Yes my friends….fenders.

Turns out GHP racer Todd Parry is running a carbon fiber (?!) fender on his race cruiser to avoid “being sucked in between the tire and the seat”.

And while the different sanctioning bodies tend to frown on these kind of things, it appears that track operators are letting the use of fenders slide.

Seems a little goofy to me.

What do you guys think?

When you’re using a tool from Park you know you can rely on it.

I like using them because it appeals to the bike geek in me to be using the same tools that bike mechanics use.

That’s why I was so stoked to get the Park Tool PZT-2…their Pizza Tool!…for Christmas from my good friend Lynn.

Featuring a large diameter stainless steel cutting wheel and a large handle for easy grip, this thing cuts through pizza like nobody’s business!

I tried it recently on a Delissio Hawaiian Pizza and it worked like a charm. If you’re into bikes and you like pizza, I highly recommend the Park Pizza Tool.

So before we ring in the new year, let’s check out the top ten things that went down in 2011.

10. Sunday and S&M kicked off the year by introducing two of the most of the popular frames out there right now: the Sunday Wave-C and S&M 24″ Dirt Bike.

9. This was quickly followed by news that a lot of people had been waiting for: 24″ forks with front brake mounts. S&M was first to market with their 24 “Pitchforks with 990 mounts which was quickly followed by Sunday’s 24″ forks with 990 mounts (although they were testing prototypes much earlier).

8. Some great 24″ flatland vids surfaced almost immediately after from Joe Cicman and Danny Sirkin. (Could this be related somehow to #9?) Heck, even flatland legend Bobby Fisher surfaced a few months later riding flatland on a Sunday Model-C.

7. Low-rise traditional handlebars for cruisers dying off.  The tall handlebar trend is firmly established in the freestyle end of 24″ bmx but it looks like it starting to take hold in racing too. MattyJo Shelley (of BMXActionOnline) tried it out on his race bike in a special guest post and he found taller bars had advantages for racing too.

6. “Older” guys  continued to make their presence felt in BMX on their 24″ bikes.  From the older cruiser classes in racing to a skatepark rider proving that age is just a number it’s great to see that there is no age cut-off for having fun!

5. DK introduced a line of bikes in Wal-Mart, including a 24″ version of the General Lee. Is this good or bad for BMX? The jury is still out.

4.  Mongoose, Stolen and InDust introduced new 24s to the scene. Great to see companies responding to the demand for bigger wheeled BMXs.

3. Cruiser Revolution celebrated its 3-year anniversary this year. A great milestone and a testament to the great cruiser community that is continuing to grow.

2.  The 4130 rides. I was lucky enough to participate in the 4130 Sin Series ride in Las Vegas back in September and it was one of the best times I have ever had on my bike.  Bombing the streets with a couple hundred of your fellow BMXers is something everyone has to do at least once.

1. Having a good time on your bike. Sure, it’s fun to debate the pros and cons of how tall your handlebars are, talk about the latest parts and comment on the latest video edit but when it comes right down to it, when you’re out there riding none of that really matters. Whether its with your bros, your kids or just by yourself, you can leave your worries behind and let the good times roll as soon as you step on those pedals.

Happy New Year!

For many of us this means having a beer or two with some good friends.

But what happens when you reach for a cold one and realize that you can’t find the bottle opener? (And you’re drinking the good stuff without the twist-off caps..)

What are you going to do?

Paul Hoerdt shows us the way.

(Warning: audio NSFW)

Happy holidays everyone!

Now to add another log to the Helltrack fire, NYC dance group Holy Ghost is featuring a new interpretation of the infamous “bicycle boogie” scene in their video, “I wanted to tell her” (a remake of the Ministry song of the same name).

Check it out.

Knobby tires.

Padsets.

The Jofa mouth guard.

But you know what else BMX has lost?  The BMX moustache.

That’s right. There was a time when race bikes were chromoly and BMX racers rocked ‘staches.

