Pardon my French: Cream BMX magazine

12 04 2010

I guess France’s Cream BMX magazine is getting wider distribution these days because I finally saw a copy in a local bookstore.

The magazine is pretty cool with a bit more of an artsy vibe to it than a standard BMX magazine. Great photos and a mix of French and English copy…so you’re not stuck just looking at the pictures…although the article/pictorial on Eva Gabrielle is probably reason enough to check out the latest issue.

Eva Gabrielle adds a little je ne sais quoi to this super rare Skyway TA cruiser.

(Sorry for the small pics…these were the biggest I could find).





How can you not love this vid?

7 04 2010

I smile every time I watch this….really what’s not to like?

Jam packed with 80s freestyle legends, Jon Faure shredding on his cruiser, a weird close-up of Wade Nelson and a quirky soundtrack.

The soundtrack alone takes me right back to my teenage years when I used to read BMX Action and Freestylin’ cover to cover.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Old School BMX Reunion 2010“, posted with vodpod




It’s good to be the boss of Dialled Bikes

5 04 2010

If being the boss of a BMX company isn’t cool enough, Mike Wong over at Dialled Bikes ups the coolness quotient just a bit more by designing a sweet looking custom cruiser for his own personal ride.

I spotted this on Fastlane BMX magazine’s website recently and was pretty stoked on it.  Not only does it have a nice old school Mongoose-style zinc plated finish but there’s a bunch of other things going on with this bike that make it unique and customized to Mike’s tastes.

Why it’s unique

It’s made with 853 Reynolds Cro-Moly, extra thin tubing and a slacker than “normal”  head angle.

Why did he go with a slacker head angle?

According to Mike (in his Fastlane interview) it’s because today’s geometry is getting too twitchy:

…with tracks getting faster, jumps getting steeper and berms getting slicker, I actually think they are taking geometry in the wrong direction.

Therefore, on my frame, I’ve made the head angle one degree slacker than the production cruisers (71 degrees instead of 72), which actually makes it feel more stable over jumps and in turns. I may even go another degree slacker for the next iteration. *

While there are no plans to incorporate this slacker head angle into Dialed Bikes production models, Mike is going to continue to ride/race it to see how it performs. This is pretty big departure from current geometry, so it’s interesting to see Mike stepping up and experimenting with something new.

For more on Dialed Bikes, check out their website. To learn more about Fastlane BMX magazine (which, if you’re into racing, is a must) click here.

*(italics mine)





BMX superheroes at Woodward West

17 03 2010

Looks like Steve Swope is once again gathering the Superfriends (Old school BMX stars) at the Justice League (Woodward West)  to fight the forces of evil (for the Old School BMX Reunion).

The invite list features a “who’s who” of 80s BMX legends. Just check out the list of invitees for an instant Freestylin’ magazine flashback. Should be an awesome weekend…I’m really looking forward to checking out the photos and video from the event.

Former Plywood Hood, Brett Downs was there last year and clicked this sweet turndown on his Model-C to commemorate things.

Turndowns are just timeless, aren’t they?

It’s all going down Friday, April 2 – Sunday, April 4. Check out Kickstand BMX for all the details.

For more pictures from last year’s event, check out b dubbs photostream on flickr.

For the theme music I imagine them playing when they enter the building, click here.





Are you ready for this?

5 03 2010

Time to gas up the car, get a bus ticket or hop on a plane because it’s going to be non-stop BMX in Toronto this weekend. The Toronto International Bicycle Show is here and it includes a flatland contest, an old school indoor BMX race and the Toronto BMX Jam.

But is it really worth going?

Just check out this clip from last year’s Toronto BMX Jam to get an indication of what  goes down at this annual event.

Or maybe check out this video of Drew Bezanson that’s being blowing up the internet for the last day or two. If this is what he does for a video clip…imagine what he’s going to throw down in the contest.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “FU-Cam Episode 1: Drew Bezanson“, posted with vodpod




Live after death: 24s aren’t done yet

2 03 2010

“The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Mark Twain


Despite showing  love for the cruiser in recent issues, BMX Plus! seems to have now sounded the death knell for the cruiser in their April 2010 issue in an article called Cruising into Oblivion: The Death of the 24.

