestwick ride... This video is sick, but im not sure if you can justify paying the 50 odd dollars when it first came out in australia. Its only 18 bucks (USD) which is a bit of a bargain, though.
Music:
TORONTO Fugazi "Cashout".
Planes Mistaken For Stars "Leveless".
KINK/DRAGONFLY ROADTRIP Piebald "Long Nights".
Pedro The Lion "Rapture".
WISCONSIN/ILLINIOS SCENE August Premier "Smoke".
ST. PAUL STREET JAM Same Day Service "Nomi's Song".
RONNY CHALK BIO Terrence Parker "Come On! Take me ".
FLORIDA CFB Ted Leo "Squeaky Fingers".
KNOWLEDGE/NEW PRODUCTS New End Original "Titanic".
CREDITS The Break "1.21 Gigawatts"
Markus Hampl on the cover.
Footage from Palavas 2002
CFB at Niagra Falls, NY
La Revolution at Binghampton, NY
VANS Triple Crown at Charlotte, NC
Scene report from San Diego
Southern Oregon road trip with Rich Hirsh and rest of the Blueprint crew.
www.notfreestylin.com: I have set down to write a review for the new issue of Props. Usually I will watch the video then play it again while I write the review. The only thing is when I watch this latest issue of Props I catch myself just drawn in. Instead of writing after watching it, I find myself riding watching the video. It is like BMX Porn. It puts you in the mood to ride. I was thinking the other day that an issue of Props is better than 90% of the regular videos out there. That is like saying a magazine is better than most books. Props has perfected what they do and they are taking that too a new level.
The riding is so good. There is so much being done now that years ago would be thought as impossible. The Primo Road Trip reminded me of a Mini-Fools. The riding, camera work and editing of the contest coverage is off the hizzle fashizzle*. It takes you to La Rev Binghamton, Van's Triple Crown and the Niargra CFB.
*I think my spell checker just gave up on that one. I keep looking for a good time to say that phrase where it would work and not seem stupid. I guess I will keep looking.
Music:
PRIMO ROAD TRIP Bluetip "Compliment The Negative"
Thrice "To Awake And Avenge the Dead"
VAN'S TRIPLE CROWN Cadillac Blindside "Always A Comedian"
PALAVAS The Reputation "The Stars Of Amateur Hour"
SAN DIEGO SCENE The Murder City Devils "I Drink The Wine"
Betty Blowtorch "I Wanna Be Your Sucker"
OREGON TRIP Kid Dynamite "Death And Taxes"
Elliott "Lie Close"
CFB NIAGARA FALLS Pedro The Lion "Indian Summer"
Alkaline Trio "Alkaline Trio/Hot Water Music Split "
BINGHAMTON LA REV Minor Threat "Straight Edge"
Recover Rodeo "Rodeo"
KNOWLEDGE/NEW PRODUCTS Tarentel "Ursa Minor, Ursa Major"
CREDITS Ultimate Fakebook "When I'm With You I'm Ok"
Brian Terrada. Photo by Dolecki.
squeak, www.bmx-test.com, 11.2002: What do you do when you see a video that has an FBM contest, FBM road trip, some other first rate contests, and other road trips? You pick that shit up in a spiffy because that mad ass footy gonna be flyin' by yo' face and you gonna say, where was I at spankin' when I missed this video... I haven't seen a video that made me feel complete since I saw the DBI video. This video (Props 46) was quick to start and it had a good mix of music if you like all types of music. Rap, to emo, to rock... this video is one of the best Props issues I've seen in a while. The cinemetography was awesome (like it always is, it's not like one issue will be the ghetto issue, filmed by kids for kids... this special issue is brought to you by Shady Grove Middle School, filmed entirely on Hi-8 and edited on Tommy Spenneli's mom's VCR's.) Woah, that was a tangent, but what i'm saying is you know that every PROPS is top of the line. Just this one has a little bit more... I give this a rating of two thumbs up.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com: FBM Road trip (Flat tabletops)
Mosh Road Trip (180-s on flat)
CFB Finals (includes flatland)
James Kennedy Bio (flatland)
FBM Ghetto Street contest (flat out ruled)
King Of Ground (flatland from Japan)
Vans Triple Crown (flattering)
Bio Shawn Arata/Oliver Leonard (flat tires)
Flatland riders get the short end of the stick quite often. Not when it comes to issue 46 of Props. It has flatland rider James Kennedy on the cover, a report from the King Of Ground in Japan, flat footage from the CFB finals and a BIO on James. Get your fingers on the rewind button or FF>> button depending what you're into.
Street contests don't get more ghetto than the FBM contest. Old school distance jumping for a T1 frame with a shady take off and a serious bunny hop contest for a 100 dollar note. Garrett Byrnes rode insane at this comp. The wallride he pulled in incredible and stuff like that shouldn't be possible. If it wasn't for prove from Stew's camera I wouldn't believe Garrett's wallride was pulled. Pics can't show it well enough, you need video for that. "Hollywood" was doing some great riding and the whole ghetto boys seemed to be in their element drinking beers (HDT) and destroying everything possible.
With 2 more bio's, 2 contest reports and 2 road trips, you might forget about all the flatland footage that's in there. Issue 46 is definitely packed with a lot of stuff. Quality is top notch as we've come to know from the Props crew.
Music:
FBM TRIP Swearing at Motorists "Leaving Adams Morgan"
Lucero "Little Silver Heart".
Against Me "I Still Love You Julie"
FBM ghetto comp Soophie Nun Squad "Tomorrow"
Gorilla Biscuits "Degradation"
James Kennedy bio Rumah Sakit "I Can't See Anything"
CFB finals The Casket Lottery "Code Red"
Arata/Leonard bio Fugazi "Shut the Door"
Mosh Road Trip Them Badd Apples "Second Nature"
Japan K.O.G. Cerberus Shoal "Telikos Two"
Japan K.O.G. Rumah Sakit Scott & Jeremiah Obscured by Clowns Temporary Residence http://www.temporaryresidence.com
Vans Triple Crown Pretty Girls Make Graves The Getaway Good Health Lookout Records http://www.lookoutrecords.com
New Products Mortal mujO (uncertainty mix) Nu-En-Jin Tooth & Nail Records http://www.toothandnail.com
Credits Jets to Brazil You're Having the Time of My Life
James Kennedy by Dolecki on the cover.
Support: VHS ou DVD.
Durée: 54 min.
Prix: 25 euros (VHS ou DVD)
Distribution: X-Treme Video
Sommaire:
Scène: Pittsburgh et Brésil, Bio: Danny Hickerson , Contest: Backyard Jam No. 3, Latin X-Games et Redbull Circle of balance, road trip: le team Animal au Canada, et le team Fly bikes partout en Espagne.
