When you’re putting together a Friday blog post, it’s important to check off all the boxes.
So much winning.
Word on the street is that Kuwahara is jumping on the retro trend and introducing a 24″ Retro BMX cruiser later this year.
So much chrome-y goodness.
Someone better alert Michael Strahan that this bike is coming on the market!
I kinda freaked out when I got my first look at the 2017 SE Floval Flyer last summer.
It was so retro-cool, chock full of throwback parts and gold ano…it got me right in the feels.
Now, SE’s back with a promo video for it that evokes the scratchy VHS vibe of old BMX videos.
It’s pulling at my heart strings all over again.
Dang you SE and your clever marketing!
Rebel BMX, the BMX track that banned clips and put in a flat turn, has launched a race series!
The Cajun Cup race series consists of 5 races and a final “Bicycle Motocross Championship” on June 11.
The winner of the series receives a custom jersey and number plate.
Only one winner per class…if you’re ain’t first, you’re last!
I’m digging the vibe of this track/series!
In a move befitting its name, Rebel BMX in West Monroe, LA, has decided to ban clips for all riders —including Pros–effective January 1, 2017.
And to add a little more “back in the day” vibe to the above announcement, the track has also added in a flat last turn.
A bold move indeed.
What’s even more interesting is that USA BMX pulled an already scheduled Gold Cup race and any State Championship Races from the track as result of the clip ban.
Rebel BMX is now only allowed to run single-point races.
But Rebel BMX is sticking to their guns…I mean, flat pedals.
According to Brad Hallin of USA BMX:
We could not, however, allow that for higher-level events, which might draw unsuspecting out-of-towners.
Seems a bit of a heavy-handed decision by USA BMX in my view.
It’s a known fact that many tracks require full-face helmets…even though USA BMX allows — according to the rule book — open-face helmets.
What happens to an out-of-towner that shows up with a Pro-Tec in tow in that case? That would be a much bigger inconvenience.
And I highly doubt riders are driving/travelling to the race in their SPD shoes.
Furthermore, an enterprising vendor would likely have a table full of inexpensive PC pedals for just this type of eventuality.
Heck, they should hype a flat pedal-only Gold Cup and see what happens!
You might actually draw back some people back to the race scene.
The Dyno Compe was my first freestyle bike so I’ve also had sentimental feelings for Dynos.
To me, they were there the slightly cooler cousin to the more “mainstream” GT Pro Performer…which, as you know, has been re-imagined for the modern age as the GT Performer Pro 26″.
The kid in me wished that GT would’ve brought back a souped up (and scaled up) version of my old fav but to this point…I’ve been out of luck.
But now it appears my luck is changing.
While GT snoozed, Gary Turner (the OG G.T.) cruised….right into my heart with a 26″ Dyno-inspired 26er called the 26D Legend Cruiser!
Sporting the iconic (in my mind anyway) frame platform, this is the cruiser to rep if you got the soft spot for Dynos like I do.
It’s American made and full cro-mo, just like nature intended.
As far as specs go, there’s some customization available but the standard issue is as follows:
Custom bits:
You can go OG with an American BB or modern with mid BB. You also have the choice of 990-style or V-brake mounts.
I think the only bummer in this situation is that Gary didn’t go with the classic Dyno fork with the bend in it. The 26D Legend fork is cool in an old-school Bottema fork way, but it’s not the Dyno fork I remember.
Still, I think the frame/fork combo is pretty cool.
Word on the street is that a 24″ version is also on the way…I’m really looking forward to that!
Ready to relive the glory days of “The Coca Cola Cowboy” Toby Henderson?
If so, you’re in luck.
Hutch dropped the news this past weekend that their new 26″ cruiser frame kit, the XL26, is now available in limited quantities on the HutchBMX.com website.
All chrome-plated (and all full cro-mo) the frame features the following specs:
The frame is also paired with just about every other Hutch part you need to build it up (sans wheels).
We’re talking a heckuva lot of bling-y chrome…as you can see by the picture below:
And that looptail…swoon.
Don’t sleep on this though…they only made 25 kits available, so they’re probably going to go quick.
The SE STR-29 turned our heads from the very first time we spotted it.
A classic 20″ frame, reimagined as a 29″ complete….it was one cool looking bike…and as Stompin’ Stu (the ST in STR) demonstrated, a more-than-capable wheelie machine.
However, as cool as it looks out of the box, it’s always interesting to see how someone customizes their bike to suit their tastes.
Yet we just haven’t seen much of that to this point with the STR-29. Actually of all the ones I’ve seen, they’ve been bone-stock.
But that all changed this week.
SE shared a picture in their social media feeds of Clyde Akers STR-29…and he definitely souped it up.
With fresh paint, a liberal sprinkling of gold ano and larger tire* in the front…you definitely have a fresh take on the original factory-version STR-29.
