BMX vs. MX: an epic battle

22 10 2013

Back in 2012, Gundars Osis dropped one of the better race videos in recent memory. (See Gundars Osis takes a hot lap.)

Tightly edited and filmed at a fairly technical track by Kaspars Garda, it just made you want to grab the bike and take a few hot laps yourself.

Well, the two guys have teamed up again to put out another great video.

This time, Gundars Osis (riding his BMX cruiser) pits himself against Matiss Karro (riding a motocross bike) on a BMX track.

Will Gundars be able to hold his own vs. the MX rider?

Check out the video to find out.

http://vimeo.com/garda/bmxosisvsmxkarro





Friday video rewind

11 10 2013

The work week is almost over and it’s time to get in the right frame of mind for the weekend.

I think this Wayne Keller edit (from 2012) is just the ticket.

Chock full of rad riding and a super fun vibe.

What more could you ask for?

Have a good weekend everybody!





Sin Series ride: finishing on a high note

27 09 2013

Just as I had suspected, the annual Friday night ride with the 4130 Sin Series crew was one of the highlights of Interbike week.

Catching up with old friends, making new ones and going for an exhilarating ride through the streets of Las Vegas is something that never fails to put a smile on my face.

4130 Sin Series selfieWith Mike Leonard on the whistle (that’s him in the extreme closeup above) we took off from the Fremont Street area, up to the Las Vegas Sign and then onto a final run through the neon lights of the Las Vegas Strip.

4130 Vegas SignGotta love the “We are the champions” pose of Patrick Thomas in this photo (in front, bike in the air)…it just shows the stoke factor of these events.

So much fun.

Thanks for having me along for the ride guys.

(Pics: Mike Leonard)





Countdown to Interbike

5 09 2013

It’s September and that means,  in addition to the classic Earth, Wind & Fire song, “September” constantly playing in my head, the bicycle industry’s annual show ‘n’ tell called Interbike is just mere weeks away.

Like in years past, I’ll be cruising the aisles of Interbike checking out what’s new and happening in cruisers and bigger-wheeled BMX bikes.

Last year, some new complete bikes debuted that really caught my attention.

Bikes like the Stolen Saint XLT

and the DK Elite Series Cruiser really stood out.

But walking the tradeshow floor is only part of the comprehensive investigation this hard-working BMX journalist will be providing.

In 2012, I went out and pounded the pavement to see if I could find the information that you just couldn’t find in the kiosks at the show.

That desire to get the inside story took me to one of the pools on the Strip where Maxim magazine’s Hometown Hotties were holding court.

It was there that I heard that the 2013 models would be bigger in the front and have tighter back ends.

Who knew you would learn about chain-stay length at a Vegas Pool?

Hometown Hotties and Cruiser Revolution

Of course, it’s  important to get the local perspective on things.

And there is no better place to do that than at the annual 4130 Sin Series ride (scheduled to go down on the Friday of Interbike Week this year).

Rolling with good peeps, like Vegas locals Mike Leonard and Chris Fox (pictured below with me (Ed) after the ride…thanks again for lending me a bike Chris!)

Chris Fox and Ed 4130 Sin Series

…and catching up with out-of-town visitors like Randy Franklin, this is the event that brings it all home.

Even though I’m excited to see what the bike industry has cooked up for 2014, it’s important to remember that bike riding is still all about getting together with your friends and having fun…and that’s what the 4130 Sin Series ride is all about.

Looking forward to some good times in Vegas.





Bobby Parker big bike rampin’

24 07 2013

Bobby Parker can shred pretty much anything…dirt, street, park, whatever…on both 20 and 24″ bikes.

Of course, when pics get posted of him shredding on his 24″ Wave-C…they immediately get our attention.

Bobby Parker ramping the big bike

Nosepick of the Canadian variety?

Radness.

And check that headtube…Bobby supporting Cruiser Revolution by flying the colors!

Bobby Parker supports Cruiser Revolution

 





Summer’s here and the time is right

19 07 2013

It’s hard to believe but summer is almost half over.

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.

OS BMX on the roadOne 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.

(Old schoolers…remember this pic?)





A new Liquid Feedback frame on the way?

14 06 2013

Liquid Bikes is dropping hints that an updated Liquid Feedback frame might be on the way.

The hints started trickling in early last week with a teaser shot of what they called “a next generation Liquid Feedback prototype frame.”

Proto-next gen Liquid Feedback frame

That was quickly followed a few days later with a pic of it all built up.

Liquid Feedback next gen build

Accompanying the photo was the following write-up:

Liquid Bikes is excited to announce that we’re teaming up with our California brothers – Solid BMX. Hand crafted in California… just like the trails. More info, details, and availability coming soon!

This is pretty exciting news, given that Liquid has been on a bit of a hiatus since selling out of the last of its frames a while back.

A favorite among big wheel bad-asses like Buddy Sardenga, CMC and owner/operator, Jeremy Combs, it was sad to see the availability of Liquid Feedback frames dry up some time ago.

Thankfully, it appears that dry spell is about to change and Liquid frames are going to start flowing back to the public very soon.

Looking forward to hearing more about this story as it develops.





4130 Subway Series doc in the works

13 06 2013

The world’s largest (and most fun) BMX group ride is about to get the full-on documentary treatment.

A teaser dropped earlier this week featuring none other than the OM himself, Scot Breithaupt talking about his experience –“I love the freedom, being on the bike”– riding in the 4130 Subway Series

Can’t wait for this to come out.

4130 3-year anniversary patch





Using color for that custom look

7 06 2013

By Ed Vandermolen

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V9WtScUzcE

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!

Nick's red Sunday

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!

Jesse's custom yellow DK Professional V2

Here’s a shot of the complete bike.

Jesse Klein's custom DK Professional V2

Pretty stoked on these rides.

Hope to see more of this kind of customization in the future!





This is where things go off the chain

31 05 2013

Peter Ulbrich spent some time out at the BMX track…but he wasn’t practicing gate starts and doing sprints.

He had a different type of riding in mind.

Then to keep things interesting, he goes for it without a chain.

The “Send me an Angel” soundtrack is a nice touch too. (Thanks to Cale Avery Schindler for the heads up on these.)