Jared Jacobs for Lucky

Lucky got really... lucky, when they snagged young Jared Jacobs onto the Team. This kid is a real up and comer in the street scene, and he's progressing fast. I loved the whole vibe of this edit. His riding has gotten a lot cleaner, and the banger was nice. Sky is the limit for this kid.

Dissidence 5th Anniversary Sesh

Dissidence has been killing it for 5 years now, and to celebrate that they had one of their famous box sessions at the warehouse. I gotta say, Lambert was shutting it down. Then again, it's a Dissidence edit.. so you know everyone was killing it. That last clip tho..

Ethic now at Scooter Hut USA

Scooter Hut USA just picked up a ton of Ethic product. Including the new 26 high Almasty bars, and the Artefact decks in white. Also got Legion Forks, Merrow Forks, and Polished and Regular Lindworm decks. Get em while you can, these will be going fast.

Also right now, they are having a 10% off the entire store sale that is going until Jan 2nd. Just enter the coupon code HOLIDAY13 upon check out.


http://www.scooter-hut.com/
http://www.scooter-hut.com/

Kyron Power x Fall 2013

Well it came just in time, but I think this might be my favorite edit I've seen so far in 2013. Or at least top 5 easy. A fairly unknown name, and a super original style. His fakie manny game is on point, clip at 3:51 was just ridiculous, as well as the last fakie manny clips towards the end. This kid's coming for your head Reyes, haha. Repping New Foundland, I gotta say thanks to Travis House for sending me the video. Check it out.




Kyron Power x Fall 2013 from Noah Tessier on Vimeo.

Inside the Industry: Cooper Klaar Interview

Back Overcrook. Photo by Brandon Miller

As the freestyle scooter industry grows, more and more scooter riders are getting the opportunity to be employed by companies.  It's really awesome to see companies giving riders a chance to work for them, because it keeps more money in scootering as well as gives riders a chance to gain experience in a professional career field.  We all dream of being a pro sponsored rider, but not everyone can or will be able to accomplish that.  Getting a job in the industry is the next best thing.  Whether it's running a shop, operating machines, filming and editing, graphic design, and beyond, there is a wealth of positions that scooter riders fill, and with Inside the Industry, I'd like to find out more about them.

The next interview is with Cooper Klaar.  Cooper is one of the NW's second generation of riders.  Over the past few years, he's really made a name for himself as one of Phoenix's pro riders, and one of the most tech riders in the sport.  From his double bar combos, to that amazing hurricane full cab to end all hurricane full cabs in his last video, Coop has proven that he deserves his pro spot and signature bars.  I knew he also works in a warehouse for a scooter distribution company, so I hit him up to get a little insight on what it's like.

Jordan Jasa:  Where are you currently located, and who do you work for?

Cooper Klaar:  I live in Vancouver, Washington and work for Gravity Group Inc.

What is your official job title, and what are you responsible for?  

Haha I don't really have an official job title, but I'm responsible for packing orders for shops in North America.

How did you first get involved with working with Gravity Group?

I have known Tom Floyd since near the beginning of Phoenix and when Phoenix and Envy began Gravity Group, Tom gave me a job when there was more work needed to be done.

What’s a typical work day like?

Drive out to the shop in Beaverton, Oregon which takes 20 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. During the holiday season I have been packaging orders with Evan Larson and Chase Robertson but usually when it's not as busy I package orders while Evan types them and prints shipping labels and Chase works in the Phoenix shop cutting metal.

So being a pro rider for and working at the Phoenix shop, do you get any special perks before the rest of the team does?  Extra input on designs, firsthand knowledge on operations, etc?

Being at the Phoenix shop just about everyday I do get to see pretty much everything first, and talk with Tom and Dan about new designs for products, but I'm sure the rest of the team is just as informed as I am haha.

How long do you plan on working there? Do you ever plan on going to college?

I think for a pretty good amount of time, and I'm not too sure what I'm going to do at this point, I'm working and saving money at this point and thinking of what I want to go to school for.

That’s good, too many people go to college without any idea of what they want to do.  So what’s the best part of the job?