Best tricks: walltap-to-barspin, nose bump-to-barspin-to-icepick bonk sur spine de Danny Hickerson , no hand en sortie de wall à 1m50 de Sebastien Keep, énorme tailwhip en transfert de Taj sur l'aire de street de la Backyard Jam, wallride-to-tailwhip de Javier Ortega, Tailwhip-to-peg grind de Rafael Costa, superman seatgrab sur spine de Sergio Layos ...
Mon jugement: Mot d'ordre: moderne !! A l'image des vidéos de skate actuelles, une profusion de têtes inconnues. Et...que des tueurs !! A déguster les 3'20 de Danny Hickerson: un festival !! Flip, bunny-hop tail-whip: wow (voir au dessus: best tricks) !! Le reste de cette Props est top évidemment !! La tournée FLY en Espagne, avec le team au grand complet, dont Ryan "biz" Jordan , et Brandon "Punjab" Pundai from USA... sans oublier les monstres espagnols: Javier Ortega et Sergio Layos ! A remarquer, aussi, des spots de street de fou, pas mal de parks en béton, et des courbes en pleine ville... et ce long pipe.. A noter, le retour du dirt... pas mal de footages de champs de bosses avec Chris Doyle et Todd Walkowiack. . Les images du Brésil sont marrantes à voir: dire que ça déchire à 10000Kms !! Sans oublier le team Animal dans les rues de Montréal... Ah !! Moderne je vous disais !!
Flat: ce numéro devrait finir de réconcilier les flateux avec Props qui fait de visibles efforts pour ça depuis plusieurs mois. Donc on découvre la scène flat brésilienne avec le fameux Marcos Jésus qui est encore plus impressionnant chez lui ainsi que 4 autres riders tout aussi forts et originaux. Le point culminant de cette issue 47 est bien sûr le reportage sur le fabuleux contest Red Bull Circle of balance , mais attention car ces images-là, vous ne les avez jamais vu auparavant: on découvre les meilleurs riders de la planète... au practice et c'est carrément autre chose que ce que vous avez pu voir vu la pression due à la taille de l'événement. Donc des tricks encore jamais vus de la part de Simon O'brien (karl kruser to backward crackpacker to links), Alex Jumelin (multiple turbine switchiker to steam roller a la vitesse de l'eclair), Martti Kuoppa (full whip x-up karl kruser to links), Kimmo Haakana (full whip tomawhak brakeless) et encore d'autres folies comme ce 360 rolling stabble duck gerator to undertacker de Mike'S filmé de dessus (magnifique), mais mieux vaut voir le DVD pour bien comprendre.
Note générale: 9/10
Jason a. Davis, www.notfreestylin.com: This is no better value for your money than the newest props. My personal concept of what Props is has changed. I use to really dig the magazine concept. You know it was "like a magazine but in video form". It had its pros and cons. On the downside you would watch it for a month, put it down and not look at it for awhile. To consider Props that way now would be a mistake. Your typical issue of Props is better than 90% videos released. Props is now awesome videos that come out four times a year. I have really started to dig what I like to call "Mini-Fools". The smaller team trips. The profiles are usually dope. I bumped into Joel Moody at a record store. He told me about the work he did on the profile this issue. That cat is almost as good at video as he is with riding. That is saying a lot if you seen Joel ride. I still kinda miss the interaction between the interviewee and the interviewer. Those sure supplied some classic props moments in the past. It is great seeing Props being a little more flatland friendly as of late. There is atleast 2 songs of flatland from the Red Bull Circle of Balance contest. It is amazing to see flatland being treated right. The general public are sheep, if the televised contest put this much production into the flat part of the contest it would be the highest rated event. It just blows my mind looking at this footage. The venue, the surface, the lighting. Incredible. Then there is the riding. Many have seen some of this online but there is just something about seeing it on your tv screen full size. I wish I knew a away to thank Red Bull for putting on the contest and treating flatland right. I have to give props to all involved from Red Bull, to the Riders, to the Videographer to the Editor, to Props for exposing other riders to it. I am the most stoked on the flatland but the other parts of this video. It reminds me of a album title from Talking Heads, "Stop Making Sense". There are so many riders putting tricks together that don't belong together. If only there was a little more variety in the music.
Grimaldo Duran on the cover.
Durée: 58 minutes.
Olivier Tourrel, www.agoride.com, juin 2003: Mot d'ordre cette fois-ci: street !! Pleins de spot différents filmés à travers le monde, et assez de têtes connues je dois dire... pour une fois !! Shadow Conspiracy est une nouvelle marque US d'accessoires, et le team est, disons.. sympa ! (Alistair Whitton, Byron Anderson, Ryan Sher, John Jennings et Joe Simon), le team Solid Bikes est pas mal non plus dans le genre aussi: à découvrir ! En parlant de têtes pas connues: Neil Harrington, et Jared Washington, raviront les amateurs de street "tech" et new school (voir haut dessus: "best tricks"). L'interview de Van Homan est sans surprises, je pense, pour les amateurs du streeteur préféré des Américains (Nora Cup winner pour la 2ème année consécutive..). Des gros rails, des gros 180, des gros fufanus, des tailwhips et des barspins sont à prévoir... A noter le complexe de miniramp qu'il a construit dans une partie de son (grand) pavillon (..avec plafond à 2m30 comme chez moi je pense).. hehe ! Pour la Backyard Jam de Bournemouth: tout ce que je peux dire, c'est qu'il y a du gros ! Donc, pour résumer: beaucoup de tech, de street, et du bon, dans pleins de spots: ça rafraîchit, comme d'habitude. Bref, une PROPS classique.
Best tricks: barspin to ice-pick to barspin out en haut de wall de Brian Terada, over tooth-pick sur le même wall de Dave Osato, handrail en montant sortie barspin de Jared Washington, wallride to downside tailwhip de Alistair Whitton dans un ditch, gros gaps de Ryan Sher, over icepick grind sur hand rail, et handplant 180° en descendant de handrail (!!)de Neil Harrington, tail whip to ice pick sur sub box de Tobias Wicke...
eh-D, www.notfreestylin.com: The thing that sticks out most in my mind from this issue is the footage of Van Homan riding the ramp in his house, you have to see it to believe it. The tightest ramp ever, and Van does every line possible. Backyard Jam footage is excellent, Ruben takes a break from the T1 world trip to amaze everybody yet again. The Shadow Conspiracy Trip to Mexico is great. I'd be worried about getting hurt in a country with a second world health care system. Ali Whitton proves that the cops in Mexico love bmx as much as we do. Maybe more, because I've never given a rider a bullet for doing a ledge manual. Joe Simon is a bmx cinematographer extraordinaire.
