September | 2014 | cruiser revolution

The deets on DK’s 2015 lineup

26 09 2014

DK Bicycles decided to mix things up this year and forgo the annual trip to Vegas/Interbike and instead have a dealer open house at DK HQ to display their wares.

It was a pretty cool setup, as you can see from this shot of the event space . A fun little indoor park with a booth that had all the 2015 bikes right across from it.

In terms of their new bikes, DK has a solid cruiser lineup for 2015.

First up, their top-of-the line race bike, the Elite Cruiser.

For 2015, they’ve changed the grips to their own DK Tsuka lock-ons, updated the chain stays to be bigger and stiffer, and added a 20mm rear hub.

The mid-level Sprinter Cruiser gets an update in the looks department with an eye-catching colorway. No major changes component and handling-wise.

The “ready-to-shred” Cygnus gets bigger tires with pin stripe sidewalls, a padded mid style seat/post combo, and chrome bars. It also gets a new look: colors include Polished Red (essentially a transparent red over silver) and a Electric Neon Blue.

Some pretty good-looking rides there. Check ’em out at your local DK dealer.

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: 2015 DK Bikes, dk bicycles, DK Cygnus 24, DK Cygnus cruiser, DK Elite Cruiser, DK Sprint Cruiser
Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Racing, Skatepark, street

Redline Asset 24: are the specs for real?

25 09 2014

I got the heads up about the bike while attending Interbike earlier this month.

In most cases that would mean I stumbled across it while strolling the aisles of the show.

But, as you’ll recall, Redline wasn’t at the show this year.

Instead it was a picture posted by our good friend, Trent Brocker. Eagle-eyed Trent spotted it at a bike shop in Hayward, CA. He was surprised (like me when I saw it) that Redline made a freestyle cruiser.

I needed to find out more. I headed over to the Accell booth (Redline’s parent company) and was immediately told that Redline wasn’t at the show this year. I was kinda hoping I had just missed their booth or they were set up in an odd spot.

I made a mental note to check up on it later.

More wandering around the show.

I then came upon the Hi-Torque Publishing booth.

Copies of the new issue of BMX Plus! were there for the taking. “Don’t mind if I do,” I thought to myself as I picked up a copy.

While flipping through the pages, I found a write up of the Asset 24.

The specs looked pretty good: 74.5 degree headtube, 71 degree seat tube, 13″ BB and 15.5 inch chainstays. Pretty similar to the 24″ S&M ATF. Nice!

Once I got back home from the show I thought I would do some followup research and check it out on Redline’s site.

I dug the look…and the picture seemed to indicate the geometry specs in BMX Plus were correct. But then I clicked on the “geometry tab” and saw this:

Top Tube 20.75″

Head Angle 75 degrees

Seat Angle 70 degrees

BB Height 11.8″

Chainstay 13.75″

What in blue blazes? Those specs did not make sense at all.

Attempts at reaching Redline through email and social media to clear up the confusion were not answered at press time.

If the specs that BMX Plus reported are complete, it looks like we have a very nice new complete on the market for 2015. If the specs on the Redline site are correct…well, then I’m still scratching my head.

Comments : 6 Comments »
Tags: BMX Plus!, interbike, Redline Asset 24, S&M ATF 24
Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School

Interbike odds & sods

20 09 2014

Here are all things that I came across in the show that didn’t fit nicely into a post with anything else.

Without further ado…

“Thin to win” race gear: It seems race gear is getting lighter and thinner than ever this year. One example, is these Troy Lee Designs Sprint shorts. I have an earlier iteration of the Sprint shorts (which were already quite light) and these seem even lighter still. Fly and other manufacturers seem to have gone this route too. Curious to see if tear-resistance is compromised at all with gear getting thinner and lighter.

The SE Famous Stars & Straps Big Ripper Collab bike: this bike showed up in two booths: SE and a tire manufacturer’s. Looks pretty cool up close!

Tioga’s OS20 tire: (To be truthful, I missed this at the show but the eagle eyes over at BMXNews didn’t….) The BMX racing world’s attempt to produce an “almost 22” tire/wheel setup to get around the max wheel size rules of the sanctions. Tioga had a foldable 0S20 tire on display at the show with plans for a full unveil at the upcoming USBMX Grandnationals.

The Free Agent Ratio 24: It appears that Free Agent is still sticking with race geometry on this supposedly freestyle-oriented cruiser. Sure, it is full cro-mo and has those Kenda tanwall tires that look awesome…but this bike literally looks like they choose a new paint color every year and then call it a day. Would really like to see some updated geometry on this model.

That’s it for this year’s Interbike coverage! Thanks for checking out this week’s posts.