Back in the day, the legend Perry “PK Ripper” Kramer, intimidated his competition and broke the hearts the hearts of trophy girls everywhere with his moustachioed swagger.

Later, Hollywood Mike Miranda would bring his All-American moustache to the silver screen with memorable scenes in the movie Rad (“Hollywood Mike Miranda makes his second dramatic exit of the day”)

Thankfully, the Movember fundraiser is in full swing and guys everywhere are growing  moustaches to raise awareness and funds for men’s health.  I’ve joined the cause and I’m donating my upper lip to the cause for the 30 days.

My moustache has already caused a few sideways glances at work, and some outright laughter when I’ve gone riding at the trails but it’s all for a good cause, to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. Which as many of you know, affected one of the icons of our sport, Stu Thomsen, in recent years.

If you’d like to support me in raising funds for this great cause (and bring a little moustachioed swagger back to BMX) you can donate to my campaign via this link:  http://mobro.co/EdVandermolen.

Any support would be greatly appreciated.  (Be sure to check out the Ron Burgundy and Tom Selleck tomfoolery on my Movember page as well.)

Cruiser Revolution hit the three-year mark this month.

Three great years of talking 24″ BMX.

Whether it’s sharing stories of guys getting back into BMX on a 24inch bike, checking out the latest bikes and parts, finding out what other riders are doing or just the random goofiness that pops up here from time to time…it’s great to be on this ride with you.

They say that time flies when you’re having fun and I guess it’s true in this case.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

I really appreciate all the great comments, discussion and general awesomeness from all the great people I’ve gotten to know through this blog.

Cheers to you.

Can’t wait to see what’s in store for the year ahead.

Granted, this isn’t the first time 2-speeds have been tried.

Back in the 80s, the Browning 2-speed enjoyed some short-lived popularity but was quickly abandoned due to reliability issues.

I’m not sure how I feel about this development. While it’s cool in a whiz-bang, “maybe it will work this time” kinda of way, it doesn’t feel like BMX to me.

Maybe I’m becoming a curmudgeon in my old age.

But isn’t part of the attraction of this sport the simplicity of the bikes? The race community has already adapted clips, if multi-speed bikes are next, are we just a few years from spandex skinsuits and paved tracks?

If you wanted a 24″ bike that would take some abuse, it usually meant you were riding either a Haro Backtrail 24 or the DK General Lee.

Today, you may have noticed (especially if you’re a regular reader of this site) that the choices for non-race 24″ cruisers are a little deeper.  And perhaps fittingly, those two old workhorses, the Backtrail and the General Lee were dropped from their respective company’s lineups.

But just like those ol’ Duke Boys in a car chase with Roscoe P. Coltrane, the General Lee was a bike that couldn’t be kept down. It’s resurfaced, albeit in a slightly different incarnation and to some sometimes heated BMX forum discussion in, of all places, Walmart!

Do Bo and Luke Duke know what happened to the General Lee?

Word on the street is that Huffy bought out DK and, in addition to their higher-end bikes and parts, they are offering a small lineup of race and freestyle bikes in Walmart.

This version of the General Lee is  hi-ten steel with Chro-mo 3-piece cranks…a far cry of it’s original completely Chro-mo version…but priced accordingly, at $179 (US).

Some people are burning up the forums saying this is a travesty.

I dunno. Remember the Subrosa Salvador 24 from last year? That was a hi-ten bike with chro-mo cranks priced at $404! That to me, was  more of an outrage. At least this bike is priced appropriately and sold in a place that makes sense.

Would Uncle Jesse approve?

I can see a Dad picking one of these up, at the same time he’s picking out a first bike for his son or daughter. Who knows, after jumping  curb cuts, popping a few wheelies and just having fun on his $179 bike, he’ll decide to upgrade to something a little better at his local bike shop. And there he’ll see a brand he recognizes but be something much better suited to heavy-duty riding.

What do you think about DK bikes showing up at Walmart?

Something good?

Or something bad?

For complete specs, check out Walmart’s page.

For more info on all the Dukes of Hazzard references in this post, click here.