May 15, 2012

We’re back!

Hello everybody!

Apologies for the lack of updates as promised, but the move was far more problematic than previously thought.

Everything is up and running now, and when we’re fully back on our feet over the next couple of days, the new hip pouch will be released!

It’s been major stressful, and your emails kept us sane and on track, Thank you all!

The shop is now live once again, woo!

Here’s a little shot of the outside of our workshop.. the windows and door came painted that celeste green, cool eh?

Big Top Workshop Front

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May 7, 2012

IMPORTANT NEWS!

Hey everybody,

As mentioned in the post last Friday, there’s an important announcement today.

As of this evening (07/05/12), the store will be closed for 5-7 days due to relocation

This is big news for us, we’re currently in a space with a huge lack of storage and room. It’s also come at a perfect time, as I can’t quite imagine continuing to release products where we are at now.

Any orders made up until this evening will be dispatched tomorrow, have no fear.

The main reason for the closure of the store is the need to get everything plumbed in properly there and to construct the various benches and equipment. Keep an eye on the blog, as there will be daily posts of behind the scenes progress!

Thanks!

 

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May 3, 2012

Sneak Peek: Hip Pouch with Holster

Here’s some crude shots straight from the workshop of the final design of the new hip pouch.

It’s going to be an addition as opposed to a modification of the current pouch.

It’s a tad bigger and it has a lock holster to the rear, It’s pretty much just what all you guys have been asking for. It’ll fit most Ulocks (Mini evo, kryptolok etc) and it measures 20cm wide x 14cm tall x 6cm deep when fully closed.

It’ll retail for 24.00 and will be available shortly (would be available sooner, but see the follow up post to this on Monday to see the exciting reason why).

 

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April 2, 2012

Sneak Peek: Mini Messenger

Here’s a few long awaited product shots of the mini-messenger.

This is pretty much what it’s going to look like, the design is often changing and the product will be released as soon as the perfect formula is found (soon). There’s also going to be  a promo video to coincide with the release.

It comprises of a weatherproof front pouch, a roll top design main bag, reversable shoulder strap/sternum strap and fully padded back and shoulder.

Check the photos out below, wearing a Feather Cycles t shirt.. top British frame builder.

 

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March 5, 2012

Watch caps now available in the webstore!

We’ve decided to stop sitting on these and just release them already.

Initially it was going to be a little more elaborate, but we recently had some new tags made and they just fit the hat perfectly.

It’s on sale for the low low price of £9.00, this as always does include postage. For the time being the only available colour is a dark grey, but others will crop up soon.

As mentioned before, we dont make the hats, we just label them, we are bagmakers afterall… and hence why you dont have to spend a bomb to get a nice little piece of apparel.

Here are the product pics, enjoy! to scoop one up just go to the webshop http://www.bigxtop.com/store

 

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February 28, 2012

Sneak Peek: Hip Pouch with Lock Holster

Now let me just start by saying, we’re not the kind of people to put out products that we aren’t totally happy with. A lock holster feature was intially prototyped but in-house we had deemed that it wasn’t a feature we wanted, so therefore it didn’t make the final cut.

A great strength of a company is to be able to take customer feedback and work on it directly, and being a small business like we are, this is very easy. To put things in perspective, we get approx ten million emails a week asking whether the pouch features a lock holster,  so I guess it had to be done.

The pouch will be live soon (in the next week or so) and will be a couple of pounds more expensive. The original pouch will still remain available as we feel for people who don’t want to utilise a lock holster (MTBers and Road users) this will remain the more preferable option.

Here’s a couple of crappy shots (which regular readers will have becomed atuned to) from the one we’re going to try our best to destroy over the next week or so.

Thanks guys and gals.

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February 21, 2012

Bristol Open 2012

We’re lucky enough to be one of the brands invited to sponsor this fantastic event.

We’ve sent them some goodies for the competition and it’s set to be a fierce one.

