Ian Emery, RC Helicopter Pilot update...

We've had a great update from our friend Ian Emery - he has been instrumental in organising the new Euro Heli Series, whilst still competing himself, working full time & looking after his lovely family ...

"Well it’s a little over a week until the first F3C Competition of the 2014 Season so I thought I had better give you an update.  As previously mentioned there have been many changes for this year.   A new schedule is in place for this year, although as this is my first year in F3C I knew I would have to learn a new schedule anyway. 

I have been busy organising the Euro Heli Series competition, which will be a total of 4 F3C events in total to be held in Belgium, France, Holland and the final one here in the UK in September.  I’ve been making the most of the good weather and getting out flying as often as I could.  Moving up to F3C just seems like such a big jump from the Sportsman’s class I have been flying in over the past few years.  

There have also been changes in the rules on helicopter setup.  For the first time in F3C competition, flybarless helicopters are allowed.  This brings even more choices. Is a 2 rotor blade or 3 rotor blade setup best? What flybarless controller to choose? Would I be better keeping a flybar and paddle setup?  I have tried most options but think I now have the best setup.  

For me, I think the 3 bladed rotor head offers the best all-round feel and I am lucky enough to be flying the Spartan RC Vortex flybarless system which is superb.  As for the bearings supplied by SMB, I stripped both helicopters during the Winter to check for wear and tear.  These bearings are now over 2 years old and not a single one needed replacing which is fantastic.  

The rubber sealed bearings on the main mast bearing blocks are really holding up well as they are designed to keep dust and grit from entering the bearing.  I would like to say a big thank you to SMB Bearings for their continued support.  I travel to Belgium for the first competition next week to compete against some of the best F3C pilots in Europe, it’s going to a big challenge but I’ve got to start somewhere.  I will keep you updated".

Thanks Ian!  We very much appreciate the positive feedback on our precision EZO bearings & we hope that they continue to bring you good fortune.  We'd all like to wish you every success with your forthcoming competitions & with the Euro Heli Series.

Great new vid from Schaeffer Mclean, sponsored skater...

Skateboarding Schaeffer Mclean having fun and skateboarding in Spain Winter 2014. 

Check our more action & interests from Schaeffer at:

• Soundcloud
• Retreat Store
• SMB Bearings Ltd
• Schaeffer's Facebook Page
• Schaeffer's Twitter Page
• Schaeffer's Instagram Page

Schaeffer McLean has been skateboarding and uploading videos to his channel Schaeffernico since the age of 4. His channel is now one of the most watched skateboarding channels on YouTube with over 20 million of views. You can find him skateboarding at parks across the U.K. Spain and other countries trying out new tricks, having fun and adventures and enjoying the spirit of skateboarding. Stay tuned lots more videos coming....

Bon Voyage Sam!

Today at SMB we'll be saying au revoir to Sam Johnson, who joined us recently to update
our online catalogue

Sam is heading off to the Dominican Republic for a year, where he's planning to qualify as a diving instructor to help fund his passion for marine biology.

Whilst we're a smidge on the jealous side (as the annual temperatures rarely dip below 25°C in this Carribean haven), we'd all like to wish Sam every success with his new venture :-)

SMB Bearings new catalogue available for download now...

We've been hard at work recently &, having completed the updating of SMB Bearings new website, moved on to updating our catalogue which, bless, has been around since the first bible was printed - well, nearly!

Certainly, some people who featured in the original have a lot less hair today...

We've updated lots of technical information & our full product range is now shown.

The online version of the new catalogue is available for immediate download

CLICK HERE to get your copy now.

In the next few months a paper catalogue will also become available & we're planning to send them out to our friends & colleagues at trade counters the world over.

Of course, you may not always be able to find the information that you need in our catalogue
so please feel free to CONTACT US if you need any help!

Introducing Emma, our newest staff member...

Those of you calling the office to speak to us will probably already have had the pleasure of speaking to our newest SMB team member Emma Bower, who joined us last October. She has been busy learning all she can about bearings & has now officially passed her probation.

Its an amazing challenge to learn all the technical aspects of bearings, especially in a busy office environment, but Emma is doing an amazing job & is still smiling, mores the miracle! Even our esteemed leader Chris (whose been in the bearing trade since the 1980's) commented:

"it takes longer than you think to get to grips with bearings. I'm still learning (a bit)!!" :-)

Emma hard at work, processing your orders...

Emma is now responsible for fielding your sales enquiries by phone, fax & email, processing your orders, general office administration & a host of other day to day responsibilities
& quite frankly we'd be lost without her!

Welcome to the team Emma :-)

SMB Bearings stoked to feature in Shove It Magazine!