Empire BMX has an ad in this issue. Tina and Tom errrr Pierre rock!
Another excellent effort from the crew at Props visual, seeing the diverse personalities that bmx has to offer showcased in their regular issues is a treat. Chris and Marco have reduced their role in producing the normal issues, but they have left things in capable hands.
Van Homan by Dolecki on the cover.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com: Freestyle is progressing at an incredible pace. How would we know if we didn't have Props? Once again the Props crew went out there to capture the latest level of freestyle riding. Again and again there are new faces popping up and just when you think every trick has been done on a bike, Props shows you something new.
It's always a challenge to show new spots, from a unique street spot to a new concrete park or a drained out pool. Making a video on a regular basis isn't an easy task. You need to make things happen yourself. Marco Massei and Chris Rye have finished 49 issues so far and I hope they're not growing tired of it yet as we need them to show what's new in the freestyle world.
Issue 49 has an interview with coverboy Ryan Barrett. Ryan has figured out life. He travels, he rides, works and likes to have fun, four things that go hand in hand. Contests that are covered are; La Revolution Binghamton, the Good Times comp (organized by Bestwick) and the Roots contest that had a few new players make it to the big time (Morgan Wade and Scotty Cranmer).
If you've never watched a Props DVD with headphones on, give it a try. Pump up the volume and enjoy the grinds of the Brain kids in Australia. New spots and new riders, they've got plenty of that in Kangaroo land.
I'm sure the Eastern Bikes guys are more into country music than I am. I took off the headphones during the Eastern tour part and just enjoyed the riding. Frenchie Pascal Guerard was on board too and he did not let down. Quite a few huck tricks in this part except for Scotty Cranmer, that kid seriously rules. There's some new product in the product section and some of the commercials are absolutely funny. The Blacken rollerskate commercial is the best.
SolidBykeRider, www.bmx-test.com, november 2003: This video is really good, one of my favorites. There is a lot of good riders. The intro is great as always, in Props videos. Top off the intro with Morgan Wade doing a superman tailwhip; sick.
The first part is La Revolution in Binghamton, New York. It starts with Edwin doing a feeble to hop-up manual to 180 off the ledge. Chris Arriaga does a nice toothpick stall on a quarter pipe to manual down it then up another quarter pipe to abubaca. Chase Hawk is just ridiculous, he does an icepick to manual down the quarterpipe to 180, and also 360 over a spine to manual to 180. Steve Cuesta did a huge 720 over a box jump. Chris Doyle with a 180 barspin to barspin back over the spine. Markus Wilke with as much technical tricks as possible; they were pretty insane. Sandy Carson did a huge abubaca on a atleast a 5 foot high sub box. Then Taj Mihelich, with a huge gap 180 to walltap to 180 back in; it was really big. That concludes some of the highlights from La Revolution.
Then the video goes into the Animal commercial for the new dvd. Some nice previews of good riding. Then it goes into a commercial for Road Fools 1 and 2 DVD, but it doesn't really show any riding. Then it cuts into another commercial for Morgan Wade. He does a huge gap over a fence, then a big tailwhip, and a nice kinked rail. Then it goes into the Empire Bmx Road Trip.
The section includes, Neil Harrington, Joe Simon, Joel Moody, Kevin Troyer, Bruce Crisman, and Chase Hawk. It starts off with them riding a pool. Chase Hawk did a nice manual on the deck of this brick quarter pipe to manual down it to fastplant 180 into the street. Bruce Crisman did a nice 180 to rollback into a fakie smith, to 180 out. Neil Harrington did a nice manual to double peg grind down a rail. Joe Simon does a very nice manual to 180 turndown. They ride a whole lot of spots, from concrete parks, to backyard ramps. Very nice section of the video.
Next is a commercial for DIGBMX, and Road Fools 11. The it goes into a bio, for Ryan Barrett. Its a very well done bio. Theres nice riding done by Ryan, with of nice rails, ledges, wallrides, and gaps.
Next part goes into the Props Mega Tour 2 commercial (also a good video), then into a Shadow Conspiracy commercial. The next part they show a little bit from the Toronto Metro Jam. They show some really great highlights. A lot of sick riders. After that, it goes into a Kink commercial. The next riding part is the "Drain Kids" scene report Thorneside Brisbane, Austrailia. Troy Vos starts it off with a huge crooked grind down a nice rail. Andrew Kearney with a huge double peg grind down a kinked rail. Morrisey with a nice double peg grind on a long rail. Brendan Davis with an x-up double peg grind to barspin out. John Comino with a double peg grind to crankflip out. A lot of good riding comes out of this part. A lot of street riding, some concrete parks, and nice tranny sessions. But overall theres a lot of rails being hit up in this part. Troy Vos does a huge curved rail.
After that section, it goes into a commercial for Inopia, which is just riding from George D. which is always good to see. Topside double peg to 180 in on a mini ramp, which is just sick. After that, is a commercial for Woodward, and then another one for Kink. The next riding section is for the Good Times Contest, at The Flow in Columbus, Ohio. Anthony Cico starts it off with a huge gap to smith. Rob Darden with a huge fufanu to x-up in. Todd Walkowiak with a icepick stall to manual down the quarter pipe to up another quarter pipe to nosepick. Markus Wilke kills this one section of the park by doing trick after trick after trick. One includes a 180 up a wedge to fakie to 180 fufanu up a mini quarter pipe. Its insane what he does, you really have to see it to believe it. Another trick was a 180 up the wedge to fakie to 180 sprocket on the mini quarterpipe to 180 to manual to 180 down the wedge. Oh yeah, thats right. Then Dave Jacobs with a 180 barspin to halfcab double peg grind down a box. This whole section was insane. Just good riding from everyone. Colin Mackay finishes it off with a wallride to manual to tailwhip into a wedge.
After that section, it goes into a nice commercial for the Faction Magazine and then a commercial for Empire BMX. After that, it goes into the next riding section which is the Eastern Road Trip. They visit North and South Carolina and Georgia. The part includes Pascal Guerard, Brad Gethard, Phillip Teague, Scotty Cramner, and Leigh Ramsdell. The team does a lot of park riding, which was pretty decent. There were a couple good parts, but I just liked to watch Cranmer ride. It was alright, I didn't really like this part too much, don't know why, but I didn't.
