Racing | cruiser revolution

BMX track bans clips, puts in flat last turn

10 12 2016

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.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: bmx racing, Flat pedals, Rebel BMX, USA BMX
Categories : Old School, Racing, shenanigans

The Grands were off the chain

29 11 2016

I didn’t catch a lot of The Grands livefeed over the weekend but I did have the dumb luck to tune in at just the right time to see a little bit of BMX history go down.

Here’s the setting: Drew Motley was in the gate in the no-joke 46-50 cruiser main.

He needed a win –and only a win– to take the overall cruiser title.

No pressure, right?

Well, he got it done.

From lane 7, if I remember correctly.

That’s an accomplishment on its own…but what might be more exciting is he did it on a bicycle with no chain!

Drew pulled off the impressive win — and the title — aboard a YESS cruiser kitted out with a belt drive drivetrain. (Just like the one we talked about back in April.)

This is the first time a non-chain bike has taken a BMX title!

Motley is in good company…just check out these former #1s congratulating him. (You know Carnes and Rupe ain’t no slouches.)

Motley’s performance and title certainly add some additional legitimacy to YESS BMX’s innovative concept.

It will be interesting to see if this now prompts other riders (and companies) to jump on the Belt Drive bandwagon.

(Pics: BMX News & USA BMX)

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: Drew Motley, Eric Rupe, Jason Carnes, National Number One Cruiser, Yess BMX, Yess BMX Belt Drive Cruiser
Categories : New products, New School, Racing

Hutch introduces the XL26

7 11 2016

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:

22.2″ top tube
73 degree head tube
71 degree seat tube
17.1″ chain stay
13″ standover height
12″ bottom bracket height.

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.

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Tags: chrome, Coca Cola Cowboy, Hutch, Hutch XL26, Toby Henderson
Categories : New products, Old School, Racing

Grump Double Barrel Cruiser: 2X the fun?

25 10 2016

Maybe I’m showing my age…’cause right after coming across pictures of Grump Racing Cycles new Double Barrel Cruiser on the weekend…I immediately started humming that old “Double your pleasure” Doublemint Gum jingle.

Which is a little sad really, considering how cool this bike is…and how lame those commercials were.

Loving that double-top tube.

Seriously, when is the last time you’ve seen a double-top tube race cruiser?

No word yet on specs or pricing (Grump is based out of Australia so keep that in mind)…but based on these pictures, I have feeling there’s gonna be a lot of folks interested in these.

It’s gonna turn a lot of heads at the race track, that’s for sure!

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Tags: 4130 cro-mo, Double top tube frame, Doublemint gum, Grump Racing Cycles
Categories : New products, New School, Racing

Ice Ice Baby

5 10 2016

Pictures of Ice-Element‘s new cruiser made the rounds on social media earlier this week and it’s easy to see why.

Sporting an almost MTB Dirt Jumper-like appearance and kitted out with hydraulic disc brakes…this bike is a real headturner.

And even though I’m more of traditionalist when it comes to frames, this is setup is — at least to me — so over-the-top techie looking that I think I kind of dig it.

It seems like the sort of bike George Jetson might race on.

What do you think?

(You can check out all the frame specs here.)

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Tags: BMX cruiser with disc brake, Ice Elements, Ice Elements cruiser
Categories : New products, New School, Racing

Meeting up and catching up

30 09 2016

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.

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Tags: Adam Hendershot, John Ker, Mike Buff, Stu Thomsen, Todd Lyons, Travis Engel
Categories : Freestyle, New School, Old School, Racing, shenanigans

Checking in on the 24s

28 09 2016

The 24s may not get the same love as the 20s in the BMX section of Interbike but there was still plenty to check out this year.

Stolen featured the chrome version of their Saint XLT. The geometry has been tweaked/improved this year so an already great bike has gotten even better.

We The People showcased another favorite, the 24″ Atlas. The added “Wow” factor of the candy apple red paint job for 2017 was in full effect. Looking good.

