MegaRamp madness with Trent Brocker

21 03 2016

Five years ago, 40-something Jon Faure blew minds when he took on the Woodward West MegaRamp on his 24″ cruiser.

The years have gone by and we’ve often wondered who would be the next 24″ rider to brave the wooden beast.

Turns out it would be none other than “Chief Rocka” Trent Brocker.

He did  at the OSBMXR event this past weekend.

Trent got the motivation from the Condor himself, Mat Hoffman.

TrentB&MatH

And, just to keep things interesting…Trent did it brakeless.

Wow.

TrentBMegaRampThat’s some business right there.

TrentBMM2Here’s a closeup shot of Trent right up in the letters at the top of the ramp (the rider in white is his good friend Scott Yowell…who was no slouch on the ramp this day either).

Hot damn, I’m pretty stoked on this.

Finally, since we’re on the subject anyway…check out this POV vid that Mat Hoffman posted of his view during his run on the MegaRamp.

(It might take a second to load)

Holy Cow….





“No way, Jose!” The story of the first flip

18 03 2016

Flips in BMX (and FMX) are commonplace these days.

Heck, if you’re not throwing a variation into the mix, many casual onlookers will hardly give it a glance.

This, of course, is the nature of progression.

In an earlier era, when BMX freestyle was more or less still an offshoot to BMX racing….well, it seemed impossible.

Then one guy broke the backflip barrier.

It was Jose Yanez.Jose-Yanez-BMX-Plus

 

And despite having his backflip immortalized in the cult favorite, RAD…and later performing a backflip on a motorcycle…his important contribution to BMX biking seemed relegated to the footnotes section of BMX history.

Jose never seemed to get the recognition he deserved.

However, it looks like that’s about to change.

Out of the Loop: The Jose Yanez Documentary, a movie about Jose and his journey to  the first backflip, is set for release in 2017.

The trailer features a who’s who of BMX legends and is chockful of footage and images from the era.

It looks like it’s going to be a good one!

 

 





Bike shops are down with the WTP Avenger

10 03 2016

It goes without saying that you should support your local bike shop whenever you can.

This is even more true if you have a cool bike shop in your area that supports BMX.

And if that shop stocks cruisers…well, then you’ve got gold my friend.

These thoughts come to mind when I came across two shops promoting the 2016 We The People Avenger cruiser in their shops.

Harvester Bikes rolled out a freshly assembled Avenger for all to see on their Instagram feed a short while back.

To build on that hype, they posted a followup “unboxing” vid of the bike being assembled.

W-Base Garage, a shop in Japan, also got into the WTP Avenger action a while back.

The folks at W-Base, of course, busted out a bar endo.

They must of known I’m a sucker for bar endos.

It’s good to see shops stocking..and promoting!…cruisers.





Saddle up to the bar (endo)

3 03 2016

Bar endos are a bit of a rarity in the freestyle world these days….and that’s doubly true in the case of 24″ riders.

That being said, Trent Brocker has been known to throw one down…and his bar endo picture on the Golden Gate Bridge still ranks as one of my favorite riding shots.

But other than Trent, I don’t see many riders giving the bar endo any love.

So, on the off chance I spot an old dog pulling out one of these (rare) old tricks, I’m always impressed.

Today, I stumbled across another rider doing one.

His name is Craig Stang.

The bar endo happens at the 0:52 mark of this YouTube video,

filmed on the day of [his] 40th rotation around the sun [at] Arlington Skatepark, VA [in 2010].

It looks he had a good session going on that day.

Check it.

bar endo microfrets

 





Spying a nice Stout build

1 03 2016

Matt at STOUT Bikes has been producing great custom frames (as well as forks and handlebars) out of his Texas shop for some time now.

We’ve featured his work before…Buddy Sardenga‘s super-cool Beelzebike, The 20 666’er was the first time…and more recently…Joshua “Lurch” Gittere’s custom 26-inch.

In both cases I was blown away by the build quality and attention to detail. Both owners were both pretty stoked on their respective bikes too.

And who could blame them? They’re both great bikes (I’ve ridden both.)

So the other day, I was surfing the net — flitting between bike sites — as I’m wont to do.

And I found myself over at the STOUT Bikes website.

After spending way too much time checking out all the custom frames, forks and bars, I caught myself checking out a build simply called “Ron’s 24”.

The bike looked huge!

I don’t know the specs but that front end appears plenty roomy.

The back end looks tight though…so it definitely looks like it would be great to shred on.

Rons Stout 24According to the writeup:

Ron is like eight feet tall. He is one of the guys I met in Oregon that helps build a kickass local dirt park. I hope he’s liking this thing better than that tiny P24 that he broke.

I’m super curious about the specs/geo now! If the other STOUT Bikes I’ve ridden are anything to go on (and I think they are) this is probably a rad bike to ride.

I hope I have a chance to test ride this bike some day.

Here’s a pic of the fork and bars.

Rons 24inch forks & barsDang…as if I’m not feeling those bars too!

If these pictures have whet your appetite for some more custom bike porn…mosey on over to the STOUT bikes website, I know you won’t be disappointed.





Monday minutes

29 02 2016

A few notables popped up over the weekend…things not big enough for a full-blown post but items definitely worth taking note of…

First off…Tribute Bikes released a picture of their new prototype cruiser all built up.