After that it goes into a commercial for the StandPoint video zine containing, a Sean "Fish" Hoskins bio, Van Homan and Leigh Ramsdell House/Spot Check, and a George Dossantos interview. After that it goes into the UGP Roots Jam 2003 in Orlando, Florida. Starts off with some insane flatland, some really nice tricks. Morgan Wade with a huge wallride to flatty, and Jim C. with a wallride while pedalling in the wallride. After some sick riding, it cuts into more flatland. And then to some pretty bad crashes. But then it goes back into riding with Mike Andrews doing a nice nose manual on top of the white van. Tom Haugen with a tailwhip to abubaca. Brian Vowell with a 360 over the spine to hang 5, which was insane. Jonathon Greer did a curved wallride to (I guess you would say revert) revert 360. The whole section was sick, a lot of great riding from everyone, which never gets boring.
After that part, it goes into a Macneil commercial. You get to see some highlights of riding. Then into an Etnies commercial for Brian Terada. Then into the credits, it goes. Everyone should know how the credits are in all Props videos. Advertising, and a lot of bails. Well overall, I give this video a 10/10, it is a great video. So much good riding. I'd recommend this video to anyone. If you respect all types of riding, get this video. Oh yeah, the video is 58 minutes and 40 seconds long, pretty nice.
Ryan Barrett on the cover.
Disc 1 holds Issue 50 (running time of 70 minutes) which includes: Coventry Backyard Jam, Mat Hoffman Profile, Woodward West CFB, Phoenix, AZ scene report, Bicycle Union road trip throughout Europe, Vancouver MetroJam, York Jam. On Disc 1 we also included Marco's first ever BMX video, "A Few Good Men On Bikes" from 1993.
Disc 2 of Issue 50 holds the "Best Of 50" which has a running time of 60 minutes. Presented by Taj Mihelich, the "Best Of 50" covers our 10 year history of making BMX videos. Taj sat down and watched every issue (Issue 1 - 49) and picked out highlights from each one, focusing on the best moments from Props BMX history. Follow the sport's progression along the way. On Disc 2 we also threw on some of our favorite video magazine sections from throughout the years, the first half of which most of you probably haven't seen: Issue 1 - Joe Rich & Luc-e interview, Issue 4 - Taj Mihelich interview, Issue 10 - BS comp, OKC, Issue 22 - MTV Sports & Music Festival, Austin, TX, Issue 39 - Ralph Sinisi interview, Issue 40 - Colin Winkleman interview, Issue 43 - Ian Morris interview, Issue 44 - La Revolution, Toronto, Issue 46 - FBM Road Trip, Issue 48 - Van Homan interview.
Both discs combined run over 240 minutes!
Paul de Jong, www.fatbmx.com: Already # 50, I know the time that I bought the first issue and were super stoked to have our FAT JAM in issue four! Fifty quality tapes/dvd's in 10 years that covers our favourite contests, scenes, riders etc etc without being boring is a hard job to pull off but the Props crew did it.
First Disc is actually Issue 50 and shows some contests in England (Backyard Jam Coventry), Canada (Metro Jam) and the CFB in Woodward West Cali, it shows how good the riders are these days and its not over yet. Mat Hoffman gives another interview but one of the best with all oldschool films and pictures, Mat rules! Phoenix Arizona has a good scene and here you can see what its like.
Adam Baker is my new favourite, this guy rips. York Pennsylvania is of course home of the Flatland York Jam so Flatlanders will like this issue too. The Bicycle Union Roadtrip is covered more from the inside of the tourvan than with riding but you will like it, the English are crazy!
Second Disc is presented by Taj Mihelich and shows his favourite parts and riders in the 50 issues of Props. For sure he likes riders like: Joe Rich, Ron Kimler, Butcher, Jay Miron, Paul Buchannan and Jimmy Levan cause they show up in almost every highlight from the fifty Props. Funny commercials are shown and missed by many of us when BMX wasn't that serious like nowadays.
I wish Props all the best with the upcoming 50 issues and thanks them again to cover the FAT JAM in 1994 and document our sport in the best way.
FallenClothing03, www.fatbmx.com, march 2004: Issue 50 comes on 2 DVDs and is at least 4 1/2 hours of footage, still for just 20 bucks.
Disc One: Contains the regular Props issue 50.
-Coventry Backyard Jam. This contest is pretty weak compared to the previous Backyard Jams I've seen. It only seems like 5-7 guys were really trying anything here.
-Bicycle Union Road trip. 2 words, Scott Malyon. Good ass riding, too much wrestling.
-Vancouver Metro Jam. Without a doubt the sickest contest I've ever seen. Van, Tobias Wicke, and Dave Osato simply defy what should be possible as well as a bunch of other guys killing it. Everybody knows Van and Osato are nuts, but they do a few things in here that words cannot explain. Most people have no clue how good Tobias Wicke is. Imagine Dave Osato with amazing style and some of the most unique tech tricks you will ever see.
-Mat Hoffman Interview. People know Hoffman is amazing, that is nothing new. This interview is almost depressing because obviously, Hoffman basically kills himself countless times riding, but more importantly, you could ride your entire life and never accomplish half of what Hoffman has. The man truly has risked his life for the sake of riding and basically without him (and Jay Miron), riding as we know it would not exist. Sorry to spoil it for any kiddies out there saying "Well Hoffman doesn't ride street so guys like Van are why we have street", Hoffman does SICK rails in this section and it is mentioned briefly that he was the first person to do a handrail (back when pegs weren't meant for sliding and nobody knew things that we take for granted today like aluminum sticks to steel). Think about that for a few hours.
-Phoenix, AZ scene report. Adam Baker is a sick man. A bunch of other locals kill it in this part. It is pretty short, but fun to watch.
-Woodward West CFB. I don't know, after watching the Vancouver Metro Jam so many times this contest really seems weak.
-York, PA Flatland Jam. I'm not big on flatland so I don't know what to say.
-As a bonus on disc 1, you get the first video made by Marco Massei "A Few Good Men On Bikes", this is like 10 years old, very funny editing, very funny tricks, but its still interesting to see what riding was like back then.
Disc Two:
-Best of 50. This is Taj's favorite clips from issues 1-49, not surprisingly Joe Rich shows up about 900 times in this, but its a great way to see how riding has progressed, and you get to see why guys like Hoffman, Miron, Joe Rich, Taj, etc are viewed as legends.
-Favorite sections. There are a bunch of FULL bonus sections from previous issues of Props. They are...
-Joe Rich/Luc-E interview. This is old but still definitely interesting
-Taj Interview. Read above.
-Oklahoma City BS Comp. Old once again, but gives you an idea of how riding has changed and some tricks are still pretty impressive.
-MTV Sports and Music Festival Austin TX. This was MTV's first comp, and it has a lot of guys who you definitely would never see in the X-Games these days which makes it seem like a really fun contest.
