Interbyke

I came pretty close to making the journey to Vegas this year, but due to monetary issues and some advice on job soliciting, I stayed home. Alas, the glut of online content has kept me updated on what I’ve missed. My friend Jay from BMXfeed kept on top of things, and sites like ESPN and The Come Up came through with slightly clearer pics of the glitz and glamour of the annual industry clusterfuck. As always, there are some parts to praise, and others to piss on. If you want legit product reviews, check out my new favorite site, BMX-Tec. Here are some “reviews”:

While Volume’s BMX sales might not be as strong as their barspin-friendly fixed freestyle forks, their new frame is pretty sweet. Rob Wise has been killing it since his flow part in S&M’s “Please Kill Me”, and his most recent web video is beyond mind-blowing. His new frame has a clever name (Rob’s Zombie), adult-sized geometry, and removable brake mounts on both seat AND chainstays. Not nearly enough frames these days are coming out with CS brakes (it’s pretty simple to make the mounts low enough for 25-9 gearing to work, and how many trail riders run that gearing, anyway?), and the fact that this frame has options for 3 brake setups is fairly unique, although not exactly revolutionary. Anyone remember the Hoffman EP?

Sunday’s booth had a bunch of new stuff to show off. I’d heard rumors of Sunday completes, and those rumors proved to be fact. All the bikes have the wave downtube; I don’t know if wrinkling a (presumed) high-tensile tube will prove it to be stronger, but it certainly resembles their aftermarket frame, so I’m sure little kids will be into them. Also part of the fold was a cruiser complete, retailing around $500. While not completely chromoly, I’ve been interested in the Model C since it’s inception, and plan on keeping my wallet in check by picking one of these up once they're off the boat.

My one complaint, however, is the new 3^rd Wave frame. After photos of Jake Seeley’s prototype leaked onto the web a few months ago, riders began questioning whether or not the new top-tube would be beneficial. Granted, the wave tube is certainly more dent-resistant, and therefore stronger, but is it necessary? Doubtful. Not only is the top of the tube creased, there is a new bend underneath, allowing the brake cable to be more or less hidden. This addition is without a doubt the most unnecessary change to the frame; how many riders are REALLY riding brakes these days? Why spend the extra time and money putting a feature like that into a frame when it’s not likely to be utilized by the majority of customers? If anything, an internal cable guide would’ve been a cleaner look, and likely less labor-intensive. At the very least, you’ve got to hand it to Sunday for making bikes that are easily recognizable, in an age of cookie-cutter Taiwanese Sanko/420roasted/69-butted boring bikes.

PS: Pretty funny how pissed Jim was about Kink ripping off the hollow dropout idea.

S&M debuted the “WTF” bike. I can’t see this as more than a unique fantasy, or an extremely elaborate joke. An S&M with a Painkiller headtube? Who would’ve thought Moeller would rip off Harry Leary. Taller bars to make up for shortening everything else? You’re still changing the rake of the front end. Can’t argue with the small chain, but I can’t see that becoming the new industry standard. I don’t have a clue if the bushing is a better idea than bearings, but the bolts were trick as hell.

The most common theme from all bike companies seems to be aluminum pegs. After Tree first stepped into the game a few years back with their 7075 Trick Stick (and Coalition followed with their 6061 version; great idea, guys)that proved you can ride street with AL pegs, the weight savings and multitude of colors available proved too temping for companies to re$i$t. Even Animal, who baffled the street riding collective with their new colored steel pegs, have jumped into the game with the Butcher peg. Coming in various colors with a plastic outer sleeve, I can see these things flying off the shelves. Going one step further was Demolition; their version came with clear sleeves, which will no doubt allow riders to color-coordinate their bikes even further. While the companies claim the pegs grind nearly as fast as steel, the drag is definitely noticeable; especially on rougher ledges. If you’re really concerned about weight savings, aluminum is not a bad way to go, but if you want to keep your bike looking fresh, skip ‘em; they look like shit after the first rotation.

Speaking of Animal, they had a “booth” wandering around on the floor with a backpack full of new parts. Skipping the boring stuff like prototype hubs and new shirts, likely to be their most popular new item is their multi-tool. The idea essentially builds on DK’s Random Wrench, but adds a chainbreaker and some other new elements. I’ve gotta say, though, that I’m not into the swiveling head; seems like it’ll break. Additionally, the tool seems pretty intricate, and might be tough to repack after use. Not to mention those bits look way too easy to lose. Good try, though.

Macneil: fuck.

