After a three-year hiatus, the Toronto Old School Rad Ride returned this weekend better than ever!
There were tons old school bikes to scope out and lots of laughs shared with old (and new) friends along the way. Super fun!
I even scored some SE Bikes socks in the raffle.
The stoke was high!
I had to check the calendar to see if it was 1/20 vs. 4/20….because I did not believe it at first. But it’s very real!
State Bicycle Co and Taco Bell are collaborating on a retro-inspired Klunker, a love child of the beach cruiser, mountain bike and BMX scenes.
This spicy ride is decked out with the signature purple, pink and yellow TB brand colors, along with the iconic Taco Bell logo.
The ride’s uncomplicated with a coater brake for stopping and a built-in built-in bottle opener on the seat tube for après-bike beverages.
Looks like a good time for sure!
Here’s what’s up spec-wise:
Perfect for a late night cruise to the Bell, with maybe a few curb cut jumps along the way.
Want to get that Taco Bell feeling and not go full Klunker?
Not to worry, the State Bicycle Co X Taco Bell collab extends to a collection of accessories, that includes a bunch of things, including this fun pair of grips.
Check it out!
I spotted this a while back as a suggested video on YouTube.
Seth Alvo, of Seth’s Bike Hacks fame, shredding on a Redline Asset 24 on his Workbench Skatepark in his new (at the time) garage.
You might recall from previous posts that the geo of the Asset 24 is very close (essentially the same) as the ever-popular S&M ATF 24.
I’ve always wanted to see one of these completes in action and Seth did a great job of showing what the Asset 24 was capable of.
At the tail end of the video (starting at 7:02) Seth has a session on the new workbench skatepark and he proceeds to bust out a good amount of moves and jibs on the Redline. Heck, there’s even a disaster…shoutout to the mid school! (Or is that old school?)
He even makes repeated attempts on a 360 before landing one smooth. The Redline looked like it was none the worse for wear after the repeated attempts and bails.
The bike also looked pretty much stock (save for the pedals which looked like blue composite pedals)…so that’s even more of a plus. I would have liked to see a full-blown test/review but this is a reasonably good substitute.
Check out the video for yourself of Seth putting the bike to the test (and just try to avoid going down the rabbit hole of checking out Seth’s videos….I always end up 3 or 4 deep when I click on one).
Harvester BMX has jumped into the whole podcast thing…and their first episode is with none other than Canadian BMX impresario and rider, Wade Nelson.
Wade’s roots in BMX go way back (in both Canada and US) and the podcast touches on a lot of the cool stories from Wade’s past, including the early Hoffman BS comps, the first X-games, working for Brian Scura and the west coast BMX scene.
Even yours truly gets a mention when the topic turns to zines (at around the 35 minute mark).
For those that don’t know I used to produce a zine in the early to mid 90s called Mob zine.
It was awfully nice of Wade to give the shoutout (Thanks Wade!)
What didn’t make it into the podcast were some fun stories I recall from my encounters with Wade.
One is the time that Wade managed to get the opportunity to answer the “letters to the editor” section of Ride Magazine. Keep in mind, this was in the early days of Ride and let’s say the typical letter was less than genteel in those days. Wade handled that assignment with ease though. I still remember our chat about it about it up on the deck of the ramp at the Boucherville Quebec Play contest (in ’95, I think).
More recently, in a previous Toronto stint, Wade had suggested we grab some food before a Sunday session at the Wallace Emerson skatepark. I wasn’t sure how that would work as Wade is a hardcore vegan….and well, I believe eggs are an essential part of a Sunday breakfast. Somehow, Wade found a vegan/vegetarian place that served eggs and off we went. That day ended with me driving Wade to the hospital….because even though Wade was (and still is) a big proponent of wearing a helmet while riding…he hadn’t quite embraced the same passion for wearing knee pads. As Murphy’s Law would support that would mean Wade would mistime a bar-spinny type maneuver and find his knee making a quick and unintended impact with the concrete surface of the Wallace Emerson park.
Wade’s got a lot more stories to tell though…and the Harvester podcast captures a pretty good collection of them.
Check it out.
Early this year we learned that Dyno was making a comeback as a 29er ….and not only that, said 29er was going to be a Dave Voelker signature model.
Hot damn, one of my favorite riders from bitd back in the limelight and this time…on big wheels.
And now, Dave’s back with a new edit….and it’s so good!
It starts off with some classic footage of Dave going BIG….it’s almost like a highlight real from his biggest BMX hits. From there it segues into some superfun big wheel shenanigans…complete with the classic Voelker footplant.
Check it out:
It’s good to see Lord Voelker back.
The Lord has risen….Praise the Lord!
Blogs…they grow up so fast.*
It’s hard to believe that this month marks ten years (!) at this little corner of the internet.
