With such a rainy spring, it’s a bit of wakeup call to think that the lazy, hazy days of summer are gonna be gone before we know it.
Got to take advantage of it, while we can.
One of the best ways to do that is to hit the road for a couple days to see what trouble…I mean…fun…you can find.
Mix things up a bit.
Whether it’s a new trophy, finding a cool new spot or a having a new story to tell about the wild night after….sometimes you have to see where the road takes you.
Wonder if this will prompt USA BMX or the UCI to make an announcement about this sort of thing…especially if the rumors are true regarding other companies working on their own versions of this.
SE dropped a couple of sneak peek photos of their 2014 Floval Flyer Elite complete bike yesterday that caught our attention.
As you can see, it’s received an eye-catching makeover in the looks department and, according to the teaser info released with the photos, the frame and parts assortment received a few upgrades as well.
The frame now has a new stiffer bi-oval downtube. In terms of components, the Floval Flyer Elite now comes complete with Alienation rims, Promax brakes and levers, and a lightweight Pivotal seat and seatpost to round out the upgrades. These changes are said to have shaved another 1/2 pound off of this already light bike…for a final weight of 22.2 lbs!
Even though there seems to be an almost endless supply of color options these days (for both bikes and components) sometimes you run into a situation where, for whatever reason, your preferred color is not offered as an option by the manufacturer.
What’s a rider to do?
For the enterprising sort, this is their opportunity to customize their ride and get the work done to make their bike something that really stands out from the crowd. Whether it’s rawing out a frame or getting a custom color, this is where a rider’s individuality can really shine.
I’ve come across a couple examples of this lately that really caught my eye.
The first one is Nic Galvan’s custom candy-apple red Sunday Model-C. I spotted this from a distance at Austin’s 9th street trails and thought at first it might be a Trans-Red S&M Dirt Bike. Upon closer inspection, and chatting with Nic, I learned that he had it custom painted. The picture doesn’t do it justice but this bike looked so cool! A headturner for sure!
The second is Jesse Klein’s DK Professional V2 24. (Jesse actually works at DK so it’s kinda cool that he’s still looking for ways to add some “extra cool” to his rides.)
In addition to going for a custom yellow color, Jesse cut some vinyl to make some one-off DK logos, gave it a quick hit with a sandblaster, then some powder coat to essentially “brand” his bicycle (vs. the traditional frame stickers). You can read a bit more about the process in this thread on BMXMuseum. It looks so trick!
Here’s a shot of the complete bike.
Pretty stoked on these rides.
Hope to see more of this kind of customization in the future!
There is definitely some connection between lightning and BMX. You can find lightning bolts on all kinds of BMX imagery. I think that maybe the very bones of BMX, chromoly steel, can only be created by a direct lightning strike.
This connection is especially true of BMX images from the 80s but still seems to noticeable to a certain extent today.
In a similar fashion, BMX is made up of a disproportionate number of brands that start with the letter “S”.
Maybe it’s due to the sport getting it’s start with kids riding Schwinn Sting Rays but it’s a little crazy how long the list is when you start to think about it.
Just off the top of my head, there is:
SE
Skyway
S&M
Standard
Sunday
Stolen
Supercross
Speed
Solid
Staats
Subrosa
Even in my own personal stable, I also see the effects of this trend…I have, over the past couple of years, been on S&M, Sunday, SE, and Standard bikes.
I guess if you’re looking to start a BMX brand some time in the future, stack the odds in your favor with a name that starts with “S”…and maybe throw in some lightning bolts into the logo for good measure.
I was caught by surprise this weekend when I spotted the teaser photos of the yet-to-be released, limited edition, “BLACK GOLD” 24-inch T/A frame, fork and bar combo.
The parts are powder coated in black with a gold sparkle clear coat.
(Which you can see better in this closeup of the fork below.)
The gold sparkle is supposed to give the kit components a cool look in the sun (I guess we’ll have to see more photos to make that call).
Anyway, a pretty interesting departure from a company that counts old-school aficionados as their bread and butter.
I wonder what old-school purists will think about this move by Skyway…heck, I’m still getting my head around the idea of a Skyway T/A frame powder coated black (not to mention, the gold sparkles!).
This winter has been unrelenting in terms of storms, cold temps and all around crappy conditions.
BMXers in the northeast have been hit particularly hard by this nasty weather and are collectively just about ready to say good riddance to old man winter.
Thankfully, this weekend brings two big events that will put a spring in the step of BMXers of just about every stripe in the northeast.
The first is the annual Toronto BMX Jam. The unofficial kickoff to the contest season and an excuse for BMXers to get a bit of a BMX party going on, the Toronto BMX Jam is a contest that gets people’s stoke factor to go off the charts. Set up as part of the Toronto International Bicycle show (kind of like a mini-Interbike), it features the Toronto BMX Jam, a flatland contest, indoor racing (mostly MTB these days) and a jumping competition.
The riding is unbelievable, the crowd is loud and chances are that you’ll run into riding buddies you haven’t seen for ages. So much fun. I’ll be there Saturday and Sunday and if you have the chance I hope you will too…this is one of the most fun BMX events of the year.
Did I mention the riding is unbelievable? Check out this clip from the finals last year.
One of the best ways to do that is to hit the road for a couple days to see what trouble…I mean…fun…you can find.
cruiser revolution 