Haro continues to re-up the retro with their bike lineup…this time with the soon-to-be-released Group 1 RS2.
This 80s-inspired cruiser is going to be available in late summer in 24, 26 & 29 inch models.
To get the hype going, Haro team manager Joey Cobbs took the 24″ Group 1 RS2 for a ride and shared the results on Instagram and Facebook.
And despite being a race-style cruiser, Cobbs had no problem getting his shred on. In fact, it kinda reminded me of when the BMX Action test crew would take race cruisers and test them by taking them jumping and riding half pipes.
Cobbs was definitely in more of a “street session” mode vs. “snapping gates” mode with this ride.
Which makes these pictures so much more fun.
Hope to see more teaser shots (and maybe a video?…wink,wink; nudge, nudge) like this in the future for Haro’s new cruiser.
If you’re old school and/or a BMX nerd, seeing this cover probably brought back memories of this cover, shot by none other than icon-in-his-own-right Bob “Oz” Osborn.
Actually, the whole “flashback” feel seems to (unintentionally…I think) run throughout the rest of the magazine as well.
Flip to the center-spread and you’ll find a two-page ad for chromoly forks…. It’s like 1987 all over again! With month after month of ads featuring the latest and greatest carbon-fiber wonder fork, seeing an ad — a two-page one at that — for a chromoly fork seems quite out of the ordinary (but in my mind, definitely a refreshing change).
Then check out the back cover.
A Crupi ad featuring cruiser speed demon David Archibald promoting their cruiser lineup.
Seems like it was just yesterday that BMX Plus! ran an article talking about “The Death of the 24”. Now here we are, just a couple of years later and a major race company is buying up prime ad space to promote “the largest selection of cruiser frames and parts anywhere.” Seems like the rumors of the 24’s demise were greatly exaggerated…and the popularity of cruisers are just as strong as they ever were.
The longer I stay in this BMX game, the more I see things come and go…and then come back again. Anybody else have the same experience?
In a key plot point in the movie Rad, Cru Jones makes the life-changing decision to postpone taking his SATs to take part in the big race at Helltrack. He does it because he thinks he’s got a chance at winning against all the “factory hot shots”.
Did he make the right choice?
It seemed like the right idea at the time. Factory BMX racers seemed to have it all back in the 80s. Driving Porsches, international travel, BMX Action magazine covers…you name it. They were living the high life.
Winning the big race would be Cru’s ticket to living the dream.
But today? I’m not so sure skipping the SATs would’ve been the right choice.
Check out the check that Denzel Stein, Redline factory hotshot, is holding for a recent win…$1400.
Compare this with the check that Team Kachinsky (Brian Kachinsky, Corey Martinez, Sean Sexton and Will Stroud) is holding after a win at the recent Nike 6.0 contest…$14,000. (Sure it’s split 4 ways…but c’mon that’s a much sweeter payday.)
Today, he probably would’ve been wise to skip the race altogether and focus on perfecting his bicycle boogie skills.
If you spend any time at all on the BMX racing forums you’ll notice that inevitably, before long, the subject of “How to grow BMX” will come up. Another variation of this thread is “Why isn’t racing as popular as it was in the 80s?”
People will argue that you have to one thing or another…from doing presentations at local schools to embracing the whole Supercross track phenomenon.
The trouble is, none of things is doing much to grow the sport. Yet time after time the same ideas keep getting trotted out.
The solution might be simpler than the collective BMX racing community thinks.
Get a friend hooked on BMX.
Wasn’t it Chris Moeller who said back in the early 90s that the way to make BMX grow was to build up a bike and give it to a friend? (Actually, I’m not 100% sure on this quote but the research department is out on a patio somewhere right now enjoying a pint so let’s just go with it, ok?)
Matt Shelley got Malcolm hooked on BMX
Matt Shelley, from BMXActionOnline, employs a similar strategy. He chats up folks at the track, all the while with the agenda of getting them out racing.
Check out Matt’s latest success story:
I met Malcolm at the Fresno Nationals last year. His kid races 13 challenger. We got to talking and he loves bikes, but never considered BMX until he saw us gray beards having so much fun. I dropped some science on him and figured he would do what he will with the advice.
Fast forward to the start of this season… there he is with a craigslist bike, a license, turning hot laps, and getting a ton of encouragement from his son. He admits to having a long way to go (his gates are horrid, natch), but through sheer force of early (and maximum) participation–He is currently leading the state series in 50-54 cruiser!
Nice going Matt (and Malcolm)!
Could it be that easy?
I think so.
