Fidelity April 2013 Issue

Yup, its that time of the month again.  Fidelity's April issue is here, and it's jam packed with good stuff.  Featuring Jon Reyes, Jean-Yves "JD" Randriambelson, Magray Scooter Co, Matt McKeen and Coedie Donovan.  That is one hell of a lineup.  I haven't even watched them at the time of writing this but this doesn't look like one I want to miss.

Welcome to Elyts: Lambert Judith

Lambert aka LARD recently got picked up by Elyts and responsed by destroying Barcelona for this video.  Super clean, super tech, super LARD.  Lambert's riding is so fun to watch.  Now that he's on Elyts, will we be seeing him in America?  I hope so.

Sculpture Apparel

It's about time we see another apparel company in the industry. We've only seen a few of them actually come out, and last. While most of them drop out pretty quick. Sculpture is owned and operated by Johann Moreau, Olivier Poinsignon (Did the Addict Sig Art), and Edouard Roussel. Legit line up of dudes.

I personally know the Team riders that ride for Sculpture as well, and it is a stacked group of shredders. The Team will be announced on April 13th, so look out for that. Also on April 8th, there will be a new trailer posted.

Sculpture is also hosting a "Best Street Line" contest at the iconic Montreux competition. The Sculpture website will be going live on April 13th, and you're going to want to be there to be one of the first people to check out their stuff. For now we have a sneak peek at one of their designs which you can see below.

Gryndo Parktage

Andrew Cordova and Ian Herncjar take advantage of the beautiful Colorado concrete in this clip for Gryndo.  Andrew has some chill, flow riding and Ian makes everything look too easy.  That gap to lip at the end was so good.  Makes you wanna cruuuuuise a bowl.

Cameron Poe Raw Park Clips

This kid got way too good way too fast.  Hurricane cabdriver to fakie?  And that last combo.  Proto is lucky to have snatched him up before someone else did.

Dialed Scooter Magazine New Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

Dialed is up on their Social Media game and it's looking good. If you guys want to see exclusive content, future content updates, and even have some chances to get featured in Dialed yourself..you definitely need to be following Dialed.

Derek Seay Spring Edit

Derek is an edit dropper, and that's a good thing. He keeps his edits coming out pretty regularly, and while that makes it harder to see a lot of progression, it does equal some solid riding. There's a 360 heel down a set in here that looks really sick. Check out his spring edit below, and I'm guessing we'll be seeing a summer edit soon.

Proto Catalyst on Youtube

Proto uploaded everybody's Catalyst parts to Youtube today.  The whole thing has been up on Vimeo for a couple years now but now the individual parts are up for you to see for free.  This is one of the most influential videos in scooter history so if you haven't watched it before, be sure to set aside the 50 mins to watch each part.  And if you have seen it already, watch it again because it is a timeless classic.  The first section is owner Andrew Broussard's, click on through to their Youtube page to watch the rest.

ADVCT: Evan Yamada and Ryan Gould at Epic

ADVCT was representing at the Epic comp this weekend, and got these clips of Evan and Ryan.  These guys have always been two of the cleanest, most technical riders and they come through with some rad clips.  Back lip doublewhip down a rail is ridiculous.

Lucky Scooters | Epic Spring Scooter Comp Edit

Lucky was in attendance at the Epic comp last weekend and the team got this footage.  It starts off with footage of Kota shredding the miniramp, then moves on to James, Blake and Mike in the street section.  Watch for Blake's switch back lip, looked so good.

Ludovic Pistat Signature Deck Promo

Ludo broke his foot a few months ago and so this footage isn't quite his fullest, 100% healthy effort.  But don't let that fool you- Ludo can still do some serious shredding.  He really shines on the miniramp and on rails.  Also, for those of you not familiar with the metric system, his sig deck is about 20.08 inches long by 4.45 inches wide.  With a headtube angle of 83 degrees, if you missed it.