And by golly, it’s still so much fun.
Cruiser Revolution got its start when I found myself researching 24″ cruisers and got frustrated because I had to go from place to place to find information on cruisers.
Then it hit me. If I was going to be doing the “research” anyway I might as well blog about it. Surely some other folks must be interested in the same stuff I am.
Turns out that was true!
It’s difficult to put in to words how I feel about the continued support from y’all. Thank you for the great comments, kind words, rocking the CR stickers and just reading the posts…it means a lot.
I’ve written posts in three different countries, rode with so many cool people all around the US and Canada, and had so much cool stuff come out of this site.
Wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Thanks again,
Ed
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating….and good luck and good gates to everyone racing The Grands.
*I feel like I’ve used this line before…but it really does seem fitting in this case.
Will wheelies save us?
Or more specifically…will they save bike riding?
Bicycling magazine seems to think so:
Forget all our arguing over how to take back the streets from cars. These kids just do it. Their wheelies—all wheelies—command authority. Their wheelies halt traffic and stop pedestrians. Their wheelies celebrate their place in the city, proclaiming that they own the pavement they’re rolling down. Cars deal with it.
In a 6-page article titled Bikelife: The Revolution That’s Taking Back the Streets, Bicycling magazine’s October/November issue takes a look at wheelies and the #BikeLife culture that has breathed new life into this classic biking move (is “trick” the right word here?).
And not only that….how the BikeLife culture is serving as a positive outlet for kids and creating a community that’s all about fun.
The article’s author, a former road racer, seemed a little wistful/jealous of the the BikeLife kids:
These kids had everything I wanted from cycling: Not a contract or designer bike, but friends, unregulated fun, and a small, perfect slice of freedom.
In the end, he succumbs to his more primal cycling urges and gives in to popping some wheelies of his own….because, who doesn’t want to be part of the fun?
Of course, Bicycling is not the only mainstream media outlet to notice the BikeLife movement and give it coverage.
The Wall Street Journal (of all places!) covered it in a 2017 article called, “The BMX Bikes Getting Teens Back on Two Wheels — or One”. I bet more than a few people were surprised — and stoked — to see the Wall Street Journal write a piece on wheelies.
Closer to home, we saw what the BikeLife movement was capable of back in 2016 when we saw the righteousness of the Philly rideout.
What we found after checking out the rideout footage?
Big crews, big wheelies and even bigger fun.
The mainstream outlets are catching on now…but you and I both know…it’s always been about that.
(Pictures: Bicycling Magazine)
It might be #TwoFourTuesday today…but having just had a look at Sebastian Keep‘s latest video…we might want to call it #TooBigTuesday.
I don’t know if it was inspired by bikes like the Big Ripper (or perhaps the Fat Ripper) but Sebastian’s friend Krazy_Keef built himself a supersized version of a classic Mongoose that trumps those type of bikes by a bit siz-wise.
Heck, Keep and his crew can barely straddle the top tube!
And the bars, while normal looking, end up in ape hanger territory when attached to this bike fit for King Kong.
Of course, Keep and the crew take the bike to a couple skateparks because…I dunno….so hilarity can ensue?
Check out to this vid to see how the big bike handles the local bowls.
I have a feeling Keep might not be trading his personal bike for one of these.
When Jim Cielencki jumped back into the pool (so to speak) earlier this summer in regards to riding we were cautiously optimistic that we would see more of Jim back on the bike
We even joked what the over/under would be on new riding pics and video…but it seems like the old adage of “once a rider, always a rider” is holding true.
The proof?
Jim dropped some serious heat on his Instagram this past weekend…with a bunch of awesome riding pics and clips from WNY Jam.
From Jeff Harrington-style footplants:
To moto whips:
To spinning 3s:
To handplanting street spines.
Jim brought it.
Awesome to see the OG back at it again!
We’ve featured a number of Buddy Sardenga’s bikes and riding shots over the years…but this latest hybrid build is definitely one of the most interesting.
Buddy’s been riding a Stolen Spade 22 for a while and last week he had the brilliant/crazy idea one morning to see what would happen if he put some of the parts off his old 24″ S&M ATF onto the Spade frame.
Almost like doing the opposite of the conversion/mod from a couple years back when a rider converted a 24″ Sunday Wave-C to a 22″ rider.
The result? A 24″ that rides very similar to the classic 24″ Liquid Feedback.
As you can see, the rear axle is way out but still at about 14.6″.
The head tube is now more mellow, probably at 73-ish degrees and the bottom bracket at 13.25″.
According to Buddy, the new converted Spade is super roomy and “manuals crazy good”.
Pretty cool.
Buddy hadn’t been out to the trails yet on it (at least since the last time we chatted) but this looks like it would be hella fun there too.
cruiser revolution 