Tribute prototype v2 built upLooks pretty sweet!

I’m so looking forward to seeing the final version of this bad boy.

The next item…not exactly new (it’s from January originally) but new to me at least…is an article on RedBull.com.

It popped up in my Facebook feed over the weekend and it seems like the perfect thing to peruse in advance of the spring digging season: How to build your own backyard pumptrack.

With some deece pics from legendary BMX phototog, Jared Souney, it’s well worth your attention.

Have a gander at that article, re-read the CR post, A primer on how to build a pumptrack and you’ll be tearing up the backyard garden and installing berms and rollers in no time.

Closer to Cruiser Revolution HQ…an announcement came out over the weekend that a warehouse in west Toronto is going to be converted into a “House of Vans” from March 16 to April 2.

houseofvans

The space will feature a skatepark, art gallery and musical performances (Dinosaur Jr. is said to be one). No word on whether or not bikes are allowed but pretty cool news in any event. I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to score some cool kicks there too.

Finally, we’re less than a week out from the Toronto Bicycle Show.

Which means the best part of the annual bike show  is also happening…the X-Jam.

It’s always a raucous affair. A crowd full of crazy Canadians with cabin fever and an international cast of riders going off.

I’m looking forward to catching up with old friends and checking out some awesome riding.

I’m also looking forward to seeing Drew B. dropping in from the ceiling again.





La Casa rolls out 22 and 24″ wheel sets

17 02 2016

A few months back, Brink Distribution (a wholesale distributor in Canada), piqued our interest when they announced that they would be carrying both 22 and 24″ complete bikes from Encore in their product lineup.

When their Instagram feed lit up our phones in the last couple days with news that the 22″ Anthem and 24″ Coda were now in their warehouse, we got pretty excited.

Then today, we got the news that Brink would also be carrying La Casa wheels in both 22 and 24″ sizes!

La Casa 24inch wheelsThis is great news on a couple of fronts…first, it’s awesome to see another 24″ complete wheel option on the market and second, another 22″ option on the market is MAJOR!

With even fewer 22″ options on the market (vs. 24″) this development should see more people giving 22″ wheels a try…if only because they have the confidence that they can pick up aftermarket wheels if/when they need them.

In terms of specs, the wheel sets feature:

  • sealed bearings
  • double wall rims (front and back)
  •  14mm male rear axles
  •  3/8 front female axles (both front & back axles are solid chromoly).

They are sold in sets only.

Pretty stoked on this.





Sneak Peek: Another Tribute Bikes teaser

11 02 2016

We got the first photo tease of the new Tribute Bikes Prototype cruiser back in April.

They’ve been busy working on and testing the Prototype since then.

Today, Tribute released photos of the latest iteration of their new prototype frame.

Tribute prototype frame fork stemFor now, colors choices are going to be raw or black.

Tribute protype bottom bracketI’m digging this bottom bracket and chain stay junction.

Tribute prototype headtubeHead tube drilled for a Gyro.

Tribute prototype brake staysRemovable brake mounts.

Tribute prototype seat tubeClean welds.

Tribute prototype frames stemsLooks pretty dialed.

Did I mention that the front triangle is entirely Reynolds tubing?

No?

It is.

Nice.

The specs:

  • 74 degree head tube
  • 71 seat tube angle
  • 21.98″ top tube
  • 13″ bottom bracket
  • 14 mm dropouts
  • Removable brake mounts

The back end is designed to fit 2.25-2.30 tire.

And depending on the gearing you choose, you’re looking at a chain stay length of 14 to 14.125″. ( She’s got a tight rear end.)

I’m pretty stoked on this.

Can’t wait to see the final version.





Just another Moody Monday

25 01 2016

Joseph Moody’s a rad dude with a great attitude.

That being said, he’s had a tough go with medical issues over the years.

Now he’s dealing with the treatment and bills that go along with the extremely rare condition he’s just been diagnosed with. (You can read more about it here.)

He could really use your support and has a gofundme page set up to take donations .

Please help him out if you can.





Sneak Peek: 2016 DK Cygnus cruiser

21 01 2016

Ever since we got the first look at DK’s 2016 race cruisers, we’ve been waiting anxiously to get a peek at the more “freestyle-y” Cygnus cruiser.

Well, the wait is over.

The 24″ Cygnus comes in two color ways: Red/Black and Black/Gold.

What’s new this year?

The Cygnus gets an upgrade in the handlebars department.

Translation: bigger bars!

Sporting a healthy 8.25″ rise and 28″ width….these bars reflect how most folks are setting up their new school 24s these days.

Other spec is pretty much the same as previous years with the exception of the new parts brand, Wise, getting the nod for things like rims, brakes, stem, cranks, etc.

Back to the colorways

The Black/Red color way is very cool…a black fade to a dark red (You might call it “burgundy-ish“.)

Copyright DK Bicycles 2015

Copyright DK Bicycles 2015

The Black/Gold colorway is also very cool. If you appreciate that old school vibe you’re really going to dig the gold rims (and bars) on this version.

Copyright DK Bicycles 2015

Copyright DK Bicycles 2015

If these pictures have piqued your interest, go start bugging your DK dealer now. These should be dropping at the tail end of February.