A few shiny street BMX bikes found their way into my inbox over the holidays, promising solid builds and Wethepeople’s Lifetime Guarantee. The 2020 complete versions of the Envy & Battleship take two different approaches as premium, bombproof BMX bikes ready to hit the street. Then, WTP Pro rider Felix Prangenberg offers up a chill look at putting his upcoming signature Pathfinder frame to the test in a day-in-the-life shredit from his hometown back into Cologne, aboard a creatively engineered BMX frame…
2020 Wethepeople Battleship is a BMX bike guaranteed for life
OK, so the trick here is probably that Wethepeople have been guaranteeing their frames for a long time now. They build (overbuild?) BMX frames to survive harsh treatment out in the real world, so every aftermarket frame set since 2011 has gotten the lifetime guarantee against structural failures in regular riding. These are street bike though, so it does have some reasonable limitations like abusing or not taking care of the bike, or wearing through the steel (although they have some solution to that too below…)
But now they are starting to offer lifetime frame & fork warranties on some of their complete 2020 bikes too, like this raw 4130 chromoly Battleship. It’s been one of WTP’s most popular “technical street” frames since debuted last year, so now it gets a suitably pro complete build option.
Starting around 1275€ (depending on your market) the 12.57kg/27.81lb Battleship Complete gets a bunch of premium street-worthy WTP & Éclat components to round out its build. Pick from either the glossy raw finish or coral red powdercoat and your choice of right (RSD) or left side drive (LSD) setups.
2020 Wethepeople Envy XLT is the “Best BMX bike money can buy”
Another of WTP’s new 2020 BMX completes with a lifetime frame & fork guarantee is their new, lighter Envy XLT. Sure, lightweight in a street BMX bike is a relative statement, but Wethepeople say this is the ultimate when it comes to balancing weight & strength, calling it “The Best BMX Bike money can buy”.
For around 1400€ complete, the Envy will save you just over a kilo from the Battleship, down here to 11.5kg/25.11lb. Much of the weight savings come from the relatively extra-light CNC-machined & hydroformed full 4130 chromoly steel WTP Envy XLT frame, Éclat Storm XLT fork, & WTP Envy XLT bar. A premium mix of Éclat components is said to make it the “the highest spec’d BMX bike of all time”.
Still “designed for even the most brutal street and park riders” and to “handle the raw brutality of BMX riding”, the new Envy gets Wethepeople’s Lifetime Guarantee on frame & fork. The WTP Envy Complete is available in two sizes (20.5″ & 21″ top tubes), in RSD & LSD, only in this matte translucent gold that shows a bit of the raw steel underneath.
Hanging With Felix Prangenberg…
The Felix Prangenberg Signature Pathfinder frame isn’t available for another couple of weeks (unless you are in Japan apparently), but it has some proper tricks up its sleeves.
…on his unique signature 2020 Wethepeople Pathfinder BMX frame
I’m not going to claim to have any real concept of BMX frame geometry.
So WTP telling me the new bike is better with its 1/4″ shorter 12.75″ chainstays in two 20.75″ or 21″ toptube lengths sounds fine to me.
But what is more interesting is that they created an all new CNC-machined, then heat-treated 4130 bottom bracket for the bike with increased thickness on its underside to increase resistance to grinding without adding a ton of extra weight.
The chainstays get a similar tick, but their seamless 4130 steel tubing is extruded to add the extra material along their lower half for extra grind resistance.
Like their other frames, the new Wethepeople Pathfinder also gets a lifetime warranty, so it is built to last. The 2360g/5.2lb Felix Prangenberg Signature Pathfinder frame comes in three finishes: gloss over raw unpainted steel, matte taxi cab yellow, or the patterned semi-gloss ghost grey that Felix is riding now. We don’t have pricing on the new frame, but expect it to retail for around 400-450€.
