Fresh Blood: A Mike Mahowald Update

Fresh Blood Grassroots rider Mike Mahowald has been keeping busy digging, riding, and showing what North Dakota has to offer...and it looks good.  Here is his update!

Went home for Thanksgiving break and we had unusually warm weather. It's rare for there to be no snow late October in Bismarck, but late November... Very rare. So we had to get out the camera gear and the shovels. Dug this quarter out of a random dirt pile and it worked a lot better than anyone could have ever imagined! Best dirt in the world at home.

The deity Blacklabel Arrives at Vital HQ!

The crew at Vital MTB just received a new deity Blacklabel Handlebar to test out on their Trek Session 9.9 Carbon!  A couple of facts to share...

1. The new deity Blacklabel is not the same as the original model as it has been completely redesigned via our new proprietary Gradient Butting Technology...making it much stronger while still keeping it one of the lightest wide low bars made to date.  

2. The crew at Vital MTB are not the average run of the mill try-to-keep-up-media-type-riders...the whole crew at Vital MTB are fast and super talented on a bike. Just track down some pics of Brandon Turman's stylish trail riding for inspiration.... Props to Vital!

The Vans Gravel: The Verdict Is In!

If you know anything about us, you know that we rock Vans day in and day out! Although the old model Whip shoe has always been my personal shoe of choice for trails, I never really had too many options for aggressive DH outside of the original Intense sticky rubber shoes (yes, we own pairs of these) and the current 5.10 models.  No offense to anyone though, but damn, these shoes were always heavy, even heavier when wet, looked like a bad hiking boot (5.10 has improved that ten fold), and we always asked...why don't I have more options?

Enter the new Vans Gravel. Okay, we may be biased as Vans is as critical to our lives as Jack Daniels, Levis, Dickies, and John Deere, but we will be straight up and honest about our findings to help guide some of you in the right path.  Utilizing the same "Impactsorb" sole as the original model Whips (which are the best shoe ever), the Gravel features a stiff sole that is built from a sticky rubber compound in the shape of the Vans trademark waffle pattern. Tough to beat? Well, they are not as sticky as a 5.10, but this was actually another bonus point for us as adjusting our feet on the fly is almost impossible on a 5.10. With the Gravel...you get more grip than any other shoe, but adjustments can be made without fully lifting your foot off the pedal.

The Vans Gravel is also incredibly light, features durable synthetic materials that do not soak up water like a sponge, side panels that protect your shoes from crankarm friction, and added padding when your ankle gets close to crankarm impact.  The aesthetic in this case is just a bonus as the Gravel is a beautiful shoe in it's all black with reflective Vans piping configuration. It is the first DH ready shoe that we have wanted to actually wear around people without feeling awkward. 

Look, the MTB market for Vans is so small compared to the other genres they support so well, but this is their first (second after the Warners) foray into our sport, so more people need to spread the word and show them that we embrace what they are doing. It is simple, if you want a lightweight, good looking, stiff, durable, and super sticky shoe that your girlfriend wont laugh at...they are for you. They are now our DH shoe of choice and we plan to have it stay that way for years to come... Buy some TODAY!

Mike Mahowald on Memorial Day

Fresh Blood deity rider, Mike Mahowald, recently sent us an edit he put together from some Memorial Day dirt jumping sessions...nice job Mike!

Simcik and deity Visit Kamloops!

Nick Simcik just received a box full of new deity gear and to celebrate...he hit up Kamloops for some incredible riding! Check out the vid and here is the update from Nick...
 

I just had an amazing weekend! Drew Vandergriend and I headed to Kamloops, BC to ride some big mountain terrain for the weekend. After a long and eventful journey there, we met up with Matt Brooks to get the tour and do some shredding. We woke up to heavy winds on Saturday, way too much to hit big jumps or any jumps for that matter. We went and rode sweet trail as seen in a movie or two. I filmed some helmet cam stuff and will be doing another edit soon of that footage and the extra footage. We did however put together an edit that I think came out awesome! The edit was all shot on Sunday and Drew edited it up in the truck on the way home. The trip was short and sweet, but one I will remember fondly. 

Bernie Balsis' deity Cryptkeeper Build

We were recently e-mailed pics from deity customer, Bernie Balsis, of his new deity Cryptkeeper. Loaded with deity gear, the build turned out amazing!  Here is a word from Bernie and the specs:

She rides like a dream! Super balanced thru the air and super stable at high speeds. I Don't think there is a more balanced frame out there. The bike almost stands on its own. Thank you for putting out the greatest products available.

 

Frame: Cryptkeeper - Black

Bars: Villain 2 - White

Grips: ODI Rogue - Black

Stem: Fantom 25.4 - White

Headset: FSA Impact

Fork: Manitou Circus Expert 80mm - White

Crankset: Vendetta III - Black

Spindle: Deity VCR Spindle

BB kit: Deity Armada Spanish - Black

Sprocket: Transition 28t - Black

Seatpost Clamp: Deity Cinch - Black

Seat: Deity Metric - Black

Seatpost: Deity Pyston - Black

Rims and Hub: Transition Revolution 32 - white rims, black hub, black spokes

Brakes: Avid BB7

Chain: KMC Half-link

Tires: Kenda SB8

Gear Ratio: 28/13

Dirt Corps Shred'n' For Movember....

Dirt Corps Shred'n' For Movember - More Mountain Bike Videos

Another quality entry from the Dirt Corps team...

Date Late Dollar Short Needs Your Vote

Day Late Dollar Short - More Mountain Bike Videos

Hit up Vital MTB and vote for the latest edit featuring Adam Hauck for the Highland S'Ender Video Contest!

5 Handlebars ... 5 Winners ... 5 Days!

To celebrate the launch of the amazing new lines of deity handlebars, we are running a contest where 5 people will win a deity handlebar for FREE!  The contest is simple, so follow the rules below and 5 of you will be upgrading your downhill bike soon:

1 Post a picture on the deity Facebook page of you riding some epic Downhill trails

2 The images will be voted on November 14^th with the winner being announced that evening! Special consideration will be taken for the image with the most viewer “likes” so get your riding crew on the deity page!

3 The top 5 images will win a coveted all new deity Dirty30, Topsoil, Blacklabel, or Villain handlebar!

Open up your laptops, find your cherished pics from this season, or get out to the trails and capture the epic riding of Fall weather!  There are no limitations to how many images you can post on the deity Facebook wall, so get active as the contest runs for this week ONLY!

(pic shown is a recent contest submission by Kevin Pabenquit...to check out all of the entries, visit the deity Facebook page today!)

Welcome to the Evolution of deity!

The time has come and we are proud to launch the updated site and more so, our revolutionary new lines of handlebars! Available today, make sure to thoroughly go through the entire site as we have also just launched our new stems, sprockets, and more!  

With the introduction of our new proprietary GBT butting system, our trademark two tone mirror polished / bead blast ano finish, and a 20% strength increase across the board on our handlebars...we can safely say...the deity handlebars step up the game to another level!

Tom Hall and His deity Cryptkeeper

Customer and deity Cryptkeeper owner, Tom Hall, recently sent us some amazing pics of him on his Cryptkeeper courtesy of kaneophoto.com.au. Nice style Tom!

Support a Pumptrack Fundraiser....

We are sponsoring a pumptrack fundraiser the guys at Backcountry in Truckee are putting together. If you live near or far...get over there!