FSC Vol.2 Official Trailer

FSC is coming up fast, and I can only hope it is as sick as it was last time around. The trailer does a great job of showing how crazy it was last year. Check it out below, and for more information head over to their website

http://www.freestylescootercontest.com/

Jake Clark Body Varial

I've only seen a handful of Body Varials done before. the difference with this one is that it is from Envy pro rider, Jake Clark. What that means is that in the next month or so, we are probably going to see him throw the same trick with a bunch of different combos. Looking forward to it.

Ryan Williams Lands "The Silly Willy" at Nitro Circus Live

When it comes to a rider that is changing peoples minds about scootering, it isn't a street rider, or someone racking up First Place wins at competitions. It's Ryan Williams. Ryan is a part of Nitro Circus Live, and is riding with some of action sports top riders on a daily basis. Not only is he changing their opinions on scootering, he is changing the opinions of everyone that came out to see the show. And he's doing it by landing tricks like, The Silly Willy. I really do wonder if Ryan has any limits to what he can or can't do on a scooter. Check it out below.

Phoenix Pro Scooters: Barcelona Trip 2013

Phoenix sent Dan Barrett and Evan Larson to BCN for the street jam and to film with Pol Acena.  This was the result.  Sick to see some more footage of Evan, I'm still waiting for his HIDFPT video.  Pol did a nice job putting this together, he came through with some good clips and of course Dan did too, as always.

Jon Devrind Harder Than You Think

Jon Devrind hasn't put out a video in some time, and after watching the video below, it was worth the wait. Jon has always been known for his tech riding, and he definitely has plenty of good tech clips in the video. He also has the ability to make double bars, and bar to bars look incredibly easy, which in street, they're not. Check out Jon's latest below.

Johan Grunwald: Istanbul vs JoeRollin

HooTigh and Phase Two rider Johan Grunwald recently went to Istanbul on a school trip, but that didn't stop him from stacking some clips. Gotta love that huge 3 whip at the end. Check it out.

The Phoenix Session

We have been very happy with the performance of our flagship deck the Reventon; for over a  year it has serviced thousands of riders across the globe with a balanced freestyle scooter deck. There is no doubt in our durability, just ask our customers. We have noticed a strong pull towards over-labeling decks. Park decks… Street decks… and so on. A good deck is a good deck, plain and simple. With that mindset, we began the development of our new model: The Phoenix Session.

Back to the words, plain and simple. Inspired by Evan Larson, Pro rider from Beaverton Oregon, the Session embodies a clean look as well as maintaining high performance. Being made in the USA, normally means a higher price point, but lean manufacturing methods allow us to offer the new Session deck at MSRP $179.95 USD!  It’s been past due, but now we can offer our loyal customers a new model at the same price points of many of our oversea competitors. The new wave is upon us and this deck will be leading the way with high quality MADE IN THE USA products. As soon as we were able to get some prototypes we turned to Evan Larson to hear what he had to say after taking it for a cruise.

A difference from the production models versus the one you see in the video is the P. Yes, back by popular demand the P cut head tube. After testing the waters with the signature Jon Reyes Reventon; it was a landmark that had to make a return.

Overall Deck Specs

4.25 inches wide on top ( approx 10.8 cm)

4 inches grinding surface on bottom ( approx 10.2 cm)

82.5 Head Tube angle.   GUARANTEED!

4 Degree Concave.

Fabricated with 6061 T6 Aluminum – Made in the USA!

Heat Treated to Aerospace Standards.

Short Model Specs

19.5 Inches Long ( approx 49.5 cm)

Short extrusion  length allow for short radius for rotations of tail whips and scooter flips. Great for Park obstacle style riding.

Long Model Specs

21 inches long ( approx 53.5 cm)

Long extrusion length allows for extra foot space and a stronger stance to absorb the force when riding in a street environment. 

Now the best part is saved for last;  our launch has been moved up. With everything being made in-house we were able to start the production early and get these decks rolling. No worries on anything being rushed, every piece that goes out will be up to Phoenix quality. The new Phoenix Session Deck will be available in under a month with the launch week of April 15th-19th! Get ready and get excited and be watching the Phoenix Pro Scooters Facebook and all our news partners for updates regarding the Session. Believe it or not, there’s plenty of more surprises on the way.

