Jim C’s been putting in work

16 11 2012

Never a slouch in the riding department, Sunday Bike’s Jim Cielencki has busted out a couple of really good pics in the past few weeks.

The first one that caught my attention is one taken at the Fun, Fun, Fun Fest in Austin, Texas.

According to the caption that ran with the  photo (taken by Sandy Carson) on the ESPN site, “This was one of the first flairs he has done on a 24″ bike in a few years, but he got it done with ease.”

No kidding.

The second is this carve on what looks like an almost impossible tranny (complete with skate stoppers at the bottom!).

Jim gets it done.

Great pics all around.

Not only do they show the high level that Jim’s riding at but also the versatility (and durability!) of the Wave C he’s doing these tricks on.

Hope to see more pics* like this.

*(and video…hint, hint)

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Categories : Freestyle, New School, Skatepark, street

Jim C. talks frame building with ESPN

25 10 2011

ESPN ran a great post on the weekend featuring Jim C. from Sunday Bikes talking about Sunday’s philosophy on frame building and the reasons why they approach it the way that they do.

It’s an in-depth look at how they work with their partners to create frames with innovative features like wave tubing, hollow dropouts with twice the strength of regular dropouts and their famous 41 thermal treatment that helps keep the frame light but yet incredibly strong.

There’s tons more in the article, so be sure to check it out here.

A Sunday post is always a good excuse to run a pic of Jim C. airing out on his 24.  Bonus pic of Jim at the Sunday office.  (Source: ESPN. Sandy Carson pics)


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

Bobby Fisher resurfaces on a Model-C

8 10 2011

Back in the 90s, Bobby Fisher made a name for himself with a style of riding that combined the technical aspects of flatland with a creative street element that was awesome to watch.

A regular in videos and magazines of that era, Bobby has now slipped out of the limelight for the most part.

Bobby’s still going strong though. ESPN recently caught up with him and found out that he’s still riding but now balancing that with running the family tire business and other aspects of day-to-day life.

What’s interesting though is that Bobby’s made the jump to a 24inch bike, specifically the Sunday Model-C.

Asked about the transition from a 20″ to a 24″, Bobby said,

The transition was actually easy. The Model C feels just like a 20-inch but with bigger wheels. I commute by bike quite a bit so I was stoked to be able to ride BMX more often.

But Bobby’s doing more than just commuting. As these pictures from ESPN show, Bobby is still tearing things up.

In flatland:

and street:

Whether it’s running  the family business or sticking with the types of riding  most fun to him (and what made him famous) Bobby has stayed true to his roots.

It’s great to see that Bobby has managed to keep his love for BMX going despite all his other responsibilities. And now that he’s doing it on a 24″ bike, I couldn’t be more stoked.

**If you’re not familar with Bobby Fisher, check out this clip from Style Cats back when Bobby was a key part of the Standard army. No doubt this cat’s got style.

Click here for the full interview.


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Categories : Flatland, Freestyle, New School, Old School, street

US-made BMX frames on the upswing

1 10 2011

Brian Tunney over at ESPN just posted a great article about The resurgence of US-made BMX frames.

It talks about how the gap is starting to close price-wise between US-made frames and frames made overseas. With the growing costs of both international shipping and production in Taiwan (where most BMX frames are produced) the price advantage that Taiwan had over the US, for many years now, might be a thing of the past.

In the article, Tunney was surprised to learn that:

...between the rising costs of steel on top of stricter overseas regulations and increased shipping costs, the price gap between a US-made frame and an overseas frame is shrinking.

That’s pretty incredible, but check out this statement:

In some cases, a US-made frame such as an S&M might even be cheaper than a Taiwan-produced frame…

Who would have thunk it?

Could we see a return to something similar to the 80s when most premier BMX frames were made in the US?

Looks like it might very well happen.


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

Are today’s Pros a bunch of candy-asses?

8 04 2011

Sometimes I wonder how BMX racing lost its mojo.

Don’t get me wrong, I still think BMX racing is cool (I’m a racer myself)…but back in the 80s, it seemed to have that little something extra. Which is a little funny when you think about how tracks, bikes and everything else has improved.

Maybe it’s the style of the racing itself.

Or maybe it’s clipless pedals.

According to 4-time ABA #1 Pro, “Pistol Pete”  Loncarevich, both seem to be culprits.

ESPN caught up with him recently and he was very candid on this thoughts about the current state of affairs in the race scene.

Some interesting quotes:

...less confrontational because of clipless pedals… [racing]seldom gets aggressive

…more candy-ass BMX racing now because no one wants to confront each other on the track

Check it out here (sorry it won’t embed…but it’s definitely worth checking out).

Maybe Pistol Pete is on to something.

Or maybe we just need more WWE-style trash talking between motos.

I envision it going something like this:

Bonus info: It’s Pistol Pete’s birthday today. Respect for the legend.


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Categories : New School, Old School, Racing

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.”



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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School

You complete me…

29 10 2009

ESPN just posted a great interview with Jim C. from Sunday Bikes talking about their new line of complete bikes.  There’s some good stuff about the Model-C,  including details about the components and pricing:

The 24″ Model-C complete retails for about $550 and comes with a full chromoly frame, fork and bars. There’s eight different Odyssey parts including V3 cassette hub, Aitken 24-inch tires and EVO II brakes amongst others. The best part is it carries over the same proven geometry of the Model-C frame, fork and bars.

He also talks about why Sunday decided to go with a complete 24:

We decided to do the 24-inch complete because people mostly believed the geometry worked, but they weren’t willing to spend the money to find out. A shop could now let someone try it out, see that it works and be able to afford it without spending too much money.

Probably the best/funniest part of the interview is this part:

Riders have it good today. They could be getting an orange GT with curved toptube and three-spoke mags like we did back in the ’90s. No wonder why kids started skateboarding back then, the learning curve on one of those was terrible.

No word yet on what the top tube length will be on the Model-C complete, but more info is supposed to be on the way next week. I guess I’ll continue to keep my fingers crossed that it will be the 21.75″ size.

Sunday Model C complete


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, street, Trails

Custom S&M 38 Special cruisers available

4 04 2009

Turns out that you can have a custom-made S&M frame,  built to your specifications…without having to sweet talk Chris Moeller or be a member of the S&M factory team. All you have to do is ask.  You may have to sweet talk Jason Ball (at S&M) though…which is fine since he’s a rider himself, scoring a part in the BMX  Inferno video years back. ESPN recently sat down with Jason to get the scoop on what S&M offers in the way of custom frames:

Top tube lengths, bottom bracket height, head tube angles, rear end lengths, axle slot size, brake positioning or style. We have made custom forks and handlebars. The pricing depends  on how many different options you chose and the time it takes to build the frame.

That’s pretty awesome. If you’re pretty particular about bikes or need an extra long top tube or shorter rear end length this could be the ticket. Check out this custom S&M beauty that I found on BMXmuseum:

sm-custom-38-special-241

This 38 Special has a custom 22.5″ top tube! You’ve certainly got some leg room on this puppy.

Makes you wonder if one day you could order a frame, or a complete bike, the same way you order a Dell computer…picking and choosing each element till you get exactly what you want.


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Categories : New products, New School