Sometimes you have to get a little crazy

7 06 2012

What do you get when you combine the manic energy of Bobcat Goldthwait, the over-the-top delivery of Ric Flair  and an over-caffeinated Monster Truck Rally announcer?

You get this guy.

Archie Dann.

Check out this video of Archie promoting opening day at Virginia Motorsports Park BMX.

I bet you’ve never heard a BMX track described as:

It’s fast…it’s crazy…like a bullet train covered with Vaseline going down…the belly…of a whale (1:10)

Fast forward to about 1:45 where his manic delivery starts to go supernova.

Be there

VMP!

Speed!

Fury!

BMX!

and from there it just keeps on building…to the point I think Archie’s head might  just explode right there in the video.

Check it out.

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Categories : goofiness, New School, Racing, shenanigans, Tomfoolery

Sin City…4130 style

23 09 2011

After a week in Vegas, checking out the latest and greatest  at interbike, celebrating the top riders in the sport at the Nora Cup Awards and just taking in the spectacle of the Strip…it felt there was something missing from my interbike experience.

Sure flashy new bikes and parts are cool but BMX is so much more than that. It’s that feeling you get when you get a group of riders together and have a good ride or session.

Thankfully the 4130 crew, together with Vegas local Micheal Leonard, brought the L.A.-based 4130 Subway Series ride to Las Vegas to coincide with interbike.  Renamed the 4130 Sin City Series ride, 200 plus riders made it out to take part in what would become an epic ride.   Everyone was smiling and having a good time…old school, new school, race or street rider…it didn’t matter. It was a celebration of BMX in it’s purest form.

That good feeling you get when a good group of riders gets together to ride?

The 4130 rides have that in spades.

I’m still hyped on the ride a week later.

So much fun.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Old School, Tomfoolery

Lightning bolts: key to a great BMX logo

8 09 2011

BMX legend Taj Mihelich, put together a cool article (that’s making the rounds today) for Complex magazine called The 50 greatest BMX Logos.

It’s a great read.  A funny thing you’ll notice, and one that Taj notes in the writeups for each logo, is how prevalent the lightning bolt is in BMX logos. It shows up time and time again. In the Zap Pad writeup, he says:

There is definitely some connection between lightning and BMX. You can find lightning bolts on all kinds of BMX imagery. I think that maybe the very bones of BMX, chromoly steel, can only be created by a direct lightning strike.

For me, the Elina lightning bolt seat is the most iconic of the BMX lightning bolts.  Those old school Elina seats are pure BMX.


Like I said earlier, it’s a great read.

For old schoolers, it’s like a trip down memory lane.

For new schoolers, it’s an opportunity to see (and maybe laugh at) what passed for cool back in the day.

Check it out.


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Categories : Freestyle, goofiness, Old School, Racing, Skatepark, street, Trails, Trails/Jumping

4130 Subway Series set to hit Vegas

20 07 2011

This September, the 4130 Subway Series is going on the road and hitting Las Vegas. The ride is happening the same week Interbike is in town, on September 17.

With a who’s who of BMX and bicycle industry types in town, you never know who might show up.

And it’s Vegas.

This might get rowdy (in a good way).

The 4130 Subway Series is pure BMX. Believe it.


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Categories : Freestyle, New School, Old School, shenanigans, Tomfoolery

My new ride: Sunday Wave-C

11 05 2011

While complete bikes are getting better and better these days, nothing quite beats getting a new frame and building it up.  In this case, it was the Sunday Wave-C.

I had been thinking about a Wave-C ever since I heard that a prototype was being tested. The fact that it was going to be offered with a 22″ top tube also got me pretty excited.

The build

When I took the frame out of the box I was stoked. This was a nice looking frame! And you can just tell it can stand up to just about anything.

But I still had to wait for a few parts to arrive before I could start building.

When the last few parts came in the mail, I went over to my friend, Mike “Carbon” Pavao’s place to put it together.  While trading BMX stories, we were both impressed by how well built the frame was and the attention to detail.

Ed's Wave-C build at Casa Carbon

The only potential snag was a brake bolt that needed a little grinding down. Luckily, Gary Quill dropped by, and he just so happened to have a grinder in the back of his work van. A couple of seconds of grinding later, a few more twists of the wrench and this puppy was ready to ride!

We grabbed our bikes and took off for an old school ride through the neighbourhood, hitting things along the way and made our way downtown. We finally ended up at the 7-11 Mike and Gary used to hang out at when they were 14 year old hoodlums.

