ECLAT Makes A Statement! - Julian Arteaga & Eclat BMX

[@sole__doubt]

We need to be super critical with situations like this, I think you are the only one handling this like a professional. Julian and Eclat need to take notes if you ask me. Sorry I missed the live premier of this video.

[@Brant_Moore]

This one wasn’t live, I did a live stream with my buddy sponge right before recording it. Sooo many lives and videos in the past 2 days. Haha I appreciate the kind words on that though man! I tried my best to be objective and see both sides of things. I really just wanna be a reasonable person

[@sole__doubt]

@@Brant_Moore We all appreciate what you do for the scene Brant.

[@Brant_Moore]

Thank you!!! I do my absolute best!!

[@dethgripco]

Comment section being turned off in eclat's post is a big turn off for me.

[@jonniicinco9386]

Tough situation for both parties here. You have a bike/parts company releasing a hail marry to save grace, and a boots on the ground rider saying what he is going through from his perspective. You hit the nail on the head Brant by talking about how there is a lack of transparency between riders and their sponsors. I know from a consumer point of view public image has a lot to do with making a purchasing decision. Its hard to sell products if no buyer likes the individuals riding for their parts and if the parts/bike company does not treat each customer with respect or has a bad rep with treating their riders poorly, then you will have a problem selling your products. Tough to dissect without writing a whole page on this. Thanks for the update Brant \m/

[@tech12mods]

you're right brant,,,its a huge lack of communication!

[@Brant_Moore]

Much better communication in life in general would prevent so many of the problems we encounter

[@travisschram9684]

I hate the whole not airing dirty laundry out for others to see. In some instances that may be true, but in most, it’s just gaslighting…they made him feel a certain way, he has every right to exclaim how he feels. Just like they have every right to give their side of the story. And all of the “fake news” references just sat poorly for me. Just seems like an easy out for people these days.

[@Brant_Moore]

There is quite a lot of their statement that felt like it was coming from the same place as the fake news references. You're absolutely right, if people want to exclaim how they feel and the experiences they had with a company, they have every right to do so and the tact/method in which they have in doing should dictate how things go for them after that. It shouldn't be the fact that they did it at all that affects them.

[@JanoyCresva]

Julien is a big baby. One of those people that doesnt compromise and just throws a fit when things dont go HIS way. Then down the road when he looks back at the decisions HE MADE he gets upset and thinks he was wronged. He shouldve gone on those trips to show the company that he's willing to work. He shouldve taken royalties on those grips because why TF would you turn down money? Look at it from the companies point of view. They are saying "Here go on this trip or this one or this one!" Rider responds "nah" but they still SEND A CHECK. Then he complains about a stolen grip idea and Eclat is like "Ok YOU"RE RIGHT, here take some money" Rider responds "Nah." But you still keep him on and SEND A CHECK. At some point the company has to look at the books and be like "Hey why are we still paying this guy when he's not hyped on ANYTHING we're doing?"

[@zbignoz.tunnlerwitz_109]

@@Brant_MooreThey are a European brand. tbf ,there are language and cultural differences to be considered.

[@zbignoz.tunnlerwitz_109]

@@JanoyCresva cant help but be reminded of when Odyssey dropped Chase Hawk for similar reasons. even after investing in the production of his line of signature of parts.

[@SAFbikes]

@@zbignoz.tunnlerwitz_109 I worked international sales in bmx, there’s no language barrier. English is the international business language and if you can’t do that Google Translate is a hellofva drug 😂

[@JerryHazard]

Unfortunate situation Eclat raises more questions than they answer. Why wouldn't he take royalties? Why wouldn't he go to California, OR AZ? ( I live in NM and would go ride either at the drop of a hat). I don't have a dog in the fight. Julian seems pretty down to earth, judging from the recent Unclicked podcast. Eclat has been around for some time.. Waiting for that third side of the story....

[@mikewalker2274]

I'm a journalist and have worked in PR as well. I have never worked with Eclat, I should note. However, their whole statement bothers me. It's far too long and rambling, very defensive, and they have the utter temerity to say Julian should not have just told his side of the story as he did yet they turn off comments on their own post. Clearly, they want their side told with no feedback at all. Julian didn't turn off comments. When an individual athlete manages to show more maturity and gumption than a brand, that's very telling.

