Where can people find your booth? We'll be on the Tip Plus booth #5145
Why in the BMX zone?
Because that's where our US distributor chose to be and because we're a BMX company.
In general, what are the tough things to battle when developing new products?
Well in a period of negative economic growth I'd have to say keeping costs low in the wake of spiralling material and labour prices as well as keeping the consumer happy in what is an incredibly fast changing market.
Do you fancy going to Taiwan to follow up on the development process and to negotiate pricing?
Yeah for sure any time, there's kind of a skewed view of things over there but go to the right factories and you'd be suitably impressed. As with all production, no matter in house or on the other side of the world, keeping control over it is the most important thing and we try to do this the best we can every step of the way.
Who are some of the riders that give good feedback on the products that make your life easier? All the riders are pretty good with feedback, Dan Lacey is pretty vocal about stuff he does and doesn't like so that helps a lot. It helps having a team of utter savages to test stuff
Do you have secret product testers out there or do the team riders take care of that?
Team rider mainly take care of it, there'll be a few people who are friends of Seventies who'll get the odd thing to ride here and there but I prefer to keep it tight knit so as to keep control over it all.
Big tires, big bars, slammed seats, small gearing and lightweight. What's next?
What I love is that no one really knows, I think this 80s/oldschool throwback stuff will keep going for a while and then something else will come a long depending on how riding evolves in the future.
How hard is it to come up with a colour for your products? Pretty easy actually, just look at the colour charts and decide what we're into at the moment and go with it. Colours can be hit and miss but so far with the Teal and flat gold we've been pretty lucky.
Are you scared of the mandatory paint/colour testing or do you not worry about that yet?
I was when everyone started freaking out about it but it was a lot of fuss about nothing. Our agent and all our vendors are up to speed on it so there's been no real hiccups for us.
How important is pricepoint for your products?
For the consumer price is obviously a big deal but as in all walks of life you get what you pay for, we try to do what we can to make our products as affordable as possible but ensure that everyone gets a fair margin a long the way. This enables us to help support ourselves and give back to BMX through paying riders, going on trips etc as well as supporting our distributors and their network of shops.
Can you explain how hard it is to put an original idea into a final product?
In can be incredibly hard, in terms of financial investment and time spent. Take too long developing a product and you could be too late to market and it could have been emulated elsewhere. The more experience you have the easier it gets, we're lucky to have a knowledgeable agent and good links with vendors that makes the whole process a lot smoother.
What is a 2010 product you designed that you are most proud of? I'd have to say the new frame we're going to be releasing next year, Lacey, Ty and Jared all have signature frames coming and I've worked closely with them to ensure that every element suits their riding from geometry, tubing lengths and to thickness's at various points of the frame.
What's the worst design in BMX at the moment?
Not really feeling the stripped plastic seat
What do you think is a clever product?
The square ratchet used by Odyssey and Eastern that allows you to switch between RHD and LHD on the same hub is cool, I like simple things done well.
Why do people need to look into your brand?
Because they'll like what they find.....
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.