- Our Team at Phoenix Pro Scooters

www.PhoenixProScooters.com

Fidelity Online Video Magazine Trailer

Fidelity put this video together as a trailer for their Youtube channel, which is using the new "One Channel" layout design.  Pretty self explanatory.  Fidelity always has something going on so be sure to check out their official website.

The Ride Wire: Back Again

During the early years of the sport, forums were an integral part of scooter riding.  With so few riders spread throughout the world, they would congregate online, forming a tight-knit community.  As time went on, riders logged on and off, trolls had their heyday, hackers and spambots wreaked havoc, and the quality of forums slowly declined.  Today, somebody is trying to change that.  Chris Gascoigne, already an accomplished rider and industry guy, has resurrected one of the most popular forums, the RideWire.  He recently opened the site to the public and I hit him up to get the full scoop.






Jordan Jasa:  What is the RideWire?

Chris Gascoigne:  The Ride Wire is a community for freestyle scooter riders.

The original Ride Wire forum was started by Brian Boston a few years back.  What made you want to start it back up?

Yea that's right, the original Ride Wire was created by Brian Boston. Brian actually helped me on a few steps of setting this new website up, he's a great guy.

I saw a need that the scooter community had that wasn't being properly addressed. In the past the Ride Wire was such an awesome community and I wanted to try and bring that vibe back. I've worked really hard on the forum side of things and am really happy with the way it has turned out. I feel that it's a great starting point for the new Ride Wire.

What makes the RW better than the other forums?
That's a great question. My answer may sound kind of contradictory but it isn't. My main goal for the Ride Wire is to build a community place built on Unity. After all, you cannot spell community without unity. What sets the Ride Wire apart is the fact that we are taking advantage to technologies that are available to us to better serve our members. We have integrated a Thank/Like/Dislike system already. We've also brought back the Chatbox which is proving to be a popular place already. The main things that set us apart is support and feedback. We have a suggestion sub-forum that gets taken seriously. If you have an idea submit it, I'll do my best to make it a reality. As long as its in the best interest of the community of course.

That sounds awesome.  Is there anything else you'd like to add about RW?

Certainly. My hopes for the Ride Wire is to create a community free of hate and teaming with support. It is my personal belief that the sport is in our hands to do what we want with. We catch a lot of negativity just because we do what we do. We should be constructive with each other instead of tearing each other down. Join the Ride Wire if you want to be apart of what makes our sport great. Thank you Jordan, Steven T and Inside for the opportunity to talk a bit about what the Ride Wire is and where we want to go!

Phoenix Throwbacks: Cooper Klaar

Phoenix has a lot of footage that when unused after it scrapped a DVD project.  Instead of letting that footage go to waste, they are deciding to release each rider's footage in a Throwback video. Most of this footage is from 2011, so in scooter years, its like five years old.  Starting the series off is none other than Cooper Klaar.  These clips show Cooper in the height of his tiny bar stage (before his signature bars came out), where he was able to throw double bars and bar/opp bar combos like nothing.  It's been a while since Coop released footy, I'm stoked on this.

PRIVATE PROPERTY COWBOYS

So this video is to announce that a teaser for Friendly's full-length Lux is coming soon.  It also informs you that longboarding is not gnarly, in case you didn't know.  Lux has been a long time coming (check this promo from nearly two years ago) and I can't wait til its here.

Ryan Gould 3 in 1

When R Gould and C Groom get together, it goes down. The below videos are some of their more recent work together, and Ryan assures me that they are going to continue to get a lot of edits done this year.

One thing you'll notice in the Cruisin Da Streets 2 edit is that Ryan explains that he is no longer with Phoenix. Shocked? I know I was. In the video he mentions he's been riding decks like the Envy, Districts, and the AO Epsilon, a deck I keep hearing good things about. Who knows where Ryan is going to end up, but wherever he ends up, that's one major addition to that Team.

HSHB Raw Andrew Haag

My favorite HSHB Raw Edit yet. This one features The Haag. Who honestly looks like one of the funnest dudes you could possible ride with. Check it out below.

