Dew tour stop 5 - Orlando, Florida -

The last stop of the tour ended up being a highlight of my year on the riding side of things. I decided to ride the contest considering the doctors said I needed a cat scan at the end of the month. I figured this is my last chance to throw the no-handed 360 flip and hopefully end the year with some kind of satisfaction.

Check out the clip and tell me what ya think.

Peace.

Dave Mirra

Photo by: AB Digital Photography

We’ll let you guess once again. We’ve (verbally) added another rider to the Mirraco team. It might be a bit early to bring out the news so bear with us. No, it is not Chris Doyle (who was let go by DK earlier this week). We will let you know shortly.

Dave Mirra just finished putting this bike together. If you want to know what parts Dave currently rides, just check his personal list. He has brought the weight down to 24lbs. 4oz. which must feel good when he does those no-handed 360 backflips.
Frame - Mirra.co blend 4lbs. 10oz.
Fork - Mirra.co 2lbs. 2oz.
Bars - Berringer lt.
Stem - FBM crown royal
Cranks - profile 170mm- ti spindle- ti hardware
Sprocket - FBM 30t
Pedals - Snafu mag.
Brake - Fly
Brake lever - Odyssey trigger
Tires- Maxxis - Mirracle
Seat - Snafu
Seat clamp - Snafu
Seat post - Thompson
Cables - Oryg
Grips- Federal
Pegs - 2 ti

Total weight - 24lbs. 4oz.

Pic by Mike Laird

What do all these terms mean? Mirraco’s product development master Jean-Luc Ferre gives you an insight on what goes on to make frames lighter and stronger. Interested? Read on………

Weight is a big factor for BMX bikes these days. What can be done to a frame to save weight?

Jean Luc: Obviously, reducing the thickness and diameter of the tubing plays a big role. There is a limit, though, in how far we can go for both. Using single, double or triple-butted tubing is another mean of reducing weight by optimizing tube thickness where needed. Other ways of reducing weight:

- Designing smaller and thinner dropouts (5 or 4mm thick), heat-treatment is required in that case,

- Using smaller BB shells and bearings (Euro is most likely the lightest type),

- Reducing the thickness of the head tube (same, heat-treatment is required in that case).

What are butted tubes?

Jean Luc: Butted tubes feature optimized thickness where needed, mostly at the end(s) where they are welded together and where strength and thickness (for welding) is mostly needed. These tubes are thinner in the center where stresses are reduced, again within a certain limit, especially for BMX where thin tubing can be easily dented from crashing on ramps, rails, ledges, etc.

What does heat treating do?

Jean Luc: Heat -Treatment increases the hardness of the material (very useful for dropouts, BB shells and head tubes) and for tubing re-distributes the material’s molecules after welding, especially around the welds. It is a treatment that releases tension built in during welding and makes a frame simply harder, stronger and most likely stiffer as well. This allows in return to reducing the thickness of the tubing used, which saves weight.

All these extra treatments cost extra money, right?

Jean Luc: Yes, it does. Usually, specific (giant) ovens are required. This equipment costs a lot of money and the process takes time, around 24 hours for a small batch of frames, so all this comes in addition to the basic frame cost.

Do the limited edition Blend and Black Pearl bikes come with all the latest tech stuff?

Jean Luc: Yes, their frames come with CNC machined heat-treated MID BB shells & integrated head tubes, double-butted tubing, short 5mm thick dropouts, etc.They weigh around 5.4 lbs, which is pretty good for frames built as completes that retail around $1,000 with all the branded components featured.

The Blend Ltd features:

- Snafu’s Alloy crankset, sprocket, stem and Magnesium pedals,

- Snafu’s brand new Stout hubs set (with recessed spoke heads in the flanges),

- Lightweight double-butted forks and bars,

The Black Pearl Ltd features:

- Lightweight (very light) Colony bars and forks,

- Wellgo Magnesium pedals (215 grms each !),

- Odyssey hubs set w/ a Vandero 3/8″ front,

- Odyssey’s Vermont sprocket,

- a Fly Bikes stem

Both bikes have in common,

- Lightweight Pivotal (Macneil) seat and post,

- Shadow Conspiracy’s latest 1/2 link chain,

- Odyssey Monolevers,

- Lightweight Fly brakes

- City Lite Welded Sun Rims,

- Double butted spokes,

- 1-pc driver cassette hubs with hollow 14mm axles,

- Lightweight 3/8″ axles

To wrap this up, how much do the Blend Ltd. and Black Pearl Ltd. weigh?

Jean Luc: We just got another set of samples that are exactly like the production bikes. The Black Pearl Ltd is the lightest at 26.7 lbs because of lighter parts and a low profile frame. The Blend Ltd weighs in at 27.8 lbs, which is still very good for a production bike.

