Well, there goes another year in the record books.
It has been a year of ups and downs and a lot of us are still dealing with pandemic-related weirdness (depending on your locale) and just trying to do the best we can…and getting in as much riding as possible.
Personally, I’ve tried to take advantage of as many riding opportunities as possible….really, it’s the best way to keep sane.
With that being said, checking the calendar I’ve noticed that we’ve checked in at 13 years for this wee little blog about big BMX bikes. Thanks again for being along for the ride! I appreciate you for checking out my increasingly sporadic posts.
Hope y’all have a happy and prosperous new year!
Hit me up on the Gram if you haven’t already…I’m a bit more regular there these days.
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.
So before we ring in the new year, let’s check out the top ten things that went down in 2011.
10. Sunday and S&M kicked off the year by introducing two of the most of the popular frames out there right now: the Sunday Wave-C and S&M 24″ Dirt Bike.
9. This was quickly followed by news that a lot of people had been waiting for: 24″ forks with front brake mounts. S&M was first to market with their 24 “Pitchforks with 990 mounts which was quickly followed by Sunday’s 24″ forks with 990 mounts (although they were testing prototypes much earlier).
8. Some great 24″ flatland vids surfaced almost immediately after from Joe Cicman and Danny Sirkin. (Could this be related somehow to #9?) Heck, even flatland legend Bobby Fisher surfaced a few months later riding flatland on a Sunday Model-C.
6. “Older” guys continued to make their presence felt in BMX on their 24″ bikes. From the older cruiser classes in racing to a skatepark rider proving that age is just a number it’s great to see that there is no age cut-off for having fun!
4. Mongoose, Stolen and InDust introduced new 24s to the scene. Great to see companies responding to the demand for bigger wheeled BMXs.
3. Cruiser Revolution celebrated its 3-year anniversary this year. A great milestone and a testament to the great cruiser community that is continuing to grow.
2. The 4130 rides. I was lucky enough to participate in the 4130 Sin Series ride in Las Vegas back in September and it was one of the best times I have ever had on my bike. Bombing the streets with a couple hundred of your fellow BMXers is something everyone has to do at least once.
1. Having a good time on your bike. Sure, it’s fun to debate the pros and cons of how tall your handlebars are, talk about the latest parts and comment on the latest video edit but when it comes right down to it, when you’re out there riding none of that really matters. Whether its with your bros, your kids or just by yourself, you can leave your worries behind and let the good times roll as soon as you step on those pedals.
Way back in November we did a feature on long-time cruiser revolution reader Bam’s custom FBM cruiser. FBM dubbed it the Cu Cu cruiser and it featured the following dimensions:
Head Tube: 75 degrees
Seat Tube: 70 degrees
Top Tube: 22″
Chain Stay: 15″
BB Height: 14″
Standover: 6″
Back then, all we had were pictures of the frame and fork but Bam recently sent some photos over of it all built up and I think you’ll agree, the bike looks great.
Eastern Bikes does a lot to support his local scene so Bam decided to “represent” and run as many Eastern parts as he could (Eastern bars, 23t sprocket, pedals, headset, seat, post, and stem.)
Other notables: Profile cranks, Primo grips, brakes, lever; KHE 14mm hubs and chain: Odyssey tires, cable, tensioner and rims.
It looks like riders in the Toronto area will no longer have to dread the upcoming winter season. That’s because Joyride 150 is set to open up any day now.
Inspired by the awesome Ray’s MTB bike park , Joyride 150 is promising to be 90,000 square feet of pure biking fun. It features pump tracks, rollers, a cross-country trail, a skatepark, a foam pit and a resi ramp.
Located in Markham, Ontario; a suburb of Toronto, it’s only 30 minutes from Cruiser Revolution HQ. I’m looking forward to riding the shit out of this place.
Head Tube: 75 degrees
Seat Tube: 70 degrees
Top Tube: 22″
Chain Stay: 15″
BB Height: 14″
Standover: 6″
If you look closely, you’ll notice some very distinctive forks on this setup…there’s an extra 2″ on the fork leg. A definite nod to old school Bottema forks.
The process
Bam had been shopping around for a custom builder but found most of his options were too expensive or too limited in geometry options. He decided to give FBM a call, although I think he was a little apprehensive given John Paul Roger’s recent comments about cruisers in an article in DIG magazine (he called them goofy, etc.) Despite his initial concerns, FBM was on board with the build.
Bam said:
The FBM plan gives you an online form to check the available options, they offer to do anything you want, then some discussion, send them half of the money, then they send you a drawing to approve. The price includes shipping and it didn’t cost extra for a 24″ model. They send photos of the process as it happens.
According to Bam, FBM’s custom prices are some of the best/lowest out there. He took the time to check out a bunch of different builders, so I believe him.
You know how you see a bank-to-wall and instantly think wall-ride? Well, kind of the same thing happens when you have an IKEA Bravur clock hanging above your desk and an old 24″ Kenda K-Rad tire on the floor beside you. You start to wonder how they would look together…then a few seconds later…you get this.
This weekend, March 13-15, is one of the biggest events on the BMX calendar for Southern Ontario. It’s the Toronto International bicycle show and there is wall-to-wall BMX stuff to check out or ride in. There’s the Toronto BMX Jam, a flatland comp/demo, racing (cruiser class, anyone?) and BMX videos being premiered Saturday night at the Cadillac Lounge. If you’re within driving distance of Toronto, this is not an event to miss.
I’ll be there, checking out all the action on Saturday and Sunday. If you’re lucky, you may even get one of the new cruiser revolution stickers. They look a lot like this:
…If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Even though I check out the Sunday! Bikes site on a semi-regular basis, this little post slipped by without me noticing till a couple of days ago.
cruiser revolution gets a mention on Sunday! site (Jan. 7th)
Cruiser revolution gets a nice little plug at the bottom of the post. (Thanks Jim!) What’s even better is that it gives me an excuse to run a pic of Jim Bauer putting the Model C through its paces at the DVS warehouse.
Nice flattie! I’m looking forward to seeing more pics like this.
cruiser revolution 
