Custom S&M 38 Special cruisers available

4 04 2009

Turns out that you can have a custom-made S&M frame,  built to your specifications…without having to sweet talk Chris Moeller or be a member of the S&M factory team. All you have to do is ask.  You may have to sweet talk Jason Ball (at S&M) though…which is fine since he’s a rider himself, scoring a part in the BMX  Inferno video years back. ESPN recently sat down with Jason to get the scoop on what S&M offers in the way of custom frames:

Top tube lengths, bottom bracket height, head tube angles, rear end lengths, axle slot size, brake positioning or style. We have made custom forks and handlebars. The pricing depends  on how many different options you chose and the time it takes to build the frame.

That’s pretty awesome. If you’re pretty particular about bikes or need an extra long top tube or shorter rear end length this could be the ticket. Check out this custom S&M beauty that I found on BMXmuseum:

sm-custom-38-special-241

This 38 Special has a custom 22.5″ top tube! You’ve certainly got some leg room on this puppy.

Makes you wonder if one day you could order a frame, or a complete bike, the same way you order a Dell computer…picking and choosing each element till you get exactly what you want.


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Redline Flight Pro 24: fast out of the box

31 03 2009

I was checking out a BMX racing forum recently and someone asked the question, “What’s the best race cruiser for the money?” There were some strong opinions but the cruiser that seemed to pop up, over and over again, was the Redline Flight Pro 24.  Redline has  a long history in BMX and those years of experience show in this bike.  People seem pretty stoked on how comfortable this bike is to ride and how well it’s spec’d out. A couple of guys had them at the recent Orangeville indoor race series and it looked like they were running them bone stock…and that didn’t seem to slow them down one bit.

redline_flight_pro24

George Goodall‘s seemingly non-stop domination of his cruiser class on the Redline Flight Pro 24 also seems to indicate that this bike is no joke in the speed department.


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Big & tall Sunday 24umph bars

25 03 2009

It’s probably due to growing up near Buffalo, NY that I somehow have  a Buffalo TV station’s  commercial from the ’80s in my head whenever I read something about Sunday’s plus 4 parts. The  commercial featured a variety of Buffalo residents saying with fake glee, “We’re 4 Buffalo!”

Fortunately, the only connection that this cheesy TV commercial and Sunday bikes have in common is the city of Buffalo. Case in point, the new Sunday 24umph bars. Channel 4 in Buffalo has little to recommend it, but these handlebars are definitely worth checking out.

If you’ve been looking for a tall, wide cruiser handlebar (like I have), these could be just the ticket. You’re not going to find many cruiser bars with even a 6.5″ rise, much less  the 7.25″ rise that  these have. Believe me, I’ve been looking! They’re 28″ wide too. Created with the 41-thermal process  made famous by Odyssey they should be as tough as nails. I’d been looking at other handlebars but these are starting to look very appealing now that I know their dimensions…I have to admit I’ve already started to envision the silver ones on my bike…


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24″ news from Ride, Sunday & Odyssey

9 03 2009

I guess you can call this your weekend wrap post.

Ride BMX ran a bike check and mini-interview with Jim C. from Sunday Bikes on Friday. There are some great shots of the Model-C and Jim does a good job of explaining the differences between riding a 20″ and a 24″ bike in the interview.  I’m pretty stoked to see that the 24umph bars featured in the bike check were 28″ wide…I’m looking for a pair of wide cruiser bars, so if they’re in the 6.5″ height range…well, let’s just say my interest is piqued.

In other Sunday Bikes news, the new trailer for Up, Up and Away is out…with the Model-C making an appearance in the end. Nice.  Karl Poynter is also leaving the Sunday team but not before getting a few runs on the ol’ cruiser (as you can see in the picture below). Abubaca!

karl_abubaca-500x334

Odyssey also has some pics floating around the interweb of the new 24″ hazard lite rims and 24 inch Aitken tire samples.

And that’s about it for today. Till next time…play safe and keep the rubber side down.


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Felt jumps into 24″ trails scene

27 02 2009

Add Felt Bikes to the growing list of bike companies to put out a 24″ bike for trails, street and park riding.  The Felt Brink is a good addition to their lineup as it provides an alternative to their pure-race Sector 24.

felt-brink-241

Unfortunately, despite how stoked I am to see another bike company jump onto the new school 24″ bandwagon I’m little disappointed in how it’s spec’d out. The frame is only main frame cr-mo (top tube and down tube), the bars hi-ten and the price kinda  high. A bike like the Mirraco 20forty is spec’d a whole lot better for nearly the same price.

Hopefully they’re just testing the waters for ’09 and will step things up next year…otherwise why bother  if you’re not going to put out a full cr-mo frame…it doesn’t seem to make sense to have a steel backend for trails, street and park riding…..