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Fly Racing, Free Agent Ratio 24, interbike, Kenda tanwall tire, SE Bikes, Tioga OS20, Troy Lee Designs Sprint gear
Categories : New products, New School, Uncategorized

Cool stuff spotted in the catalogs

18 09 2014

Sometimes vendors have to make the tough call when it comes to what bikes and parts to display at Interbike.

Whether it’s logistics, space issues or something else, sometimes bikes and components that you were kinda hoping to see aren’t on display.

Here are some of the bikes that I wished were on display at Interbike, based on the catalogs that I saved from the show.

The first is the 2015 Stolen Saint XLT 24 Complete in Chrome. This thing looks sweet! (And the Matte Electric Red colorway is not too shabby either.)

The next bike is also from Stolen. It’s the 2015 Zeke Complete 26″ in Matte Electric Green…this colorway will definitely turn some heads! (It’s also available in Matte Raw Silver.)

The next is the SE Quadangle Freestyle 24. If you recall, we checked out a sneak peek of this bike back in June. I had my fingers crossed that I would be able to check it out in Vegas. No such luck. Still digging this bike though…old school looks with new school geo…would love to try one of these bad boys out!

Definitely some cool looking rides!

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: 26" Stolen Zeke cruiser, SE Quadangle Freestyle 24, Stolen Saint XLT 24
Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Old School, Skatepark, street

Some new stuff from Sunday

17 09 2014

Sunday Bikes, no surprise, had the 2015 Model-C complete on display at Interbike.

But that was just the starting point of the 24″ goodness. The Sunday folks also had a couple of other things up their sleeves.

One of the new items is the Sunday Model C aftermarket frame.

This frame is a full cro-mo version of the frame on the complete, and will be offered at a more affordable pricepoint than the Wave-C frame. A blue frame was on display but I think black will also be available. (It looks like the top tube will be 22″.)

Another notable is the 24″ Sunday Octave fork. The Sunday folks said this fork is a lighter and stronger (not to mention streamlined) version of their popular Sunday Morning 24.1 fork. Looks pretty dialed.

Nice to see Sunday continuing to support the 24″ scene with new products.

Watch for more Interbike coverage in upcoming posts.

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: Sunday bikes, Sunday Model-C, Sunday Octave fork 24 inch
Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School

26 inch cruisers are having a moment

16 09 2014

Walking around the displays at Interbike, it’s hard not to think that 26″ freestyle cruisers are having their moment in the sun right now.

With Subrosa deciding to add the 26″ Malum to their lineup this year.

To the Fairdale Taj with it’s retro design cues.

Inside scoop: Fairdale has plans in the works to offer a chrome version of the frame & fork later this year…and maybe a chrome version of the complete after that. (Hot damn!)

To Volume, who has been down with the 26″ for some time now…in this case, the Hessian.

But the 26″ that really caught my attention was the Stolen Zeke XLT.

Following the same nomenclature as their 24″ models, the Zeke XLT is a full cro-mo version of the tri-moly 26″ Zeke that turned heads at last year’s Interbike show.

Sporting a cool matte black with blue colorway, the display model was shown with disc brakes. While 990-style brakes come standard on the Zeke XLT, the display model was outfitted with the disc brakes to show that the bike was “disc ready” and could be switched over if so desired.

Certainly some great options in the 26″ side of things.

I wonder if the increasing popularity of 26″ bikes will prompt We The People to bring back the 26″ Champ cruiser…not that I would want their 24″ offering, the Atlas, to disappear.

More Interbike coverage to follow.

Comments : 17 Comments »
Tags: Fairdale Taj Cruiser, interbike, Stolen Zeke XLT, Subrosa 26" Malum, Volume Hessian, We the People Champ cruiser
Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School

WTP debuts 2015 Atlas at Interbike

15 09 2014

This year’s Interbike show saw a much smaller BMX presence than in year’s past.

Notable no-shows for this year’s show included S&M, DK, GT and Redline. (DK opted to showcase its 2015 lineup in-house at DK HQ.)

With that being said, there was still plenty to check out at this year’s show.

A refreshing change this year was We the People (WTP) and their decision to locate their booth in the heart of the “BMX zone” of the show. Last year’s booth was located a fair distance from the other BMX vendors…I remember asking people for directions to the booth. Perhaps this is a reflection of their recent switch to a new distributor and more positive moves in the future.

Another good thing to see from WTP is their decision to keep the Atlas 24 in their lineup for 2015.

Retaining essentially the same “trails-y” geometry as the 2014 Atlas, it now sports a black and red ano colorway that looks great up close. It unfortunately loses the limited edition tanwall tires it sported in 2014, but it still looks like a well-spec’d ride.

More Interbike coverage to follow, keep your eye out for more posts all this week.