Matt Andrus: ROOTS

Matt, being one of scooter riding's OG pioneers, has been around for a long time.  He grew up riding with his brother John, who now rides bikes in shows, builds skateparks, and films bmx/skate videos for a living.  He was the one originally filming Matt back in the day, so it seems fitting that the Andrus brothers would reunite again for this video about Matt.  In it he talks about how he started, getting on the original Micro team, and more.  Matt is one of the most genuine people I've ever met in this sport, and he really sums it up nicely- "If its not fun, then you need to take a step back, and check yourself".    After that quote we get some rad footage, from Southern Cali and Wisconsin.

Haske Scooter Shop- Vilanova Parktage

This short clip features Javi Trepat and his homie Kitus during a morning park session.  Both of these guys shred.  Noseblunt down a rail is ridiculous.

Barcelona Street Jam 2013

Javi Trepat and the Haske Scooter Shop organized this year's BCN Street Jam.  This event has been going on for a few years now and each year seems to get better and better.  Hill bomb seems like a great way to end the day.  Shoutout again to Haske and the sponsors putting on a great event.

Jack Dye Unfair Scooters Raws/Throws

Jack continues to impress me with each bit of footage he releases.  Whip front feeble, front feeble heel line was awesome.  The speed, style, and cleanliness are all on point.  Always looking forward to the next video of him, and any Unfair rider.

Chicago Scramble #3

They ain't ready.  This one features the biggest list of riders thus far, including Jeff Mroz, Kirk Svensson, Dylan Becker, Conor Davidson, Collin Snoek, Justin Lacosse, Jordan Jasa, and Zach Johnston.  Zach and I went up there this St Paddy's weekend and while it was super cold, I can tell you these are as fun as they look.

Freestyle Scooter Video Contest

Some awesome people are putting together this contest to fly out two deserving riders to a contest in France.  Check out this press release:

Today we launch the Freestyle Scooter Video Contest.
The Freestyle Scooter Video Contest is a  video competition that will give the possibilities  to the 2 winners to be invited as a STAR  at the Freestyle Scooter Contest  Vol.2 the  13th and 14th April at the Hangar Skatepark  in Nantes - France.
To participate,  send us a video on our website : www.freestylescootervideocontest.eu .
Registration is free and open to all. The videos should be sent before March 30, 2013.

To try being in the 10 videos submitted to our jury of experts, share your video on the social networks (Facebook, Twitter…) and try to get as much votes as possible.
Only the votes posted on freestylescootervideocontest.eu will be counted.
The 2 winners will be invited at the free Freestyle Scooter Contest Vol.2. The organizers will take care of the transport and the hotel for the 2 winners.

The results will be published on the 3rd of April, 2013 on www.freestylescootervideocontest.eu

For the complete rules: www.freestylescootervideocontest.eu/rules/
For the registration: www.freestylescootervideocontest.eu/submit-your-video/

Phoenix Presents: Woodward West February 2013

I dunno if you noticed but Phoenix's team is stacked.  The guys (and girl) featured in this one are Lewis Williams, Dan Barrett, Kiara Meade, Josh Toy, Raymond Warner, and Jeremy Mallot, with Lewis coming all the way from England.  Looked like Dan had quite the beard, that thing is gnarly haha.  Ray's line, the riding and filming, were executed perfectly.

Trevor Pritchard Welcome to Unfair

Unfair's most recent US addition is Basic Bunch's Trevor Pritchard.  Hailing from New Jersey, Trevor joins Jona Humbel on the team.  A "bunch" of other guys are to be added still, keep your eyes out for more "Welcome to Unfair" videos.

JD Throwaway 2011

Jandiv's throwaway is good enough to be anyone's banger footage.  This selection of clips spans across France, Switzerland, and the US.  JD's best footage was used in his Addict So What part, be sure to check that one out.  Even a couple years later, 360 whip to smith (not from feeble) is still an insane trick.

District Takes on Philly

Cam Ward, Tommy Christiana, and Tom Mattingly recently got their shred on in the city of brotherly love.  Ryan Upchurch was there to capture it all in this chill little video.  Super smooth, dialed riding from these guys.

