Rapper’s delight

14 12 2010

Lotek shoes threw down a challenge to the BMX World recently to see who could write the best jam about Lotek shoes.

My bro, Glen Vanderheyden, rose to the occasion with a rhyme like no other and took first place in the first ever weekly rap challenge.

Check it:

prepare for attack and protect ya neck

cover each foot with a fresh Lotek
check out these fly kicks, they’re Rich made
lookin sharper than a muthaf**n switch blade
you want em baid, I mean bad, don’t correct me now
if you want em for free, I’ma show you how

all shapes and sizes, we’re lookin for prizes
BMXFU never wearin disguises
one surmises that they can join our clan
coz they say that ‘Lee Dennis is the man!’
understand, that we call the f**n shots
whether at home or at your local f**n spots

straight back from Cali, asleep on the plane
Shawn Swain, radder than Gucci Mane
4/20 vision, he rides with precision
doesn’t want to see his friend, Charlie, go to prison
oh Chuck, what the f**? duck, it’s 5-0
they couldn’t hold em down, had to let him go

GoPro, to capture the bmx rapture
record, download, time to manufacture
a member of the FU filming department
Mr. Hill of the Niagara Escarpment
loves the knobby hobby, does our friend, Bobby
gettin Loco’d at someone’s apartment

Orbell’s garage alters your visage
gettin low with the whole FU entourage
like a barrage, Chris can drop some heavy shit
it’s no mirage, check this Illuminati hit
we Bond like James playin bmx games
Jake, Drew, Dwan, you know our f**n names

hang 5, 1 peg, a 20-inch wheel
stackin clips like your name was Cory Beal
say what I feel, my name’s Glen Van
try and out-rhyme me if you think you can
these FU’s are always lookin for new shoes
i said it, check the edit, they’ve paid their f**n dues

For more on the weekly rap challenge, check Lotek’s blog.

For more crazy Glen rhymes, give him a fist bump the next time you see him at Joyride 150 and say, “Yo, G-Money…”

 





S&M Dirt Bike grows up

11 12 2010

Holy Moeller!

S&M released a picture today (on their Facebook feed) of their new Dirt Bike cruiser.

And I have to say, it’s making me a little giddy…and super anxious to get the (ahem) dirt on the new 24, in terms of specs and geometry.

But along with my excitement, I also have a bunch of questions:

Is this a new and improved version of the Fit CR24 frame (RIP)?

Was the decision to make a 24 influenced by Rockabilly Jay’s Dirt Bike-inspired cruiser?

When, oh when, will this go into  production?





Pumped up Volume Sledgehammer

9 12 2010

It looks like the guys at Volume are taking their popular 26″ Volume Sledgehammer in a new interesting direction.

While promoted as a bike for cruising around, it can still hold it’s own if you want to ride it a bit more aggressively (see  previous posts of Buddy and Joe Rich shredding on  Sledgehammers for proof).

What’s new for 2011

For 2011, Volume shortened the chainstays to 15.75″ and lengthened the top tube to 22″.  From the looks of it, it seems like the new Sledgehammer is now being designed less for “cruising” and more for “serious” riding.

Another thing new for 2011?

A disc brake.

Not sure how I feel about this…seems a little too MTB for a bike like this. But then again, I’m not a huge fan of V-brakes either (which is what the ‘hammer came with in previous years).

And, I can’t believe I’m actually saying this (in this era of low top tubes)…it looks like the top tube/seat tube is too high…sure, it’s fine for just cruising around…but if you really want to ride this puppy…it seems like it would get in the way.

What do you think about the 2011 Sledgehammer?

I’d especially like to hear what you think about the disc brake.





C-ya Fit CR24, you’ll be missed

23 11 2010

Dear Fit CR24,

We had a good run.

Two great years.

In 2009, you caught my eye with your old school chrome frame. (I later found out you sometimes sported a badass black finish too…something that just added to your allure.)

Underneath that old school flair though beat the heart of a feisty new-school cruiser.

You liked it when I played rough with you. Always coming back for more.

As the seasons changed, so did we.

You could tell there were new competitors for my attention.

Not one to back down, in 2010 you hiked your bottom bracket to keep my interest. You knew it was all about the ride and this change made things more interesting and fun. It looked like you and me were going to make things last.

Sure, there were things about you that irritated me.  You constantly “gave me the gears” with your rear cassette, hub issues.

But we made it work.

Buying you a few new things at the bike shop seemed to keep things good between us.

I thought we were going to make 2011 the best year ever.

Then suddenly you were gone.

I looked through the Fit catalog hoping for a sign, a note, anything….just something saying where you had gone.

But there was nothing.

Now all I have are these pictures of you.

Won’t you come back?

Sure, take the year off…find yourself.

But let’s meet up again…say at Interbike next year…and see if we can’t make this work again.





