Jim C has been putting in some serious riding time in on his Sunday Wave-C which has resulted in some seriously rad pictures showing up on the interweb lately.
Today, Jim scored some coverage on Defgrip with this Rick Crossman photo of a tight bank to wallride in Austin.
This is in addition to some cool shots that he posted over the weekend (that you can check out on the Cruiser Revolution Facebook page).
So bad ass.
Follow Jim C. on Instagram for more cool photos of him shredding his Wave-C.
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.
For many of us this means having a beer or two with some good friends.
But what happens when you reach for a cold one and realize that you can’t find the bottle opener? (And you’re drinking the good stuff without the twist-off caps..)
Jon is 47-year old rider with great dirt jumping skills that only got into the BMX in his late 30s.
In this video, he not only provides some great dirt jumping tips, he even talks about why he prefers a 24″ bike over hard tail MTBs and 20″ BMX bikes. Definitely worth watching.
Sure the weather outside is frightful in many places right now but if you’re fortunate enough to have a good indoor park nearby count your lucky stars.
Joyride 150 is my home away from home during the winter months and it is a godsend. With jumps, a skatepark area, pumptracks and cross-country stuff there’s a little something for everyone.
Heading out there for a weekly session is how I keep myself sane over the winter. While I miss hitting the local trails, I do kinda look forward to the laidback weekend sessions that happen during the colder months at Joyride.
As an added bonus, Drew Bezanson is a regular there. As you might gather from the video below, that keeps things pretty interesting as well.
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).
I guess with the awesome fall season we had, I shouldn’t complain.
Heck, I was still able to squeeze in one last trails session last Saturday (just days before December!) But the weather has finally turned and gotten colder. It looks like winter’s on its way and the trails are going to have to wait till spring.
Sure, sessions at indoor bike/skateparks will tide us folks in colder climes over till the warm weather hits….but there’s nothing quite like a fun, mellow session with your bros at some local trails, is there?
I dunno. Maybe I’m just starting to feel the effects of withdrawal or Seasonal Effective Disorder.
All I know is this picture of Buddy (that I came across on the ride indust site) made me think about all the fun times at the trails this past year.
Which is a bit of shame really because for around $400 (US) you get a full cro-mo frame, fork and handlebar along with a pretty respectable parts package on the new Free Agent Ratio 24.
Geometry
In terms of geometry, Free Agent has pretty much stuck with what they used in last year’s Devil 24.
That being:
74 degree head angle
72 degree seat angle
21.5″ top tube
15.2″ chainstay
All in all, not too far out from what you would expect on a bike like this (although they could’ve gone a little shorter on the chainstay).
What they could’ve done better
Given that most companies have adopted the new “standard” of a higher bottom bracket height, it’s a bit surprising that Free Agent stuck with the more race-oriented 12″ bottom bracket height for this year’s model.
Furthermore, the stock handlebar is a sub-6inch offering. While I give them points for spec’ing it in full cro-mo, the trend is decidedly taller these days.
Who might be best suited to this bike
Given the more traditional, race-style geometry (and the full cro-mo construction) this might be a great trails bike for the racer who wants to have a strong bike he can thrash on while keeping his race machine in good shape for the track. The ride should be very similar to a race cruiser so switching back and forth would be a cinch.
Or, if you’re a rider that just prefers more traditional 24″ geometry, this bike is a great option for hitting the trails or skatepark. A well-spec’ed full cro-mo bike at this price point is hard to beat.