It’s  actually kind of amusing however when you take a look at this sensationalist article in relation to the rest of the magazine. For instance, Redline has again seen fit to place a two-page ad for a cruiser in the magazine. And this time it is their top-of-the-line Flight Pro 24!  I’m going to go out on a limb and say there must be some kind of market for 24s to justify that kind of advertising.

And in their mailbag section, a reader writes in about racing Cruiser for two years, “…One thing led to another, and now I race a 24-inch Haro…”.

Are big ads and actual reader feedback not clear enough signs for Plus! that cruisers are alive and well?

Guys like Danny Caluag, Barry Nobles and George Goodall (who is  featured prominently in the Redline ad) are also keeping excitement alive in the National race scene.

And completely ignored by the article is the explosion in popularity of modern trails/park 24s…which I don’t have to convince you of, if you’re a regular visitor to this site.

The death of the 24?

Hardly.

We’re just getting started.





Old school indoor BMX racing in Toronto

22 02 2010

If you were a BMX kid in the 80s you probably remember the old school style of indoor racing with concrete floors, wooden jumps and smooth stadium tires.

Nowadays if you’re lucky enough to have an indoor track to race at, you’re racing in dirt. Vintage BMX actually featured a thread on this topic recently and it seems that a lot of people remember the old school races and are hankering for them again. It certainly brought back memories for me…my first race was an old school indoor race like that.

But those days are long gone, right?

Maybe not!

Turns out Brent Smith, the guy behind the super fun Orangeville race series, does an annual race at the Toronto International Bicycle show. This year the organizers asked if he could do it again but this time without dirt. So Brent reached into his bag of tricks and decided to go way back and kick it old school!  Flat turns, concrete floors and wooden jumps…this is going to be a total blast from the past. Clips aren’t going to help you here!

If you’re within driving distance of Toronto (March 5-7) you should make a point of making it out anyway ..not only is there wall-to-wall bicycle vendors but there’s a freestyle contest and flatland contest going on as well.

For more details on the race, check out the Facebook group, Toronto Bike Show MTB and BMX race and jump comps.


Legends Tinker Juarez and Jeff Kosmala tearing up an indoor track back in the day.





School is always in session

28 01 2010

Old school.     New school.

Do those distinctions even matter for a guy like Stu Thomsen..still kicking ass after all these years?

Nope.

For Stompin’ Stu, school is always in session.

This shot says it all: catching air and going fast.

Some things never change.





Showing some skin in Utah

17 01 2010

I’ve asked the question before…and I’ll probably ask it again…is it time to show some skin again?

The skinwall tire, once a staple in the BMX world has all but disappeared. This depresses me a bit because I think skinwalls really make a bike’s wheels “pop.”

That’s probably why I was so pleasantly surprised (and stoked) to see the Fit CR24 that Glenn from Utah has souped up. It’s a new school ride with some old school flava!

The shiny chrome and the skinwalls take me back to the Chrome Hutch Pro Racer I had as a kid. But it’s every bit the modern day 24…from the current geometry, to the taller handlebars to the translucent plastic pedals…this is one sweet ride.

It turns out everyone can get a piece of this retro-cool skinwall magic. Glen tells me that the tires are actually 1.95 Kenda K-rads that SE Bikes had made for their retro cruisers. You can order them through coloredtuffs.com.  I  linked to that page in my earlier skinwall post..back then I was under the impression that they were just generic knock-offs…now that I know that they’re K-rads…well, now I’m pretty tempted.

True, they’re a bit pricey but to finally get a good skinwall tire again…it might just be worth it.





Vert: the final frontier for cruisers?

8 01 2010

Cruisers have proven themselves at the trails, track, park and the street. They’ve also shown that they are more than capable flatland machines.

That’s why I find it a bit surprising that we haven’t seen more cruisers on vert.  Pictures and web edits are few and far between.

But I’ve done some digging…and this is what I came up with.

If you’re old school, you probably remember this BMX Action magazine cover, featuring R.L. Osborn and Eddie Fiola busting a couple of flatties on the T.O.L. ramp on some 24″ test bikes.

Then there was this picture of Joe Rich tearing up the Terrible One ramp on a Volume Sledgehammer. (I love this picture…awesome style.)

More recently, Ollie Sandles posted the following web edit of Peter Beer shredding a concrete bowl on his cruiser.

Will we see more photos and footage of cruisers on vert? I think it’s just a matter of time.