Bonus info: if you write into Felt with a question about their product line you have a very good chance of getting a response from Brian Foster’s older brother, Alan. Remember him? One half of Schwinn/Airwalk’s one-two race punch in the 90s.

alan-foster-jumping


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Every day is like Sunday

22 02 2009

Sunday Bikes has set up a Flickr group…which isn’t that exciting by itself…except in it you’ll find some new photos of the about to be released Model-C.

Like this good shot of the Model-C as Jim C. gets ready for a session. Love the gold components.

jim-model-c

Or this one…Jim C. again with a nice toboggan transfer out of a mini.

tbog-transfer-out-of-mini

Fingers crossed that we’ll see more photos of the Model-C being put through its paces.


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24″ BMX on a budget

29 01 2009

I was in my local shop the other day and saw that they were clearing out ’08 DK General Lee 24s  for $200 and change. Not a bad deal when you think about it…for less than the price of a department store bike you can get a pretty decent entry-level trails cruiser…heck, my brother has a $200 seatpost on his mountain bike….this bike is steal when you consider what you’re getting.

dk-general-lee-24-orange-2008

If you’re thinking about making the move to a 24″, on a budget or just looking to invoke the spirit of those fun-loving Duke boys; tracking down one of these bad boys (while they’re still around) might be in your best interests.

And how can I write something about the General Lee without including this?


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Life moves pretty fast…

27 01 2009

…If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Even though I check out the Sunday! Bikes site on a semi-regular basis, this little post slipped by without me noticing till a couple of days ago.

cruiser revolution gets a mention on Sunday! site (Jan. 7th)

cruiser revolution gets a mention on Sunday! site (Jan. 7th)

Cruiser revolution gets a nice little plug at the bottom of the post.  (Thanks Jim!) What’s even better is that it gives me an excuse to run a pic of Jim Bauer putting the Model C through its paces at the DVS warehouse.

bauer-table-at-dvs

Nice flattie! I’m looking forward to seeing more pics like this.

Till next time America…


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An army of giants take over the trails

21 01 2009

McGoo, an industry insider from way back in the day, has seen it all..from Martin Aparijo doing infinity rolls to street riders wearing girl jeans to everything in between….his ascerbic answers to dumb reader mail questions were one of the highlights of Ride magazine in its early days. McGoo is now the driving force over at SNAFU and has a pretty good take on things on the industry. I check out the SNAFU blog from time to time and noticed that they have  a little something on the new bike in their “test stable”: the Mirraco Icon 20Forty.

mirraco-icon-20forty

They’ve spec’d it out with all sorts of goodies like the new OLA sprocket and prototype Splitter stem in bronze ano. Squint and you’ll see them in the picture above.

But perhaps the most interesting thing about the post is what he leaves till the end:

Mirraco isn’t the only progressive BMX company to offer a 24-inch trail/street bike for older and taller riders: Fit Bike Co., Subrosa and Haro also have two-fours in their quiver, and according to insiders at all these companies, they can’t keep ’em in stock. Does this mean an army of giants might take over the trails in 2009? Who knows. All we know for sure is this: 24-inch BMX bikes are fun to ride, and that’s good enough for us.

The italics are mine but I can’t help but share the sentiment… 2009 is going to be a big year for cruisers…there are just so many good options available now.  Older, taller riders (as well as everyone else) are starting to see how much fun they are to ride and are jumping on the bandwagon. Is an army of giants going to take over the trails in 2009? There very well might be…that is, when they are not taking over the streets, racetracks and skateparks.


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Wheel in the sky keeps on turning

9 01 2009

“Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin

I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow…”

-Journey

Flying is hassle enough these days and the airlines aren’t doing much to make it easier…especially when it comes to getting your bike around…United Airlines is charging $175 each way to take your bike on the plane. If you have golf clubs, skis, or any other number of cumbersome sports stuff around apparently you are welcomed aboard with open arms and a high five (well…at least no fee).

I remember back in the Go magazine days, Chris Moeller wrote something that said  if S&M ever made a flight bag he would label it S&M Camping Equipment to avoid paying a fee.  DK seems to have ran with that idea and come out with the DK Golf Bag.

dkgolfbag2

DK claims the DK Golf 4130 Flight Series (great name) will hold up to a 24″ cruiser.

Over on Vintage BMX, there’s an ongoing discussion on traveling with your bike, focusing mostly on the merits of the Ogio Monster Bag.  Lots of people on the thread seem to be singing its praises. I guess the proof is in the pudding when you see pics posted like this:

agio clayborn cruiser to go

That’s a Clayborn Pro Cruiser in there, ready for takeoff.

The thread also covers other options like hockey bags and carrying the wheels separate too. Other important tips are to use the skycaps (remembering to tip well) and dressing up a bit when you travel…this last piece of advice is mentioned repeatedly, so apparently it does help.

Dude, I can’t believe I just used Journey lyrics in this blog.


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