Haro also got in the act with their entry-level Downtown 24. Those look-at-me green tires are hard to miss.

SE showcased the metallic red version of their lineup mainstay, the So Cal Flyer.

Free Agent featured two 24″ cruisers. The entry-level race cruiser, the Ambush 24.

And their more freestyle-y 24″ Ratio.

By the way, I would love to see the Ratio get a bit more of an update –beyond the cosmetic — in the future. (Those bars are looking mighty short for one thing.)

Sadly Redline wasn’t at the show (I was hoping to check out the Asset 24 and the updated PL-26) and GT didn’t feature a 24.

But GT did have something else that was super cool to check out.

Hometown Heroes

12 09 2016

The big USA BMX/BMX Canada show came to town this weekend in the form of the Maple Leaf Nationals, hosted by my home track, Milton BMX.

Weather threatened to derail the show earlier in the day on Saturday (due to some heavy rain) but thanks to some good tarping the night before and a hard-working volunteer crew the weekend went off with only a tiny rain delay.

My good friend Steve Di Monte was also there photographing the proceedings. Steve’s no slouch on the cruiser either, so he’s got a good eye for BMX Action (peep this pic of him breathing down my neck in race a few years back).

A lot of Milton locals were in the mix in the big wheel classes which it made it extra fun for the crowd.

So for your viewing pleasure I thought I would share some of the cruiser action that Steve captured from the weekend.

First up 41-45 cruiser.

Hometown hero Mike Galivan leading into the first turn. Mike and Race Inc.’s Dan Hurley had some good races this weekend which made this a fun moto to watch.

Next up, 46-50 cruiser.

Paul “T-Bone” Schiavone told me between motos he had slimmed down a bit and it had really helped his racing. The proof was in the pudding because Paul was near the front today (that’s him in second in the Stay Strong colors). Nice work T-Bone.

Andy Caswell, another local fast cat, is in the mix too and sporting an ever-so-stylish Haro mouthguard. Extra style points for Andy.

In 36-40 cruiser, Julio Rodriguez and Ryan Haydar were battling every moto.

This one in particular was one for the ages.

Julio barely escapes going over the berm and threads the needle to continue the battle down the second straight.

To cap things off, local boy Gary Quill got the nod for the official event sticker.

Granted, he’s not on a cruiser but it’s still a pretty cool honor for a swell guy I have the good fortune to ride with on a regular basis.

It also gave us plenty of ammunition to razz him with.

All in all, a good weekend of BMX.

Hats off to Milton BMX, BMX Canada and all the racers.

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Tags: BMX cruiser racing, BMX Nationals, bmx racing, Change Your Life Photography, Race Inc., Steve Di Monte
Categories : goofiness, New School, Racing

Welcome to the BMX Jungle

31 08 2016

Guns N’ Roses are out on tour this summer and putting on some great shows.

(I saw the Toronto stop and the guys kicked ass!)

It’s great that the band was able to finally put their differences aside and get out there in front of their fans.

Now if you’re anything like me, one of the first stops when you enter a concert venue is to check out the tour shirts at the merch table.

In Toronto, they had some OK stuff…but in other cities…well, I think they got some waaay cooler stuff.

Specifically, Los Angeles.

Peep this tour shirt.

And the back is not too shabby either.

The graphic has a bit of a 4130 Subway Series feel to it…which seems fitting given the locale.

All and all, pretty cool.

Slash’s love of BMX is well documented so its only fitting that they have incorporated it into their tour shirts in the birthplace of BMX.

Now, my only question…was the bike Slash riding in this video the inspiration for the shirt?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB7bPGESATg

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Tags: 4130 Subway Series, GNR, Guns and Roses, Slash, Welcome to the Jungle
Categories : goofiness, Old School, Racing

Brackens & the OG “GT” team up again

30 08 2016

We should of guessed something was up last month when Gary Turner shared a picture of BMX Legend, Tommy “The Human Dragster” Brackens visiting his factory.