People of Walmart…your 24″ is here

19 10 2011

Less than a decade ago, if you were looking for serious, non-race 24″ cruiser your choices were few and far between.

If you wanted a 24″ bike that would take some abuse, it usually meant you were riding either a Haro Backtrail 24 or the DK General Lee.

Today, you may have noticed (especially if you’re a regular reader of this site) that the choices for non-race 24″ cruisers are a little deeper.  And perhaps fittingly, those two old workhorses, the Backtrail and the General Lee were dropped from their respective company’s lineups.

But just like those ol’ Duke Boys in a car chase with Roscoe P. Coltrane, the General Lee was a bike that couldn’t be kept down. It’s resurfaced, albeit in a slightly different incarnation and to some sometimes heated BMX forum discussion in, of all places, Walmart!

Do Bo and Luke Duke know what happened to the General Lee?

Word on the street is that Huffy bought out DK and, in addition to their higher-end bikes and parts, they are offering a small lineup of race and freestyle bikes in Walmart.

This version of the General Lee is  hi-ten steel with Chro-mo 3-piece cranks…a far cry of it’s original completely Chro-mo version…but priced accordingly, at $179 (US).

Some people are burning up the forums saying this is a travesty.

I dunno. Remember the Subrosa Salvador 24 from last year? That was a hi-ten bike with chro-mo cranks priced at $404! That to me, was  more of an outrage. At least this bike is priced appropriately and sold in a place that makes sense.

Would Uncle Jesse approve?

I can see a Dad picking one of these up, at the same time he’s picking out a first bike for his son or daughter. Who knows, after jumping  curb cuts, popping a few wheelies and just having fun on his $179 bike, he’ll decide to upgrade to something a little better at his local bike shop. And there he’ll see a brand he recognizes but be something much better suited to heavy-duty riding.

What do you think about DK bikes showing up at Walmart?

Something good?

Or something bad?

For complete specs, check out Walmart’s page.

For more info on all the Dukes of Hazzard references in this post, click here.


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

Cruising the booths at interbike

20 09 2011

You’ve probably already checked out the interbike coverage from Ride and Vital BMX already but you and I both know they’ve left out what you’re really looking for…what’s new in 24″ BMX news.

Good thing Cruiser Revolution was there this year to bring you the highlights that you were really looking for.

Free Agent

An updated colorway and the addition of Sinz forks are all new for the Free Agent Limo 24 in 2012. I’m seeing more and more Free Agents at the track, so this could be a big seller when these drop in stores.

Redline

It seems that Redline’s reputation for out-of-the-box ready race machines remains intact. While the Project 79 bike got a lot of hype (I got the impression that a 24″ version isn’t on the horizon anytime soon) the old workhorses, the 24″ Flight and 24″ Proline look as good as ever with some updated colorways and component tweaks.

SE Racing

While I was hoping to see the updated Floval Flyer (it wasn’t on display for some reason) SE had a number of cruisers to check out. My particular favorite looks-wise was the OM Flyer. For real, this thing is beautiful. A vision in chrome goodness (it even sports chrome valve caps!).

Sunday

Sunday didn’t have a booth this year but I chatted with Jim C. after the Nora Cup awards and got the lowdown on what’s new at Sunday for 2012. The Model-C complete will be sporting a 22″ top tube with a great parts package. Check out this web edit for all the details.

We the People

According to the rep I spoke to, WTP dropped the 24″ for the lineup because “it wasn’t doing what we wanted it to in the market place”.  Sad really, considering WTP’s legacy of great 24″ bikes. Perhaps if they actually promoted their 24″ bike…say with a web edit or a picture of someone riding it…. they would’ve achieved the sales they were looking for. (See Where’s the promotion?” ) But who am I to say? Perhaps not marketing is the new marketing. What’s replacing it is their new 26″ Champ bike. If you’re a BMX Museum regular you will see the not-so-subtle design nods to the classic Champion frames from back in the day.

Stolen

Stolen is new on the 24″ scene for 2012 with a good first effort called the Saint. It comes complete with 7.25″ bars and double-wall rims.