I’ve had a few instances myself where friends and friends of friends have approaching me and inquired about getting a bike. Usually it starts with, “I see how much fun you’re having…”
So if you’re concerned about “growing the sport”…talk to your friends about BMX…and build them a bike if you have spare parts lying around.
Spread the word and get your friends out riding. Once you do that, this “growing the sport” business will take care of itself.
A big part of his blog is digging up vintage BMX magazine pictures/spreads and commenting on them. I often find myself tripping down memory lane when I read one of his posts. I start remembering where I was when I saw or read it, how I devoured every word of the mag (keep in mind this was before the Internet) and how much it had an influence on me.
I was pretty stoked to see him pull out this gem recently. An awesome berm slide by RL Osborn from BMX Action‘s “24 Wars” cruiser shootout article.
I was pretty stoked on this spread too. Eddie Fiola with a perfect table top air (on vert!) and “The Culligan Man” doing a big jump on a race cruiser to see how it would hold up.
Most BMX magazines are, at best, hot and cold on cruisers. Not many are bold enough to put them on the cover. BMX Action did back in the day. These days? You’d be hard-pressed to find cruisers getting a mention, much less the cover.
That’s why it’s such a cool surprise to see BMXer magazine stepping up and putting George Goodall and Carly Dyar, the two national number one cruiser riders, on the cover.
If you were a BMX kid in the 80s and 90s, Freestylin’ magazine was your bible. Before that it was BMX Action magazine. Put out by Wizard publications they set the standard for BMX magazines everywhere. Regretfully, by the early 90s they were no more. There’s some debate about caused the demise of these great magazines…you can google a bit and find out the theories.
Recently, with a lot of hype, the limited-edition Freestylin’ book was released by the original editorial team of Andy, Lew and Spike. It was an attempt to capture those early, heady days when freestyle bmx came into its own. It’s a pretty good look back from what I’ve seen. But it didn’t capture everything. Steve Emig, a former staffer, seems to have had his experience there glossed over..well, actually left out of the book completely. Feeling miffed, he decided to post some of stuff that was left out of the book….and it’s some of the funniest, most addictive BMX-related writing you’ll find on the web. Topics range from Windy’s Boobs to riding with Craig Grasso. This is like the True Hollywood Stories of Wizard Publications. You have to check freestylinmagtales out.
Back in the day when all the kids in my neighbourhood raced, Hutch Pro Racers were the bike of choice. Chrome-plated 4130 pieces of 1980s state-of-the art BMX technology. If you didn’t have a Hutch bike you were either saving your pennies or trying to convince your parents why buying you a Hutch was the most important thing ever. In those days we didn’t have the internet, the X-games or BMX showing up in commercials…despite this I was a BMX media junkie, camping out at the convenience store waiting for the next issue of BMX Action, BMX Plus!…even buying (ugh!) Super BMX to get my fix. But reading those magazines was just a sideline to my other addictions…racing and riding my bike. I was on my bike, it seemed like, every waking moment I wasn’t sleeping or at school. When I finally got my Hutch Pro Racer frame, I was stoked beyond belief. My brother and I put it together after I got home from school and I raced it that night. I can’t remember how I placed but I do remember loving that bike…to me it was the best thing ever. I would go riding after a night of racing…I just liked being on my bike.
After a while I noticed that some people at the races were getting more riding time than I was…the people with cruisers. One kid in my neighborhood had both a 20″ and 24″ Hutch. Too say I was envious, was an understatement. Not only was he racing his age class and open…he got to race the cruiser class. Since I was only racing my age class he was racing 3 times as much as me! I felt robbed! That Hutch Cruiser was my nemesis…a chrome 4130 cro-mo beacon to the fun I was not having. Cruisers were another chance to race, to have even more time on my bike. I think at that point the seed was planted that I would one day get a cruiser. Through the years I got into freestyle and jumping and kind of pushed the idea of riding a cruiser out of mind….cruisers weren’t made for serious riding, I thought/rationalized to myself.
As fate would have it though I would soon get hit hard by the cruiser bug again. Finding myself in Chatham (Ontario) one thanksgiving weekend for a family thanksgiving dinner I convinced my girlfriend to check out the local track. I had thought there would be race but it turned out that just a few people were practicing. The track director offered me a loaner bike (20″ Redline) to ride and I took her up on her offer. It was a bit small for me but good enough to get the job done. I was chatting to a local between laps and he offered to let me try his Haro Nyquist 24. I took him up on his offer and took it for a spin. It was so comfortable…and fast. I could not believe how good it felt. I was hooked. From now on, I was going to go big wheeled, or go home!
Hope to see more teaser shots (and maybe a video?…wink,wink; nudge, nudge) like this in the future for Haro’s new cruiser.
