Although it’s not a BMX video, I’m stoked on this mini-documentary produced by Kona Bikes. It highlights Portland’s thriving bicycle culture and the support the city puts into bicycling. It’s great to see.
Check it out.
Vodpod videos no longer available.Is the race community’s love affair with the carbon fiber fork coming to an end?
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.
After a successful Pro racing career in the 80s, Eric Rupe “retired” due to the dissatisfaction he felt with his long-time sponsor, Mongoose and what they were offering him to renew his contract.
But apparently “retirement” wouldn’t take. Eleven months after officially retiring he was back on the national scene competing. And he hasn’t stopped since.
Currently terrorizing the older cruiser class ranks, Rupe can always be counted on to be a tough competitor every time he hits the track. With more than 30 years experience under his belt, you can bet he’s got more moves than anybody else out there.
Respect to “Big Daddy” Eric Rupe…still in the mix long after all these years.
Just before celebrating my birthday this past weekend I came across a great article that talks about riding when you’re getting older.
It was called Your Bike Doesn’t Know How Old You Are.
The article builds the case for that old saying that “you’re only as old as you feel”. While admitting that some decline in our athletic prowess is inevitable, how much is still very much open for debate. The author says,
…the central governor theory of fatigue…what you think and your mental attitude have as much bearing on your performance on any given day as the freshness of your legs. During my conversation with Dr. Tim Noakes, the theory’s greatest champion, he’d explained how “miles in the head” counted more than “miles in the legs” when it came to performance.
Granted this is a “roadie” example but I think you can extrapolate this bit of theory to performance on a BMX bike as well.
There’s no need to hang up the BMX bike because you’re getting older. Sure, it’s a good idea to avoid trying things that are over your head (and avoid landing on your head!) but BMX is something you can do well into your golden years.
Sure, you may have to deal with people giving you hard time for riding BMX when you should have — in their eyes — graduated to something more “appropriate”…but remember, you’re having more fun then they are. The article’s author sums it up best by saying:
Age isn’t something you need to fix, of course. But sometimes our attitude about it is. Don’t let either limit what you can do.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
One of my favorite riding pics...slicing through a high speed turn in the Don Valley
(Michael Moran behind the lens)
One of my best riding experiences this past year was riding Ray’s MTB bike park in Cleveland, Ohio.
To put it simply, Ray’s MTB rocks! So much to ride and a welcome relief to dealing with the colder riding months.
So what’s the story behind Ray’s?
A couple days ago I stumbled upon this video interview with Ray Petro (the Ray in Ray’s MTB) where he explains some of the back story of how Ray’s came to be. What I found most interesting is learning how the expansion to Milwaukee almost put Ray in the position of having to close the legendary bike park’s doors for good.
Great interview. Check it out.
Vodpod videos no longer available.Jon Faure boldly goes where no 40-something 24″ bike rider has gone before…the Woodward West MegaRamp!
It’s awesome to see Jon push his limits…although I still cringe every time I watch the crash section.
Back in November, pictures of the new InDust Cuatro 24 were making the rounds on the Internet.
Now it looks like some refinements have been made to the geometry.
Most notably a slacker head angle (presumably to make it more stable at high speeds when riding trails) and a lower seat tube.
Stout Bikes (the company manufacturing the frames) let the cat out of the bag with some spy photos on their website the other day.
These are looking really good. No word yet on when these will be released but I suspect it will be in limited quantities when they do.
Check out the InDust Facebook page or their webpage for all the latest developments.
BMXUnion posted a great interview today with Chris Moeller of S&M Bikes talking about his company’s recent foray into the manufacturing of 22″ frames, forks, wheels and tires.
According to Chris, the motivation to create the new line was simply due to friends nagging him to do it:
If my friends hadn’t been so persistent about it, it would never have happened. Once I had one built up I thought it was cool and I had fun riding it
Earlier in the interview, he also said:
The idea of a slightly larger, more stable trail bike for older guys coming off an extended break from BMX or larger riders coming off MTB’s made a lot of sense to me.
In terms of geometry, while still being fine-tuned, Chris said:
The geometry is about the same as a 20” but with a little more kicked back seat angle. The tires are 22” X 2.125” for now. It wasn’t too difficult scaling it to the larger wheels and we kicked the seat angle back for raising the seat up high to actually ride the bike. Since there are no preconceived TT lengths people are judging it by we didn’t have to worry about that. And if you go to the trails with the seat down it won’t make a difference anyway.
The release date for the 22″ Holmes (fitting name for it’s larger size, natch) is set for mid-summer along with a Revenge wheel-set and tire combo that will be sold separately.
Be sure to check out BMXUnion for more on S&M’s new 22″ gear and related musings from Chris Moeller.
Dan Closser airing out the S&M 22" prototype (Pic from BMXUnion)
For related discussion on the 22″ phenomenon, check out these earlier Cruiser Revolution posts:
I’ve seen a lot of great Sunday Model-C builds over the years but this has got to be one of the coolest!
Check out Chris Ehlbeck’s custom Rasta Model-C…this whip is badass!
cruiser revolution 