DK Bicycles

DK seems to have a lot on the go these days 24″ wise. They’ve updated their popular Sentry cruiser with a 22″ top tube, their freestyle-oriented Cygnus is looking sharp and their long-awaited 24″ Professional frame (with the higher than usual bottom bracket) will be dropping in about a month. Their Evolution rims are also looking dope. Check out this clip of Trevor Gay explaining, with Brian Hunt‘s “help”, all the features and colors available in the Evolution rim.

Vodpod videos no longer available.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Racing, shenanigans, Skatepark, street, Tomfoolery, Trails, Trails/Jumping

DK Bicycles raises bb on new race 24

11 11 2010

DK bicycles looks like it might be taking a cue from the world of 24″ freestyle bikes and raising the bottom bracket on its new 2011 race cruiser to 13″ (that’s at least an inch higher than a typical race 24 frame).

In a recent thread on Vintage BMX, a DK rep explained the reasoning behind the shift:

Cruisers have always been built with a ratio that was based off of 26″ bikes (which is what cruisers used to be) this bottom bracket is 13″…so check this out:

The professional frame has an 11.4″ bottom bracket height, that is with a 20″ wheel (so that means UNDER the drop out there is 10″ of wheel, plus the tire, since the other 10″ of the 20″ wheel is above the dropout and irrelevant to the bb height.). This cruiser has a 13″ bb height, so that is 1.6″ higher than the 20 inch professional, but with a 24″ wheel, there is 12″ plus the tire under the bottom bracket. That’s 2 inches more than the 20″ frame, so in actuality, this bottom bracket isnt that high, since its only 1.6″ higher than a frame that has 2″ less wheel under the bottom bracket.

According to the DK guys on the forum thread, the new 24 is supposed to handle great (with a 20″ feel) and be easy to manual.

Other specs on the 2011 DK race 24 are:

  • 22″ top tube
  • 14.75 chain stay (slammed)
  • 73.5 head angle
  • 72 seat tube angle
  • 7000 series aluminum

Certainly an interesting departure from your typical race cruiser geometry.

Will this be a game changer in the race community?

I’m pretty curious to see if other manufacturers follow suit.

Editor’s note: the BB height on the production model was lowered slightly to approximately 12.5″.


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Categories : New products, New School, Racing

24″ BMX on a budget

29 01 2009

I was in my local shop the other day and saw that they were clearing out ’08 DK General Lee 24s  for $200 and change. Not a bad deal when you think about it…for less than the price of a department store bike you can get a pretty decent entry-level trails cruiser…heck, my brother has a $200 seatpost on his mountain bike….this bike is steal when you consider what you’re getting.

dk-general-lee-24-orange-2008

If you’re thinking about making the move to a 24″, on a budget or just looking to invoke the spirit of those fun-loving Duke boys; tracking down one of these bad boys (while they’re still around) might be in your best interests.

And how can I write something about the General Lee without including this?


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Categories : Freestyle, goofiness, New products

Wheel in the sky keeps on turning

9 01 2009

“Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin

I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow…”

-Journey

Flying is hassle enough these days and the airlines aren’t doing much to make it easier…especially when it comes to getting your bike around…United Airlines is charging $175 each way to take your bike on the plane. If you have golf clubs, skis, or any other number of cumbersome sports stuff around apparently you are welcomed aboard with open arms and a high five (well…at least no fee).

I remember back in the Go magazine days, Chris Moeller wrote something that said  if S&M ever made a flight bag he would label it S&M Camping Equipment to avoid paying a fee.  DK seems to have ran with that idea and come out with the DK Golf Bag.

dkgolfbag2

DK claims the DK Golf 4130 Flight Series (great name) will hold up to a 24″ cruiser.

Over on Vintage BMX, there’s an ongoing discussion on traveling with your bike, focusing mostly on the merits of the Ogio Monster Bag.  Lots of people on the thread seem to be singing its praises. I guess the proof is in the pudding when you see pics posted like this:

agio clayborn cruiser to go

That’s a Clayborn Pro Cruiser in there, ready for takeoff.

The thread also covers other options like hockey bags and carrying the wheels separate too. Other important tips are to use the skycaps (remembering to tip well) and dressing up a bit when you travel…this last piece of advice is mentioned repeatedly, so apparently it does help.

Dude, I can’t believe I just used Journey lyrics in this blog.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, Racing

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