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Sunday morning, nice and early, morning sunshine, peace and quiet and best of all empty trails... Mary Peters have been reborn with the help of Mountainbike NI and the vision of Glyn O'Brien and Gavin Snowden. We've been watching the development and we got the word to coem down and ride. My brother and I met up with Ali, we threw the Nukeproof Soulm and the bmx in the car and went over to Mary Peters to try out our new dirt playground. The solum was great and this was the first opportunity we had had to ride trails on it, it did not disappoint. This was one of the first sessions at mary peters, it was fun, chilled out and interesting, the lips and landings were still a bit soft, the berms had some loose dirt making them pretty slippery and our riding was a bit ropey as we familiarised ourselves with the set up, but overall the trails are great fun.

Riders: Ali Beckett and Joe Osborne Filmed and edited by Dillon Osborne Music: G.Love & Special Sauce - Ain't that right

So way back before I established Shoveit, we used to mess about making videos of our bmx antics under the name of Unofficial BMX.

This was back when long vhs tapes with loads of full rider sections were the big craze, before quick web edits.

I had a fisheye lens duck taped to the end of my Sony Hi8 camcorder and I used to film, edit and burn these onto VHS tapes and send them Round to people. It was time consuming, but it was a good laugh. This is part 1 of the "unofficial Team Video"... however I have no idea where part 2 is. But I will keep looking.

This features early riding from John Mcvea, Alastair Beckett and myself. as well as intro's to the rest of the "Unofficial team" lol

A Short film on some 24" NS Holy's, these bikes are great fun for cruising about on, so my brother and I just went for a blast down into bangor for a coke and filmed it along the way.

Glyn O’Brien played host to one of his pump track parties so we took the Nukeproof solums down for a blast with the boys. It was great fun and everyone had a good laugh as we ran round the house, did a few laps of the pump track and then displayed our awful basketball skills with the clock ticking until we eventually got a basket. It was a great day to kick back, ride our bikes and have a laugh so thanks for having us Glyn it was a blast. enjoy the edit.

The Nukeproof Solum Prototype frame.....

I've been swapping some ideas with one of the industrial designers at Nukeproof for a new 26" jump bike angle, features and geometry influenced from bmx. The guys and Nukeproof have mixed these ideas with their knowledge of the mtb industry to come up with what I can only describe as the most fun bike I've ever ridden.

This model was designed around 100mm forks featuring a short back end and a 22" top tube and will be available in 2 frame sizes (TBA) It's really light and the low BB and short wheelbase allows you a bit more comfort round corners.

The guys at Nukeproof with hooked me up with one of the prototypes to try out and I'm really enjoying it. It's great on the ramps It's great on the quarter pipes and concrete bowls and it is really responsive for just blasting about the town.

The bike is in production stages and should be released at Eurobike in Germany in September.

FRAME SPECS -  Custom Double Butted Steel frame -  Gold Anodized Alloy chain tension adjusters -   Integrated Gold alloy seat clamp -   44mm Head (suitable for new Cane Creek Hydro compatible cup – still in development) -   Removable cable guides

I had a great time filming this edit and just cruising around.

music: The Glitch Mob

GEARED UP - OUT NOW following he success of its world premiere in Belfast.

Watch it now: www.vimeo.com/43662862

Geared up is a bicycle documentary that follows two athletes who live, eat and breathe their sport, showing the training and preparation they go through for their competitive season and how they bring their knowledge and passion about bikes to work every day.

Starring Michael Cowan (MTB) and Peter Hollinger (BMX) both working at Chain Reaction Cycles, the film shows the subjects training and riding their bikes around the beautiful scenery and landmarks of Northern Ireland. It shows how being passionate about something and working tirelessly towards a goal; can help you achieve your dream job and reach your goals as an athlete. 

The film was created, filmed, edited and produced by local designer and videographer Damien Gallagher from www.Viddeo.tv

I was invited to the premier in belfast, check out the photos not eh shoves FB page: www.facebook.com/shoveitdesign

I got a phone call from Nukeproof product designer who told me he had the new prototype dirt jump frame and wanted to take it for a test ride at Bridges skatepark in Belfast to see how it handled, how could I say no.

