Harry Redstone's RC car racing preparation...

Our friend Harry Redstone is competing, with his RC car, in the SRCMCC's SRS race this Sunday, 3rd June, & he's very kindly shared a photo diary of some of his preparations with us.  If like me you thought you could just turn up & race your RC car, it seems we were very much mistaken!!

Before & after each race Harry disassembles his cars...

 He has to clean, maintain & relubricate all parts of his RC cars, to ensure maximum performance on race day...

We've supplied Harry with the bearings for his race cars & he says "The bearings I got are perfect for my uses - they hold up at the clutch bell where they literally spinning 40,000 rpm... bearings usually go after a single race day, but yours have lasted 3 race days so far - thats not bad going at all".

Thanks for the positive feedback Harry, it's much appreciated!!

 

"First car in bits ready for new shock oils, new diff oils and clean all bearings and oil them up!

Then to re do all that on my other car... wow I have a long week :0)"

 

  We hope all of Harry's hard work pays off on race day.

 We're really excited that we're going to go & see for ourselves, as he'll be competing just down the road from us in Swindon.  The splendid outdoor race track is located at Moredon Recreation ground, Swindon, SN2 2QJ - if you're not racing it's free entry & there'll certainly be plenty of action to see on the day.

All of us at SMB would like to wish Harry (& all his fellow competitors) the very best of luck!!



SMB's eBay SKATE shop is now live...

We have finally joined the modern age (well, sort of!!) & opened an online skate bearings store at eBay!

You can buy sets of 4, 8 or double up & get 16pcs of the standard skate bearings or the ceramic hybrids. 

For all other enquiries, we'd still like you to contact us - we have over 2000 different sizes/types of bearings in stock & sadly we can't list them all, but we welcome all enquiries!

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Introducing Harry Redstone, RC car racing nut...

SMB Bearings would like to introduce you to our young friend, Bristol-based Harry Redstone - a keen racer of RC model cars. Harry is a regular feature now at Swindon Radio Controlled Model Car Club - SRCMCC for short!

"My name is Harry Redstone & I am a rc car racer, newly started, but I've been into rc cars since I was 5 years old.  Now I'm taking it more seriously, after leaving the sport of motorcross.  I am only racing at club level at the moment but i will soon be doing the Swords (a national race competition) and other race meetings." 

Harry will be participating in the Pirate RC event in June - we're looking forward to updating you on that nearer the time.


Harry's new pride & joy - a Team Losi 4WD Buggy



Racing action at SRCMCC!

 We sent Harry some bearings for his car & he seems pretty chuffed with them "Cheers, the bearings are great - stripped my car down last night and fitted them & it took all the play out of the hubs :-) and I didn't even have to shim them".  We look forward to seeing how the bearings do longer team, as the world of nitro RC racing is a pretty hard one for your average bearing - as Harry says "Yeah, plus they're spinning at 40,000 rpm so they do take a bashing but then thats life for them :-)"




Everyone at SMB Bearings would like to take this opportunity to wish Harry the very best of luck for the 2012 race season & we'll update you on his progress really soon.

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Ian Emery, RC Heli Pilot - AHA Tring meet...

Our favourite RC heli pilot, Ian Emery, popped in today & dropped off this fantastic vid & meet report from his adventures last weekend...

AHA Round 1 - Tring

Ian says,
 "The long winter was finally over and it was time for the first AHA Competition of the year at Tring, Buckinghamshire. This year I was progressing from the Clubman’s (entry level league) to Sportsman’s (Intermediates) and having practised the new set of manoeuvres relentlessly over the past couple of months I felt optimistic about the year ahead. Little did I know that a decision had been made to cancel any competition with less than 4 people competing in that particular class.

After a nervous wait it emerged that I was the only competitor that turned up for the Sportsman’s class, so any scores obtained for the day wouldn’t count towards the final league standing. There were 5 competitors for the F3C class and it was decided that I should fly my schedule at the end of each of their 3 rounds and marked by the judges using it as a training day.

All 3 flights were completed with very positive yet constructive feedback from the judges. The only slight mishap was a heavy landing following an autorotation manoeuvre in round 2 leading to a broken undercarriage strut. Luckily I was able to borrow a spare strut to complete the 3rd round flight. Due to the poor turnout and the positive feedback, the judges and F3C pilots think that I should enter into the F3C competition for the remainder of the season. I now have 2 weeks to try and learn the F3C schedule before the next completion, fingers crossed".

Thanks for updating us Ian.  All we can say is WOW!  What a step up, no doubt richly deserved - no surprises Ian's a bit edgy to be heading into the F3C leagues though, as this is basically the qualifying stage for the British Team - it must be a bit like passing your driving test & then qualifying to race for Mclaren F1!

We're delighted to be able to support Ian with his heli bearings & even more delighted to hear from him that he's had many hours use from them so far - long may it continue :-)

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eBay shop is coming soon...