Freestyle Depot- Introducing Zach Martin!

Zach is an SD local and recently got on the FD shop team.  He's an upcoming shredder for sure.  Front board at the Home Ave ditch was so sick.  Looking forward to more from this guy.

Billy Watts- Backflip Stair Set

I think we all knew this was coming.  Ever since people started doing flip dropins, it was only a matter of time.  Billy gets it done down a three block.  So backflip, half cab flair, and 180 flip to fakie have all been done down drops.  Whats next?

HSHB Tyler Wheeland RAW

Next up in Hella Grip's raw footage compilations is Tyler Wheeland.  Not a ton of footage but the clips he did get were tight.  The over 5050 thing is so crazy.

Jimmy Albano Rat Early 2013 Micro Edit

Jimmy The Rat's tech game is up there for sure. Dude throws combos for days, and they're all looking good. I usually don't get too into grind combos, after grind combos, but Jimmy keeps it fresh. Loving all of his heelwhips too. Check him out and be on the look out for his next edit.

David Ramirez 2013 Edit

This dude has the potential to be a real force in the street scene if he keeps it up. Not exactly a well known name, but that can change if he progresses with his next edit. Might want to pick up the speed on some of those flat lines, with riders like Monky setting a new standard for flat lines and speed, other riders aren't going to be able to get by with slow riding in edits anymore. Overall, this was super fun to watch, and there are some really solid clips throughout the whole thing.

Phoenix Scooters Combo Contest March 2013

I would have so entered this a few years ago.  The details are in the video, but to reiterate, make a video, any length, showing your best tech combos, and post it on Phoenix's facebook page by Sunday the 25th.  Top three places get prizes.  After Dan and Jon explain the contest, they show some ridiculous clips to get you inspired.

The Return of Baboon Jonny

So Casey Dehaven, team manager and pro rider for Gryndo, recently spotted none other than Jonny Yocum and started riding with him.  For those of you who don't know, "Baboon" Jonny was part of one of the most chill and OG crews in the sport.  He had some of the most steezy, flowy, technical park riding ever.  After not filming a single clip over the past five years, he returns in this video with Casey.  He seems like he's doing great, awesome to see.  I'm hoping we can see a full part of him in the future too.

AO Scooter Lock

This is actually so useful.  Who knows how many times a scooter has been stolen after leaving it unattended outside a store (or stripclub)?  This solves that.  Cory Vanlew takes us through the product and how it can be used.

Legends of Brick Park

Jake Hershey put on what sounds like was an awesome event at Brick Park, one of New Jersey's classic skateparks.  In addition to the dozens of people who showed up, there was a band, DJ, and giveaways.  Brick has been ridden by a lot of scooter riders for a really long time.  I'll always remember being so amazed by the huge front scooterflip that hip transfer by Jesse Macaluso in the Whip DVD.  Events like these are awesome for the sport, ups to Jake for putting it on.

Fidelity- #WINAGRIT

What's the best kind of scooter? A FREE ONE! Grit was kind enough to put a scooter up so we could give it away to one lucky kid! Here's how you win:

1.) Like the Grit Scooters USA facebook
2.) Post a pic of you and your scooter on Instagram and use #winagrit

*** Contest ends March 21st at 12PM Eastern Standard Time (USA) and winner will be chose at random ***

Please give Fidelity a follow on the gram @fidelitymag
Thanks for the support everyone!

Eaglesport/HooTigh: Brandon James

It's seriously amazing how well this kid can ride, much less with the baggy clothes.  Although I'm guessing that's the reason he doesn't do any barspins.  That's the tradeoff I guess.  Anyway Brandon kills it and this is a dope edit.

George Gartlehner- Chills

George recently put out both these small clips videos.  Some supperrr tech stuff...last clip in Chills #2 was amazing.  I never even really thought about that trick, and he made it look easy.

UNIUN | Lewis Crampton- Technicalitea

Here is Uniun's Lewis Crampton making good use of his pegs through parks and street in the UK as well as Barcelona.  He's got tricks both backside and frontside, particularly excelling with the heelwhips.  Takes me back a few years to when these kinds of combos were more popular.