It's just really great working with Evan and Chase on the daily, and working for Tom and Tony is pretty fun and lenient!

For sure.  That’ll wrap it up,  would you like to add anything else?

I think that's about it!

Rest in Peace: Daniel Warwick

I write this with tears in my eyes, and my vision blurred. My mind is a mess right now, but Daniel deserves this, he deserves this, and he deserved a lot more while he was alive. Yesterday, Daniel Warwick took his own life.

 Daniel was an OG, which is why a lot of you younger riders probably have no idea who he is, or how talented he was. Dan was responsible for single handedly taking the "barspin" to new levels, and he made it look effortless.

With his tiny bars, he pushed the boundaries time and time again with his barspin combos, throwing em into manuals, and with 180s to fakie like it was no big deal. He built a solid fan base, and people in turn started to see barspins differently. I'm not going to go into details about how Dan's life took a different turn, I'm here to celebrate Dan, despite how sad of a time this is for the OG riding community, and his friends and family. I wish more than anything that Dan was still here with us, but he is in a better place now. Free from pain, depression, and anything else that plagued him. I Love You Dan, I'm Sorry, and I'll Miss You. Rest In Peace Brother. See you someday.

Ryan Williams Streets Melbourne

R Willy his the streets again to further test out the new MGP Deck, which looks pretty good so far. It's always sick to see new footage of Ryan, and while I will always prefer his park riding, he can clearly ride street no problem. Check it out

2013 Scooter Trends

Another year has come and gone.  Scooters have continued to progress in multiple ways, from Ryan Williams pushing the limits on the Nitro Circus, to new, innovative products being designed, to more and more riders taking filming seriously.  As in any other year, certain trends have emerged from the wildly diverse scooter world.  Some may pass into 2014, others may not.  This is a short list of a few of the trends I thought were the biggest.  Keep in mind that this isn’t a “best” list, nor a “worst,” just what I found to be popular in scootering over the past year.

-Starting a “Crew”

There have always been different crews of riders in scootering, but most of them were of OG riders who all eventually parted ways, to go on with life or a pro career.  I think the first crew to really set off the new generation was Friendly.  These guys were affiliated only by friendship, rather than because they were sponsored by the same company.   The pictures and videos they’ve dropped show how fun scootering can be.  2013 saw full lengths and other montages by more crews than I could name.  Do I think it’s necessary for a group of friends to call themselves some fruity name?  No.  But do I back the time and effort they put into making videos?  You bet.  Peachy, Concrete, Trend, Basic, Venture, Kooky, Funky…the list goes on.  So while the number of scooter crews got bigger, so did something else…

-Big Scooters.

There was a time when having tall bars made you wack.  In 2013, if your bars were less than sack height, you might be considered the odd man out.  The bar height trend is directly related to deck size too.  Demand for bigger, more comfortable decks increased, and to compensate, bar height was raised.  There are still plenty of shorter decks for the younger, smaller guys out there, but with the advent of decks like the 22 inch Threshold, more and more riders are opting to upgrade their size.  And why wouldn’t you?  Girls love a big deck. 

-Handrail Hucking.

Over the years, there’s only been a handful of riders willing to toss themselves down gnarly rails.  But over the past year, we’ve seen tons of younger riders on the come up, looking to prove themselves.  The result?  Thrashing unlike what we’ve ever seen before.  It was just a matter of time before we started to ride handrails on a more regular basis, but the progression we’ve seen over the past year is remarkable.  Who would have thought that Zack Martin, a relative unknown until 8 months ago, would be backlipping Rincon?  We all know Jessee Ikedah is on another level, but his peg abilities down rails are unrivaled.  And let’s not forget Mr. Backlip himself, Tyler Bradley.  Anyone can wildly huck themselves, but when you watch T-Brad ride, he makes it look so easy and natural.  I could keep going.

