London Fixed-gear and Single-speed SJS Cycles

Im part of Xynthetic, a creative collective and weve been wanting to make a bike edit for a while now, but due to the crapppp weather it hasnt happened, but it's been at the back of my mind.

After the No Gears night, I was speaking about it again, and thinking itd be rad to, in the future, also screen films made by fellow Bristolians!

Anyways, a friend just forwarded me an email with a call for any entries to this years Bicycle film festival! Its got a deadline of March 7th, so there's a little while left...

This might be the perfect opportunity to actually be given a deadline to get a film done! Im going to try and squeeze in time to do this, and i wondered if any of the Thursday night rides crew would fancy being part of it too?

I'll be filming Luis, Danny & Alex from Fifty, and anyone else who's up for it?

Itd be great to have lots of still photography aswell, as stills thrown into the mix of an edit also look good i think, so if any of you guys have any bristol fixie photos then start saving them, as it'd be great to include as much variation as possible!

I also think itd need a bit of narrative too, as I really love MASH but I think it could benefit from a wee bit more talking, so if any of you guys would be up for doing any piece-to-camera stuff about riding in Bristol, then thatd be really handy!

Please don't think this will be anything remotely professional, i try and do video stuff as-and-when i can, (you can see my video bits at http://www.jam-factory.com/video/) but i think it'd be fun to do?

cheers for listening all!

~ Gav.

It's think it's safe to say you can count me and my friends in.

Defs interested. I don't have much flatland/tricking to offer but I am down for some speedy group riding and general malarkey.

yeah I am new to Bristol and new to fixed bikes but willing to do whatever I can to help out

Me too! I would be happy to help out!

By the way Mr Jamfactory... I attended your talk at the Apple store on wednesday! It was awesome! Inspiring stuff for a fellow designer! :-)

i could help out with some still shots when you're filming if that'd help.

I'm definetly up for this, not met any guys from this forum before, not through the forum anyway, but am up for evening rides, not usually around at the weekends, and work all week! Been riding fixed well over a year, and have a fair few photos, and am always up for taking more :) . Let us know times, dates, locations etc & see who's around??

me me me! I would be really down for something like this.
count me in.

I'm up for taking some shots soon. See if I can translate my skate photography skillzzz to bikes!

If I get anything good you can use it.

Thanks all, glad to hear your interested - i think it could be a real fun thing - just a super short little film about riding in Bristol!

I was well hyped on this until the snow and minus weather warnings just came one, predicting snow and black ice all week... great.

After eating shit on my bike twice already due to black ice / slippyness, im so overcautious so I doubt I'll get anything filmed, but I will try and just get some nice close-ups, static shots of bike-related stuff.

It's good to know we're all of different abilities here too, as I can only ride, I can't do tricks, so it's definitely not a case of who's the dopest on a bike, it's just how much fun it is to ride in Bristol!

If it's dry on Thursday I'll definitely be out with the camera, so hopefully I can make a start then, in the meantime I'll just try and start collecting footage, where possible!

Thanks all!

Thank you mate, I really appreciate those kinds words - big thanks for taking the time to come on down and check it out!!

~ Gav.

id be up for falling off my bike on camera or something as thats probably what would happen, i could possibly stretch to a few awkward answers to horribly set questions if you will hah

does sound good though, im up for whatevere

i mite be able to provide some trickin' if needed.

@uphill_downhill good to meet you the other week, its george.

ill be up for this, although im new to fixed so will be pretty useless. i dont know if you plan to shoot HD but i own a DVX so if u need any other angles id be happy to help out, or i would be more than happy to help with any thing else like post-production etc...

Awesome dude, I too am pretty new to fixies really, been riding 7/8 months so not really a tricks sorta guy. But that doesnt matter, its just about how much fun it is to live & ride in Bristol!

I am planning on shooting in HD but my camera isn't a big bad boy, it's a JVC Everio hand-cam so that'd be awesome if you'd like to shoot extra angles, the more the merrier!

And post-production help is all good too, a collab effort would be great!!

~ Gav.

ok cool, well i live in the city centre so am always around. I need a good excuse for a project as i have been a bit slack recently! my email is alexknowles995@hotmail.co.uk so give me a shout if you need anything, or pm me on this as i often forget to check my emails.

you too man when you next about?

and what was that site/ blog you told me about that had info on that charge scissor?

is anything happening with this then lads?

I really want to get involved!

this week mate, i think wed-sat. ive spoken to alex, we re going to get some footage, get the ball rolling. see you in a few days.

when and where?

ahhh awesome, im glad to see the balls rolling!

My ball was well and truly stopped in its tracks by this bloody snow and hasn't let up since! im going away for a few days on Thurs so unfortunately no riding then - hopefully next week as the film festival deadline is looming but if others are gathering footage then thats awesome!

Went out with aftersputnik today for a little film. Nothing exciting, just a thrown together edit of a mess around on top of a car park.
peep it: (apologies for bad compression settings)

and sorry blankface havnt been on here for a while so hadnt seen your post! message me if you fancy doing some filming or whatever as im always around.