It not often that we get to feel proper awesomely cool here at SMB Bearings,
but today is one of those days! Thanks to April Whitlow, editor of Shove It Magazine
for featuring us in an article today. If you don't want to read all about us (but of course you do!) there's all sorts of other top stuff, skater profiles, event photos, product reviews & all things skate :-)

We'll be taking part in a little give-away competition with Shove it Magazine soon, so keep checking back with the site for more news!

Harry Redstone's BRCA Micro Nationals, the season so far...



Harry, mid Micro race preparation...



The Redstone racing fleet in all it's glory :-)

Our mate Harry Redstone is a keen young competitor in the BRCA Micro Nationals (when he's not busy competing in the SRS series) & so far he's had a pretty eventful season - he's doing so well by round 3 in Dudley that he rated a mention as the top junior competitor in RC News magazine!

The micro track set out for round 3 of the BRCA Micro Nationals competition at Dudley

This video gives you a real flavour of just how fast and furious these micro RC races can be:

Well done Harry, keep up the great work!

How our bearings are made...

We found this fab old vid on Youtube & thought it was definitely worth a share...

Admittedly a bit geeky, but still cool!

Schaeffer Mclean & friends at Ronda Skatepark...

If you're thinking "Gosh, it looks sunny for Wales" the vid was filmed in Ronda, Spain as opposed to Rhondda in South Wales :-)

Aaron Skippings, downhill skater update...

What do downhill skaters get up to out of the competitive season?

Aaron at Almatreib '13 - photo by Physco

Well our mate Aaron Skippings has been honing his skills at SourceBMX & looking super-cool & legendary & stuff :-)

Pictures by Ben Carson

When not looking like a skate super-hero, squinting mysteriously into the middle distance, Aaron is in downhill skate competition pre-season planning phase:

"It doesnt stop raining here at the moment but thet gives me time to work out my event plans ! :D

Hopefully planning to go to a race in Belgium in May and also to California in September
(for 2 world cup races)!

If it works out I'll be so happy - we will see. Also lots of skating here in the UK!"

Well Aaron, we're sending your some more bearings & lubricant
to get your season off to a flying start - good luck with all your adventures in 2014!

We'll look forward to sharing more news of Aaron's antics as the year progresses.

Elevenses, SMB style...

Happy Friday everyone! :-)

Skater updates...

You know you're cool when you get invited to test out a skate park before it's opened to the public...

Skateboarder Schaeffer McLean having a look around the new and awesome
Rush Skatepark before it officially opened.

Now fully open, go check it out!!

And a fantastic video reprise of 2013, from our stateside skate friend Doug Brown...

Doug currently has a Facebook competition - check it out:
"CONTEST!!! I'm giving away a FREE signed complete skateboard. This is for someone that really needs it, are you worthy? If so, why? Share your story. Winner to be chosen this Wednesday. Contest is in conjunction with Danny Badertscher with Wooster Skateland. The winner will be contacted via Facebook directly and must be able to pick up board in person at Acres of Fun"

Thanks guys!

SMB on a beautiful January morning...

I want to get back under my duvet...

Happy Friday everyone!! :-)

Welcome to 2014!

All of us at SMB would like to wish you a very happy & prosperous 2014,
we hope that the year brings you everything that you could wish for.

Yes, we're back in the office & raring to go!
Admittedly, we were all a tiny bit grumpy when the alarm clock went off this morning & signalled a return to work... :-)

We look forward to helping with all your bearing needs this year. Also, we hope to keep you up to date with lots of exciting news & events, both from ourselves & also from our friends & customers (whose genius never ceases to amaze us).

Happy New Year to you all!

Happy Christmas from us all at SMB Bearings!

We are closing for Christmas at 5.30pm on 23.12.2013

& we will re-open at 9.00am on 02.01.2014.

Wishing all our friends & business partners the very best

for the festive season & the coming year!

Winter flying practice...

Thanks to our friend Ian Emery to sending us these photos of his RC heli winter flying practice...

... training hard for the AHA 2014 season already, well done Ian!

SMB's new software goes live on 02.12.13

We are having a new software system installed on Monday 02.12.13
& we expect at least 5 hours disruption whilst this takes place.
We will make every effort to deal with enquiries normally during this time
but if you have any urgent enquiries, please call us on 0044 (0)1993 842 555 & we will do our very best to help you.

Wish us luck, I think we'll need it!

SMB's Will Johnson MOVEMBER mania...

We are very proud of our Will & delighted to share with you his MOVEMBER efforts...

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of millions of moustaches around the world. With their “Mo’s” men raise vital funds and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer and mental health. As an independent global charity, Movember’s vision is to have an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health.

