After a successful Pro racing career in the 80s, Eric Rupe “retired” due to the dissatisfaction he felt with his long-time sponsor, Mongoose and what they were offering him to renew his contract.
But apparently “retirement” wouldn’t take. Eleven months after officially retiring he was back on the national scene competing. And he hasn’t stopped since.
Currently terrorizing the older cruiser class ranks, Rupe can always be counted on to be a tough competitor every time he hits the track. With more than 30 years experience under his belt, you can bet he’s got more moves than anybody else out there.
Respect to “Big Daddy” Eric Rupe…still in the mix long after all these years.
Lots of great stuff in here, spanning Mongoose’s colorful 40-year history, everything from the origins of the Motomag, their early race team, the scooter phenomenon and McGoo’s tenure as the team manager/marketing manager (and the reasons behind his abrupt departure). I was especially stoked to see a segment on Jeff Kosmala and his signature KOS Kruiser–which Mongoose re-issued last year–and their collective impact on the cruiser class of that era.
Another great documentary from Mark Eaton. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Bonus info: Have you seen Mark Eaton’s section in Wheelies? It’s a perfect mix of flat and street. I must have watched that section a thousand times when that video was released. Check it out here.
There’s a thread going on right now over on Vintage BMX discussing the pros and cons on installing rear fenders on race cruisers.
Yes my friends….fenders.
Turns out GHP racer Todd Parry is running a carbon fiber (?!) fender on his race cruiser to avoid “being sucked in between the tire and the seat”.
And while the different sanctioning bodies tend to frown on these kind of things, it appears that track operators are letting the use of fenders slide.
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.
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.
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!
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.
I went to a Supercross event a few years back and was impressed with how they started “the show”.
To kick things off they had:
Pyro
A light show
Music to get the crowd hyped.
It got me wondering why things like that hadn’t been incorporated into some of the bigger Nationals. Surely the ABA Grand Nationals, billed as the “greatest race on earth”, warrants this kind of treatment.
But year after year, it sames like just a slight variation of what’s gone on before. To be sure, the Grands is still a big deal and exciting to watch–if you’re into racing–but it lacks a certain “wow” factor.
Now compare clips of the Grands (or any other major race lately) to this clip of a recent race in St. Etienne, France.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
This race has:
Pyro
A light show
Music to get the crowd hyped.
What else?
Stands packed with spectators.
This my friends, is what a National should look like.
(…and if we could add the Monster Energy girls into the mix…well, that couldn’t hurt either.)
If you caught the footage from the ABA Grandnationals this past weekend, you no doubt caught AA Pro Denzel Stein‘s scary crash caused by his carbon forks snapping.
Truth be told, I’ve never really been a fan of carbon forks and things like this are not making me any more comfortable.
Die-hard carbon fork fans claim that carbon is stronger than chromoly but you never seem to see this level of catastrophic failure with a steel fork.
And the lightness argument? The gap between a good-quality chromoly race fork and a carbon fork is so small these days it hardly seems worth it from a safety and price perspective (carbon forks are generally the more expensive than other types of forks).
Word on the street is that some how an insert/sleeve to strengthen the steer tube was not installed. That’s all well and good but if this kind of thing gets overlooked on a top pro’s bike…how many average joes are riding similar setups (without the insert/sleeve)? Seriously, it’s not worth the risk.
Ironically up until this year, Denzel was often seen running chromoly S&M forks on his factory Redline whip.
Did he make the switch due to pressure from his sponsor? Or maybe to cash in on co-sponsorship money? I wonder if he’s rethinking his decision and whether it was worth it.
But you know what else BMX has lost? The BMX moustache.
That’s right. There was a time when race bikes were chromoly and BMX racers rocked ‘staches.
Back in the day, the legend Perry “PK Ripper” Kramer, intimidated his competition and broke the hearts the hearts of trophy girls everywhere with his moustachioed swagger.
Later, Hollywood Mike Miranda would bring his All-American moustache to the silver screen with memorable scenes in the movie Rad (“Hollywood Mike Miranda makes his second dramatic exit of the day”)
Thankfully, the Movember fundraiser is in full swing and guys everywhere are growing moustaches to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. I’ve joined the cause and I’m donating my upper lip to the cause for the 30 days.
My moustache has already caused a few sideways glances at work, and some outright laughter when I’ve gone riding at the trails but it’s all for a good cause, to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. Which as many of you know, affected one of the icons of our sport, Stu Thomsen, in recent years.
If you’d like to support me in raising funds for this great cause (and bring a little moustachioed swagger back to BMX) you can donate to my campaign via this link: http://mobro.co/EdVandermolen.
Any support would be greatly appreciated. (Be sure to check out the Ron Burgundy and Tom Selleck tomfoolery on my Movember page as well.)
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.
cruiser revolution 