I really like that, I love the shots of "life going on", I think there should be more of them, they really give it style...

Really nice little edit. Aftersputnik - were you at timbuk2 on thursday? I recognise you

yeah we were both there, wheres nana? pretty good night however i was a little worse for wear.

Awesome dude, thats great stuff!

You're getting far more done than i have! last Wednesday was the first day it was dry so I rushed back home after work, eager to get on my bike, strap my camera to the front and go for a ride, testing how it would look!

I left park row, went round the fountains, down behind the waterfront and onto the end of Hotwells - i went as fast as my little legs would take me - returned home knackered to find I didnt press record properly!!!

Doh! Anyways, im back to normal now so plan on going out tomorrow night with Luis and Alex hopefully so ill let you know how it goes!

Good work though, great to see stuff happening!

~ Gav.

I couldn't believe some of the tunes they were playing, Craig David was defs a winner haha. Really nice edit anyway.

I went out with Louis & Alex last night and got a good set of footage - about 15 / 20 usable clips so thats a good start.

Did my 3rd attempt of securing my camera to my stem but it just wont work, my camera refues to film (i think its just too sensative for the bumps - even with 'drop detection' turned off, it refuses to film) - so going to have a re-think and try and secure it another way

Hopefully going out again tonight, so if any of you guys are around, hopefully see you and get some more footage of riding / static stuff!

Cheers all, progress is happening!

~ Gav.

Id be up for it tonight bro, I could ride for an hour or so. when and where?

We could just all meet at the waterfront bit by Cafe Gusto at like 7pm-ish? Just a casual affair, if anyone's around I'll just film the happenings!

~ Gav.

Ill be down there

Thanks to those who came out tonight, sorry it was such a shambles and I didnt have a plan! i was hoping to get some footage of riding, thinking my camera would be mountable - unfortunately not!

S'alright though, got lots of bits and steves gnarly slam so we're getting there!

Was a fun little ride man, I really didnt expect park street to be that slippery... that was crazy,
I could lock out my wheel with almost no weight on the pedals..
Id be up for some daytime rides in the coming few weeks too.

-freddie.

Let me know when it happens next, I work a lot but really want in on this. It sounds fun.

I think i might have a plan for filming whilst riding... i couldnt sleep last night due to my head whiring with ideas - and also discovered a super-cheap trick to mimic a steadicam, to give a much more fluid feel to hand-held shots

I'll be out again on Thursday I think, for a ride and a film, nothing specific (as i didnt have much of a plan last night, i hope that didnt piss some of the guys off)

But yes definitely get some stuff in the daytime, although it'll have to be a Saturday or Sunday - maybe next weekend, to get stuff in the daylight!

I think I'll be out & about tomorrow, not sure what time I can get to Bristol, but I'd love to join you guys for a ride/mess about. Will be around 7 I guess. As long as it ain't too wet!

jamfactory would you care to share this super-cheap steadicam trick i'd love to know!?

we're getting there, slowly but surely! went out again with Louis last night and got a few more bits - managed to film a couple of rides too with my 'tripod-inside-bag' trick - it isnt super smooth but its def usable in some parts.

Going to go out next weekend to get some stuff in the daylight - if y'all around? I think ill split the edit up into 'day' and 'night', as we're going to have too much night footage to just throw in - gives a nice seperation to the edit aswell!

Jonny, who's also started doing some bike filming, knocked together this little teaser with the stuff he shot a few nights ago...

As silly as it sounds, but your tripod is a steadicam of sorts! Super expensive steadicams are all based on counterweights, so if you extend your regular tripod out, with the legs closed - you have a counterweight for your camera!

if you have a horizontal arm then extend that out and use that as a horizontal balancer for extra steadiness!

Sounds ghetto i know, but it definitely helps get a steadier shot!

awesome cheers for that

Im going to be going out with Louis & Alex again thir Thursday, if any of you guys are about?

Hopefully with a couple of photography friends too, so the more the merrier to get footage & photos!

Should be able to film a ride aswell, so that'll be good to get a proper convoy of folk on film!!

Cheers all,

~ Gav.

I should be out on thursday. what time are you gonna be down at the water?

if my bike is in some form of rideable condition id love to come

Awesome, shall we say 7pm @ the Cafe Gusto spot?

I might be lurking over the other side of the river first to film some long shots, so dont worry if you see a shadowy figure with a camera filming you lot!

Cheers all, see you Thursday

~ Gav.

Should be there if the weather's alright!

might be able to make this thursday too - although I'm crap so you probably wont want to film me :)

Will bring some cameras though and am happy to take some stills

nice one gents, be great to have a convoy!

@danb - ahh man dont worry about it, Im super crap but it isnt about that at all, just about loving riding man, its all cool!

Any extra footage and stills is all appreciated, the more the merrier!

I'm gonna come down with my camera and a few flashes - try and light this sh*t up! My kit's a bit on the heavy side, mind, so i may have to come in the car (booo!).

Good session tonight guys, hope some good photos/video was taken! Got back to my car & realised my rear tyre was shredded down to the threads! Fastest tyre I've ever wrecked! Too many skids I think!