Well done Will for contributing to Movember with some Mexican drug lord face fuzz & letting us laugh at your expense throughout November, all in the name of charity!

Congratulations to Red Set Racing, F1 in Schools World Finalists

It's official, the folks at Red Set Racing are A-MAZING!!

They had the second fastest F1 in Schools car in the WORLD this year...

Check out this vid of the knockout stages to see just how impressive the team's achievement is

(& catch a glimpse of the team at 1m 29s):

It's not all about speed & the knockout rounds though - they designed, built, raced, marketed & raised sponsorship to fund the whole venture themselves...

They placed 8th position overall & also won the F1 in Schools "Ashes" trophy (& given our current cricketing performance, we should take great cheer from this as a nation).

The team have so much appeal that they've even rated a mention in Bearing Industry News!

All at SMB Bearings are tremendously proud of you Red Set Racing

Well done on an epic performance!

Model helicopter photos from Ian Emery...

As always, it's a delight when our friend Ian Emery pops in - this week he updated us on his new canopies, see images below - it looks like Ian will be tackling 2014 in style!

We believe that Ian is currenty involved in the AHA (Association for Helicopter Aerosports) website revamp & also the expansion of the UK competitive flying circuit to a mini-European league... more news soon!

Red Set Racing at the F1 in Schools World Finals 2013

All of us at SMB Bearings would like to wish Red Set Racing team the very best of luck at the 

F1 in Schools World Finals, being held in Austin, Texas this weekend.

The team, Red Set Racing, formed in August 2012 & are from Sprowston Community High School, Norwich.  Team members are: Ryan Clabon 17 (Team Manager), Will Mulhall 17 &Thomas Carver 17 

Post by Red Set Racing.

Red Set Racing won the F1 in Schools Central UK Regionals in February 2013 & then went on to win the UK Nationals in March 2013, which secured their place in the World Finals. 

Before they jetted off to take part in the competition, the team were kind enough to take the time to tell us about their progress...

"Redsetracing have been working flat out on their bid for theF1 in Schools World Finals in Austin, Texas commencing 9^th November. The lads fly from Norwich International Airport to Austin Texas on Thursday 7^th at 09:45 to take on the other 40+ Countries competing at the F1 in schools world finals.

They have faced a number of challenges over the last 6 month to get to this stage.  Primarily the biggest hurdle is that of the new 2014 F1 in Schools Competition Regulations. Since becoming UK National Champions in March, F1 in schools have released a new set of regulations which effectively meant a complete redesign of what was a very fast car. 

RSV5 - the World Final model...

Ryan Clabon team manager said “Although we were very pleased with the RSV3, and how it performed at the National Finals, we welcomed the challenge of a complete redesign”. Tom Carver chief engineer added “we cut the rules pretty close to get the fastest car at the UK Nationals, so I have had to completely change my wheel and axel designs to ensure we don’t fall foul of the Judges at the Worlds.” Their new car the RSV5 incorporates the latest motorsport materials such as titanium and carbon fibre composites, as well as using 3D rapid prototyping to test parts before committing time to the manufacture of mould tools etc.

Secondly there is the massive challenge of raising the necessary funds to travel with two teachers and all of the equipment to the USA. The Team have engaged in a number of marketing activities including inviting potential sponsors into school, for ‘an F1 day’, complete with full size F1 simulator and even undertaking paid work for their primary sponsor KLM UK Engineering. Will Mulhall who has oversight of marketing for the team said “Yes, it has been a real challenge. We set ourselves the goal of raising £10K from mostly local firms, we have beaten that; raising over £10550.00. This enables us to travel from our local airport ‘Norwich International’ with flights booked with KLM. Seeing as KLM UK Engineering has given us and our school so much support, this was the least we could do”.

The team, ready for departure

Graham Parker the lead teacher for the team said “I am fantastically proud of what the lads have achieved, they have worked so hard, not only to raise the funding and create what is essentially, an industrial quality exhibition, but most impressively they have also lobbied the Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable along the way; getting his department to support the F1 in schools initiative. They are a real credit to the school and an example to young adults around the country that you get out of life what you are prepared to put in, marvellous stuff.” Mr Wavell the teams main mentor has been working hard alongside Ryan Clabon manufacturing a travel system which will not only safely store and transport the equipment needed in Texas, but also double-up as part of the pit display “we got inspiration at the British Grand Prix when we visited Ferrari Scudaria’s mobile HQ and we thought, hey, we should aim to create something along similar lines.”