[@Brant_Moore]

I don’t think they did themselves any favors with the length of it either. It’s very easy to get a sense of tone/intent with a consistent feel at that length

[@adamrosenthal3299]

I'm suddenly reminded of the time when WeThePeople, another company under we make things, stopped their production of their BMX MTB because Reuben was upset about it since his Fingers Crossed bike wasn't quite ready for production. As far as I was aware, it wasn't due to anything legal, it was out of respect, and it was a pretty big hit financially on them to make that disicion. This seemed like a respectful thing to do and doesn't sound at all like the scummy grip situation with Julian seems it might have been. Since Reuben is more of a legend than Julian is and probably was at the time of the grip situation, maybe it was more damage control on their part than anything else. Or maybe Eclat and WeThePeople are run differently and it's comparing apples to oranges anyway. Without having every tiny detail, it's all speculation at the end of the day from all 3rd parties. 🤷 All I know is it's a shitty situation and it sucks that it's getting aired out so emotionally on the internet where people will indeed take sides ignorantly. I hope carma comes to those that did wrong and nothing bad comes to the one who told the truth.

[@Vitusvonatzinger]

There is apparently no money in bmx. Anywhere. I started paying attention again at the start of the pandemic after not really caring since 1982. Somehow the only thing that seems to be constant is this insistence that there isn’t enough money for everyone to *not* constantly complain and ooze resentment. This is the same thing as the Fit/Brad Simms imbroglio. It’s as if the two parties are always (honestly) living in completely different realities. It’s sad and my suspicion is that money wouldn’t solve any of it.

[@nifeyynifeyy2568]

thats true. Really hard to make money when not alot of new riders come around, and parts getting stronger and better with the best geomtery and some parts so good that last you years and years upwards to 10+ years, its really hard to change out parts. Normal guy like me if i buy a new frame for 400 i wont buy a new frame again probably in 7 years or so same with cranks, buy good cranks wont buy new ones again ever in 10 years because of how good they are. Thats the main reason too. Car brands nowadays make paint that rusts after 10 years so you would buy a new car. Really bad situation.

[@Vitusvonatzinger]

@@nifeyynifeyy2568 the bike I have now? I’m not sure I’m *capable* at my age of breaking anything on it. Good point. However something about the bmx equation doesn’t add up. Does Haro have these issues? Does GT? Are there too many sponsored riders among the core, rider-owned brands?

[@fallenhobbit6554]

I dont know what happened obviously but I remember back in the Common Crew days more than one member commented on Julian being very difficult to work with filming.

[@ethandenis5650]

yea i def remember people calling him there salty old man of the group, but that’s also homie talk dawg the dude seems genuinely cool and like he cares about the community he’s apart of and WMT just wasn’t showing the commitment he wanted. i mean i’d be pissed if i was in an company for years and only got bumped up to pro when i said hey i don’t wanna ride for y’all anymore, i def don’t agree with everything julian did from what we know but i also don’t agree with what Eclst did to handle it. BMX is wack lately lmao

[@fallenhobbit6554]

@@ethandenis5650 all true all true bro.

[@bmxaf]

Clicked on this immediately.. Interesting. Eclat are essentially admitting that "team management" have little or no meaningful communication with the "product design/development" team which seems weird in this instance considering we are talking about a "team" rider and a signature part design/development.. How does a proposed signature part for a Pro, designed by said Pro, ultimately rejected by said pro, end up in production anyway?? This sort of thing happens a lot in larger organisations where departments have specific duties and tend not to busy themselves with other branches of the organisation. In other words, one hand doesn't know (or isnt aware) of what the other hand is doing. For the record, i am a huge fan of Julians riding but also run a few Eclat and WTP parts on my whip which i love so am trying to be completely impartial. However, I feel Eclats response is not as professional as it should be, i detect quite a bit of anger and bitterness in the language used (rightly or wrongly). The same can be said for Julians original post, however, he is an individual rider with maybe very little professional experience. The same cannot be said for a large organisation such as Eclat. Remember "Wemakethings Gmbh" is a very big company encompassing many brands and a huge array of products. I would expect a far more professional response from them. Why mention "fake news" at all..?? Why say that he has made them "look like a bunch of theives"..??? In this instance it really was not that necessary to go "on the offensive" in order to defend themselves from, in their minds, unwarranted claims. I think Eclat have also misunderstood something here. When a rider is on a trip, many of them may feel like they are out there representing all of their sponsors, not just the sponsor that is picking up the tab, so to speak. So Julians comment about being "on a trip filming for a company that stole my signature part" actually bears some truth to it. He may feel like he is still representing the company by being out filming while riding said companies parts. Also Brant made a great point about the size of the industry, and that riders may feel disinclined to air their grievances at the time in case it bites them later on when trying to find other sponsors down the line. It certainly can be in the riders interest to not "rock the boat" too much.

