Troopers is the name of the MTB event organized by the Breizh troopers team, which is supported by Shape bicycles since 2020. This all-mountain / enduro event was held the first weekend of September, in Southern Brittany, at Quimper (29). Each year, the team manage to promote their technical and beautiful trails, by renewing or creating new paths. The Shape boss took part of the event, with his fat bike and some parts from the brand, in order to enjoy the dusty trails and the perfect weather. Below, a photo of the boss and his father (original member of the team).

Last weekend was hold the Gro trail jam in Normandy, after two years without an official event, we had the chance to get a sunny weekend. Bruno and the boss of Shape Bicycles, along with the young Trouelch (also called Kiki) took advantage of three days of riding on the beautiful trail, many improvements were made during last winter. Every day our program was the same : quiet morning, preparation of the trail, start of the session in the early afternoon cut off by automatic watering from the sky, at last but not least evening was spent around fire / BBQ. In order to summarize this jam, here are the highlights :  Alex Lotodé is still at 100% (3-6 and flip), he won the "body slide" on Saturday night (he ended up naked), Gillian rode easy with style at home, Morvan rode again after a crash earlier this summer, a Belgium rider threw a 3-6 on a middle / long jump, Foerske was in spectator mode, Dim was pleasing to the eyes, Max Rabiller must be thanked, Mouton must give everything on the roller, beautiful tee shirts printed at home by Gillian, 5min to put every tarp on all the jumps, a broken collarbone for a foreign rider, Pafin is the boss of shot gun, nettles of the Gro trail are extreme, Peepoodo is a funny cartoon, at the end it is not the longer which matters...etc. Thanks to Gillian for his warm welcoming (without to thank Max obviously), below some photos from V.Bonafini and S.Taro

We publish another extract of the book 10 years of Shape Bicycles, about a new stem dedicated to MTB. After having studied and validated the mechanical strength of the part with the help of Pierre (OP.N), we are making the machining program (CAM) currently. This stem will be entirely produce by us, official launch is due to the end of 2021, below the original text from the book :
The idea of designing a stem dedicated to MTB has always been in our head, once again the lockdown time enable us to tackle the task. As always, we started with the overall geometry of the other Shape Bicycles stems but this time the goals were different : bar diameter is 31,8mm instead of 22,2mm, M6 bolts instead of M8... Mainly the main goal was weight, it was reduced to 198grs against 324grs for an OG top load stem, that is a reduction of 40% (!) thanks to an important work on the forms and the materials removals. Will this MTB stem have pushed the weight / strength ratio even further and may allow future developments on BMX stems ?

We are proud that our rider youngest rider JB is now riding for S&M bikes through 4DOWN (European distributor), it's well deserved and we're really happy for him ! In order to highlight this new we asked to him some questions, illustrated by some photos of his bike we shot during the RBP jam (action photo by Max Rabiller and other by Simon Cassol).

Could you summarize in some words this offer from S&M bikes ? How does it happen ?
I met Alex Valentino during the Apache trip in Bordeaux in 2019, when he filmed some guys of the French connexion for the web videos serie "La belle endormie ". Alex is in charge of distributing S&M brand in France, he was looking for a rider from the area to represent the brand. Alex got in touch with me through Simon Cassol from Manual bmx shop, voilà voilà. During winter, Simon called me and asked if I was sit down as he had something to tell me, obviously I didn't expect that, because French riders are far from the BMX industry and the whole business of it, without to mention an American brand, it's not everyday that an offer like that occurs. 

What did you feel and what did you think when you hear about the offer ? Proud to represent this legendary brand ? 
To represent this famous brand is gratifying, I think, now people look at me like a rider who is sponsored by a famous brand, I have a fresh new bike with quality parts, I'm so pleased ! As a result me and Simon are motivated to film some clips and make a good video, we hope ! ;-)

Could you present to us your new bike ?
S&M bikes MOD frame 21,25, Credence bar 9,2, Pitchfork, Shield seat, Shape front load Team stem, Shape Martine garde 28T signature sprocket, Shape bar ends.

