It’s a great read. Jim talks about Sunday Bikes, moves he’s pioneered, his influences, past trips and even a little bit on 24″ riding.

In the interview, Jim says,

“I’ve always been into riding tight set ups and trying to ride the 24″ in tight set ups is even better. “ 

You don’t need any more evidence than the  pic above, with a perfectly executed fufanu on a super tight quarter.

But that’s not to say that Jim doesn’t also like to go big.

Check out this big bank to wall ride (also from the interview).

For the full interview, check out  Ride BMX.

(All pictures above by Andrew Brady, Ride BMX)

Taking advantage of it’s dirt-oriented geometry, Buddy is having a blast putting his new Liquid build through its paces at the many dirt spots Austin has to offer.

Check out this shot by his friend Octavio at “The Nut”.

Radness.

And while it will probably never be an Oprah Book Club Selection, I think this a book that you’ll still want to check out.

Tracking the evolution of BMX bikes from the 70s to the modern day, it’s cool reminder of how far we’ve come in terms of BMX technology, and also how in many ways, we have stayed more or less true to the original designs from back in the day.

There are also cool one-off bikes, like Woody Itson’s gold-plated Hutch Trick Star.

And in the “modern era”, some of Jim Bauer’s cool custom projects.

24″ BMX gets some love too.

Whether it’s an OG Patterson cruiser, a 2009 S&M 24″ 38 Special or an early SE Floval Flyer…Rad Rides has got that covered too.

Overall, I’m pretty impressed by this book.

Just thumbing through the pages, I find myself constantly stopping and poring over each cool ride.

If you have any roots at all in BMX, you gotta check this book out.

However, with this new batch they have switched things up a bit.

The frames now feature the O.G. Lowrider decal set (like the old 20″ Dirt Bikes sported for a time) and are available in black and green.

They look badass.

It’s hard to imagine a more iconic BMX grip from back in the day.

Back before Oakley made a name for itself with its high-end sunglasses, goggles and “lifestyle” gear, the company was known primarily for making motocross and BMX grips.

And one of it’s most popular grips of the era (in the 80s) was the Oakley B1-B grip.

Sought after by old school collectors, they’re now going for top dollar (especially if they’re in mint condition).

You would think that with such a following, Oakley would consider getting back into the grip game. If only for them to cash in on some of the nostalgia for old school BMX these days.

In fact, there’s even been petitions to bring back the  B-1B and other Oakley grips of that era.

But Oakley so far has resisted calls to dive back into making grips.

Granted they have offered limited runs of the Oakley B-1B in recent years…however, unless you were an industry insider or had an “in” you were out of luck.

As fan of the B1-B that always kinda bummed me out.

Imagine my surprise then, when flipping through Dirt magazine, that I see a Charge Bikes ad that included a grip that looked remarkably similar to the B-1B, the Charge Bikes Griddle Grip.

The grips feature small cutout shield logos molded in thin krayton and bonded to lightweight contrasting plastic core.  According to UK-based Charge Bikes, this is supposed to offer, “great texture and feel in all conditions, feeling soft and comfortable with or without gloves”.

Sounds pretty good to me.

And even though I haven’t tried them yet, I’m kinda ready to give them a go based on looks alone.

As an added bonus, while the B-1B grips had soft ends that tended to rip fairly quickly…the Griddle grips have color-matched  low profile plastic end caps to keep things looking good, even after you drop your bike.

This grip may be the answer to my jonesing for that old school B-1B grip feel.

Now all I have to do is track down a place that sells them.

Without a doubt, there was some controversy over whether or not this was a good idea.

Well, love it or hate it…it looks like DK Bicycles is continuing to build on its relationship with Walmart.

On a roadtrip to Ray’s MTB a week ago, we stopped in at a Walmart and I was shocked to stumble on to this…an aisle endcap stocked with DK parts and accessories.

While clearly not super high-end, I was pleasantly surprised that what was on offer was, for the most part, okay-quality (especially in light of what’s usually available at mass-market stores).