"Butter" Ft. Cory Vanlew

The AO crew were recently in Las Vegas filming for their DVD and these are some leftover clips they got.  It features Cory as well as Zig, Elliot Arnold, and a new face, Zack Martin.  It also promotes the AO deck and grindplates, which come in several different fancy colors.

Ethic DTC Australia Trip

Ethic spent two weeks in Brisbane and Sydney to ride and film, and this is the result.  Super gnarly park and street riding from everyone.  270 fingerwhip to bar was so huge.  Monky comes through with some super fast and smooth lines.  Jojo destroys rails.  Kevin, Salim, and Cyrille all get a clip too.  Awesome video, worth a couple watches for sure.

Scooterhut 20% Off Wheel Deal

To mark almost a year from opening our Sydney store, we'd like to offer a deal to our valued members.

We know wheels are the most frequently replaced part on a scooter, so from now on, if you are signed up in store at either Scooterhut Chatswood or Scooterhut Parramatta as a member, you are entitled to 20% off our wide selection of wheels. Proto, Root Industries, Eagle, Envy, MGP, Sacrifice, everything! This makes us the cheapest retailer of top quality wheels in the country, so come on in and snap up some serious savings at either of our stores.

*This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any of our other offers, including 25% off complete scooters, or discount vouchers*

Jessee Ikedah Envy Fork Promo

If this video makes you pause and rewind a few times, you're not alone.  Jessee gives a few specs on the new SOBv2 fork, which is "inspired" by Jessee, and then we're treated to five minutes of shredding.  Clip at 5:06 is one of the craziest things I've ever seen...and he does an even gnarlier trick on it later in the video.  I don't get how it was so deafeningly quiet after the banger...did he self film that or something?  Where's the props at?  Not too many people hitting a rail like that...

Jake Sorenson- HSHB RAW

Jake is just a young boy but puts down big tricks.  This is his raw footage that was filmed for Hella Grip's Hella Stoked and Hella Broke video.  Good stuff from the Squirrel.

Tyler Bonner: Welcome to Phoenix

Tyler, as you may know recently joined up with Phoenix Pro Scooters, after a long stint with Maddgear.  Takin it back to 2009 with the Ratatat song, classic.  He's still recovering from his knee injury but there are some rad clips.  Nose manual truck is still such a sick trick.  I'm still looking forward to what he can do when he gets back to 100%.

Sky High- Burnham and New Lenox Sessions

Back in the summer the crew filmed at a couple fun parks, Burnham and New Lenox.  Conor Davidson, Jon Knudtson, Kirk Svensson, Jeff Mroz are featured, and even the bossman Collin Snoek got a clip.  Just one thing though...is it still an indian giver if it's a full cab (Jon at 2:12)?  

Inside the Lens: Week #77

Photographer: Jessee Ikedah
Rider: Tyler Bradley
Trick: Hurricane
Location: Bellevue, Washington


-Must be attached in an email sent to ISpotw@live.com along with photographer name, rider name, trick name, and location.  No external links will be considered. -Sent by 11:59 PM CST every Saturday to be considered to be posted the next day. -Will be judged by composition, image quality, subject matter, feeling, and overall impression 

Rider: Tyler Bradley

Filmer: Noah Foley

Location: Samammish, Washington 

-Must be sent to IScotw@live.com along with filmer name, rider name, and location. -Sent by 11:59 PM CST every Saturday to be considered to be posted the next day. -Will be judged by riding, filming, editing, and overall impression. -Clips must be no longer than 30 seconds long, with no music. Color correction will be allowed.

Summer- YesPlease Crew

All this footage of people riding spots and outside in general makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  While it is definitely winter for those of us living in the American Midwest it is summer in the southern hemisphere, including New Zealand, where the YesPlease crew resides.  Lip 360 was so good, that trick is sooo hard to do well.

Unfair Scooters Teamtage

Unfair has been stackin some clips and decided to throw this team montage together.  Got me hyped for sure, the video includes the team (Reece Jones, Jack Dye, Nathan Fleming), manager (Regan Thompson), and owner (Rob Tratt).  Jack is seriously my hero, he killed it.

