Today I stumbled on a cool Flickr group called BMX Cruisers.
The “About” section has this description:
This group contains pictures of people having fun with BMX cruisers. The main focus is on the salad days of 26″ cruisers, but two four peeps are welcome too.
It’s a pretty cool representation of the different facets of cruiser riding. There’s a bit of everything in this Flickr group: from flatland, to street, to pool riding, even just bombing the streets.
You might recognize a few familiar faces on it too.
Forgive me for the over-the-top sales guy headline…but in these tough economic times, it’s important to save a few bucks whenever you can.
And if you can do that while still scoring something cool, so much the better.
So just in case you missed it on the Facebook page, there’s a couple of coupon codes to save on Cruiser Revolution t-shirts and other assorted CR merch.
The catch is thecoupon codes are only good till 8/30/12.
Straight out of Florida and the creative mind of Wayne Keller, we’ve got a brand new edit that Wayne describes as “random footage of same old stuff in a new year.”
I think you’ll agree that description doesn’t quite do it justice. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll have a smile on your face and ready to go ride after watching this.
I recently picked up a super cool book called, Rad Rides: The Best BMX Bikes Of All Time (Intercity, Gavin Lucas & Stuart Robinson).
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.
Seat posts have been getting the shaft in the modern BMX era. In recent years, seat posts have disappeared nearly as fast as brakes on a new school street bike.
But is the tide starting to turn?
Here and there you will see someone rocking their seat posts proudly…still low by old school standards but higher than what’s been the norm (which for a long time has meant slammed).
Perhaps it’s time to take a poll and find out where you (and your seat post) stand on this issue.
Lots of great stuff in here, spanning Mongoose’s colorful 40-year history, everything from the origins of the Motomag, their early race team, the scooter phenomenon and McGoo’s tenure as the team manager/marketing manager (and the reasons behind his abrupt departure). I was especially stoked to see a segment on Jeff Kosmala and his signature KOS Kruiser–which Mongoose re-issued last year–and their collective impact on the cruiser class of that era.
Another great documentary from Mark Eaton. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Bonus info: Have you seen Mark Eaton’s section in Wheelies? It’s a perfect mix of flat and street. I must have watched that section a thousand times when that video was released. Check it out here.
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.
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!
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.
This year, with the RAD movie celebrating its 25th anniversary, complete with a big event in Cochrane, Alberta and word of a behind-the-scenes documentary in the works, it looks like the affection BMXers have for this movie is as strong as ever.
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).
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.
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