It actually kind of blows my mind a bit that you can now walk into a Walmart (in the U.S.) and pick up a DK Random Wrench.

Who would have thunk it?

Good geometry, components and price make for one attractive package and the Saint is starting to get some buzz going because of it.

To build on that buzz and to highlight  how well it rides, Stolen got  their team riders, Sean Morr and JJ Anderwald to cruise around Venice Beach and throw down a few tricks.

Looks like the Saint is ready to go whether you’re riding street or skatepark.

Check it.

For instance, their 3-position adjustable rear dropouts.

A quick adjustment on the dropouts and you can make a significant change to how your bike handles.

According to the Gunslinger website, each frame

feature[s] 3 position adjustable rear dropouts, that allow you to tune the frame head angle and bottom bracket height to match your riding style.

Making a change to how your bike handles takes essentially no time at all. This simple adjustment in the dropout alters both the bottom bracket height and head angle.

Want a slower head angle for more stability in the turns? No problem. Want a more responsive ride? Just raise the bottom bracket slightly.

Definitely some innovative thinking on Gunslinger’s part and something well worth checking out if you take racing seriously.

You can find out more by checking out the Gunslinger Bicycles site or MyBikeStand.com (the latter has a great review on their site…and it’s where I borrowed this picture from).

Whether that’s a carbon fiber frame, a 20mm axle set up or top-secret training technique, no stone is going unturned.

To what length are racers going to give themselves an advantage?

Would you believe cloak of invisibility technology?

Cruiser Revolution has uncovered some top-secret spy photos of a racer (nationality unknown) using the cloak of invisibility.

Check out this photo taken at a top-secret training facility in remote area somewhere in Nevada. The red bike is clearly being piloted by an invisible man!

Rumors have been circulating in the smoke-filled backrooms of the BMX industry about how long this technology has been in the works.

No one knows for sure.

But this undated photo clearly shows the unnamed rider piloting an early-90s model Haro.  It also highlights how far the technology has come–in the present day — as the cloak of invisibility, in this iteration, clearly can’t quite cover the rider’s 100% cotton riding attire.

Where will we “see” the invisible rider next?

Again, no one knows for sure.

But it may be sooner than we think.

Check out this photo that ABC News confirms was taken from their special doppler radar satellite orbiting Chula Vista, California this weekend. Satellite coordinates indicate it was taken just outside the Olympic Training Center.

The plot thickens.

It’s beginning to look that way.

Heck, when you have a big name like Olympic contender Mike Day saying things like, “always good to have a chromoly fork…and not have a road bike fork on your 20 inch” (when he’s being interviewed about GT’s 2012 lineup) then you know things are starting to shift.

On the Bodogs Race Report, in a post called Chromoly is the new carbon fiber, the writer talks about his own experiences with the different types of forks that are currently available:

Speaking only from experience I have personally witnessed no less than half a dozen cases where carbon fiber has failed, two cases where aluminum has failed (Both at the welds) and no cases where chromoly has failed.

He also sees a move back to chromoly in response to what he’s observed out at the track:

The new trend has returned to the beginning. Parts companies are building affordable chromoly forks that are stiffer and lighter than the most expensive carbon fiber forks on the market.

These same companies are also starting to play up the benefits of chromoly in their marketing. In a recent ad in Pull Magazine, CLIQ/Haro compared the chromoly Cliq fork to the Sinz carbon fiber fork.  At half the price, no rider weight limit and (as an added blow) a lighter weight overall it’s hard to argue that carbon fiber is a better choice. The ad finishes with the tagline,“Does any of this make sense to you, cause we’re still confused.”

Clever.  With more and more people getting the sense that they’ve been sold a bill of goods with carbon fiber forks, I think we’ll continue to see people voting with their wallets and going with the tried and true benefits of lightweight chromoly forks.

4130…It’s good to see you back at the race track, my old friend.

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