-S4S

This is one of the more annoying trends I’ve seen.  Instagram is my favorite social network.  It’s extremely popular among scooter kids, and mostly everyone under the age of 30.  It allows you to share your pictures, short video clips, and connect with those of similar interests.  Many riders instead choose to use it as a popularity contest.  Giving shoutouts in return for shoutouts to gain followers…it wouldn’t be so bad if it was only once or twice, but there are riders perpetually doing this.  This type of thing has been going on for years (remember the sub4sub comments on Youtube?), but that doesn’t make it any less wack.  Ya’ll be thirsty.

-“Trippy” Editing

You all remember the film burn.  Popularized by the likes of Nickeh, it was imitated by a legion of aspiring filmers and editors across the world.  This year the cool thing to do was adding in trippy visuals with a psychedelic song.  Nobody did it quite like clothing company Satori did.  Of course, you can say they just copied skateboarding’s Pyramid Country/Palace, but they were the first to really do it successfully in scooters.  There was also another kind of “trippy” that swept across the scooter world.  Juicy J’s army of codeine fueled riders produced more videos than I could count.  This wasn’t the only trend in video editing either…

-Old Movie B-Roll

To add onto this, we also saw a lot of videos with footage from old movies as b-roll.  This originally seemed like a cool idea- Tyler Wheeland’s Nimbus fork edit featured pictures from WWII because Tyler has always been interested in wars.  And McKeen’s Addict So What part had a lot of footage from old b-list horror movies, and it felt like it fit the vibe of the part.  I’m not sure if the same could be said for a lot of the videos of 2013.  It’s different when you’re bombarded with images that you have no idea what their relevance is to the rider.  But kudos for trying. 

-Fashion

I wasn’t going to include this one after discussing the topic so thoroughly in my last article, but there were some aspects I didn’t include.  A lot of guys, myself included, have been into dressing nicely over the past year.  I do it because I think it’s good to look good, others because they are so “into fashion”.  White button ups, dress pants, parted hair, it’s all a part of the look.  Some have even gone so far as to start tucking in their shirt. The fashion trend seems to have kept mostly in the circle of OG “street elitists” but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it more widespread over the next year.  Insert Dylan Rieder comment here.

_______________________________________

So there you have it, a list of what stuck out to me as the biggest scooter trends of 2013.  Honorable mentions include:  The myth of the Tilt wheels, crewnecks, standard definition, Miley Cyrus, hurricane fullcabs, drinking, motorcycles, and kickless rewinds.   Agree?  Drop a comment and let me know.  Disagree?  Drop a comment so I can delete it.   

Ian Herncjar | Welcome to Flavor

Everything this dude does is perfect.  I was able to ride with him for a week this summer (and filmed a couple of the clips in this video), and watching him ride is awesome.  Not only that, but he's a super chill person.  Flavor has got a super sick team now, I can see that company getting really big over the next couple years.

denvershitt

Ian Herncjar, Issac Miller, and Adam Cordova recently filmed a session at Denver skatepark.  Just some casual riding from the boys...Ian drops that 5 cab whip like no big deal.  I wasn't into the song at first but then it grew on me.

Freestyle Depot Holiday Sale

Show this to Mom and Dad or Santa so you can get your goodies in time for Christmas!

Boxes Limited 2013 Promo

So you might have known Boxes lost a rider this past year, but they also picked up a hell of a replacement.  BK, Addison, McKeen, and Erik Feenstra are all featured in this one.  Don't miss Matt's switch clip.  It's awesome to see more Boxes content coming in.

Tyler Wheeland | TILT VIDEO TRAILER (And Premiere Venue Announced)

Lol Tyler doesn't actually scooter so the teaser is of him being weird instead.  I'm actually a little surprised there's no motorcycle clips in there.  Must be saving those for his part.  If you would like to find out if he does scooter (spoiler alert: he does), feel free to attend the Tilt Video premiere at Ken Cinema, 4061 Adams Avenue, San Diego, on January 4th, 2014 (after SD8).  Doors open at 8.  Here's the official announcement:

Scooter Hut USA Holiday Sale

Scooter Hut USA has been making a lot of noise since it opened up last month, and with the Holidays upon us they definitely have a sale going on.