I don’t really know what to say about this brief clip with Miron. I’ve written stuff in other places, and it boggles my mind how this company manages to stay relevant. Their product track record speaks for itself; poorly designed, easy to break products wrapped in bland, unoriginal “clean” graphics. I can only guess the Pivitol patent has kept them afloat, and once it expires in a couple years, I can’t see them continuing. They had a few good years in the beginning, but Jay can’t even ride anymore, they just dumped Gary Young, and Allistar Whitton still has a ride. Enough said.

I think that’s about it for interesting Interbike bits. One of these years, I’ll check it out. There are tons of pics & product reviews on other sites out there, so go scour BMXfeed for more info.

I’ll leave you with the best new product I’ve seen: the Federal Steven Hamilton signature t-shirt.

bitch 'til it gets better

Yesterday, I spent most of my afternoon pedaling from spot to spot on my BMX. I’ve lived in the city of Albany for about 2 years. When I first moved across the river, I had grandiose plans of creating a comprehensive spot map of every city street; that plan went to shit after I blew my knee out for the 2^nd time a couple months after moving.

I think I’ve been BMX-capable for about 4 or 5 months total since July of 2007.
I hate to say that time is catching up with me; I’m only 25. I wouldn’t say it’s father time so much as father arthritis. I can still spend a day out cruising, but I keep all-day street sessions at a minimum. Skate parks, however, are a different story. I can carve transitions all day with minimal fatigue, and honestly, I’d much rather be a coping jockey than ride a ledge or a bank all day. BMX has once again caught up to skateboarding and media coverage is primarily street-orientated, which is fine I suppose, but that doesn’t mean that it’s every riders preferred cup of tea.

You’d think that the capital of one of the more powerful and populated states in the Union would have a public skatepark, right? Fat chance. Albany has been historically against skate parks, and I feel that I will probably have retired my 20” before the city sees a public park, and that saddens me; especially when I can go to a place like Manchester, VT and ride 2 free parks that are completely abandoned. Go to the tennis courts on Madison Ave most sunny days and you’ll likely find the 2 center courts filled with skateboards and BMX bikes. There is even a local skater that brings a few boxes and rails and turns the place into an impromptu park. On a recent Saturday afternoon, a large group of us were riding at the courts, when we were surrounded by 3 cops cars. They slowly made their way into the park (as I was leaving), and questioned everyone in attendance about gang activity. Why do kids have to put up with this? Why is there a lack of cohesion within the Albany bike & skate scenes? Why isn’t there a public movement to get a park built? Yeah, I know the budget is shit right now, and I know people have made the effort behind the scenes, but the lack of outcry is startling.

The Tajcode

In 1998, I was 14 years old, and in need of a new bike. My last bike, a Ride Hard BMX from Toys ‘R Us, had succumbed to bottom bracket failure the previous fall, and I was contemplating a GT Outlook from my local bike shop. Not really sure what to get, I asked some friends for suggestions. Most of them rode BMX, and many had Hoffman’s. A few had Condors, one had a Big Daddy and another had a Flash. The racer with the flash brought in a copy of SNAP magazine, and showed me a Dan’s Competition ad with some ’97 Hoffman completes on sale. I’d had about $300 saved up from Christmas and birthdays, and that was the exact price of the Taj complete in the ad. Chrome was sold out (still the hot color scheme), and “silver blue” was the only color available. At the time, I wasn’t much of a BMX enthusiast, although I do remember watching a skate park contest on ESPN and rooting for Mat Hoffman for some reason. I wasn’t playing any sports at the time, and didn’t really have any hobbies, so I ordered the bike and followed my friends for the summer.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one who saw that ad. Within a month of visiting local trail spots, there were 4 other kids with the exact same bike. I stayed on that thing for 2 years, whereas everyone else dropped out within that time. Eventually, I swapped out the frame for a newer Deebo, and down the road bought my first of many FBM’s. The Taj passed between a few local riders, before ending back in my hands about 4 years ago. I rebuilt the bike, but I couldn’t believe I used to ride it. I’d heard stories of how the Taiwanese manufacturer fucked up the head tube angle, and it was true. The steering was incredibly faster than my current ride, and I promptly returned the frame to my wall after a couple sessions.

As much as I loved that bike as a teenager, I couldn’t ride it in present times. This seems to be a common theme in BMX. Many collectors refurbish the bikes of their glory days, but none of them compare to the technological advances and proper geometry of today’s bikes. Companies like Haro, Redline, Mongoose, S&M and SE have attempted to replicate some of their more famous rides, but they’re only snapped up by collectors who can’t afford to recreate the bikes of their dreams, and hardly ride like their predecessors(OK, the Holmes might be an exception to the rule). Not that you would want to ride a bike with 1984 geometry anyway; it’s a wonder anyone rode vert on a bike with an 18” top tube that was likely to shatter at any moment.

