The format remains the same with the five teams being sent out on the road for a week along a pre determined route with a book full of challenges to complete along the way. Though this time the 'Egg a member of another team' challenge was changed and eggs were replaced with water balloons and this year its all taken in good spirits, which was good to see, although you wouldnt see me throwing water balloons at Niki Croft and Mark Webb! The points winners have been announced prior to the DVD, BSD won with Mongoose in second and Relentless in third.

The riders this year were:

• BSD: Mike Taylor, Kriss Kyle, Chaz Mailey, Nailz and Tony Malouf
• Mongoose: Paul Ryan Bruza, Phil De-Matia, Olly Evans and Greg Illingworth
• Primo: Dan Lacey, Mark Love, Alex Kennedy, Ben Hennon and Tony Neyer
• Profile: Levi Rogers, Phil Aller, Will Hermann, Robbo and Jeff Klugiewicz
• Relentless: Lima, Mark Webb, Matt Priest, Niki Croft and Ruben Rodriguez

The DVD is split up into the team sections starting out with the last place (in the points contest), Profile team. Starting out in Liverpool the riding gets going straight away and is full throttle from start to finnish. Big street lines are coupled with big skate park moves. As usual there is the odd graphic telling you about some challenge or another that they have completed. Luckily those graphics aren't too distracting and they don't really get in the way too much. Some of the riding is outstanding and the team are clearly pushing themselves the whole time but there's only so many bangers you can pull in one week so a few of the clips seem like filler, especially for the Profile team. The filming is questionable at times but for the majority its more than acceptable and the editing is simple and clean with the exception of the final section which is a short and sweet trails edit, but, inexplicably the trails section has some random black & white clips thrown in which just seemed out of place, its almost 'art' for arts sake but it didn't fit for me, over all Kyle Harvey did a decent job filming and editing the Profile section.

Primo get part two and no one can deny that this crew is definitely full of talent. Ben Hennon and Dan Lacey quickly set the tone for the Primo section with some pretty big lines at a concrete park, though the rest of the team quickly catch up. Instantly the fish eye shots get annoying with more of the screen taken up with the inside of the lens than the rider its pointed at, zoom buttons are standard issue on most cameras. Im sure and it doesn't hurt to use them! The filming itself is pretty solid and the editing is minimal with no real issues. The riding is exactly what you would expect from a team this good, the street lines are as large as Ben Hennons park lines which are typically massive. Mark Love tears every piece of transition to pieces and Dan Lacey and Tony Neyer shut down the streets. Tony in particular does a hangover tooth pick grind that needs to be seen to be believed. Overall the riding is top solid and impressive and the simple edit doesn't get in the way, unlike that fish eye.

The third section and most interesting is the Relentless edit. This edit starts as it means to go on, great cinematography and a vast majority of the clips are in slow motion. Hands down the best edited and shot section on the entire DVD, if you're into the more 'arty' edits then this is for you. Landscape timelapses, slow motion panning shots, sunsets, this edit has it all and its all set to a fittingly epic soundtrack. Matty Lambert has done a great job with this edit and the effort and eye for a good shot are instantly obvious. The riding is in places insane but consistently above the standard seen so far in the DVD. Niki Croft seemingly can do what he wants on his bike and we all know what Mark Webb can do when given a transition. Lima has all the style you could ever need and some to spare and the rest of the team do not disappoint. At a little under 8 minutes it was over all to quickly. Definitely a stand out edit for 2010.

Mongoose get the next section. For me this is the section that need not exist. Its not that the riding is bad or the filming and editing is particularly bad, its just all so mediocre. Especially after the epic section that was the Relentless edit. There are a few good points to the Mongoose edit but not enough to save it for me, compared to the other edits, it just doesn't stack up which is a shame because I wanted to like the this section, I just couldn't. Clearly the team had a good time on the trip and there's smiles all round, just not from the viewer.

Points winners BSD get the final section and with Mike Taylor and Tony Malouf on your team you know its gonna get serious! The BSD team quickly get to work destroying the streets. Some of the spots are pretty well known but get the BSD treatment meaning some definite "WTF, rewind!" moments. The BSD crew spend a surprising amount of time in the skate parks of the North and into Scotland and Kriss Kyle, Chaz Mailey and Nailz definitely show why they are on BSD with big, fast and smooth lines and technical grind combos. The filming is solid, as is the final edit with typically clean and simple cuts both handled by Dave Sowerby. The BSD section stood out to me because of the consistency, every team rider has as many park lines as they do street lines and everyone on the trip deserves to be there. Finishing in London the BSD team show why they won the points contest the whole way through their section.

Taking this video in context, it is a mix of 4 BMX (and one energy drink's) teams, on week long road trips around the UK, filming for a BMX magazine competition sponsored by a phone company. It has its high points and it has its low points but I think thats expected when you do a project like this. There is, after all only so much you can do in one week in the UK and baring that in mind the teams did pretty well. The point is, no one is buying this DVD, its free with Ride UK and who can complain when you get over an hour of un-seen BMX footage from some of the UKs finest teams and riders without even paying for it?