F*ck Winter Montage

Continuing the theme of steezy Europeans riding indoor parks, here are some of Austria's best riders during the recent winter months.  Tobias Mayer and company make those rail combos look easy.  Now if only warm weather would finally come so we could see everyone riding outside.

lortehundsi

I have no idea what "lortehundsi" means.  But I do know that Mathias Holst is in this video as well as a couple other guys, and they are super steezy.  Could watch these guys ride that indoor all day.

Weekend in Valli Indoor Park

Here we have some young Finnish shredders riding the new Valli park.  If you watch just one clip in this video, make it be the ender.  I seriously do not understand how that is possible.

Cameron Poe Proto/SZ

I heard of Cameron a while ago when he first got on Proto (flow team I think?) but I can't really remember seeing footage of him...which is too bad, because he clearly shreds.  That first clip, not expecting that at all.  And apparently this was all filmed in just three weeks, I'd love to see him work on a six month or so part.

Phoenix in Barcelona Interview Coming Soon

Dan Barrett and Evan Larson went over to Barcelona and met up with Pol Acena for the Barcelona Street Jam. Inside Scooters is going to be doing an interview with these dudes, equipped with photos, and an edit from the dudes. Stay tuned for this.

Robbie Menzeis Web Edit

I would be lying if I said I wish there weren't more park riders like Robbie. Huge airs, blasting barspins and whip combos, vert skills, and some manual and grind combos. Everything you need to me a sick park rider in my book. Best part about this park edit, was that I could actually name the tricks I was seeing, haha. A good change of pace from some of the more hectic park shredders out there for sure. Definitely worth the watch.

Lard Battle At Dissidence Warehouse

When French riders get together, whether it's at a warehouse, or in the streets, good riding is about to go down. These guys make riding look as fun as it's supposed to be. Everyone supporting each other, and just having a good time. Great Sesh at one of the most iconic places in France, the Dissidence Warehouse. Bangers galore in this thing, so keep your eyes open.

Ben Duncan Welcome to Vex

Ben Duncan has been comin up in the Australian street scene for a while now, and recently landed himself a spot on Vex.  Back feeble manual front feeble smith 3 was perfect.  Regarding that first clip, I'm gonna assume it gets so hot in Australia that you have to take a drink of water halfway through your line to prevent dehydration.

Fidelity Interview and March 2013 Issue

Ryan Upchurch, as I’m sure you guys know, has been active in the scene not only as a rider but in other ways for a long time.  He’s done photography, pieces for magazines, been a team manager, all on top of being one of the top pro riders today.  His latest endeavor is a video magazine, called Fidelity.  Coming out once a month, Fidelity Online Video Magazine features five video segments covering a wide range of content.  I hit up Ryan to get the full scoop on Fidelity. 

Jordan Jasa:  What exactly, in your own words, is Fidelity Online Video Magazine?

Ryan Upchurch:  Well, Fidelity is simply a monthly feed of video that is created for every scooter rider out there. It covers anything from events, pro interviews, and all sorts of other stuff. We are created by the rider, for the rider.  Also, we now provide constant news, updates, and one-of-a-kind articles.

It's awesome to see more and more riders creating content for the sport.  What made you want to start Fidelity?

Almost anyone who knows me knows that I love being behind the camera almost just as much as I love being on my scooter. I have been looking for ways of being more involved, so I put the two together. One of my biggest motivations though, is to give back to the scooter community.

Something that I will be doing a lot of once we gain support, and things get a little bit bigger. In our first few months now, we have already given a free entry to Woodward West away, given prizes to local contests, and also starting to do giveaways (something which I hope is a regular occurrence).

Giveaways are good.  You're not alone on this project though, Jake Hershey is on board as well.  How did that happen?