[@Brant_Moore]

Can’t blame ya. Haha

[@bmxaf]

@@Brant_Moore just edited the comment, Pls read.

[@Brant_Moore]

We’re definitely in the same boat with our mentality on this and you bring up a great point in the professionalism of eclats response. They didn’t have to mention fake news or define anything to state their side and get their point across. They could have don’t just that. Someone else mentioned gaslighting and while I’m not super in tune with examples of it happening, it does somewhat feel like it might be a little bit of what’s happening here from Eclat.

[@bmxaf]

@@Brant_Moore The more i dwell on it, i really can empathise with Julian. I think the "grip debacle" soured his WHOLE experience and duration on the team, and why wouldn't it.?? He probably turned down the royalties that were offered out of sheer principal and i imagine he was probably (mentally anyway) lost to the team at that point. And rightly so.

[@jakjohn672]

Proud of Julian for not just letting it slide and still staying respectful I would be confused to although I will say Julian’s a hell of a bmxr and salesman at that to loose hopefully where he’s located he can wrk something w primo or odyssey sometimes it takes a poopy situation to get into a better one and in some cases a couple poop situation hopefully it wrks out well for him as I’ve bought because of his name before think eclat is loosing out on this one Julian is deff up there w one of my favorites to watch

[@adamsifford6228]

At the time I was growing up Danz Comp was the Amazon???

[@EmilJonsson94]

I can see both sides here. I did appreciate ECLAT taking their time and going public though... As you say, transparency and communication is super important when dealing with things like this. Great content from you though Brant.

[@Brant_Moore]

Apparently they deleted their post. Not sure what that says exactly but they actually deleted it

[@dethgripco]

It is rare to see something new, even if it is just a little design tweak, being brought out in bike parts. Case in point, that octa grip with an outer octagon ribs. That is really something new and fresh in the grip game. And i'd really feel ripped off if i come up with it and not get the credit i deserve. No amount of royalty will come close. Well, maybe not, but what i'm saying is the credit grabbing julian might have felt when he had the initial concept but eclat gets all the credit, and maybe, we was on the drop list while the design and production was ongoing. If he gets another sponsor and a grip, he cant "use" the design he initially thought of, a grip he dreamed up when he was 15, because maybe of resentment or because "eclat has already done it." That is a major screw up. Imagine something you have dteamed of and not be able to use because of reasons. But hey, what about this one: the new kink form has a heptagonal inner core. The new cinema focus grip has a subtle octagonal offset profile. Is there an inside industry sharing of designs? ODI manufacture most if not all of them anyway. Was Julian's design not new, coincidental, or was he actually ripped off by ODI? Just throwing shit in the fan to stir things ip.

[@benbudd1376]

I think Julian was ok with moving forward without royalties (that one doesn't make much sense) it was because he thought he was going to remain on the team. once he's dropped everything changes... But they just drop him after releasing the grip AND getting him to not take royalties it's just messed up to do, and of course he came away feeling the way he does.. what happened to loyalty? a little bit of integrity goes a long way and eclat showed very little in this situation...

[@JanoyCresva]

Sounds like a bad business decision. Eclat shouldnt have to stop everything and cater to him. If the company i work for offers me a position and i turn it down. Then 6 months down the road suddenly the position is making 5X the money i cant be like "Man F this company! That was supposed to be my position!" I made a bad business decision and the way things transpire down the road is not something ANYONE can plan for. Which is why you should always think everything through and go through different scenarios in your head before you say yes or no. If you make the wrong one, too bad its on you.