Our rider from Toulouse, Jems Muller has officially announced the last jam at la Source trail, on September 11th and 12th. This is why he told us some words about it : "so here it is, the end of la Source trail. After 17 years of passionate work and eventhough the current global situation, we wanted to meet with our friends from everywhere (as much as possible) a last time. A sort of collective farewell to our beloved spot, as the trail's fate is now settled, we will have to leave the place at the end of 2021. For the occasion, Richie from Trailife has made a dedicated flyer to the event, with his own art feeling. A batch of tee shirt is also in the pipe, with the same design, in order to get money for the upcoming spot...

Last year was complicated, shared between lockdowns and restrictions, the only event I attended was the Max Rabiller's RBP jam. So it was a pleasure to take the road to Vendée again, to attend the 2021 edition.
I arrived on site Friday afternoon, a look at the place was needed, the trail has evolved, still a beautiful surroundings. I was able to ride in the sun with the riders already there, even the big line was riding for some. Unfortunately Max hurt himself at the bottom of the trail (nothing serious). What better to end the day than a fire and some music ?
Waking up in the rain on Saturday, fortunately weather improved and we were able to enjoy the trail with lots of riders who arrived during the night. Throughout the afternoon, the different lines were attacked, on the menu : JB (Shape represent) who rode with style all the trail, the Noyal crew was there, some Parisians, Shogun and his versatility, the Belgium crew was also there (Foerske was injured), Noé rode higher than everyone else, Gillian and some guys from Normandy, some riders from the Gramone woods, Titou threw a 3-6 on the big line, Dimitri from Holland rode all the trail effortless...etc. Max had made a giant ring of fire (like the one on the flyer), after setting it on fire, he was the first rider to jump through it, followed by others. Titou threw a 3-6 and a flip through the fire, also Sergeï made a flip (rider et drummer of the Lord Gallery band). The day ended with a big fire, a giant paella and a show of the Lord Gallery band. Another very good event made by Max, thank you to him and see you next year for sure !

For those who have read the Shape bicycles book, especially the introduction, we announced that a new milestone would be reached in 2021. In fact, after a first step was reached in 2017 with CAM (machining tool paths) of our Fusion sprockets, we are reaching a new milestone with the manufacturing in the aim of being 100% autonomous for the production of our sprockets and other custom parts.
A decade after the creation of the brand (2011), we have bought a milling machine (CNC) a week ago, in partnership and in the workshop of our friend "the magician" (a big thank you to him). After a risky move (never easy to move almost 4 tonnes), instillation and restarting came well without a hitch, we were able to produce our first 30T Fusion sprockets (this model was out of stock). It's a real pleasure to take your bearings on a milling machine (after some years without practicing) and the setting that goes along (for those who knows : tool length, part origin, program loading...etc.), at last we will be able to answer quickly your answer.

Jems Muller took part of the latest episode of the first season of LiveLive BMX, which has been available on Twitch for a couple of weeks (yes, we are a bit late...). We warmly advise you to take time to listen to these two hours of discussion about (among other subjects) : how Jems started riding BMX in Paris where he comes from, moving to Toulouse with his brother, his arrival at la Source in September 2004, his choice between continuing in BMX or doing a management training, his hybrid status between his passion for trail and the media side, how important the people are for him (his motto he brought back from his travel to UK and Australia : the faces make the places), parallel he draws between trail and vegetable gardening, his regret not having ridden at the PMP trail (NZ)... When the question is asked about the next generation of French trail rider, Jems think about his friend from the Shape bicycles team : JB Bagnol ! 
In the end, Jems reminds us that this the last year of existence for la Source, everyone is welcome as long as they respect the place and they have the right attitude toward the trail.

LiveLive BMX

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