-Ralph Sinisi bio. This is a little old now as well, but a really well edited section thats definitely fun to watch.
-Colin Winklemann bio. This is a little old too but you'd never know it. The tricks don't seem old at all and this guy is definitely underrated, although the interview is setup like a fake TV show and is just annoying, the riding is amazing.
-Ian Morris profile. Ian Morris just goes for shit and the rails he was doing 10 years ago have still yet to be outdone. I still don't like it for some reason.
-Toronto La Revolution (Metro Jam before it was known as the Metro Jam). This is such a good contest. There are too many highlights to name, only outdone by the Vancouver Metro Jam.
-FBM Road Trip. Tag, Phil Wasson, Bob Scerbo, and some other FBM guys on this trip. It is solid but I don't know why it's in the Favorite Sections.
-Van Homan Interview. Well its Van, what do you expect?
All in all, even if you don't like all the footage, there surely is enough in here that it is well worth the 20 bucks. If you are someone who doesn't have a lot of money to spend on videos, this is the best 20 bucks you could spend. These 2 DVDs get a 10/10 (if it were possible to rate higher, I would). If you are just getting the VHS, the Metro Jam and Hoffman bio are still well worth the 20 bucks and I'd then rate it a 9/10.
FProTown, www.bmx-test.com, december 2003: I don't think there is one bmxer that doesn't enjoy a good Props video (if there is, I'm sure they will make sure to prove me wrong), and this is by far one of the best. This video should be in every bmxer's video collection because it also contains a bonus disc that includes the bmx equivalent of cliff notes for the first 49 issues of Props VM. Okay then, on with the review.
First off - the intro: plenty of bangers and clips from the video. Next, the Etnies Backyard Jam - it is unreal how much good riding goes down in this section alone, from riders such as Jim Cielencki, Baz Keep, Homan, Layos, Terada, and Gary Young(the winnner), and many more amazing riders. Highlights are Cielencki's flairs and opp flairs, Gary Young's crazy speed throughout the course, Homan's downside whip over the huge gap from quarter to quarter.
Next... the Bicycle Union road trip... this is just awesome; Scott Malyon is a fucking ripper and pretty good in a mosh pit... you'll have to watch it see what I mean. Next is the Metro Jam: a lot of flatland in the beginning and then... the park comp... crazy... this and the Backyard Jam alone are worth the $20.
Next comes the Mat Hoffman interview... this is by far one of the best things Props has ever put out... you get to see an inside look into the Condor's life... its like a video version of his book... awesome... plus his wife's pretty damn hot... mmmm... anyways on with the review...
Next is a Phoenix, Arizona scene report: There is a lot of good riding from the Pheonix locals in this section including some damn good footage of KC Badger being all stylish and such... next is the CFB comp from Woodward West. There is too much stuff to talk about, so buy the video and see for yourself. Next comes the York Flatland Jam... I don't really like flatland enough to watch this section very much but it is kind of good, I guess. Anyways, lastly comes the Props news section and its, well... its a Props news section... yup.
The second disc has too many awesome things to talk about so I'll leave it up to you to see for yourself. This video is worth more than the 20 bucks. I strongly recommend purchasing this piece of bmx history... you may be able to even show this to your kids... alright thats it.
Pete, www.streetphire.co.uk: I got Props Issue 50 through the post yesterday (Very quick delivery from James Cycles in Sheffield, well done), and I've just finished watching the final special feature which was a video, entirely in black and white (though clearly filmed on a colour camcorder (?)) called 'A Few Good Men'. It doesn't say but it looks like its from about 1993/4, and It features the likes of Dave Freimuth, Joe Rich, Taj Mihelich, Rick Moliterno, Luc-e, Ratboy, and a load of other riders who I guess have fallen by the wayside since I got involved in riding a couple of years ago. I was really surprised about the standard of riding, there's amazing flatland from Chad Degroot that would stand up anywhere today, whip to tiretaps, big rails and crazy (if not stylish, but who gives a fuck, really?) jump box tricks.
Other features include the best of 50, edited by Taj (probably one of my favourite riders) which has footage from every issue of Props to date. I can't stress how much great riding by todays standards went down 10 years ago. Ian Morris trying backwards, big, handrails in 1994? Hoffman doing a frontflip flyout (just him, not the bike) and sooooooooooo nearly landing it... The list really could go on for pages, but this is a web page so it couldn't because it would just be one big long one, but if it was on paper, and I could be bothered, the list of crazy stuff could go on for pages...
BMX seemed like it was more fun and less bullshit about pointless stuff like setups etc. back then (witness the coolest fucking advert in the world for Play and Useless clothing). There's also a favourite sections thing on the bonus disc, with some nice interviews, particularly the one with Ralph Sinesi. Thats 2 hours worth just on the bonus disc! You need just the bonus disc on its own purely to get an insight into what's happened in the last 10 years of BMX.
Issue 50 itself has got some great stuff on it as well, an interview with the greatest BMXer ever (Hoffman, blatantly. I shouldn't need to qualify that but they'll be people who for crazy reasons don't see the obvious) that is the best thing I've ever seen in Props. The guy is a legend, and this interview is extremely well done and highly inspirational. Also there's a Bicycle Union roadtrip, Vancouver Metro Jam (Tobias Wicke...), Flatland Jam in York, Pennsylvania, Coventry Backyard, Phoenix scene report and CFB.
Easily the best issue of Props I've seen and a great video, but it's the bonus disc you get with the DVD that makes this ridiculous VFM and a definate neccessity to anyone who rides. Buy it.
Plus bonus: From 1996 Issue #12 of Props Video Magazine in its entirety including: Southern California Scene Report Bo's Trails Sheep Hills Trails The Flatland Fugitives Twin Palms Street Riding SK8 Underground Pools and Fools Shawn Butler Interview Sean Peters Interview It's difficult to squeeze more BMX onto a single DVD clocking in at over 90 minutes...
Corey Martinez by Dolecki on the cover.
vodeo, www.dailymotion.com: FBM Ghetto Street Comp Binghampton, NY
Women of Freestyle Road Trip.
Austin Scene Report, Austin TX.
Toronto Metro Jam, Canada.
FBM/ Last Cal Comp, Little Rock, AR.
Braun Flatland Comp, Amsterdam Holland.
Homemade Street jam, Amsterdam, Holland.
Etnies Backyard Jam, Bournemouth England.
Bonus: Props Video Magazine Issue #29 from January 1999
Chris Doyle at the Toronto Metro jam on the cover.
