Jim Cielencki recently visited Woodward…and the result was a whole pile of new footage of him shredding on his 24.
What’s even cooler, is that Jim revisited some tricks that he hasn’t done in a while.
Everything from crankslides, flips, wallrides…and even some flair attempts! Jim hasn’t done flairs for something like ten years, so it’s cool to see him going for them again.
Well, well, well….looks like something interesting is afoot over at Sunday Bikes!
It’s been a good while since we’ve seen some meaningful 24″ BMX news from the folks at Sunday (barring the annual upgrades to the Sunday Model-C complete).
Something’s cooking though….they teased it a couple weeks back on the otx design Instagram page….a cropped photo of a “prototype” frame. (There was no indication that it was a 24″ frame though.)
The plot thickened considerably though, when Jim C posted a picture in what, I would guess, is a bit of an homage to an old school ad with Eddie Fiola teasing the intro of the GT Pro Performer back in the day. The hashtag #24BMX was definitely there….so could it be? Someone mentioned the otx pic in the comments and then the wheels started turning. This is gotta be something fresh, 24″ wise from Sunday!
Jim C then said he would be at Ray’s MTB this weekend riding it.
I kept my fingers crossed that would mean some riding footage from Jim and the new prototype frame. Jim did not disappoint and we all got to see Jim shredding the tight transitions of Paul’s Boutique at Rays this weekend (on Jim’s Insta).
Granted, there’s no details on the frame itself (geometry or specs-wise) but given that Jim and Sunday are developing it….I’m pretty confident it is going to be pretty rad.
Looking forward to more updates on the prototype frame!
When Jim Cielencki jumped back into the pool (so to speak) earlier this summer in regards to riding we were cautiously optimistic that we would see more of Jim back on the bike
Jim Cielencki’s “retirement” from riding seems to have gone off (or into) the deep end as of late.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In a bit of an unexpected surprise, Jim C has dived back into riding (at least for the moment) to session a local pool that’s scheduled to get filled in soon.
He’s been documenting those sessions on his Instagram account. And based on the comments there, I’m not the only one stoked to see Jim C out riding again.
Jim Cielencki, one of the BMX world’s most creative and influential riders has been keeping a bit of a low profile since saying “see ya” to Sunday Bikes (back in 2014).
Jim was always out there seeing what was possible.
Now, Jim’s taking that same sort of thinking to his current passion, running.
Rather than run the same training route everyday, Jim has taken it upon himself to run every street in Buffalo, NY.
Not only that, he’s documenting all the cool things he encounters along the way in an addictive (to me anyway) Instagram account called Mile by Mile: Buffalo.
It’s pretty cool to see Jim’s creative instinct being expressed in an entirely new way.
One of the BMX world’s most creative and influential riders, his unique perspective on things carried over into his work as a member of the bicycle industry…whether that was in promotion, product design or his efforts with the Sunday team.
In his farewell post, Jim mentions that “my main goal with Sunday was to do interesting things with every aspect of the company.”
Jim’s championing of the ground-breaking Sunday Model-C and progressive 24″ riding are certainly two examples of that. Tweaking conventional cruiser geometry to create the Model-C was a bold move, and not without its detractors, but Jim’s vision of what a 24″ BMX could be ended up making a big impact on an area of BMX that was ready for a change.
And Jim didn’t stop there.
Jim actively promoted what was possible on a 24…whether that was in video edits, riding shots or clips of him riding a 24 in full-length videos (Up, Up and Away). While other companies introduced 24s into their lineups…they were often left to languish with little or no promotion and would later be dropped. The Model-C has been going strong since its inception.
The introduction of the Sunday Wave-C was another major step in the 24″ world that Jim also helped make happen. A super high-end frame with wave tubing and long list of features, it quickly became one of the most popular 24″ frames on the market.
Jim says he’s “off to new creative adventures.” If you look back on his riding career and his work at Sunday, I think you’ll agree he’s going to make a success of whatever he puts his mind to.
Cheers Jim!
Looking forward to hearing about what you get up to next.
cruiser revolution 