What's Good? Tim Storey x Eclat 'Ambas'

Here we are for round two of the latest LUXBMX journal segment, 'What's Good?'. 

To reiterate, we reach out to one of the homies and get a hot tip on the latest biking madness. It's called 'What's Good?' and for the second installment, we turn to LUXBMX customer service manager Tim Storey and his pick, 'Ambas' by Eclat which features two of their pro team, British bikers Alex Kennedy (AK) and Joe Jarvis. 

The video premiered on DIGBMX back on the 12th May 2023 and has been somewhat of a feature with the DIGBMX partnership comprising the feature video, a photo album as well as a raw video. I suppose there is always going to be multi-layered content streams when the dudes involved are as productive and relevant as these two, however even within this context, it aint bad considering this video is described as a long weekend trip to Barcelona (assumedly 3 days). 

Before we go any further, let's hand out the credits. Firstly, videography was handled by Barcelona's own Rafael Delgado a biker himself and commander general of Wilderness brand, a crew also based out of Barcelona. Photos were managed by Jason 'Fooman' Colledge, similarly a biker himself. Great to see all involved are practicing what they preach. 

Now, to the video. When I see a project from a reputable company like Eclat, who boast an incredibly talented roster and who pride themselves on simplicity and attention to detail, I have high expectations. I'm then anticipating the highest level of riding, filming, editing, all of it. Within this lens, I'm happy with the end product, but I'm not punching the air kind of happy. Having said that, I have watched it a number of times and was certainly impressed with the level of riding, however I wanted more, I want eliteness. Perhaps this is the downside of having watched BMX videos for such a long time and being blessed with such a high standard of content in the modern scene. 

Anyway, let's start with something positive. Despite there being a million videos of Barcelona biking, the city continues to provide a selection of spots that result in dropped jaws and a serious amount of salivation. It was awesome to see a whole heap of new locations, mixed in with some classics. There's just something satisfying about seeing a European city being taken to the sword by some biker boys. Tim Storey agrees, adding that the video 'made me reminisce about being in a foreign country with your mates filming bmx and then celebrating through the night.' 

An aspect I hadn't thought of with this video was that of pace/speed. As Tim explains, 'I really liked the tempo of the edit, fast paced, exciting and kept you guessing for what was coming next' . So important to get right and very subtle in how it can be applied in the most effective way. Speaking of, I will say that this was enhanced through the song which worked well to match the tempo of the riding and production. However, while the song worked, it did however present an emotional imbalance in terms of excitement building on pressing play, leading to disappointment upon hearing that syrupy, digitised trap sound, then back to excitement seeing AK handle that massive pegs over. 

With a keen review, it would seem that the quality of this video comes down to the character and abilities of the two feature biker boys, AK and Joe Jarvis. While you can tell that this video is not improved by the benefit of a significant amount of time and thus the opportunity to deeply explore and work on producing clips, it nonetheless highlights the varying trick list and skill-set of the two fellas. As the title of the video suggests, 'Ambas' is taken to mean two people or two things together, which sounds fairly simple, however this construction is likely lacking in understanding. Isn't it cool to see different personalities come together and create a symbiotic, working alliance. Tim also noted this element, explaining that 'I am a huge fan of both riders for different reasons, I like that AK is a timeless name in BMX and has a way of making his tricks look the best (the wallride feeble 180 was a standout). Joey Jarvis is sick to watch becasue he seems like someone that would be great to have a beer with, high energy, aggressive riding. The big 360 at the start and end are rad but then his tech is also incredible and always surprises me.'

A video project which I'm pleased to write about online, however probably not good enough for me to write home about. Is that balanced enough?

 

All photos in this piece were taken by Fooman as seen on DIGBMX with written contribution from Tim Storey. 

If you're into Eclat (masters of simplistic design since 2008) and are keen to explore their range of products, why not check out the vast selection of BMX parts on the LUXBMX online store.