Here’s what they have to say about the event:

Following the success of our first ever NS tourney last year (referred to by some as a ‘Polo Retreat’!), the team that brought you the Bristol Open 2011 is proposing to host one hell of an event to kick off the 2012 National Series Tournament.
Court:

Our shiny new indoor ‘polo hall’ facility will be transformed into the ultimate battle arena for this tournament. Fantastic grip and completely flat. Floor to ceiling smooth ply lined flat walls. Large viewing balconies and ground floor courtside chill out rooms with bar and spectating areas. Best of all, the court will be open for play from 10am until midnight on Friday & Saturday and Sunday 10am until 5pm. The court has full sports-hall overhead lighting. This is one fantastic venue for a tourney!

Location:

The event is to be hosted by the fantastic Campus Skatepark (run by Andre aka Ninja). Campus is in Bedminster, a stones throw away from the city centre with a local rail link to Temple Meads if required. As with the 2011 tourney, this is going to feel like a polo retreat. There will be free accommodation and parking on site for the whole weekend. We think of everything!

Format:

TBA. 20 teams max. Single court but plenty of time. Court will be open on Friday night for throw-ins. There will also be entertainment on-site with beer and food available all weekend. Campus will be running a skate comp on the Friday night in the on-site indoor skate park and we have a stonking party to attend in the city afterwards. There will be a mini-bike polo tournament held alongside the main event and knife-fight action too. Play starts promptly at 10am Saturday morning and goes on until late in the evening, with the court closing at midnight. Sunday is a 10am start with the tournament finishing no later than 17.00. We will screening the premier of our last tournament, which has finally been finished by the film crew that spent the weekend with us. That will be on the Saturday night.

Bristol Open 2012

 

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February 9, 2012

Mini Messenger, Coming Soon.

We’ve been working on this bag for several months now, and now it’s on it’s third revision it’s starting to look somewhat like how it will finally look.

The premise of this bag is to have something that’s super low profile and ideal for use on a bicycle. There’s definitely a gap in the market for this product, as it too often get’s overlooked and is consequently under-equipped for the task.

If it’s being used on a bike, it needs a sternum strap. If it’s being used by different people, the strap needs to be reversable. If it’s tight on your back, it needs some back padding.

These are all neccessary features on full size messengers.. so why not have them on a mini and save the trouble of having a huge half empty bag?

It’s a roll top design, allowing you to haul a little more than a conventional mini messenger, and adding better weather resistance.

Here’s a sneak peek.. the last remaining aspect to develop is the strap itself. The detail shot here is showing the ambidextrous sternum strap.

Rolled down fully (closed) it measures about 16″ wide by 9″ tall.

Apologies for the low quality images, but this is a sneak peek afterall ;)

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February 1, 2012

Sneak Peek: BIGxTOP Watch Caps/Beanies

Recently we’ve been developing some graphics for a BIGxTOP Watch cap. Just to make things clear, these will be an apparel piece as opposed to being made in house (aside from the labeling). We’re bag makers, and it’s as simple as that really.

Though saying this, the same amount of thought we put into each bag is going into the aesthetic and look of these pieces. These will be available in the very near future, and will be pretty darn cheap (probabaly about 10 pounds). There’s a late cold snap washing over the UK and Europe right now, so these should come in just in time… though I’m sure anyone that’s seen macaframa will know these are worn in the summer too!

The graphic is inspired by vintage/retro graphic design. It’s just something that fitted with the aesthetic when we were designing it with our friend and local designer Matt Sanders (www.blowboarding.com).

Here’s some workshop shots, just a prelimary graphic printed on crappy cartridge paper, and some shots of the watch caps themselves.

Thanks guys.

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January 25, 2012

January is soon over… 2012 plans.

Woah it’s gone quick hasnt it? Last thing I knew I was with my family feeling disgusting and bloated after eating too much at christmas.

With the end of Jan also comes the end of the January sale, so to get in on the discount just use the code ‘JANSALE‘ at checkout for 15% off.

This year is going to be a monster year for BIGxTOP. We’re not one of those companies who just wants to throw out as many hot-button products as possible in the shortest space of time. We don’t want to release a product only to ad a ‘v2′ version a couple of months later.. it’s gotta be right the first time.

This year is all about expanding the product line,  growing our community, and just continuing to keep ourselves grounded.

You should expect to see products like media/phone pouches, mini messengers, wallets, larger bags, hats, apparel, all sorts. Each product will embody the aesthetic of the brand but most importantly will be functional and innovative.

Oh and the competition prizes went out today, it’s surprising how good a smartphone photo can look with good lighting.

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