[@Brant_Moore]

The was I understand it, the grip was released without Julian’s knowledge then they came to him after with the offer for royalties.

[@terribleart6269]

Having to preface everything with how "honest" you're going to be or have been is a major red flag. Honest people don't have to convince you they're being honest or tell you how honest they are. Viewing this all from the outside I lean more to Julian on this. If a company offers a rider a pro part and they hire a designer to help with the part design, then that same designer hands over a part design for that kind of part, you'd think the company would clarify if the part was for the pro you offered the part to or related in any way. Especially if the designer is a freelance, not in the office, designer. I will suggest the designer probably altered Julian's design, Julian didn't like the alterations and refused the changes, the then designer took the part back to Eclat and told them what happened and they decided to use the altered design anyway without Julian's name on it and no credit. Offering Julian royalties on a part he designed but Eclat altered and removed his name from is ethically wrong. That was and IS his base design! That's like taking Banksy's name off his art, altering and selling it to someone for millions, then offering him a small cut of the profits. Ethically wrong. Julian tried to remain grateful and polite through the time he was with the company while being wronged. Some of us like our bikes pretty specific as far as parts sizes and colorways. Just how it is. If he's not getting the flow that's being "offered" how can they ask for clips, video or for his to pump the brand on socials? That would be like an employer asking you to work even though they only payed you half of your pay check. Yeah, it's something but not what was agreed upon and only a fraction of what he's worth. Still, Julian stayed and rode for the brand. As a sponsor, it's difficult to provide for your riders at times. That is understandable. You shouldn't be asking for constant content from them if you're not providing constant flow. That was an uneven relationship clear as can be. The reason all the pros responded based on what Julian posted is because he has shown his level of character. People know and trust him at his word. He didn't have to preface everything with how "honest" he was going to be. People trust him based on who he is. His character is NOT fake news. For a company to attempt to frame this situation as such only goes to show they are attempting to defame his character. No, it's not "fucked up" as Eclat claims for people to show support to Julian when he chose to speak on his behalf. Eclat is not sorry nor is their team manager. I doubt you do indeed wish him well or were actually sorry to part ways with him as you booted him off the team. This whole response reads poorly and bitterly. Eclat just seem steamed that Julian spoke up in any way which leads me to believe Julian. They were right about one thing, Julian is one of the best riders out riding the streets. They didn't value him as a team member or as a person. I hope he's able to find a company that will value his riding and help all of us see what Julian is able to do! BMX needs more transparency in every way. Brands and pros should be more open about how and how much they communicate with each other over part designs and ideas. I feel a lot of riders ideas aren't represented appropriately. Our sport is made up of riders that inspire us to try new ideas and parts. We might see parts in ads or videos but seeing the parts doesn't always inspire us. The riders using the parts do! Seeing what riders can do with the parts is what makes us want them! Seeing what abuse the parts can withstand from the riders we enjoy watching makes us want the parts. Companies, parts and frames don't speak on their own. The people who represent and ride for them do. Cheers to Julian and anyone who's willing to speak up!

[@tech12mods]

one person can be very detrimental to an entire company.

[@sole__doubt]

A brand that has a US team without a US team manager is just asking for trouble.

[@Brant_Moore]

Naturally it's going to be difficult but I wonder how many brands from outside the US there are with US teams and no US team managers. Just something I don't have any knowledge about

[@Perrysbmxhowtos]

This just seems to be blowm so far out of proportion, its mostly down to poor communication between rider and company and the rider not saying anything until being dropped, in the end, you ride for them, make the content, i cant say to my job "hey i cant do this" because i have a side job that im doing things for sorry. Its a shitty situation but its clear that its not fully eclats fault and not fully juliens fault. Communication is key.

[@Brant_Moore]

Oh it’s definitely blown up pretty insanely. There’s also understandable perspectives in certain aspects of both sides. Communication is absolutely key though

[@dennisd4452]

I just hope they mature professionally in the future. This doesn’t make good public relations. For both sides.