We are delighted to announce that we are developing an eBay store, launching shortly, primarily to offer our skate bearings to our younger customers.

At SMB Bearings we actually hold over 2000 different sizes/types of bearings - see our product catalogue for more information.  For all other bearing types & sizes in our range, you can continue to order in the normal way & pay by business account, by card, cheque or by PayPal.

If you are in search of some technical help, check out our website's comprehensive technical pages to gain a better understanding of bearings & their performance.

We are always happy to talk to you if you're not exactly sure on your requirements, so please feel free to contact us if you want a bit of advice.

Kieran Flint, novice stunt scooter rider

Here at SMB Bearings, we're very lucky as we get to meet all sorts of people & make lots of friends along the way.  A few months ago we started chatting to Kieran Flint on FaceBook. 

He's a local lad who is just full of enthusiasm for all things scooter & we asked him to tell us a bit about himself & his passion:


Name: Kieran Flint
Age: 15
Hometown: Banbury

When did you start scooter riding? I started on December 27 2011 - everybody else was scootering and me and my mate used to ride fold up razors but yeah just seemed fun.

 What's the skate/scooter scene like where you live? What got you into it? Where i live there is just me and my mate Aiden that scooter and there are no ramps but we are trying to get funding to encourage other riders to come to the village and mabye even people start riding in the village.

Favourite skate spot? My favourite skatepark is Spiceball Banbury at the moment :)


How many scooters have you got? I have two scooters a razor ultra pro and a mgp nitro extreme she devil.

What's the scooter you'd most like to own?
I would love a fully custom she devil with black proto scs and black lucky smx forks with black on black proto grippers apex pegs black smb bearings apex bol bars and a phoniex flex fender black. 




She Devil Scooter



What's your best trick? my best trick is 360 flat (sometimes) i am not great yet lol.

What advice would you give to young kids starting out? At first you will not be able to do much, dont give up stick at it and practice.

Can you see yourself doing this in 5 years time, maybe even as a pro? I would love to still scooter in five years time if i get good and still enjoy it :)

Favourite film? Inbetweeners movie or Snatch

Favourite song/band/video? my favourite song is anything dubstep (skrillex) & my favourite video is a day with terry price :)

 Favourite game?my favourite game is call of duty mw3 or saints row 3


Favourite sport?scootering and rugby :)

Sporting heroes?sporting hero is terry price and r willy :)

Thanks for chatting with us Kieran, you're a star!

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Ian Emery - RC Helicopter Pilot - let battle commence!

SMB are delighted to be sponsoring Ian Emery, an RC Helicopter enthusiast who is competing in this year's Sportsmans precision flying events with the UK's Association for Helicopter Aerosports.  

This is a really challenging class, designed for those who've mastered the basics of precision RC heli manouvres but still have a little to learn before becoming official members of the UK F3C team & representing the UK in international competitions.

The AHA held a season opener at Gumley, Leicestershire last weekend (bad weather, but lots of coffee-fueled enthusiasm by the sound of it!) before the competitive season starts for real this weekend at Charmouth, Dorset.

Flying starts at 9.00am on Saturday 21st April (at Newlands Caravan Park, Charmouth), so if you're in the area why not go along & have a look?

Good luck Ian!



Shannon Francis, new stunt scooter vids...

Yeay for Shannon, who is getting to be an awesome stunt scooter rider & who is also epic at videoing her antics!







And this is Shannon's friend, Curtis Vandries:




It's so nice to see Shannon & her friends developing as stunt scooter riders & trying new stuff - keep up the good work guys, you're a real inspiration! :0)

Schaeffer Mclean, now an internet legend!

As our loyal readers will be aware, we've been a proud sponsor of Schaeffer Mclean for three years now so
we're chuffed to old boots for him that people the world over a taking a look at just what an awesome rider he is!  He's had so many YouTube hits now (over 13 million - an awesomely mind-boggling number) that he's made national TV and newspaper headlines this week...

Check out the ITV news here  - the full feature can also be seen at Vimeo & you can read the article that featured in The Sun here.

Yeay for Schaeffer Mclean & his continuing world domination! :0)

Check out our new ad...

...which will feature in the next edition of Model Helicopter World magazine!

If you need any help re-fitting your model, but aren't sure what size/part reference you need, we're always happy to help.  If you can advise dimensions we can find the part reference, or if you have a part reference you're not sure about we can confirm dimensions for you!  There's lots of helpful information & advice on our website & you're welcome call us for a chat/advice.

Schaeffer Mclean, sponsored skater...

How exciting! The latest update from our pint-sized skate hero Schaeffer Mclean...

Schaeffer's Mum, Eve, says:

"This was a quick trip over to France to find some indoor parks this cold and wet February half term. We found some amazing places but only the indoor ones were skateable. Schaeffer hadn't really skated since Christmas because of the weather, so it was great to get back to some skating again. This was our journey......"

