Does the T/A stand for totally awesome?

13 01 2012

If you were on the Cruiser Revolution Facebook page over the Christmas holidays, you’re already in the loop on this.

If you weren’t, let me give you the scoop.

Back in 1982, Skyway came out with the  T/A frame. T/A stood for “Totally Aerodynamic” and featured teardrop-shaped tubing that made it an instant classic.

It was widely available as a 20″ and Skyway was said to have produced thousands over the years that it was available.

However, despite the 20’s popularity, Skyway decided to only produce a 24″ version in limited quantities. You pretty much had to be a factory rider like Richie “The Avalanche” Anderson to get a hold of one of these puppies.

This kind of exclusivity has made them a much sought-after item for collectors. You either had to be extremely lucky or have deep pockets to get a hold of one of the 24″ Skyway T/As.  (Being as hot as Eva Gabrielle didn’t hurt either.)

But now PlanetBMX and Skyway are working together to bring a 24″ Skyway to the masses.  It’s going to stay true to the original classic design but have a few modern elements thrown into the mix.

Check out the specs:

  • 22″ top tube
  • Euro BB
  • 1-1/8″ threadless headtube
  • V-brake mounts
  • Headtube angle- 73.5 degrees
  • Seat Tube angle- 73 degrees
  • Chainstay length- 15.4″ to 16.75″
  • BB Height- 12.3″

I just love the look of these frames…especially the chrome ones. Throw on some black Tuffs and some skinwall tires and you’ve got a serious looking machine on your hands.


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Categories : New products, New School, Old School, Racing, street, Trails, Trails/Jumping

Tested: The Park Pizza Tool

10 01 2012

Park Tool products have a strong reputation for quality.

When you’re using a tool from Park you know you can rely on it.

I like using them because it appeals to the bike geek in me to be using the same tools that bike mechanics use.

That’s why I was so stoked to get the Park Tool PZT-2…their Pizza Tool!…for Christmas from my good friend Lynn.

Featuring a large diameter stainless steel cutting wheel and a large handle for easy grip, this thing cuts through pizza like nobody’s business!

I tried it recently on a Delissio Hawaiian Pizza and it worked like a charm. If you’re into bikes and you like pizza, I highly recommend the Park Pizza Tool.


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Categories : goofiness, New products, New School

Top ten of 2011

31 12 2011

Wow, it seems like 2011 flew by.

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.

7. Low-rise traditional handlebars for cruisers dying off.  The tall handlebar trend is firmly established in the freestyle end of 24″ bmx but it looks like it starting to take hold in racing too. MattyJo Shelley (of BMXActionOnline) tried it out on his race bike in a special guest post and he found taller bars had advantages for racing too.

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!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

5. DK introduced a line of bikes in Wal-Mart, including a 24″ version of the General Lee. Is this good or bad for BMX? The jury is still out.

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.

Happy New Year!


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Categories : Flatland, Freestyle, goofiness, New products, New School, Old School, Racing, shenanigans, Skatepark, street, Tomfoolery, Trails, Trails/Jumping

Free Agent reveals the Ratio 24

6 12 2011

As I’ve said before, Free Agent doesn’t get a lot of hype for its freestyle/trails-oriented 24inchers.

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.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, Skatepark, Trails, Trails/Jumping

3 years and counting…still going strong

22 11 2011

Can you believe it?

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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Categories : Flatland, goofiness, New products, New School, Old School, Racing, Skatepark, street, Trails, Trails/Jumping

New InDust Cuatro 24 looks interesting

21 11 2011

Just spotted this in a Ridemonkey thread tonight….CMC‘s new InDust Cuatro 24 prototype build.

Made by Stout Bikes in Texas, and billed as “a 24 inch BMX frame with aggressive geometry built for the aggressive rider”, this looks like one serious shredding machine.

Frame specs (according to the Ridemonkey thread, may not be final):

  • 22 3/8″ top tube
  • 14 3/8″ chain stay (slammed)
  • 13″ (approx.) bottom bracket
  • 74-74.5 degree head angle (not confirmed)
  • 4130 chromoly

Not sure what the plans are for a production run of these but I’m definitely interested in hearing more about this frame.