*shucks, it’s not a tanwall
(All pics: SE Bikes)
Beyond all the fancy bikes, accessories and industry news at Interbike, one of the best parts of the whole shindig is who you run into over the course of the show.
This year had some noteworthy interactions for sure.
Upon entering the conference floor, I paused at the Park Tool booth and heard a distinctive voice that had been ingrained in my subconscious from repeated viewings of BMX Plus! magazine’s video, Rad TV. It was none other than BMX photographer extraordinaire, John Ker.
I turned around and spotted him immediately…and the 14-year old version of myself suddenly popped into my head and started going crazy…I had to go talk to him.
I’m pretty sure I nerded out the whole conversation but he was extremely gracious and I was glad I got to meet the man behind so many iconic bmx images.
This boded well for the rest of the show.
Making my way through the show I came upon the SE booth.
And again, the 14-version of myself had returned to take over my brain. In the booth alongside SE’s Todd Lyons, were 80s mega-stars: Mike Buff and Stu Thomsen.
Holy Cow.
They were signing baseball card-style cards of themselves for anybody that would stop by.
I have to say I’m pretty stoked with this autographed card.
Then a little while later, with the Interbike floorplan map in my face, struggling to find out which way to go next, I ran into Joseph Gallacher.
Joseph is the impresario behind Mill Town Cycle (and heavily involved with the Milton BMX track back home) so it was cool to run into him and get a few minutes to chat…especially since both of us were unaware that we would both be in town for the event.
The next person I ran into was Adam Hendershot.
Adam’s a good friend that has recently moved out west, got himself married and started to race cruiser (he’s been busy).
He mentioned that he would be in town but I wasn’t expecting to see him until the next day.
Turns out he got in early and hit the show right away. Of course, we end up bumping into each other…again while I was trying to figure out the Interbike floorplan.
We had good chat and then he was off to the SE booth.
(That’s him in the middle…note the super-stylish Chicken & Waffles Vans shoes.)
If you’ve been following Todd Lyon’s social media feeds, you’re probably already familiar with Adam’s back.
He reps SE and BMX hard!
Then toward the end of the show, I was checking my phone when I someone that I was hoping to run into, walking up to me…Travis Engel of Commonground Bikes.
I had seen that he was at the Outdoor Demo, but I wasn’t sure if he would be at the show.
He was (obviously).
If you saw the Something new, something dusty post, you can see the type of bike that Travis was already promoting well before S&M created their prototype.
We had a good chat and I’m stoked that we got a chance to meet up.
All in all, a good show in term of random meetups and pleasant surprises.
Fist bumps & high fives to y’all.
*As you may have noticed, not all of these photos were taken at Interbike…I think I got too caught up in the conversations to remember to snap pictures of everyone.
We’ve talked about collabs, Retros and 26″ Cruisers before…but at this year’s Interbike they really came to the fore.
In some cases, certain bikes had a more than one of these things going on at the same time.
Subrosa got on the “collab cab” earlier this year with their collaboration with Slayer.
They had a range of sizes on display in their booth, including a 26″ cruiser. Cool color way, graphics…the whole bit.
Apparently the Slayer-emblazoned seat is also going to be available as an aftermarket item too…kinda stoked on that.
They also had their own 26″ Subrosa Malum on display.
Haro continued their push into the retro market with with a number of updated classics (all 20s) from the 80s “golden era” of freestyle. Unfortunately, no cruisers…with the exception of the 24″ Downtown we featured in yesterday’s post.
SE, of course, is no stranger to the retro or collaboration game.
The STR-29 brings back the old school era Stu Thomsen STR frame, re-imagined as comfortable riding 29er.
Likewise, SE ups the collaboration game with another 29er in the form of the Public Enemy Big Ripper.
And the 26″ We The People Avenger…it’s so retro it has a threaded headset!
GT is also dipping their toes into these trends.
GT, with the help of industry icon Ben Ward, brought back the classic Pro Performer…this time as a 26″.
As we discussed in the previous post on the 26″ Pro Performer, this bad boy is tricked out with the iconic Power Series cranks, Mohawk hubs and other goodies.
The rep that I talked to was — as he should be — pretty stoked on it.
In our conversation, he also dropped a line that seems to perfectly encapsulate what seems to be pushing this drive back to the classics:
We’re pulling on the heartstrings to open the purse strings
No doubt about it.
It looks like all these trends have staying power.
We’ve been talking about 26″ cruisers moment in the sun for years now.
More and more companies are also seeing the market respond to the retro-oriented bikes and accessories.
And the collaboration game…that’s just adding a whole other layer to things.
With all these trends starting to intersect at this year’s show, it will be interesting to see how things continue to evolve in the year ahead.
cruiser revolution 