My favorite company alongside FBM has always been Terrible One. The year I started riding was the year the first few Road Fools videos came out, FBM put out its first frame, and Terrible One was spawned. After buying his former pro model bike, I researched Taj a bit and became a big fan of his riding, sharing the sentiment with pretty much everyone else in BMX. Although it took me many years to get a Barcode frame, I always liked them, due to their obvious resemblance to my first bike. I got one in 2004 and it has always been my favorite frame. Rode like a dream. I remember emailing T1 many times, hoping they’d do a batch of Barcodes in the infamous silver blue, but that never materialized. I had the idea in my head to create replica stickers, only replacing the Hoffman logo with T1, and building up a “Tajcode”. I made stickers for T1 in 2008 in exchange for a new frame, and my plan was to build this bike I’d had in my head for years. Just as I was about to build it, I blew my knee out for the 3^rd time, and I sold the frame for rent money. A drunken eBay spree and a trade with a BMXboard member landed me another Barcode, and I once again set out to build my fantasy bike. Alas, here are the results:

Rather than reuse old Taj acronyms, I created my own. My graphic designer friend made the perfect logo, and I found scans of original Taj stickers to create the top tube decal. I have a vinyl plotter, so the decals are somewhat more labor intensive to make, but the results were well worth the effort.

Although I completely understand why Taj left T1, it was still quite a shock when the news was released. Some people compared the ordeal to Ian Mackaye signing to a major label. Taj was always a rider who shied away from corporate sponsors; one of the reasons he left Hoffman was because he didn’t want to ride in contests like the X-Games (he won an MTV contest though…). However, he is nearing middle-age, and BMX has never been a lucrative entity. His reasons are legit, and I would feel like an asshole chastising him now, considering all that he’s done for the sport and taking his back problems into account. I blame my friend Stephen for the DT decal, but hopefully Taj would see the humor in it.

Chris Duncan - give it up.

You're trying to be the Chris Gentry of BMX. You sucked before you left BMX, you sucked at MTB's, you're a fucking kook and desperately grasping for any shred of attention by spamming every website in BMX. No one gives a fuck. You're as lame as Rick Thorne.

Chris Duncan Clothing interview 1 of 4 on Decobmx.com from chad degroot on Vimeo.

City Boy

A local bike activist brought in some copies of Urban Velo magazine to the shop the other day. They were left over from a documentary on the Portland cycling scene, which I didn't attend. After leafing through the 5" by 7" mag, I came to the realization that I cannot relate to urban cycling at all, and I'm kinda glad I didn't attend the movie premier. That might be surprising to hear, coming from a kid who considers himself a bike enthusiast, but I have my reasons.

First, while I love living in a city due to a relative abundance of people, things to do and sheer convenience, I'm a country boy at heart. I grew up in a fairly rural environment and while I'm still a novice to road cycling, I don't really see city riding as very enjoyable. I mean, I do it; using a bike as a form of transportation is usually more convenient and much healthier, and cities are way more BMX friendly than anywhere else, but as far as actual cycling is concerned, I'd rather avoid it. The backwoods are where it’s at. Fewer cars, (generally) better conditions and full fucking throttle. Having to watch the lights and avoid potholes is a pain in the ass. Pretty girls are a great distraction, but when I'm on my bike, I'd rather just concentrate on speed. I'm not one to meditate or discuss spirituality, but I guess I see road bike sessions as a time for introspection. If I want to think, I can. If I just want to go fast, that works, too.

My second reason for not relating to urban cycling is a general distaste for cycling “culture” in general. Again, this sounds extremely hypocritical coming from someone who has worked in the bike industry for close to a decade, and has been heavily influenced by BMX for even longer than that. But even my passion for BMX has its limits; there are few people I ride with that I spend time with outside of riding. As years pass, I find myself relating less and less to BMX as a whole, and while I’m getting more into road cycling, I feel absolutely NO connection to that culture. Maybe it’s because a lot of the riders who come into my shop are more consumed by WHAT bike they’re riding than where and when they ride. That happens in all forms of cycling, and yeah, I love my own bike as well, but I’d rather ride a rusty pile than stare at a carbon masterpiece.

