So, we find ourselves here again…the end of the year.
As always, I like to take a look back at some of the top cruiser news on this, the final day of the year. (Granted, the list took a hiatus last year while I was away traveling…but it’s back now.)
So without further ado, the top ten.
10. The refrain, “What’s old, is new again” is something that I found myself saying throughout the year. Case in point, Gary Turner’s return to the BMX world with a line of cro-mo frames…kicked off by the intro of a nice 26″cruiser frame.
9. Redline came out with their “nod to the past” PL-26 cruiser. Aping the style of it’s iconic PL-24 cruiser, Redline capitalized on the current interest in 26″ cruisers and introduced a 26″ version.
8. As alluded to above, 26″ cruisers continued to enjoy their moment in the sun. Interbike had 26″ cruisers on display around every corner it seemed. Heck, Skyway even announced a 26″ T/A for 2016, so this trend seems like it will continue.
7. Colony surprised us with a well-spec’d new school 24″ cruiser. Nice to see another core company offering a big wheel option to riders.
6. Summer 2015 might well go down as the Summer of the BMX movie. A surprising number of entertaining flicks were available to choose from. I caught Turbo Kid in the theater and was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.
5. After months of teasing, anticipation and finally the introduction of the 24″ Chase Hawk tire…people were stoked on this high-performance tire option. However, its swan song seemed to come way too fast (with the announcement that Odyssey was dropping Chase from its team). Whether Odyssey will continue to offer it under a different name remains to be seen.
4. Encore Bikes, an outfit out of Canada, introduced both a new school 24 and 22-inch complete to their lineup. Nice to see these models, right out of the gate, from the new face in the market.
3. BMX Plus!, the longest-running BMX magazine, announced it was shutting down. A blow for sure, especially in a year with so much focus on the old school and bikes like back in the day.
2. Stolen Bikes continued to do the big wheels right. Dialed completes, limited edition tan tires and solid components. It’s easy to see why so many folks are rollin’ on Stolen.
1. The passing of Scot “The OM” Breithaupt shook the BMX world hard. The man who essentially wrote the template for BMX back in the day (and founded SE Bikes) was gone. News spread quickly, it trended on social media, and it had everyone reflecting on the man and his legacy. In the end, however, it seemed to remind us of how special BMX is, and what an important part Scot played in “making it happen.”
As I said in my post about Scot,
It’s up to us now to continue to make it happen…whether that’s holding a jam, piling into a car with friends for a BMX roadtrip or just getting out on a bike for some fun…we have to continue to make it happen.
BMX has done a lot of looking back this year…but on the eve of 2016, let’s look ahead to see what’s next…to that next turn, that next jump, that next pedal.
Cheers everyone…and Happy New Year!
Pretty sweet…and I mean that in both respects….the bike itself and Martin Aparijo still busting out tricks after all these years (but this time on a 26″)!
cruiser revolution 