Nukeproof wanted to create something that both MTB riders and BMX riders would like. I love my bmx but if I don't ride it every day I start to get a bit stiff in the lower back and I struggle to get back into the flow of things, so this bike was a welcomed treat.

Look at it and you see a mountain bike, hop on it and you notice the difference. It offers the room up front, allowing for knee clearance and making it feel a little more comfortable , but the back end is short and I thought that the wheelbase sits comfortably low. I've always been sceptical about a MTB in a park, but once riding this, I have a totally different opinion. Once you're on it you barely notice notice you're on an MTB. it handles great and is easy to whip about. It is the closest thing I've riding to a bmx, and I've tried 24" rigid bikes and different 26" variations.

It's great for anyone that wants a fun bike to ride, and its perfect if you are an older or bigger bmxer who still wants the fun tech side fo the bmx but with more height, speed and room up front. It's also perfect for the MTB rider who doesn't want to commit to a bmx for the skatepark, and wants something they can blast around a park, whip through some dirt jumps and even have the option of blasting about the street. It would even handle some light singletrack stuff, just get used to the single speed first.

It's in the development process with Nukeproof rider Jack Fogelquist who shreds the trails and slopestyle courses all over the US. the frame uses custom triple-butted steel tubing with a 44mm headtube, gold anodised alloy chain tension adjusters, an integrated gold alloy seat clamp and removable cable guides. It's designed around a 100mm travel fork and uses geometry based on Jack’s personal setup. It will be distributed by Hotlines-UK and priced at around the £350 mark. But It's not available to buy just yet, so keep your eyes peeled as they will be unveiling the full production model at this year’s Eurobike trade show in Germany.

CLICK THE IMAGE for more pics of the bike, plus a few of it in action at Bridges Skatepark.

Saturday 12 May saw the 'Relentless Road to Nass' come to Belfast with T13 being the location for the action packed day. The guys at Ramprage and T13 worked hard for the weeks prior to the event to bring us a fresh new set up. For a lot of riders this was the first time seeing the new set up never mind riding it, which meant they only had their practice runs to get used to it. But that didn't effect the riding as all the riders tore it apart. Josh Wyles was over helping create the new set up and then treated it to some outstanding riding. The local boys were shredding, Connor Worthington, Joel Harper and Simon Reid once again standing out from the crowd while Jack Clark and Isaac lesser battled it out with some of the biggest tricks of the day. Not too forget some great stuff from Sam Cunningham, Jake Ellis, Billy Purcell and Mike Huges who were sending it all day long.

To name a few highlights that I can remember....Josh pulled a 2peg up rail to manual to feeble the box to 180 out, Sam had the crowd behind him to land a pedal grind up the hand rail, Jake fakie foot jammed the white Nass quarter, Billy flaired the bottom end quarter, Issac was boosting huge airs and 360's and he pulled a bars to manual to bars out of the quarter onto the deck of the big black rollin and back into the other quarter, Jack 720'd the step up, ally-oop flaired the rollin from the quarter and then he flair transferred from the step up to the big Nass quarter, Simon flipped the middle box and pulled a whip to tyre tap on the sub box, Joel pulled the quarter to quarter gap over the rollin and then the little madman tried to front flip the spine...3 attempts...so close!

Thoughts go out to Ben Jones who crashed hard in his run trying to front flip the middle box, he hit his head and was knocked out cold for a what felt like 5-10 minutes before paramedics made it to the scene. He was stretchered out and taken direct to hospital where he spent the night. We have had no recent news on his status but everyones thoughts are with him and we hope he makes a full recovery.

Well done to all the riders who took part to make it an awesome days riding, top work from the T13 and Ramprage crews for getting the set up ready  for the big event, and to everyone else that helped out.

T13 to host the Road to NASS Qualifier Ireland. The guys at T13 have been working hard and will be introducing the all new Ramprage setup alongside live music from DJ Koncept and the the Ramprage all day grill. So if you're a BMXer or a skater then get down to T13 on Saturday 12 May 2012 for the Relentless NASS qualifier. It promises to be this years most prestigious sporting event.