Talk about inspiring! Sunday Bikes posted an interview today with 45 year-old rider Jon Faure and his experiences with the Model-C. This guy kicks ass! What’s even better is he gets to share his love of riding with his son. If you’re a rider getting on in years, I think you’ll be pretty stoked when you read this.
Friends, a new day has come. Of all the hard-core BMX companies, FBM was the last one I thought would put out a cruiser frame.
I thought they followed the “20 inch till we die” bmx ethos.
Apparently I was wrong.
Maybe building fixies has opened their eyes to the possibilities of big wheeled bikes?
Who knows? I’m just stoked that FBM has built a cruiser!
Check out the specs…this is a big frame!
Head Tube: 72 degrees
Seat Tube: 71 degrees
Top Tube: 23.5″
Chain Stay: 15.5″
BB Height: 12″
According to the FBM site, more 24″ news is on the way…if it’s a complete, I might just lose it.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Maybe I’m in a reflective mood today but I was thinking about We the People and how they’ve been putting out some great 24″ completes over the years.
2007 Unified
Their first 24″ bike (I think)…black with a grey fade paint job. It featured nods to the past, like a National Pro style frame gusset and looptail rear stays but the ride is every bit the modern cruiser. I’m still riding one of these today (albeit with a few mods). Great bike.
2008 Unified
Similar to the 2007 model, WTP steps it up with gold components to give it even more of a classic old school feel. Essentially the same geometry. I really like the look of this bike (but I’m a sucker for gold components).
2009 Avenue
Big departure from the classic black and gold look. The gusset is gone and it drops some weight. Geometry still pretty similar. Some compromises in parts–like steel bars–but still a lot of bike for the money.
2010 Avenue
The bottom bracket gets raised, the bars get taller and the gold components return. WTP joins Sunday, Fit and others with updated geometry aimed at providing a 20″ freestyle feel to a 24″ bike. This model may tempt a few people contemplating buying a Sunday Model-C complete (given that Sunday’s looking at a spring release).
Limited edition models
We the People has also done some limited edition bikes for companies such as Carhartt. These are are really cool…lots of retro-styling combined with new school technology.
Sunday bikes posted some great pictures today of flatlander Dan Sirkin busting out a bunch of flatland moves on his Model-C. Hitchhikers, steamrollers and more…According to Dan:
“Just about anything is possible. It definitely spins a bit slow because of the big wheels but it holds straight lines and wide circles very well.”
Just another example of the versatility of modern-day cruisers. For more 24″ flatland, check out this video.
I’ve been geeking out for the past day or so over all the BMX coverage from interbike. There’s way too much to cover in a single post but suffice it to say there is a lot of stuff to check out (check out Vital BMX or bmxfeed for the full scoop).
Some notables: Sunday debuted their new Model-C complete bike that will be available in the spring. And Odyssey has a bunch of new parts, including some cool-looking red, white and black HGS 24″ spokes to trick out your wheels.
Another interesting thing to come out of interbike…Macneil is switching to 7/8″ (22.2 mm) seat tubes on their bikes. For those of you that started riding after the mid 90s, that means a change back to the size that used to be standard on most BMX bikes. I guess that sort of thing is inevitable with more and more companies going to smaller tubing and so many people running their seats slammed. As someone that still runs a bit of seatpost I’m not sure if I’m all that stoked on this latest development. Of course, Russ at SPRFLS has a lot more to say on this.
Some tricks are timeless. The bikes and location may change but the feeling never does. Jim Bauer with classic style that spans two different eras of BMX. (Check out Bauer’s photostream on flickr for more.)
Fit bikes just released their 2010 catalogue and it looks like the CR24 has been updated for the new year. Available in chrome (pictured) and black it looks like Fit has followed the lead of Sunday bikes and gone with a higher bottom bracket. We the People also went with a higher BB on their 2010 24″ Avenue. (I guess there’s no better vindication of Sunday’s pioneering move to update 24″ bike geometry than to have other big-name companies use it on their own models.)
I’m a bit suprised that the top tube length is now shorter…down to 21.25″. While not a significant difference, a large number of 24″ riders are the big side so making the rider area smaller seems to be a strange move.
Also, would it kill them to put some gold components on the black version? They’ve done it on some of their 20″ models and it really makes the bike look sharp.
I do like the chrome version though. It’s got that sweet, old school 80s vibe to it.
Every once in a while you come across something that makes you grin from ear to ear…this is one of those finds. Surfing the web one day, I came across this sweet custom SE Quadangle cruiser in one of Vintage BMX’s forums. Talk about retro-cool!
The owner, who goes by the handle, “rockabillyjay” describes his modifications as follows:
I added 990 mounts, cable stops, turned the forks into “Standing Gear,” clearanced the bottoms for some big pegs ( I wear a size 13) , made the top tube platform, and of course..a coaster brake tab. I didn’t do the rear frame standers since they always got in my way…and this was a looptail anyway.
To say rockabillyjay did a great job customizing his 24″ Quadangle is such an understatement. I think he may have set the bar for a lot of the new retro-cool builds popping up.
And every time I look at this I get a flashback to that old Freestylin’ cover from the ’80s with Todd Anderson jumping the car full of SE dudes. Awesome!
Check out Oldschoolmags.com for more flashback fodder from the 80s.
No brakes, no pads, no limits. Jim Bauer from Odyssey takes care of business on his Model-C.
Check out the Sunday site for another shot of Bauer–this time tabling out of the ditch.
Maybe riding his cruiser. That’s right…early 90s rider Eben Krackau has been bewitched by the siren call of 24″ wheels (Wow..sorry, that was laying it on a bit thick). Actually, beyond riding his Sunday Model-C, I’m not sure what he’s been up to. I just know that we’ve had a bit of dry spell in terms of good action shots lately, so I’m going to take this opportunity to feature Eben shredding on his 24″. Check out the Sunday site for more on Eben Krackau and his Model-C. Bam!
cruiser revolution 
