Old school indoor BMX racing in Toronto

22 02 2010

If you were a BMX kid in the 80s you probably remember the old school style of indoor racing with concrete floors, wooden jumps and smooth stadium tires.

Nowadays if you’re lucky enough to have an indoor track to race at, you’re racing in dirt. Vintage BMX actually featured a thread on this topic recently and it seems that a lot of people remember the old school races and are hankering for them again. It certainly brought back memories for me…my first race was an old school indoor race like that.

But those days are long gone, right?

Maybe not!

Turns out Brent Smith, the guy behind the super fun Orangeville race series, does an annual race at the Toronto International Bicycle show. This year the organizers asked if he could do it again but this time without dirt. So Brent reached into his bag of tricks and decided to go way back and kick it old school!  Flat turns, concrete floors and wooden jumps…this is going to be a total blast from the past. Clips aren’t going to help you here!

If you’re within driving distance of Toronto (March 5-7) you should make a point of making it out anyway ..not only is there wall-to-wall bicycle vendors but there’s a freestyle contest and flatland contest going on as well.

For more details on the race, check out the Facebook group, Toronto Bike Show MTB and BMX race and jump comps.


Legends Tinker Juarez and Jeff Kosmala tearing up an indoor track back in the day.





Yard work just got more interesting

15 02 2010

Found this vid recently while poking around on vimeo.

It looks like Jason G has got the right idea when it comes to doing yard work.

Check out his sweet backyard pumptrack.





I love my bicycle

11 02 2010

…but flatlander Terry Adams takes things to a whole other level.





Are shaved headtubes next for Model-Cs?

9 02 2010

Odyssey designer, Jim Bauer recently had a couple of bike checks posted on ESPN, including his tricked out Sunday Model-C.

Off the top, you’ll notice the tricked out, “Bauer-original” paint job and it’s brakeless setup. It’s also loaded with Odyssey and G-Sport components.

Sunday has been experimenting with a shaved headtube design and Jim’s ride has it! The headtube is slimmed down, with less of an hour-glass shape and the bearings of the internal headset are exposed.

Finally, a picture of the man with his bikes. That’s a Metal prototype on the right. This photo just begs for a caption that includes the phrase, “…from the wrong side of the tracks.”






Alienation now offers 24 inch rims

4 02 2010

Alienation BMX has joined the cruiser scene with a new 24 inch version of their jump/park/street Delinquent rim. They’re available in black, blue and red.  Noticeably absent is a gold anodized version. Maybe that will come later.

Still, great to see another company recognizing the need for aftermarket components for all the 24 inch BMX bikes out there.





Another cruiser convert…

30 01 2010

Spotted a great thread on VintageBMX.com yesterday called I rode a cruiser tonight at the track…and it was fun! written by a guy that usually rides only a 20″.

Sounds like he’s seen the light:

I rode my friend’s cruiser just to get some laps in. Well I ended up riding it all night. I absolutely loved every second of it. Jumps smooth, manuals soooo easy. I was just totally in love.

I had a similar experience…after riding a 20″ for most of my BMX “career”, I visited a BMX track while staying with my girlfriend’s family and was lent a Haro 24  to take a couple laps. It felt amazing and couldn’t believe what I had been missing…it’s been cruisers for me ever since.

If you’re reading this site you’re probably already a convert but it’s still nice to see people showing some love to cruisers on other sites too.  The VintageBMX.com thread is currently up to 3 pages, so check it out and join the conversation. Spread the word…Cruisers rock!

One of the people participating in the thread, BS, also posted a picture of himself taking care of business as part of the discussion. Love it because it reminds of lazy summer afternoon trails sessions…nice!





School is always in session

28 01 2010

Old school.     New school.

Do those distinctions even matter for a guy like Stu Thomsen..still kicking ass after all these years?

Nope.

For Stompin’ Stu, school is always in session.

This shot says it all: catching air and going fast.

Some things never change.





Dirt: take with plenty of Liquid

21 01 2010

I teased you a while back with a great video from Jeremy Combs riding a prototype of his new Liquid frame.

Well, now it’s time to take a closer look.

I have to say I’m  pretty excited about this new frame…1) because it was obviously designed by someone that knows his way around a bike and 2) because it offers a long top tube and short chain stays (a combo that seemed a long time in coming).

Check out these specs from the liquid-dirt site:

TT: 22″ and 22.25″
BB: 12.7″
CS: 14.25″
HA: 74
SA: 72
ST: 9.15″ center to center
Weight: 5 lbs 3 oz

They’re also 4130 Sanko Chromoly and feature removable brake mounts and routing.

Colors available are:  flat black, pearl plum grey, and limited edition flat bubblegum blue.

And if you’re a fan of 24″ dirt jumping (and really, aren’t we all?) you should really check out liquid-dirt for great dirt jumping photos like the one below:





Showing some skin in Utah

17 01 2010

I’ve asked the question before…and I’ll probably ask it again…is it time to show some skin again?

The skinwall tire, once a staple in the BMX world has all but disappeared. This depresses me a bit because I think skinwalls really make a bike’s wheels “pop.”

That’s probably why I was so pleasantly surprised (and stoked) to see the Fit CR24 that Glenn from Utah has souped up. It’s a new school ride with some old school flava!

The shiny chrome and the skinwalls take me back to the Chrome Hutch Pro Racer I had as a kid. But it’s every bit the modern day 24…from the current geometry, to the taller handlebars to the translucent plastic pedals…this is one sweet ride.

It turns out everyone can get a piece of this retro-cool skinwall magic. Glen tells me that the tires are actually 1.95 Kenda K-rads that SE Bikes had made for their retro cruisers. You can order them through coloredtuffs.com.  I  linked to that page in my earlier skinwall post..back then I was under the impression that they were just generic knock-offs…now that I know that they’re K-rads…well, now I’m pretty tempted.

True, they’re a bit pricey but to finally get a good skinwall tire again…it might just be worth it.





Redline runs 2-page Proline 24 ad

13 01 2010

Flipping through the latest edition of BMX Plus! recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find a two-page ad for the Redline Proline 24.

So many companies give short shrift to 24s in their ads,  it’s nice to see Redline step up and recognize that cruiser riders want to see “their” bikes in the BMX mags too. For Redline to do so in a two-page spread makes me respect them even more.

What’s more, I love that they chose the Proline 24 over the Flight 24 for the ad. While the Flight 24 is certainly a sought after bike for the hardcore race crowd (with factory Answer Scythe forks, etc.) the Proline 24 is a simple, well-spec’d bike that works: Chromo forks, Redline Flight cranks…everything you need to win races or ride trails…nothing too fancy, but nothing that needs replacing either.

Even though I’m kind of surprised it wasn’t offered in red, or that cool bronze-y gold of last year, I find that this blue version is growing on me. Great job, Redline.

Respect.