Empire La Revolution contest from Binghampton, NY
Roots Am Jams from New Jersey and Florida UGP Roots Jam Orlando, FL.
Red Bull Circle Of Balance Germany
We The People Tour of Italy
The bonus Props Issue is #32 from 1999
ochretsl, www.bmx-test.com, november 2004: Well, I got this dvd a few weeks after it came out. I read the desription and saw a few companies I liked so I bought it. Awesome movie. This movie starts out with a long We The People tour of Italy. This is probably one of the best parts. This trip features riders like: Tobias Wicke, Hannu Cools, Will Jackson, Ashley Charles and more. The review for this section is that tailwhips are way to easy now. Crazy stuff here, and Tobias Wicke is just too good.
Next is the Empire La Revolution competition. This is also a very good part of this movie. Chase Dehart and Mat Sparks and probably the highlight riders here. Mat Sparks does a cross legged tailwhip, its insane.
The Red Bull flatland comp is next. I didn't watch too much of this because I don't really like flatland too much. So if you're into flatland, I'm sure its great.
UGP Roots Jam is problably my favorite part in this video. This part features riders like: Scotty Cranmer, Ryan Nyquist, Gary Young and many more. Mike Aitken is also in this part and does some crazy wallride variations. Next would be the Roots Jam AM comp. This part is filled with lots of young riders that just tear up the ramps. Patrick King is way too good for his size, its crazy. Definitely another amazing part.
Last part is a slide show of some new products that are coming out from many major companys. Then credits. Bonus: Has a Strike Anywhere music video, good band. Then 2 other music video from bands I don't know of. Overall, I give this movie a 9 out of 10. I would give it a full 10 but it has a TON of ads in it. Most of which I have seen before so it was kind of weird.
Tobias Wicke on the cover. Photo by Kay Clauberg.
Leif Valin profile.
Jim McKay, thecomeup.com, december 2012: What a breath of fresh air this is. I haven’t seen a new video part from Leif in years, and yet people still talk about him; proof that his riding has left an indelible mark on Flatland. With his trademark dead-pan humor, this video follows him through various entertaining interviews with things like: parts catalogs, handlebars, and even a back wheel. Leif’s creative and ambidextrous riding style is no joke though, and still just as impressive to me today as it was when it was filmed. Treat yourself to this rad little video of a true legend.
Vancouver Metro Jam.
Spain/ Portugal Road Trip with Sergio Layos and Ruben Alcantara.
Insight: South Australia Stowaway Road Trip.
Bonus: Props Issue #40 Summer 2001.
Ruben Alcantara on the cover.
Leif Valin profile.
Coalition Team Road Trip Las Vegas to Salt Lake City
FBM Ghetto Street Comp Binghamton, NY
Animal Brooklyn banks jam NYC, NY
Adam Baker bio
Stephen Lilly Bio
Backyard Jam Derby UK
Bonus Props VM Issue #9 Summer 1995 (Jay Miron Interview, Jody Donnelly Interview, The Ravine Ft Wayne IN Jumping Jam, Daredevils Of Dirt Southpark PA, Woodward Camp Pit Stop, Chicago IL Pit Stop, Rampage Jam Davenport, IA, Funbox Jam Appleton, WI.
Shipping March 1st.
redwin, www.bmx-test.com, august 2005:
FBM Ghetto Street Comp: I thought this part was awesome. With same familiar faces like Shawn Arata, Rob Tibbs, Dirty Dan, Jim Bauer, and Jim Cielencki. But like any other video there’s always some new faces like Tony Cardona, Brian Hunt, Matt Vincent, Karl Poynter, Matt Plassman, Dave Wagner, Jake Seeley, Paul Horan, Ben Hittle, and Will Love. With those riders and moves like tailwhip to pedal to 270, Roof drop to rail, 180 over box jump to fullcab out, and massive fakie wallrides. I doubt you’ll be disappointed by this section.
Stephen Lilly Bio: I was kind of disappointed by this section because Stephen is an awesome rider but nothing really make me stop and rewind when I was watching this part but with moves like gap to manual to toboggan, long icepick to fakie, and a feeble to manual to barspin this section is enjoyable.
Coalition Roadtrip: Mike Tag, Ryan Metro, Tony Hamlin, Joe Rich, John Povah, and Greg Walsh pack up and head to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Along the way riding with people like Elf, David Askvig, and Tyrone Bradley and doing some moves like tire grab to table over a hip, gap to wallride, smith to 270, and a rafter tiretap. This section kept me watching and had me rewinding a couple times.
Brooklyn Banks Jam: Now we all know that the Brooklyn banks are awesome as hell and setting loose some heavy hitters like Vinnie Sammon, Edwin Delarosa, Grimaldo Duran, and Van Homan just makes this section a little more awesome but like all the other sections in this video there’s some new faces like Nick Pontario aka Spam, Dominick biro, Mike Brennan, Blackman, and Gino Schetini. Also with moves like crooking a rail next to a wall, x-up ride to tailwhip, and a feeble to barspin crankflip( had to rewind that one a couple times) makes this section just as memorable as the jam it’s self.
Adam Baker Bio: This section wasn’t really what I’d choose to ride or even watch but Adam Baker is a badass at the trails so I doubt this section is going to disappoint the trail riders out there.
Backyard Jam: I thought this section was good. With riders like Sergio Layos, Cory Martinez, Van Homan, Wiz, Kevin Porter,Will Jackson, John Rodgers, Chris Doyle, Dirty Dan Bogard, Rooftop, and John Heaton and with moves like 270 to ice to back over, flair on spine lip, opposite wallride to downside whip, a massive gap to feeble, and a flip to fufanu I doubt you’ll hate this section.
The Final Verdict: This video was good. I gave the music in it a 7 and the video over all a 8 so borrow it from your friend or something now stop looking at this review and checking your myspace at the same time and get out and ride.
Stephen Lily on the cover.
Coalition Road Trip featuring Joe Rich, Mike Tag, Tony Hamlin, Ryan Metro, Justin Inman and others.
Disk #1, issue #56 includes:
Toronto Metro Jam
Morgan Wade interview
Woozy BMX Jam Cologne Germany
Ratty Bike Fest Milwaukee WI
Atlanta GA Scene Report
Empire Thanks for Saying Thanks Jam Austin TX
Props issue #6
Disk #2: RED BULL NO PROBLEMO, Red Bull Drenaje.
Props Video Magazine Issue #56 will be shipping June 1st, 2005.