[@ibanez2010]

15:31 wouldn't the "fair" (and smart) solution be to just redesign the grips? Why knowingly put your company in a sticky situation like that?

[@Cra1g1380y]

I'm calling BS on Elcat. Who gives up royalties? Doesn't make sense.

[@Brant_Moore]

I could see a reasonable situation where Julian finds out that the grips he helped design are released and being upset enough to not want royalties when they wouldn’t change the name of them

[@aneasayala5901]

The people who knw there wrong try to give royalties

[@saltybmxer6977]

If he gave them up it was more like he said That doesn’t fix things and you can shove your royalties up your ass.

[@russbrow5267]

My only question is this, if all this was as bad as Artega portrays, why did he stay with them then? No one forced him to do so, so why badmouth a brand after? He didn’t say it publicly with Eclat as part of the brand, so why say it now? Sour grapes? There’s an old idea that if you ever ask two people to tell you their side of a story, each of them will only contain 80% truth and 20% bullshit. That’s what this seems like. They each got out their sides of a story and they each got their 80% out there. We’ll never know it all, and we’re not judges. So moving on, drama free.

[@PK-mi8lc]

You essentially stole his first ever PRO part from him. Something he had been drawing up since he was 15 years old. Fuck the royalties... that should've been a given when you should've put his name on his first ever PRO part anyway. Also why is Éclat asking questions with comments turned off. Clearly, they don't care what anyone has to say on the subject.

[@crocopcloud]

Well Eclat is one of my favorite bmx parts and this dont change nothing. Why Eclat should waste his time with julian insted of Felix?

[@adamsifford6228]

I realty don't know what is going on with this conflict so it would like to stay out of this.

[@WorkinClassCanadian]

Just give him the royalties. If he doesn’t want them give em to Stevie Churchill.

[@mikedevlin_bmx2446]

Between this and the Brad drama it’s been a crazy year for Bmx. To me social media has a huge influence on this stuff. I’m sure it’s always been going on in our sport however now it’s put out there for all to hear and judge. All I know is it seems riders these days are not quite as humble as riders past. But like you said there are 3 sides to every story and there were probably wrongs done on both sides it seems.

[@melvinmorgan4847]

Very emotional post

[@k.j.v.ismasonic1381]

To eclat' : bring back the plastic surge pedals plz. Thanks

[@ryanhoran681]

I agree in both sides having the ability to share their side of the story (Unclicked did this beautifully with Simms vs Fit). I disagree with the attitude and disrespect that Eclat began with in their message. It was unprofessional and very emotionally charged. (It sounded like a typical Burns political rant TBH) There were simple solutions to this, however, they were clearly never pursued so it ballooned into this. If you think a rider is promoting a different brand more than yours COMMUNICATE IT. If you think a brand is stealing your services COMMUNICATE IT. If this communication isn't happening from either side then let the other side know (either other companies or other pro riders). As for my opinion I will no longer purchase Eclat products (not that I ever did). I haven't seen them host a jam or do anything for BMX except sponsor some mid school legends (Feel free to correct me).

[@Brant_Moore]

A totally reasonable and understandable perspective man. I fully agree with what you said too. You could definitely feel the emotion in it and it should have never had to get to this point in the first place

[@melvinmorgan4847]

Companies always say some stuff needs to remain silent or stay in house fuck that it won’t get fixed that way let it all out smh and no here comes eclat trynna downgrade everything he said and try to say he lying and not telling the truth we understand you Julian and why sign a person to pro or the flow team if you worried about someone bringing money in if it’s business then keep it about business lmk if I’m wrong or right

[@brad2812]

Much of it is understandable but the grip thing I call bs. How did they not know the designer ghosted Julian? How did a grip idea get approved, manufactured and put out without them knowing? What a crock of shit! Surely Julian told them the designer ghosted him at a certain point and they should have contacted the designer and asked questions and followed up with said grip coming to fruition. They actually did, just not with Julian’s name on it. After the fact, they tried to make it right by offering royalties (if that’s even true)

[@Brant_Moore]

That's where I'm getting hung up as well. It takes A LOT of time and work to see a product through to public release

[@brad2812]

@@Brant_Moore exactly bro! I’m no company owner lol but no way in hell they didn’t know or weren’t in the mix/communication with designer etc. then all the sudden a grip comes out, yet Julian was supposed to have one coming out as well. So where is his? That’s a question anyone would ask unless involved in the scheme. Just doesn’t sit well with me. The rest I can understand, so could go either way. I will say if there are many riders that have had similar experiences, it starts to paint a picture that isn’t good for eclat.