15% off all completes, and 10% off the entire store. Which includes the Root Industries products which are sweeping over the US. Scooter Hut USA is currently the only place you can get Root Industries products.

Some of the top sellers so far this season are

Envy Prodigy 2014 Complete http://www.scooter-hut.com/envy-prodigy-scooter-2014-model/

Flavor Awakening Bars http://www.scooter-hut.com/flavor-awakening-bars/

District DK2i Decks http://www.scooter-hut.com/district-dk2-deck-new-model/

Royce King Signature Root Industries Wheels http://www.scooter-hut.com/root-industries-futuro33-royce-king-wheels-sold-in-pairs/

Yara Haynes Dissidence (NY STATE OF MIND)

NYC shredding + crispy VX filming + a chill rap track is truly a timeless combination in action sports.  Yara puts his own spin on in with this video for Dissidence.  Mobbing through lines, gaps, and rails.  Don't miss this one.

New Phoenix Session Deck Sizes

Phoenix Session Decks have been really popular since they've dropped, but some people did have issues with the size, well not anymore. Phoenix recently announce some new sizes for the Session Decks. For more info see below.


New Sizes

4.5" x 20"

4.5" x 21"

The same colors as the previous ones, Black, bronze, polished, midnight violet. 

The 20" weighs 3lb 5oz

The 21" weighs 3lb 7oz

Head tube angle is 82.5, and 4 degrees of concave.

 

 

2014 Phoenix Session Completes Available for Preorder Flipside Ridehouse

2014 Phoenix Session Completes available for pre-order at Flipside Ridehouse

 

Flipside will be one of only a handful of dealers in North America that will be getting a pre-Christmas shipment of the new 2014 Phoenix Session Completes.  While we're not big fans of the pre-order thing, time is of the essence to get these out the door and delivered before Christmas.  Our shipment is currently due to arrive Monday 12/16 as long as there are no delays...all pre-orders would then ship 12/17.  There are 2 models, each with 3 color options.  The 4.25"X19.5" will run $250 and the 4.5"X20" is $350.  We're diggin' the new chrome Cooper Klaar Signature Bars on the 4.5!  Say that 10 times fast.  Check out the website for specs.  Approved dealers will only be getting a few of each so get one while you can.

 

http://flipsideridehouse.com/

http://flipsideridehouse.com/

http://flipsideridehouse.com/

 

 

 

JD Recovering for UrbanArtt

This is JD's first edit since getting hand surgery and going through physiotherapy, but you'd never be able to tell he was gone.  He seems to have lost none of his amazing hops and tech skill.  One of my favorite clips was the 180 whip fakie feeble to suicide no hander fakie, that was so unexpected.  Ice 180 heel as well, so good.  Stoked to see more footage from this guy.

Merry Christmas 2013

Ryan Gould and Raymond Warner decorated the Mega Zone and gave it some Christmas flare, followed by some clips from all of the Zone homies. Ryan, Raymond, Jarrod, Ryland, and Bransyn were all there locking down some clips. Looked like a good time for sure.

Roomet Säälik | Web Edit 2013

Roomet got on Phoenix right after his sponsor video came out, which really shows the kids' talent, because its not often that sponsor videos actually work.  At least without a prior relationship between the rider and company.  But anyways, this is footage Roomet has gathered since being sponsored.  I think his style still shows his age, but he shreds.  Watch and enjoy.

Enter Matt Grippi

Matt Grippi is on Source, and you probably haven't seen much of him before.  But don't let that keep you from watching, because he is sick.  Matt has a very pure BMX style, with super good inverts, turndowns, and manual combos.  Favorite clip was the wallride 1 footed invert.

Throwback Thursday: PROTO Team Rider Dylan Kasson

Having been in the sport as long as I have, I've had the privilege of seeing some riders who were just starting out, and are now some of the best in the world. Dylan is one of those riders, and his start was no easy one. He faced a lot of adversity over his opinions and thoughts on the sport and the riders in it, and in his early years his riding was nothing to marvel over. That all seemed to change really fast though. It almost felt like Dylan was feeding off the people bashing him, and just started progressing crazily. For me, it was this edit that came out around 4 years ago where I just couldn't ignore Dylan's skill anymore. I still enjoy watching this edit from time to time.