Initial impression of the frame: Wow!

Wave-C build

I took it out on the local trails today and I continue to be impressed. (For another perspective on the Wave-C, check out Jon Faure’s review.)

Shoutouts for their help with this build: Bobby Parker from Sunday/Full Factory, Tom at Empire BMX, Mike Pavao from…uh… Casa Carbon and Gary Quill for his skills with a grinder.

Parts list

Frame: Sunday Wave-C 22″
Fork: We The People
Bars: Sunday 24umph
Stem:  Salt Front load
Grips: Eclat Chester Blacksmith
Barends:  Eclat plugs
Headset:  We The People sealed
Seatpost Clamp: Sunday
Seat/Seat Post: Macneil Fat Capital /pivotal
Cranks: Salt 175mm
Sprocket: Macneil
Chain: Shadow Conspiracy
Front Tire: Kenda K-rad  24×1.95″
Front Wheel: Alex with Salt hub
Rear Tire: Intense Microknobbie  24×1.85″
Rear Wheel: Odyssey Hazard Lite rim with Odyssey V3 Hazard hub
Pedals: Macneil Face
Brake:  Tektro
Brake Cable:  We The People
Brake Lever:  Tektro
Pegs: None
Modifications:  Spacers under the stem, Gold anodized valve caps and Cruiser Revolution stickers

Future mods planned: Switch to a top-load stem, slightly fatter tires (and maybe taller bars)


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, street

It’s not easy being green

8 05 2011

Thinking about dear ol’ Mom the other day, a memory came back to me about a story she told me when I was a teenager.

My mom had gotten together with a group of other moms, I think it might have been a church group or something, and they were talking about a bunch of things and the topic of cleaning products came up (stereotypical I know, but bear with me).

One mom mentioned Simple Green and was raving about it. All the moms had something to say and then my mom piped up, “Oh Simple Green, that’s what the boys use to clean the brake pads on their bikes.”

No one else had kids into BMX, so from what I understand, the reaction was essentially, “What the…..”

Still makes me smile when I think of that story.

Thanks Mom, it hasn’t always been easy.  But you’ve always been there for me. Even if when it was just  looking out the window and watching me clean my brake pads.

Thanks Mom.


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Categories : Freestyle, goofiness, Old School

4130 Subway Series is pure BMX

14 10 2010

These days with riders going off at the X-Games, the Dew Tour and in crazy web edits it’s easy to forget the simpler aspects of BMX.

Like cruising the neighborhood with friends.

Nothing quite replaces the joy of roaming the streets, hitting spots and feeling free as you roll along on your bike.

The 4130 Club has captured all those things in their monthly rides.

This is BMX in its purest form.

Respect.


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Categories : Freestyle, New School, Old School, street

Edward Koenning’s blog is addictive

8 07 2010

I have been checking out Edward Koenning‘s blog, When are you going to get a real bike? for a little while now and I have to say I’m getting pretty hooked.

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.

If you’ve been into BMX for a while, When are you going to get a real bike? is definitely worth checking out.


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Categories : Freestyle, goofiness, Old School, Racing, Trails/Jumping

Jay Miron walks away from BMX

23 03 2010

In case you missed the big news this weekend, Jay Miron has sold Macneil Bikes and Ten Pack Distribution to his business partners, Darcy Saccucci and Jamie Macintosh. He’s also shut down the Metro Jam events. He’s walking away from BMX.

What can you say in a situation like this?

It seems too soon but you can’t knock the guy…he’s accomplished so many things and done so much for the BMX community.

Jay, thanks for the memories…and the 540 whips.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Jay Miron Macneil DVD“, posted with vodpod


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Categories : Freestyle, New School, street, Trails/Jumping

Todd Lyons: keeping SE Bikes cool

19 11 2009

With Todd Lyons leading the charge,  SE Bikes has managed to bridge the distance between old school and new school…offering bikes that appeal to the rider looking to relive his youth to the young rider just getting into BMX.  They’ve also hooked up with some cool companies to put out limited-edition bikes that are definitely some of the coolest looking bikes out there.

You’d think that with so much on his plate as SE’s brand manager (and so many years in the sport), the guy would become jaded or burnt out. But that’s not the case. When you take a look at his posts and his riding shots, you can tell he feels like a kid in a candy store…because he might just have the best job in BMX.


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Categories : New products, New School, Old School, street

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