[@Brant_Moore]

And I feel that this is all just trying to take a reasonable approach to what info we’ve been given. Like I said in the original video about Julian’s post..there’s 3 sides to every story. Both party’s involved and the truth in the middle

[@brad2812]

@@Brant_Moore you are so right. There are facts but also opinions/perspectives of each party. Truth is somewhere in there lol

[@Brant_Moore]

Yep yep so I really hope there is a peaceful outcome to this

[@bmxadventures]

Okay, so having his idea taken and used for a product with no credit given as a rider or a creative is pretty wrong. He deserved more than just the money for the product. I don't think that situation was handled well. How did they never see a mock up of his designs for the former grip? He had first decision over design maybe, but we aren't grouping this email? That is a lot of communication that did not happen. I am a free lance artist and that is not how stuff gets made yo.

[@coldworld5]

Eclat seem petty. They should just apologise, brands don’t make riding a “career” they make it a less than minimum wage job in where you put your life on the line. I’ve lived with people who have a frame, parts and shoe sponsor and combined earned less than minimum wage.

[@User-rj2dk]

Shout out to Julian arteaga I got his signature Sunday bike

[@les199]

I mean Shit things happens both brand and rider did things I call it even Julian great rider eclat make great parts let’s move on and go ride boys

[@96hertz21]

okay i am goanna make my statement short and sweet one eclat could have said everything in a more professional manner good o n them to as least rectify the issues and shead some light. stuff does go wrong but with out communication to fix the issue it all goes to shit like the whole grip situation its understandable but like u said why did no one say bout the designer ghosting him and still carrying on to post fair on them to give jullian royalty's instead of completely scraping it ad being a dick bout it but like u said either its personaland cant be said but need the truth to really see fit on whats Going on 2 there a European brand and Jullian lives in the use i can see the issues already with time zones considering there team is based round Germany u can see how time zones plays heavily on this i feel jullian has the right to speak up that's reasonable everyone is equal and should be treated fairly but to see people just jump the gun and not see the two side sides and criticise the brand is sad eclat have done well infact all the brands combined have really paved bmx for me at least anyway i hope this all will be resolved

[@melvinmorgan4847]

Eclat is trying to find some sympathy how I see it and this is a angry post from them smh I knew. This was gonna be there response wow

[@TheGrandW1zardMan]

Whatever happens got nothing to do with me imma still buy from eclat

[@kevinbmx9826]

I still buy eclat products. Just recently purchased new shift complete wheels. And seismic complete wheels. No need to take this seriously.

[@adamsifford6228]

Well I don't care how good you are on a bmx bike ,live it up while you are young. If you are really good like Scotty Crammner or Dave Mirra ..... This will not last you forever ... Learn how to weld and build your own bmx.

[@Bmxdiy]

look at me 😆😆😆

[@xpndblhero5170]

I'm like 17 minutes in and I feel like this is a he said/she said situation and it's annoying...... SMH

[@west744]

Eclats explanation was trash. They know about past team riders having issues and they said it themselves that they haven’t been honest till what? This post? Lol get the company on a pod cast with Julian, Devon smilie and Nathan Williams. Those are a few I know who had similar experiences with the brand and I’m sure there’s more. Would be great to hear the company try to be “honest” and the boys just prove to them that the people in eclat are trash. Epic bike shop in Cali even spoke about the brand in comments on Julian’s post. They don’t have anything from eclat or wtp since 2005. Shady business is what epic had to say. Seems like they just have a on going issue being shady since 2005.

[@lakeshoreheatingandcooling3649]

come on bro, have you seen the grips? they are plain Jane. there's no design they look like there old ones. go look at them. what design? reading that sounds like he had some great design not the case