AO IN EL PASO

Alright, I know rankings are dumb or whatever but if we had a Rider of the Year award, it almost certainly would have to go to Elliot Arnold.  The dude has been merking it in every AO/Elyts video this year.  Also gotta give props to Cory Vanlew and Zig Short, attacking such huge rails and hubbas, and all those other super fun looking spots in El Paso.  I guess this footage was in the AO DVD, I gotta get myself a copy, and I suggest you do the same.

DSA Dominator Scooter Accessories.. From Decksavers to Complete Scooters

DSA has been around for a very long time. They started out making Decksavers (for Pro Models) and HD Forks (Very heavy duty forks). They eventually moved into distribution, and are still the leading distributors in the Country right now, providing dealers with everything from EagleSport, District, and Addict, to Scoot-Mag, and Sacrifice, and more. Recently though DSA started doing something new, they are now making Complete Scooters. For more history on DSA read the article below.




These completes are available on tons of online shops and in retail shops throughout the Country.

History of Dominator

 

Back when the scooter industry was in its infancy, Dave Ward witnessed his son (Cam Ward) quickly destroy scooter after scooter as he progressed further into freestyle riding. With no replacement options available and a garage full of broken decks and forks, Dave saw a clear need for durable parts and accessories if the sport was to continue to grow and advance into pro riding. He decided to create Dominator Scooter Accessories (DSA) and worked with his son to innovate improvements to existing scooters for better riding.

 

The first prototypes developed by DSA were called the “Deck Saver” and “HD Fork,” which aimed to significantly improve the longevity of the deck and fork, which frequently broke on most scooters under stress. After receiving an incredible amount of positive feedback at Cooter Con in 2009, DSA immediately went into full production. Both products proved to be a huge success as pro scooter riders around the country were able to extend the life of their parts while pushing the limits of the sport.

 

As the industry grew, DSA began to transition from a producer of parts and accessories into one of the largest wholesale freestyle scooters distributors in the United States. Over time it became obvious to DSA that there was a gap in the market for a top-quality complete scooter that was designed and priced for beginner to intermediate freestyle riders. Having gained first-hand knowledge of the industry as a distributor, DSA set out fill the gap with an affordable line of complete scooters under the Dominator name.

 

After a few years of continuous R&D and product tests from factories of other leading scooter brands, DSA finally found a production facility that met their standards in craftsmanship, quality control and reliability. DSA joined forces with FSP Group (District, Addict, Eagle), the only manufacturer to operate a self-owned factory 100% dedicated to the advancement of freestyle scooters. Through a shared vision of innovation and state-of-the art production, a new line of complete scooters was born.

 

Today Dominator offers an exceptional line of complete scooters with top craftsmanship and reliable quality at an affordable price. Dave Ward continues to work with pro and am riders in the development and testing of new products, while serving as a leading advocate for the art and sport of Freestyle Scooter Riding. As President of the International Scooter Association (ISA), he frequently travels around the world to help organize competitions, demos and grassroots efforts to grow the industry.

UNIUN SESSIONS: Lewis Williams

Lewis is one of the UK's best.  Amazing style, flow and consistency (on top the wild tricks).  He does it for Uniun in this edit.

Zach Martin

Zach released this part over on SR earlier today, and it's bangin.  Killing the SD spots like few others have.  And it's really sick to see Rincon starting to really heat up in the scooter game.  His clip is the gnarliest rail clip I've seen on it for sure.  Also I know hes on ADVCT but he needs to get a scooter sponsor if he doesn't have one already.

S-K presents: George Gartlehner

George is one of those Euro tech masters.  Max Kernmayer filmed and edited this video of him for Scooter-Kickboard.  Always trying to progress, he's got tricks like noseblunt 360 downside whips.  That feeble 3 heel was looked so weird though.