For those of you who have been waiting for Mirraco stickers, you gotta wait a little longer. They’re in the works but have not arrived yet. Give us a couple more weeks before you can hit up the Mirraco riders and Mirraco dealers for some stickers.

Here are a few of the designs so you know what you’ll be looking for.

In case you believe you don’t fit well on a 20 inch wheeled BMX bike, we have an option for you; the Icon 20forty. You can call it a cruiser. It’s got 24 inch wheels, full cromoly frame with 21.5 inch toptube and full cromo fork and 3 pc 175 mm Crmo cranks with sealedBB set. It will get you to the liquor store and can handle the curbs on the way there. 36-hole rim in the front, 48 in the back. Do a skid and say: “Hell yeah!”

Model Icon 20Forty (24&rdquo

Color: Steel Grey

-Frame 21.5” T/T full Crmo 24” frame w/ American BB shell & 6mm dropouts

-Fork Mirraco 24” full Crmo

-Headset VP A-71 Aheadset 1-1/8”

-Crankset Mirraco 3-Pc Crmo 175mm, 19mmx8-spline Crmo axle

-BB Set American BB 2 sealed bearings

-Sprocket Mirraco 39t

-Freewheel Lida 17t

-Chain KMC Z410

-Pedals Wellgo alloy 9/16” loose ball, Crmo axles

-Handlebar Mirraco 2-Pc 5.3” Crmo 2.0T

-Stem Snafu for Mirraco alloy Aheadset 1-1/8”

-Grips Snafu Polygrips

-Saddle Mirraco 8mm rails

-Seat Post steel 25.4×250mm

-Seat Clamp Mirraco alloy 28.6mm

-Front Hub alloy 36h w/ 3/8” Crmo axle

-Rear Hub alloy 48h w/ 14mm SC45 axle

-Rims alloy 36h/48h single wall, black anodized

-Spokes 14g

-Tires CST Dirt 24×1.95”, Frt & Rr

-Acc.: 1 steel chain tensioner

-Rotor SST Oryg toptube single cable route

-Brakes Tektro alloy U-brake w/ soft grey pads Rr only

-Brake Lever Tektro 289 alloy Rr

*Specifications and geometry subject to change at any time and without notice.

Mirraco sales specialist Mike Russell gets a video interview over at VitalBMX and explains the ins and outs of the $ 1,000.= Ryan Guettler Black Pearl Limited model.

Hit THIS LINK if you want to watch the short clip.

Model Fivestar Intro

Colors Steel Grey, Candy Blue, Chrome

Frame 19.5” T/T 1-tube Crmo (downtube) frame w/ American BB shell & 6mm dropouts

Fork Mirraco Crmo legs

Headset VP A-71 Aheadset 1-1/8”

Crankset Mirraco 3-Pc Crmo 175mm, 19mmx8-spline Crmo axle BB Set AmericanBB, sealed mechanism, 12 ball tetainers

Sprocket Mirraco 39t

Freewheel DNP 14t

Chain KMC Z410

Pedals Wellgo alloy 9/16” loose ball, Crmo axles

Handlebar Mirraco 2-Pc 7.0” 2.0T

Stem Mirraco alloy Aheadset 1-1/8”

Grips Snafu Polygrips

Saddle Mirraco 8mm rails

Seat Post steel 25.4×250mm

Seat Clamp Mirraco alloy 28.6mm

Front Hub 36h w/ 14mm SC45 axle

Rear Hub 48h w/ 14mm SC45 axle, micro-drive

Rims alloy 36h/48h, single wall black anodized

Spokes 14g

Tires CST Park 20×1.95”, Frt & Rr

Pegs / Acc. steel w/ inserts (1 Pr) + 1 steel chain tensioner

Rotor SST Oryg toptube dual cable route

Brakes Tektro alloy U-brake w/ soft grey pads

Frt & Rr Brake Lever Tektro 289 alloy Frt & Rr

MSRP: 

Fivestar Intro $259.99
Fivestar Intro Chrome $274.99

*Specifications and geometry subject to change at any time and without notice.

Ryan Guettler clip on Fuel TV. Vote for Ryan!

29.5 seconds. That is how long the video clip is that is up at the Fuel TV website that features Ryan Guettler. It shows Ryan riding some dirt and park and he even jumps up a (Woodward) roof in two different ways.

Trick one is a 360 where he lands on the roof but to see the other trick you have to watch the clip by clicking here.

While you’re out there you can see that Mirraco’s Ryan Guettler is one of the only 7 BMX nominees for the Action Sports Awards. Your vote for the Mirraco rider is very appreciated.