I just love a good tabletop photo

17 11 2010

The classic tabletop never gets old.

At the trails, off a curb or at the skatepark…it’s all good.

Wayne Keller with a cool sequence shot of a skatepark table.

To see the tabletop sequence in action, check out the last few seconds of this vid.

The super-long hang five that starts the vid is pretty impressive too.

To see what else Wayne is getting up to check out his blog, carrot-bag.blogspot.com.





Hard to believe it’s been 2 years already

8 11 2010

Seems like only yesterday that I started this little site about big wheeled BMXs.

Looking back, I’m stoked on how far it’s come.

Not a day goes by that I’m not learning something new or smiling (or laughing out loud) because someone posted a great comment.

You guys make it all worthwhile.

Cheers to you.

Update: A new picture courtesy of the “art department”, Andy D.





Sneak peek: Sunday Wave-C prototype

5 11 2010

Sunday sent over some pics the other day of the new Wave-C frames they’re testing out.

While not a huge departure from the existing Model-C, it does have the wave top tube (that we’ve seen in earlier photos) and hollow dropouts with chain tensioners.

What’s changed/improved

  • a new shaped  chainstay allows you to run the backend shorter than the existing Model-C
  • a 22″ top tube (!)

Have to say, a longer top tube and the ability to run the back end shorter is a pretty big selling point for this frame. Not to mention the extra strength afforded by the wave tubing.

Production colors are probably going to be black and a light blue.

If the  color in these pictures looks familiar to you, you might be a flatlander.  It’s  actually the same one used on the Odyssey Flatware frame (and just being used for the prototype/test frames).





Custom parts make a one-of-a-kind ride

28 10 2010

If you’re on Sunday Bike’s Facebook feed, you may have caught this video of Wayne Keller riding his local skatepark.

What you may not know, besides tearing up the skateparks, Wayne also has a thing for repurposing, remachining and generally customizing his parts for his ride.

Check out his stem.  He carved the top off and engraved “Dork” on it. The cool paint job on both the stem and the sprocket are trick too.

His hubs are also attention-getting…painted in a “can’t miss this” orange.

To keep things fresh, Wayne’s redoing his bike at the moment and ditching the lime green and orange. He’s changing a bunch of his parts to different shades of grey.

Check out Wayne’s blog, carrot-bag.blogspot.com/ for more updates on the constantly evolving look of his Model-C.

Great to see  people  customizing their rides and making them their own.





Specialized steps it up with the P24

27 10 2010

As you may recall from a previous post, where Specialized debuted the new P24 at Sea Otter, Specialized has reentered the BMX world.

And it looks like they’re serious about it this time.

The P24, which we featured a prototype of  earlier, has been out for a little while now and it looks like they’ve done a good job of spec’ing out this complete bike. Its got great geometry, Reynolds cro-mo construction (with a 21.6 top tube) and nice, big 7 1/2″ X 29″  bars. The components also look solid and it’s a fairly light at the 26 pound mark.

Buddy's personal P24 with Cruiser Revolution stickers

How does it ride?

As luck would have it, cruiserrevolution.com reader, Buddy,  recently picked  up a P24 for himself and shared his thoughts on it.

His first impressions?

Manuals like crazy….Went to our trails today,what a blast, like a rocket…

When asked how it compares to other bikes he’s ridden:

It feels better than any of those bikes to me. I think it’s mostly the size and geometry fits me very well, perfect, (I’m 6 feet tall).

Based on the specs (and Buddy’s feedback), I think we may have another contender to consider when shopping for a new complete.





Twin top tube frame debuts in 8 colors

21 10 2010

Back in April, you heard about how the twin top tube was making a comeback.

Well, don’t call it a a comeback any longer, cause it’s now here!

Tribute bikes has put this 24″ frame, a great combination of old school style with modern geometry, into production.

I’m pretty stoked on it.

What I didn’t expect was amount of color choices!   It’s available in: pink, yellow, orange, black, blue, green, white and clear  powder coat options.

If you’re looking for something different from what’s out there…or you’re just missing your old Haro Master or Torker this could be the frame for you.

The specs

  • 21.50″ top tube
  • 74 degree ht
  • 71 degree st
  • 14.25-15.25″ rear
  • 12.25″ bb height
  • 25.4 mm seat tube
  • integrated head tube
  • 14mm drop laser cut dropouts
  • laser cut seat tube/ top tube plate
  • 4130 USA True Temper chromoly tubing
2 brake options
  • 990 mounts with headtube drilled for a gyro
  • V-brakes mounts (not set up for a gyro)

Limited 2010 production run

There are only 20 frames available this year (some are already spoken for) so if this tickles your fancy you may want to get in touch with Josh at Tribute Bikes right away at info@tributebikes.com.

For more on Tribute Bikes check out their web page or their feature on bmxmuseum.com.