In all honestly, most of this sentiment stems from my feelings towards fixed gear riders, which I see as the most fashion-conscious group of fair-weather riders that has ever existed. I almost see “urban velo” culture and fixed culture as one in the same. When I’m on my bike, I just want to ride. I don’t want to play bike polo. I like coasting. I hate “tall bikes”. I have no desire to take part in Critical Mass rides. While I’m all for upgrading road conditions for cyclists (as Albany is incredibly undesirable to ride in), I would rather ride alone that join the bi-pedaling masses. A bike is a bike is a bike as far as I’m concerned. Just leave me alone while I’m on mine.

Party of One

I've always found comfort in solitude. As a child, I was never a fan of group projects in class; I would rather do the work myself. In my early teens, I abandoned team sports and found BMX, where your progression and enjoyment was not partially determined by the actions of your teammates. Even now, I ride alone more than ever. It eases my mind, and I don't have to wait for anyone.

However, solitude can create alienation if not doled out sparingly. Lately, I've spent more and more time by my lonesome. I've become more awkward in social interactions, I interact less with my coworkers, and my relationship barely has a pulse. It's not healthy to keep to yourself constantly. The camaraderie of digital peers cannot recreate the rapport of good conversation with close friends and cold beers. I'm making an effort to reintegrate into my social circle, but this has proven difficult. Not really sure why. My main guess is clinical depression, something I've struggled with the past few years. There are plenty of times when I can't or don't relate to the lives & activities of my friends, but instead of dismissing the disconnect, I need to just enjoy the interaction and stop worrying about my own interests and problems. I also have a somewhat strict daily regiment, from work to eating to when I sleep and everything in between, which I need to start breaking. I've finally accepted my fate and begun to take anti-depressants again, and hope I can begin to locate salvation in the form of generic Prozac.
At this point, I really have no other choice, because the other option is pretty grim.

Wah.

Postage Paid

I think I finally stopped caring about BMX magazines.

It’s hard to admit that. One of the things that got me into BMX was being given an issue of SNAP in order to buy a Hoffman Taj from Dan’s Comp. Once I was immersed in the culture, I picked up every magazine there was. Didn’t matter that BMX Plus! Was geared towards 10-year olds, I still bought it. UK magazines? If I couldn’t find them locally, I’d call up the mailorders and get whatever I could. I remember making a couple big orders from Taj’s BMX Media site when that was still running, as that not only had my European favorites, but also carried zines from around the globe, which were generally tougher to find than the infamous Dave Young Tylenol footage.

At 25, I feel like I’ve taken in more than enough BMX media. I work a pretty boring desk job, and I get to spend numerous hours trolling the Internet and catching up on BMX gossip. I don’t necessarily think that the Internet has killed BMX due to topicality; I think it’s moreso due to saturation. Take a look at BMXfeed; there are some days where half of the featured sites are just linking to other featured sites. By the time Dig arrives in my mailbox, I’ve filled my mental quota for taking in BMX trivia. Not to mention the fact that most of the articles being written are pretty goddamn boring. Shit on the consistency all you want, but there hasn’t really been an entertaining mag since Faction. JPR wasn’t one to bore you with trick lists, nor would he leave out the sordid details of most sketchball road trips. Billy Hank Riesing wrote in a similar style; he might’ve babbled a bit more, but none of the articles were dry or repetitive. Jeff Stewart, who wrote for Ride UK while still under the watch of the Nobles, was another writer who seems to have vanished from the BMX landscape. His stories were always adventurous and had the feel of a Keuroac novel. Your average 15-year old lacked the mental capabilities to really appreciate that type of writing, and I guess that’s the downfall of most BMX media. There are plenty of adults who ride, but with their former editors now under the helm of ESPN, even Dig and Ride UK are getting unbearable. Magazines now lack any grit or substance. The interviews are boring, road trip stories shed minimal light on foreign cultures or interesting occurrences, and editorial content is tame at best. Maybe I'm just burnt out. Maybe it's time to stop clicking the links.

Speaking of ESPN, I did a series of interviews regarding BMX companies doing custom frames. Check them out if you’d like: FBM, Solid, the ever controversial Standard, and S&M. I did these to highlight the fact that it’s still possible to get an “adult” orientated BMX bike. It might not be a Sunday cruiser, but it’s not a Taiwanese frame with a 6” standover height, either. Custom frames are pretty common in the road and MTB worlds, but they’ve been pretty scarce in BMX. It’s a great option for those of us who don’t want our bikes to look like toys. The links never made it onto the Come Up, but I don’t mind; they wouldn’t really have been reaching their target audience, anyway.

I might actually try to update this thing more. Look for an Internet-themed article soon.

-bk

PS – check out In The Gnar!