The first two examples we have been served are the Fit DVD 'Fit Tripping' and the S&M DVD 'Blind In Texas'. Both DVDs promise to be part of a set, with the first S&M DVD coming with a cardboard case big enough to house the next 3 trip DVDs, part of their 'Quarterly Productions' series. These two DVDs are possibly the first of a new wave and at first glance, its a good thing. BMX films have historically been longer and more expensive but if you can condense a film down into a 15 minute DVD and charge $5 why wouldn't you? How amazing would Forward have been if it was just the bangers and lasted 15 minutes? Or Criminal Mischief? They would have been 15 minutes of mind blowing riding with little to no atmosphere, and thats the problem.

Its hard to find any real atmosphere in such a short time frame, the Fit video manages it for the first section with Brian Foster and Justin Inman in Australia. The music is mellow as the two flow through trails and around concrete skate parks, Larry Alvarado takes care of the editing and he keeps it basic and the editing takes nothing from the riding which as you would expect with Foster and Inman is solid and big with style through everything. The filming from Brennen Britton is solid throughout the Australia section and both Brian Foster and Justin Inman have the tricks to keep your jaw somewhere near the floor. Unfortunately once that section ends the 'Cali Tripping' section begins any notion of atmosphere then quickly evaporates. Thats not to say the video becomes bad, (Daryyl Tocco takes over filming and editing duties for the Cali section) on the contrary, the tempo steps up and the riding continues to impress through out. Van Homan has some stand out clips on the streets and in the concrete parks of Cali, as do most of the rest of the team. Its just a completely different feel to the first part of the DVD. After the tempo has built up in the first part of the Cali section, it slows right down again for the second part, the music turns to a more relaxed pace whilst the riding remains typically ridiculous, as you would expect of the Fit team. The camera work and editing, remain solid throughout the entire DVD, something I was fairly surprised at. I think I expected the shorter DVDs to have less effort put into them and that simply is not the case. This is 15 minutes of nice filming and nice clean editing, although sometimes feeling like two completely disconnected videos, this is not the hastily slapped together DVD I expected, it's a full production. 12 minutes after you press play, the credits roll, all I could think about after watching was grabbing my bike and heading to the trails of Australia or the streets of California, no such luck. But thats surely the point of these quick DVDs, they keep the companies in your mind and make you want to ride. Its as much about branding and advertising as it is showcasing the riders.

The other mini DVD is the S&M offering 'Blind In Texas' filmed by Larry Alvarado and edited by Dave Jacobs. Again a trip DVD and with a similar format to the Fit movie. S&M chose to take a few select team riders, throw them in a van and head to Texas. This doesn't mean however that you are going to sit through 15 minutes of the S&M team riding the same spots you have seen a thousand times from the Lonestar state, they do spend some time in Austin, as is required of any trip to Texas but even then, they don't stay long. The S&M van roams around Texas searching for the spots you wish you could ride. With Matt Berringer, Josh Stricker, Mike Hoder and Cameron Wood among the cast you know you are in for some heavy hitting BMX! The first thing that struck me about the DVD was the overall production. Again, the filming and editing are on point and surprisingly good for a DVD that costs less than one of Mike Hoders homemade tattoos. The movie starts out fast paced and keeps it that way, S&M style all the way. The riding is everything you want from the crew with big street moves from Hoder and Cameron Wood. Randy Brown has some clips that will definitely have you frantically reaching for the rewind button, as does most of the team, with one annoying exception, Josh Stricker. I want to see the Stricker from his Etnies 'Forward' section, I think he has 2 clips throughout this DVD. Maybe he was hurt, maybe he was hung over, what ever it was, you cant have enough Josh Stricker and two clips was not enough! Seven minutes in the trip is over, for the next five minutes I thought I was watching an S&M advert in an S&M DVD. Without any indication the movie switches from trip DVD to a more traditional rider section format. Its odd at first and definitely upsets the previous rythm of the film but you quickly forget and get into the riding again. Arrash Saidi kicks off the rider sections with huge trails moves and equally large street and skate park lines. rider sections continue with Isaac Barnes and Matt Berringer having quick sections as well. Matt Berringer's section, for some reason is jumpy and twitchy, something wrong with the conversion to DVD but that may have just been our copy. Mike Hoder rounds out the rider sections and, lets say, this section is worth the $3 on its own. Massive street lines and big tricks culminate in one of the biggest and long overdue bangers in recent years. Credits roll at 18 minutes and yet again, Im eager to ride. That seems to be the power of these short DVDs, its just enough of a taste to get you out on your bike.

So, the mini DVD, good or bad? I think that remains to be seen, but if these two are any indication, BMX is in for a good thing. I definitely don't want to see this style of film replace the full length DVD but as a stop gap between full features, these 20 minute promos have their place. What surprised me was the amount of content on both discs. The main features were relatively short but both discs contain bonus sections. The Fit DVD has a Day In The Life section with George Ramirez as well as a few short rider sections and a Jeff Z photo gallery from the Cali trip. The S&M DVD has similar features, though I dont know if United will care much for Mike Hoder after watching! Controversial? You decide. Overall I like the format but not at the expense of real full features. It doesn't cost you much to pick up your own copy of either DVD and make your own mind up and I suggest thats exactly what you do, you cant go wrong with two DVDs for $10. These two in any case, showcase great riding, good production values and definite value for money.