The lads are off to conduct a final round of testing at Denford™ UK headquarters in Brighouse on Thursday and then it will be all-systems-go to pack and prepare for flights leaving on the 7^th November".

The team have arrived safely in Austin & we look forward very much to hearing how they get on in the competition today.  Our small contribution to their victory attempt is the very best & fastest bearings that we could find, as every millisecond is going to count at the World Finals!  We'll bring you more news as we have it, but in the meantime check out the team's Facebook page for updates.

Schaeffer Mclean, 9 year old skateboarder, 2013 video highlights...

It's always exciting to catch up on Schaeffer Mclean's exploits & here's a brilliant video round-up from the last few months:

Filmed in Various skateparks around the UK. 2.14 is a fake fight!!!!! Thanks to RED CLAY for the awesome soundtrack https://redclay.bandcamp.com

https://twitter.com/schaeffernico

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Schaef...

http://instagram.com/schaeffermclean1

Schaeffer McLean has been skateboarding and uploading videos to his channel Schaeffernico since the age of 4. His channel is now one of the most watched skateboarding channels on YouTube with over 20 million of views. You can find him skateboarding at parks across the U.K. Spain and other countries trying out new tricks, having fun and adventures and enjoying the spirit of skateboarding. Stay tuned lots more videos coming....

SMB Bearings new website is now LIVE!

Well done to Will Johnson, who's been toiling over all the data for many weeks now. There's lots of technical data & product data now at your fingertips, so get in there & investigate!

Aaron Skippings, Downhill Skate season round-up...

 Aaron Skippings & his exploits (both on & off his board) have been keeping us entertained for years now, so we were delighted to receive a 2013 skate season update from him - he's been pretty busy on the European downhill circuit this year:

"As I type this memory from summer and everything floods back to me I really do realise how much I love skating. The best parts of my life so far have been skating and the friends I have met through it. Also the countries i have visited because of skating - stuff like this makes me feel so good about myself . I've done something that I can look back on in 30-40 years and say that was my life then and it was sick!

Aaron, pictured left

But anyway enough of that! My summer was sick and this was what I did...
The plan was a skate tour. Hit up Switzerland and shred for a bit before heading off for Almabtrieb skating championships in Germany host by the awesome Stephan Risch (makes awesome helmets). we travelled there in a rented minivan - the crew was Josh Monk, Oli Jepson, Kami San, Dan Shinnie, Duncan Kay, Oliver Slaughter, Chloe Blount, Estelle Solkhon,kessa.  Some of us travelled in the mini van and some others in Oli Jepson's car.  Pretty much the Newtons Shred crew!! (sick skate shop!) . Switzerland was a dream!  I had been here in 2010 and was itching to go back. The skate spot we hit had so many turns I lost count. It was really good for skate progression i.e. speed,slides etc.  Our camp location was truly staggering, a campsite with mountains surrounding you everywhere - what's not to love ? Also a massive lake, complete with diving board....this was heaven.

After a few days in Switzerland it was time to leave for Germany . Again I had been to Almabtrieb in 2010 and loved it . 60 m.p.h. hills with sweeping turns is what its all about . A good track for beginners who really wanna hit the big bucks and shred a fast hill. The race format was really well thought out as we had to race to qualify, instead of doing 1 or 2 timed runs and not qualifying and feeling crap the next day as everyone raced and you did nothing. We had around 9 races to qualify which for 200 odd riders is a hell of alot of riding. I managed to finish 2nd in all but 1 of my heats so I placed pretty high up and secured my place for the finals the next day.   The finals didn't go so well but I wasn't too bothered.  The race to qualify was what it was all about . Everyone got to race and gain experience for next time. It truly did set the bar for how skate events should be run. Stephan promised and didn't disappoint. The euro trip was over and everyone was shattered. The only bad time was coming home and it was 800 miles over 5 countries in 17 hours!!!

Thanks to my sponsors:
Newtons shred, PSD Footstops, Riptide Bushings, 9.81 Swiss boards, crash test dummie pucks  & BANDITOS.

Also massive thanks to SMB Bearings for keeping me rolling down them hills! Truly awesome bearings!
Aaron over and out".

Thanks so much Aaron, we're thrilled to be supporting you 

& glad to have been a small part of your European tour in 2013.

We're looking forward to keeping you rolling harder & faster in 2014!

New SMB Bearings Ltd Website...

...is uploading RIGHT NOW & will go live later this week - hooray!!!!!!!!

It will reveal our stocks & technical information to you in a (hopefully) user friendly 

& accessible format. Visit SMB Bearing to see all the changes... 

We've worked very hard to make all the information as accurate as possible, 

but don't hesitate to let us know if you spot any bloopers! :-)