Jeff Mroz- Satori

Jeff is crazy.  He can hit the biggest gaps no sweat, as demonstrated in this video, and can throw down tech stuff too.  Fakie feeble full cab was so good.  I'm psyched for this to finally come out.

Peachy Crew- Honey and Jenkem Full Length

Honey and Jenkem is a video the Peachy crew has been working on since February.  It's really sick to see an unsponsored homie crew making a full length video, just for the love of it.  With these guys being from Arizona, where a lot of unconventional skate videos are made, I was wondering if the Jackson Casey/Diego Meek style of filming/editing would shine through in Honey and Jenkem at all.  I think they definitely did a great job picking some original music (loved Cole's song, and the friends section song), and the titles were sick too.

As for the riding, these guys of course aren't big name pros (exception of Dylan Kasson/Alex Steadman and some other friends) or anything, but they all have their own style, and come through with some sick tricks.  You can tell that they all worked hard, traveling all around Arizona and Colorado to get clips.  Overall I was psyched on it, and can't wait for their next video.

Stefan Hefner Raw

You don't really see riders putting out full raw timelines of their clips, but it'd be cool to see it happen more.  These are Stefan's clips, bails, and b-roll from over the past year and a half, from filming for his Source Recovery part.  There are tons of tricks that didn't make it, but are still super gnarly.  Watching stuff like this is definitely inspiring, makes you want to go out and get stuff done.

Throwback Thursday: Tyler Bonner

In all honesty, Tyler Bonner never had a "suck" period in the time he's been riding. From the time I've known him, when he was just a kid, he was already shredding. Below are some of his older videos, sit back and watch one of the best when he was just coming up.

2009



2010

Introducing View Clothing

Well it seems like more and more clothing companies are popping up now, and View is one that I'm pretty stoked on. Coming from the minds of Ryan Gould and Cody Groom, you know not only will there be fresh designs, but solid promos to go with them. Check out a couple of their promos below, and also the introduction video below.

For the giveaway all you need to do is buy ANY View product and you will be automatically entered to win.

http://viewclothingco.com/
http://viewclothingco.com/
http://viewclothingco.com/

Ryan Becker 2013

Ryan is one of the best in the game on pegs.  Double peg 270 lip, gap ice that hubba, pegs to whip to lip to whip...and the pegs at the end is probably the biggest I've ever seen done.  Makes me want to put a pair on again.

TSI Teamtage 2013

The TSI team was able to put together a bunch of footage for this rad montage.  Footage includes:
Nick Toigo
Travis House
Kc Corning
Hep Greg
Sinan Al Faour
Ben Jelinek
Choco BN
Michael Hohmann

With a team unique as TSI's you know this isn't your average team video.  Everyone shreds in it.

5Starr Scooters Cyber Monday Sale!

Everyone knows how harsh it is when you already made a huge order at an online shop, then you get slammed with shipping costs. It ain't cool. Well take advantage of 5Starr's Cyber Monday sale, and buy some sick products that are already on sale, and don't worry about the shipping costs, cause there is none! For more information check out that flyer.

http://www.5starrscooters.com/
http://www.5starrscooters.com/
http://www.5starrscooters.com/

Ryan Williams- 3 Nitro Circus Firsts

Check it out, looks like EA Scoot is a thing now!  Graphics look so lifelike!  In this demo, Rwilly does a ruler frontflip, cash roll whip rewind, and a double frontflip whip.  They must have had the cheats turned on for those tricks!

But forreal, that was nuts.

Ben Jelinek for TSI

With the tall slayer bars, hair up in a bun, and the rail skills, you might confuse Ben for Matt McKeen.  I haven't really seen much of Ben before, but I'll be sure to keep him in the radar after this video.  You all remember that rail hop Stefan Hefner tried in Seattle...well Ben took that one step further.

Erik Feenstra: Tilt Video Trailer

Erik's part is what I'm looking forward to most in The Tilt Video.  The description on Youtube says it best- "Erik floats. Seriously, just floats. Then he goes and hits the gnarliest rail around. You won't hear him, you probably won't even see him. Before you know it he's destroyed the spot and floated away."