Episode 2 of Danny Macaskill‘s Imaginate series by Red Bull went online yesterday. ‘Taking Shape‘ sees Danny continuing with his rehabilitation following his back operation, making plans for his ambitious Red Bull project and meeting up with motorcycle badass Guy Martin to do some filming for a TV project.
Amateur Team rider David Sellero has just released his first edit on the Element 26″ that we sent him a few months ago and, as we’ve come to expect from Our Man In Spain, it’s a banger!
Mixing smooth, techy street lines with massive drop gaps and trialsy stuff, plus a few moves we’ve never seen anyone do before (including *that* front wheel rail line!), this is
Danny MacAskill has been working on a pretty big project with Red Bull over the last few months, filming for a six part mini series, MacAskill’s Imaginate. The first episode of the series hit the web two weeks ago on the Red Bull website. Entitled In The Balance, it followed Danny as he traveled to California for an operation and treatment for a back injury that was looking like it could jeopardise the whole project before it had even begun.
If you missed the first episode, you can watch it below before episode two goes online at 10am on Tuesday 30th April.
We’ve always said that the Hex is a fun bike that can do everything – from flowy street to technical natural trials and everything in between. That’s why we made it; we wanted to create a versatile, fun bike that could be used for whatever its rider liked. Since its launch in 2010, we’ve seen people riding brakeless street, manualling and spinning their way around cities, competing at a high level in national trials competitions, sending huge drop gaps and other TGS moves, riding trials demos and even cross country on Hex bikes. It doesn’t get much more multi-talented than that!
After seeing a few recent videos and photos of people putting the Hex to good use, we thought we’d get in touch with a few of them and see exactly what it was that they liked about our 26″ bike. Here’s what they had to say…
Aran Iolo Cook
“Since I first started riding trials, I have loved riding natural. As I progressed and my interest of competition riding grew, so did my wheelbase. In 2011 I gave the North American Championships my full attention, and it paid off. But this left me riding purely for fun on a very long bike with front and rear Maguras for 2012. This spring my riding style has found its match: an Inspired Hex.
I’m still riding natural a bit more than anything else, but wherever I ride the amount of lines has just doubled! Average heights for my basic moves are as they were, the Hex taps brilliantly but bunny hops really well too! And gaps to front wheel are so much fun with the steep head angle; overall the bike just asks to be ridden over everything, in as many ways as you can think of. When riding between spots I can’t help but bunny hop, wall ride and manual my way there, grinning the whole time.
I’m so excited to get out filming my first Hex video. I’m hoping for plenty of natural riding and flow, mixed with street and maybe a few skatepark clips too, plenty of streety moves on rocks, and plenty of speed!”
Matt Barlow
“North Wales is a pretty cool place to live. It’s hard to beat a sunny day riding in the Ogwen valley and Llanberis pass, in Snowdonia, which are widely regarded as amongst the best natural trials spots in the UK. That said, riding street has always been a primary love of mine and evening rides, with good mates, in the coastal towns can be great fun as the last beams of sunlight dance off the sea. Unbelievably, after years of petitioning the council, local riders now even have a half-decent skatepark to flow around in, with silly-grins plastered on our faces. With this variety of riding my desire has always been to be able to pick up one bike that can excel in all these styles of riding simultaneously.
When the inspired Hex was launched in 2010 I wrote on my blog, “this changes everything”. For me, when I finally got my hands on one, it really did change my riding. Finally, I had one bike that could excel across all the various disciplines I wanted to ride – street, natural, demos, you name it. However, more importantly for me, it made riding more fun no matter what terrain the bike was pointed at.”
Lewis Greenhalgh
”I have ridden the Inspired Hex for over two years and I love it! I am the type of rider that likes to get involved no matter what the venue has to offer. However, I prefer not to continuously swap bikes to suit each environment.
Due to the Hex’s versatile geometry I find it encompasses the perfect balance between street trials and the more traditional form of trials (negotiating over natural obstacles opposed to man made). I could be charging hooks to manuals and flowing through streety lines in the city, or beating the stopwatch and minimising my dabs at a natural comp. One thing the Hex does not posses is a limit to how far you want to push it…”
Ali Clarkson
“I enjoyed riding a Hex as it’s the type of riding that got me into trials in the first place. You can ride a Hex anywhere – on curbs outside the house, in trial competitions, at skateparks and even on XC trails. You’re not limited to one thing like you are with a lot of modern bikes, it’s just bike riding at its core roots. Perfect.”
So there you have it – if you’re after a bike that will allow you to make the most of any riding spot and any style of riding, you need look no further than the Hex!
For more information on the Hex’s geometry, specification and options and where you can get your hands on one, head over to the Products page on our website!
We’ve just announced our team line up for 2013. Their big hitters remain and are joined by some young, up-and-coming riders who are causing a bit of a stir on the street trials scene. The team has been restructured slightly to accommodate these new riders, with Danny MacAskill, Ali Clarkson and Sean Watson making up the Pro Team. John Shrewsbury is staying with Inspired for another year, but will be a part of the new Amateur Team – a second tier of supported riders who will be representing Inspired to varying degrees. John will be joined on the Amateur Team by Fabio Wibmer, Rob Harris, David Sellero and Thomas Oehler.
Head over to the new and improved Inspired Team page to check out all of their riders’ profiles and media, but for now, here’s an introduction to our new team riders.
Fabio is a young Austrian rider who first caught our attention when he took part in Danny MacAskill’s Red Bull Wings Academy in Germany. He then released his Street Trials 2012 video, which showed that he is not only talented and stylish, but also not afraid to go big! He will be riding the Fourplay Team bike in 2013 and, if his 2012 video is anything to go by, will be doing some pretty impressive stuff with it!
We’d been keeping a close eye on Rob since he put out his entry for the GETcreative video competition; one of the best street trials videos we’d seen for a while. His riding speaks for itself, combining tech lines and plenty of flow with some huge moves, and he has just the right attitude to make him an ideal addition to the team – he’s in it primarily for the good times, riding as often as he can and constantly pushing his riding to new levels. Definitely one to watch as he gets older!
David is already a well known rider on the street trials scene. His most recent videos, Tumbling Dice and Video Creativo, both on an Inspired Hex, showed him to be a creative, talented and stylish rider with some pretty big cojones! He’s riding a 26″ Element in 2013 and is currently filming for a third Inspired street trials video. If the short edit that he put out after receiving his new bike is anything to go by, it will be one worth waiting for!
Welcome to the team guys!