Jake has been a friend of mine for a long time prior to the creation of Fidelity. Soon after I came up with the idea, I was having a conversation with Jake about how much he wanted to work in the scooter community full-time, instead of working at a local pizza place. So, without any hesitation, I knew that he would be a great asset to Fidelity. I had in the back of my mind that Fidelity needed some sort of "host" and I didn't want to become the face of my own company. So, I got him started with the hosting, and soon after let him start knocking out some of the one-of-a-kind pieces that you see on the site today. Jake is a part of Fidelity, and I am glad to have a close friend working beside me on a project that I am so passionate about.

Jake is a good guy.  What is the process like, from the very beginning, of making a new episode?  A five part video every month does seem quite challenging.

Challenging is definitely a good word for it, but it is a worthy challenge, and one that I'm up for every month. The first thing that I do is see what major events are going on that month. I either attend and film the event myself, or hire one of the guys on my list of reliable videographers. If there are any majors tours, news regarding a pro rider, or anything of that nature I base some content around those things accordingly. It's important to me to promote the pro riders and what they're up to, so I try to have as much with the pros as possible. After all of the content has been decided upon, it's all filmed and edited. Sometimes this is all the way down to the day or two before the release due to events falling just a few days before the end of the month, but there are never any issues there (there is always content ready to fill in the gap if there are issues). After the content is done and ready to go, I meet up with Jake, knock out the intros, and the issue is complete! Putting the magazine together each month is time-consuming, but well worth it.

What’s your setup for filming and editing an episode?

I shoot all of my footage with a 7D, using one of my many lenses which are there for whatever focal length or effect I am trying to achieve. My lenses are as follows:

-Canon 50mm f/1.4

-Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8

-Sigma 15mm f/2.8 fisheye

-Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 fisheye

-Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8

I also use a rode pro video mic for when I shoot interviews, or anything that involves a rider or individual talking. I also use a Konova k3 slider for cinematic looking sliding shots at times.  As far as editing goes, I have a Sony Vaio laptop for work on the go. Nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done. When I am at home, I have a custom built desktop which included 32GB of ram, two hard drives (256GB solid state for programs and operating system, and a 1TB hard drive used for storage), and one of the latest intel I7 processors on the market.  I have a 24" monitor to go with that to view everything I am working on. The computer isn't exactly one model or another, but it is a PC. Contrary to most media guys, I am not much for the OSX operating system.

You just made a Fidelity mobile app, how was it working on that?

The mobile app was something that I have wanted to do for a long time now, but haven't had the funding to do. After saving for several months, I took the time to put my head down for a little while, put in some work, and knock it out. It was a little difficult to do at first, but with a few helpful tools and learning everything I need to know from the internet, it all came together even better than I first planned! I know a lot of people access the internet from their phones these days, so I'm hoping the app will help accommodate those who do.

What are your plans for Fidelity in the future?

Fidelity is something that I hope gets big enough to the point where it actually helps grow our sport by raising overall awareness. I want to promote the pros out there that make up the sport we know and love. I find the retailers to be one of the most important parts of the overall success of scootering, so I want to start involving and promoting them as much as possible. I am a firm believer in the mom and pop shops out there, and want to do what I can to help them succeed. The most important thing to me though, is that Fidelity gives back as much as possible. I love to do giveaways, do what I can to sponsor events, give away free camp trips, and anything of that nature. I also want to do contests that give riders a chance to win some cash! 

Recently, I have put a team together that are not only my friends, but guys from various teams and areas from around the worlds that promote what I feel scootering is all about; having fun. Those individuals are as follows: Dan Barrett, Ben Thomas, Ryan Gould, Scott Higgs, and Jon Devrind. We are currently working on a welcome video that will be dropping sometime during spring. More info will come closer to the date of release.

There is one thing definite about the future of Fidelity, and that is the fact that we will be working diligently each and every month to give you what you all want to see. We're here to stay.

It'll be cool to see what you guys do, thanks for your time Ryan.

Anytime man, and thanks for taking the time to do this interview with me.

And now, check the March Issue of Fidelity:

Tilt in Arizona

The Tilt guys took a trip to California and Arizona this winter to film clips and ended up having a nightsesh and this AZ park.  Monky was shredding it on the tranny, throwin it back to his old style.  Don't miss that last trick by Erik either.