If you want to find out more about the InDust Cuarto, check out the InDust site or the related Ridemonkey thread.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Skatepark, street, Trails, Trails/Jumping

Tested: Immortis Bucket Bars

8 11 2011

I received a pair of Immortis Bike Company’s 4-piece Bucket Bars a while back and for a variety of reasons wasn’t able to ride them right away.

When I finally got them on my bike to give them a test drive, I was pretty stoked. These are some cool looking handlebars!  From the distinctive 4-piece design to the heavy metal looking font on the cross-bar sticker, they have a look all their own.

Immortis Bucket Bars have a distinctive 4-piece design

In fact, right after installing them I asked my girlfriend, “How do they look?”  She glanced over and simply said, “Metal”. (She may have even flashed the horns at that point…).  They do kind of remind me a Flying V guitar for some reason so maybe she’s on to something.

I took them out for a spin and immediately noticed the flatter sweep to the bars in comparison to other bars I’ve ridden lately.  It took a few minutes to get used to but after a few minutes I didn’t notice it all.

Out on the trails

A couple days later, I took them out for a session at the Don Valley trails. The bars come stock at a cut-to-fit width of 32″. I typically run 28″ wide bars so I cut them down to that width to better compare them with other bars I’ve tried.

The bars felt great.  They had a solid feel and were easy to get used to. It didn’t take long before I was carving turns at high speed and hitting all my favorite lines in the jumps and rollers.

Slicing through a high-speed turn was a cinch with the Bucket Bars

If you’re looking for high-quality, cool looking bars that are made in the USA…these are definitely handlebars that you should check out.

Technical specs:

  • Rise: 6″
  • Backsweep 10 degrees
  • Upsweep: 2.5 degrees
  • Material:  Cro-mo

(4″ and 8″ rise versions are also available.)

For more on information on Immortis and their line of handlebars, check out their website at www.immortisbmx.com.

Special thanks to Michael Moran for shooting the photos.


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Categories : New products, New School, street, Trails, Trails/Jumping

A brake cable for weight weenies

2 11 2011

Just when you thought there’s nothing left on your bike that can be made lighter, Odyssey has gone out and developed a lighter brake cable.

That’s right, kids.

Wait.

Kids don’t ride brakes these days.

Anyway, back to what I was saying.

Odyssey has come out with a brake cable, called the Race Linear Slic Kable,  that’s 37% lighter than other brake cables.

How you ask? They’ve taken their popular Linear Slic Kable housing and replaced the steel linear wire with an aluminum one.

I’m extremely curious to see how durable these cables are.

Will they stand up? It’s hard to say right now…they’re still pretty new. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough, especially when weight-conscious racers get wind of these.

I do like the added trick factor of the color-coated inner wires and ball ends though (something not available on the regular Linear Kables).

For more on the Race Race Linear Slic Kable, check out the Odyssey Daily Word on it.


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Categories : New products, New School, Racing

Is a two-speed BMX bike just too much?

28 10 2011

Pictures have surfaced recently (on BMXmania and Vintage BMX) of Barry Nobles running a 2-speed at the recent Chula Vista SX race.

Granted, this isn’t the first time 2-speeds have been tried.

Back in the 80s, the Browning 2-speed enjoyed some short-lived popularity but was quickly abandoned due to reliability issues.

I’m not sure how I feel about this development. While it’s cool in a whiz-bang, “maybe it will work this time” kinda of way, it doesn’t feel like BMX to me.

Maybe I’m becoming a curmudgeon in my old age.

But isn’t part of the attraction of this sport the simplicity of the bikes? The race community has already adapted clips, if multi-speed bikes are next, are we just a few years from spandex skinsuits and paved tracks?


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Categories : goofiness, New products, New School, Racing

Jim C. talks frame building with ESPN

25 10 2011

ESPN ran a great post on the weekend featuring Jim C. from Sunday Bikes talking about Sunday’s philosophy on frame building and the reasons why they approach it the way that they do.

It’s an in-depth look at how they work with their partners to create frames with innovative features like wave tubing, hollow dropouts with twice the strength of regular dropouts and their famous 41 thermal treatment that helps keep the frame light but yet incredibly strong.

There’s tons more in the article, so be sure to check it out here.

A Sunday post is always a good excuse to run a pic of Jim C. airing out on his 24.  Bonus pic of Jim at the Sunday office.  (Source: ESPN. Sandy Carson pics)


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Skatepark, street, Trails, Trails/Jumping

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