Fafa, www.databmx.com, june 2005: Fouuuu, je sais plus comment présenter une props, ça se renouvelle tellement.... mais je peux vous dire que ce numéro mérite le visionage, car son contenu est bien long et bien dense avec de la belle cascade:
- Toronto Metro Jam: on n'est pas déçu par la quantité car le report est bien (un poil) long entrecoupé de mini interview relativement amusant (par Crandall). C'est du riding épique, jugez plûtot: flair whip énorme de Morgan Wade, Gary Young en transfert whip indécent, Van Homan gap to rail, gros whip en gap, Josh Harrington manual to over rail, bunny hop bus to rail... et des petits jeunes qui défoncent comme Will Love, Briant Hunt
- Georgia scene report; passage moyen j'ai pas trouvé ça génial
- Empire jam: ouah, trop d'ambiance à cette jam et du super riding avec Danny Hickerson en démo de whip et de tech. Les locaux s'occuppent de faire le spectacle comme Aaron Ross, Morgan Wade ou Dylan Smith.
- Morgan Wade: attention à ce rookie, vous allez en entendre parler... Eh ouai, on est pas déçu de l'interview de la star du moment avec un bon profile à l'ancienne avec pleins de mecs qui posent des questions. Morgan nous parle de ces débuts, de Mutiny, de sa Golf GTI (RIP), de ces projets, de son poney... de tout quoi , vraiment sympa. Et le riding...ba, ce mec est un fou et il sait tout faire.
- Ratty fest: c'est le contest par équipe organisé par Kevin Porter. On y retrouve des têtes connus et les locaux du 4 seasons skate park. C'est que du bon!
- Woozy jam: une peu du vieux continent avec un festival de Will Jackson.
Tom Finch, www.streetphire.co.uk: This is the next installment of the Props issues and as ever this one fails to disappoint. It starts off with the 2005 Metro Jam, which is the best I have seen in a while with dozens of amazing tricks done on every ramp there. This section actually lasts for at least 20 minutes, which I thought was really good and it was pretty much worth the £16 just for that.
After that we get a scene report from Atlanta Georgia which personally I didn’t enjoy too much, it was packed with tricks that I had seen a hundred times before and it didn’t really impress me too much.
Next up way the Empire jam in Texas which I really enjoyed, which included total shredders like Morgan Wade, Aaron Ross and Danny Hickerson. This section is limited to one skate park but you get to see some real amazing riding from loads of people and there seems to be a good feeling about the jam which I liked a lot.
Then we have something that a lot of people will be looking forward to seeing, the Morgan Wade interview, and from my point of view it is both funny, interesting and full of incredible riding that you're probably used to from him and if you think you have seen all he can do, you need to watch this interview. This interview also clocks in at around 15 minutes so you again are really getting your money's worth when it comes to the amount of footage.
After that we have another jam from the 4 Seasons skate park in Milwaukee, again this is a really good jam that shows a lot of crazy tricks but you do see a lot of the same sort of stuff twice which isn’t too good but over all I did enjoy watching it and it is something extra on an already a substantial video.
Lastly we have the Woozy jam from Germany. This little section was quite good but not brilliant, it was a little short and didn’t offer much that I hadn’t already seen before in this issue. It is good to see different riding from different parts of the world but in this case it was the usual sort of stuff but other than that it was good to see an English lad like Will Jackson getting the majority of the footage in the section.
My verdict of this video is very positive, I really enjoyed the Metro jam, Empire jam and Morgan Wade interview and all the other stuff was just an added bonus. This issue did contain a lot of jams and comps but it certainly could have been a lot worse, I really liked the majority of music in the video which usually my feeling for most Props videos these days.
Overall I think this issue of props is definitely worth the quite reasonable £16 and along with the great footage in the main section, you also get Props issue 9 as a bonus which is also quite pleasing and you even get the Redbull ‘No problemo DVD’ as a 2 disk set.
Morgan Wade on the cover.
57 starts off with a report from the Rebel Jam in Berlin, another example that the Props production has become international. Stew actually stayed for another week to do a Berlin scene report but it rained so much that week that he has to come back another time. The weekend of the Rebel Jam saw plenty of riding though which you can find back in issue 57 with riding from Hannuh Cools, Markus Wilke, Ryan Guettler, Rueben Alcantara, Bommel, Kye Forte, Alessandro Barbero, Sergio Layos and Sergei Geyer at the Mellowpark. The report ends with an insane tailwhip drop-in from Van Homan.
Still don't know what to think of them Shadow commercials. If you get it, let us know.
Minnesota scene report is up next and Tom Haugen is from there so he gets a big chunk of that action. Trails, pools, skateparks, street, backyard ramps, Minnesota seems to have it all as long as you pack everything together in a 5 minute section. Jonah Lidberg is a well rounded rider Eric Holley is another local to be reckoned with.
Jesse Whaley from Oregon gets the Bio. Jesse rides for Failure bikes and pretty much is a loose canon. Thne it's time for the Subdivision contest, followed by a St.Louis scene and an Albe's compe before getting to the Kink Demolition Derby where riders destroy their sponsored cars in the mud. After decorating the cars in their sponsor's scheme, the riders took it to the arena for a muddy ride. Very funny indeed. A bit of fire left and right didn't hold George Dossantos back to win it in the RedBull car.
The women of flatland jam (WOF-JAM) at Chengaworld pretty much wraps up the issue. Erin Donato kicks ass riding flatland and Nina Burtrago represents the women well on the street course. A few guys are mixed in with the session which gets you thinking when they're doing trains of 720-s over the box and nosepick tailwhip variations.
New products make it to the end of the issue before the credits start running. Props have been around for a long time, let's hope they'll continue with all their great video productions.
Tom Finch, www.streetphire.co.uk: TThis is the most recent issue from Props to date and as always is full of stuff that makes you want to ride. It starts off with the Rebel jam from Berlin Germany which is a typical contest really with some amazing park and dirt riding from people like Ryan Guetller, Hannu Cools, Sergio Layos, Kye Forte and Van Homan.
Next up is a Minneapolis scene report, for me this has been the best scene report from props for along time with some amazing park, trails and in particular street riding from people such as Josh Nendza, Tom Haugen and Johan Lidberg.
Then we have a Bio from a little know rider called Jesse Whaley who is in my opinion a pretty underrated rider from the north-west who has got some mad skill on street, hopefully see more from him in the future.
After that there’s the Subdivision trade show jam which again is just another typical contest but also has some mad tricks in it from a lot of new faces, theres quite a few tricks that stand out such as Joe Riley’s 360s which are ridiculous, a barspin to ice-pick to 270 out on a really high sub box and also a front flip over a jump box which lead him to hitting the ceiling the first time.
Another scene report comes next and this time its from St. Louis and it contains a lot of park footage with a little bit of street and a few clips of some trails, quiet a good section which lasts a while so you cant complain.