Nice one Schaeffer, you never cease to wow us :0)

Robotic Dog Sitter...

This is awesome!   When Jordan Correa and his wife both started working full time, they found themselves away from their home much more often, leaving their dog, Darwin, alone all day. Most people would have just had to leave the problem as is, or maybe get a part time pet sitter. But Correa, being a test developer for the Microsoft Robotics Team, came up with a solution right in line with his talents and built a dog-sitting robot, so he could play and speak with his pet over the internet while he's at work



Correa constructed a robot that can interact with his dog much like he would himself, which he named the "DarwinBot." A Slate PC on the front lets the owner speak to his dog over Skype, while a dispenser on the side can distribute treats on his command. The DarwinBot can also play fetch, thanks to a ball launcher on top and a robotic arm that can retrieve the ball after the dog drops it in front of it.  This is just what every pampered pooch needs on their shopping list :0)

Flyfishmagazine: The elusive Colorado snow trout

Flyfishmagazine: The elusive Colorado snow trout - love it!

Adactus, F1 in Schools competition...

They won - YES!!!!!!!

Team Adactus have won the central England F1 in Schools Championship & also best engineered car...

Adactus say:

"The team was successful at the 2012 Central England Regional Final at Loughborough University on the 10th of February. We won first place in our category and the award for the best engineered car. Because of this, the team now qualifies for the 2012 National Final at the Big Bang Fair at the NEC on the 16th and 17th of March.

We would like to thank our sponsors for helping us get this far:

◦SMB Bearings
◦McDonalds
◦Red Firecracker Decals
◦UKHost4U
And of course we would like to thank our school, Lutterworth College".

You can keep up to date with the team's news via their blog, which is full of great things :0) - good work guys!



Video edits from our Facebook friends...

Thanks to everyone who's shared an edit with us this week, there's been some real talent on show & we thought we should share it with our friends who aren't Facebook nuts!

Charlie Whitehouse:

Luke Dafforn:

Liam Witchard:

& last but not least, Shannon Francis!

Thanks guys, a great range of talent & fun on show here - surely enough to inspire everyone to get out & give it a go this weekend! :0)

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Corski Alpinskis...

Just spoken to the lovely people at Corski, who have designed these amazing Alpine/downhill skates, so you can practice skiing off-piste altogether!

This video shows the speed you can get up-to on these things & was filmed by an uber-skilled BMX rider:

Apparently, the product has been in development for about 10 years & is just about to go into serious production - good luck to all at Corski with that!

Shannon Francis, stunt scooter star...

We're delighted to be able to share the latest video creation from Shannon Francis.  The Bristol-based stunt scooter rider shows off some great skill & very kindly shows off our logo too :0)



We are delighted to sponsor someone so proactive & enthusiastic - keep up the good work Shannon!
You can follow Shannon at her fanpage, where there's lots of news about the Bristol scoot scene.

Vélo Vogue: she likes bikes

Vélo Vogue: she likes bikes: I think it's a safe assumption.

Adactus - F1 in Schools update...

We are proud sponsors of team "Adactus", who are competing in this year's F1 in Schools Championship.  The challenge involves teams of students, aged between 9 & 19, designing, analysing, manufacturing, testing, and then racing miniature gas powered balsa wood F1 cars,

We'd like to take this opportunity to wish them all the very best, as this Friday sees the team competing in the UK's Central regional finals at Loughborough University.

The team say: "We are currently competing in our fourth year of the competition and have recently changed out name from Mach1. In our first year we won Best New Team at the Central England Regional Finals, In our second year we came first at the Regional Finals which meant we qualified for the National Finals and In our third year we won Best Engineered Car, Fastest Car and First Place at the Regional Finals. At the National Finals we won Best Engineered Car and Second Place. We were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to collaborate with a Malaysian team to compete in the International Finals in Singapore under the name Team Fusion in 2010.



"Mach1", now "Adactus" are pictured in blue


After taking a break for a year, the team is now competing with the strong intention to come first at the International Finals. The team has welcomed two new members this year and has had a complete makeover with a new team identity.

With new sponsors, new ideas and a new identity we are ready to achieve our goal and enjoy it!"

Well guys, we've sent our very best bearings out to you & we hope very much that they help you on the way to victory!  We can't wait to hear how you get on :0)

RC Quadcopter swarm...

How cool is this?!



Remote-controlled quadrotor robots have been around for some time, but in the following video just released by a research team at the University of Pennsylvania's General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab, science fiction edges much closer to science fact as a swarm of the Nano Quadrotors perform some astounding maneuvers.


Admittedly, use of the term "nano" may be stretching things a bit, but even so, the capable little robots provide an interesting glimpse into what the future may hold for surveillance, search and rescue, light construction and a myriad of other apps.