The next section is the Kink demolition derby which has been put on by Kink and it consists of different BMX companies getting a rider to drive for them and basically the car that isn’t in 1000 pieces at the end wins.
Overall I think this was a good video, it was on for a decent length of time which is always good and also contained some really good riding from all areas, it was well filmed and edited (as always) and for me that’s almost as important as the riding that it shows.
Cole Todorovich on the cover.
Brian Wizmerski Interview
Shitluck Midwest Road Trip
Vancouver MetroJam Vancouver BC Canada
Red bull Elevation Dirt Comp Whistler BC Canada
Animal Brooklyn Banks Jam NYC, NY
Maryland Scene Report
Colin Winkelmann Memorial
We The People 10 Days in Poland Road trip
Bonus: Props Passport 2001 (Fise Contest Palavas France, Bike 2001 and French Road Trip)
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com, december 2005: Issue # 58 of Props is full of content. It starts off with a Colin Winkelmann memorial which has some real old school footage where you can see how Colin did it. He went big, from alley oop transfers, double flips in 1995 to jumping a bunch of cars. The interview that Leigh Ramsdell and Eugene did with him is a classic and also on this issue of Props. For that alone it's a must have if you ever had the chance to meet Colin. Now that we're in the bonus section, you can also find a Dogs in the Fog clip of the wethepeople crew in Poland. If that's not international enough for you, #58 comes with the full Passport 2001 issue with footage from the FISE comp in Palavas, France, Bike 2001 in Birmingham, UK and a French road trip.
But let's go back to the curent time where tricks have gone absurd. The Elevation dirt contest in Whistler, Canada is absolutely insane and the footage shows how big the jumps really are. Triple whips, frontflips, it's all on tape. The Shitluck team went on a trip to the MidWest and hit spots that the Local Exposure tour visited and then some. Just more street riding that doesn't disappoint with riders like Ross Tanner, Billy Ashby, Derek Girard, KP, Wood, TAG and Metro. Luck wasn't on their side though. Injuries, tickets but what else can you expect from the Shitluck team?
S&M's Brian Wizmerski gets a full on interview from his home casino and the Metro jam always attracts the best riders which results in the best contest footage for a video like Props. There's actually a bunch of commercials in between the sections which I don't think is bad because it's just more riding footage. They're too short to walk to the fridge to get another beer so there's nothing to complain about. Unless you're thirsty. Ben Hittle is a standout in the Maryland scene report. The dude is killing it. He has picked up a sponsorship in the meantime. I swear I read it somewhere. The Hittle name just stuck and you'll be hearing more of him.
In New York they do things different. The Animal Brooklyn Banks Jam is a wild session where people went extremely nuts whether the bricks were wet or dry. $40 bucks for a long distance ramp to ramp jump for instance. It wasn't won by Turtle I can tell you that much. $120 bucks for craziest trick had some stunts going on in NYC that are worth checking out.
The product section of the video magazine had all kind of stuff in it. The slideshow goes quick so work that Pauze button if you want to check something out.
The Props Credits section always has some funny footy. $40 bucks buys you a complete BMX bike at Interbike but does it survive the test? Keith Mulligan always travels in style (limo) and there are more funny BMX bloopers that you'll never see on the Funniest Home Videos.
Keith Terra shot the pic for the cover; Cameron Wood 180 over a hefty rail.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com, march 2006: Props really caught me with this one. To do reviews you need to find time to watch the DVD and then watch it again while you type up your review. With 7 other DVD's on the stack to review on FATBMX, it's hard to find time to finish it all. Props usually produces a decent length issue every time but this one was over 2 hours long. There was no need to add another previous issue of Props to #59 as they had maxed out on time already with all the footy.
Seems like #59 seriously goes down as the best one yet. I know we keep saying that but with the variety of the riding and spots, it's really a video that you need to see. The Backyard jam at the end of last year was off the hook. Street is where it's at and with almost a hundred riders on course you know that the finals will rule. The section is almost 8 minutes long and full of big tricks from Aitken, Osato, Hennon, Young and the others.
Luke Fink gets a well deserved BIO. The dude rips. Give him concrete, vert, street or a wooden mini, he will come up with tricks that will impress you. The Aussie came over to Europe a few years ago and no one knew who he was. On the same trip he grabbed the world's title in pro street. That changed everything. Luke has a full bag of tricks and can adapt it to any terrain. His Bio shows that. Samples? 720-s, big kinked rails and a looping in a skatepark capsule.
The Colorado scene report shows that there are spots everywhere and riders with lots of talent. Mulisha fighter Troy McMurray is a veteran but Bonner, Probst, Meister, Cox, Jarman, Vigil, Jones, Miles, Fuller, Cordova, Able, Chin, Tencza, Deveraux, Jensen, Williams, Schlienz and A.J. Anaya are names you might not be so familiar with. AJ Anaya is that rider in the jersey. It seems to give him extra pedal power. The report goes on and on with exciting riding and spots that'll make you jealous.
Catfish is on the MIC for the last Chenga comp and riders are killing themselves one more time for the $14,= purse. Dorito goes for big transfers and actually all the riding is sick. Too bad the park had to close but the riders at Chenga made the last session count.
Jim Bauer gets the next BIO and boy can he take a crash. He's not only the art director for Odyssey but count him in as a test pilot too. Good part full of street riding.
Next up the Baco jam in Florida with several standouts such as Daniel Dhers (frontflipping the spine), Jeremiah Jones (barspin disaster on the wall), Mark P with an icepick on the wall to 270 in and Anthony Cico with a fakie wallride tailwhip. What's this world coming to?
Build it and they will come. Matt Bischoff must have had some visitors lately who wanted to ride his RedBull Build-Off built backyard. Say that 5 times fast. Real street happened at the Battle Royale in the UK. It gives this issue another international touch. You gotta check it out. Tree bikes went on tour and they did not sleep. How they managed to ride is beyond me, especially when they eat raw meat from a cooler that didn't work in 100+ temperatures. Maybe you've noticed I'm trying to wrap up things quick here as this whole Props reviewing is starting to kill my free time.
There's a jam in Racine at yet another great park that lets the bikes in. With the tapes being edited by the Props crew it sure makes for some good clips. Same goes for the 1664 Street Justice comp over in Canada. 1664 distributes several brands such as FIT, Volume, Demoliton, S&M and Eastern and they sent some riders over for the comp. Berringer, Wise, Aitken, Stuyvesant and Fisher rode with the Canadian locals on a more than decent street course.
After a product review the DVD continues with the ever funny credits. The bonus section this time is from an Adio Footwear team trip.
Just buy it.
