Billed officially as the Toronto Old School Rad Ride, now in its sixth year, the ride was more of a gathering of every type of BMX rider: old school, new school, freestyler, dirt jumper, bike life guy/gal, young, old…you name it!
It was a bit like the opening to the movie, The Warriors, when all the rival gangs get together. However, unlike the movie, these different groups were all vibing off each other and getting along.
New this year, was a visit from Todd Lyons, Dick Cheeseburger (Jason Morris) and a bunch of other SE dudes, that added a little spice to the proceedings.
Is your ride missing a little zip? Or maybe what it really needs is a little more zap.
Oh zap!
Indeed, BMX today, in general, needs more zap.
What in God’s green earth am I talking about, you say? Well, I’m talking about the veritable lightning in a bottle that the iconic Zap Pads brought to an 80s-era BMX bike.
Yes, you too young grommet. You could be like “The Businessman” Greg Hill and be as fast as lightning out on the track.
Or least look good trying.
Some of that Zap Pad magic…that lightning in a bottle, or should I say pad set, recently starting re-aappearing on retro-fab completes like the SE OM Flyer.
Later, the Fit CR-29, would also sport that familiar Zap Pad-esque lighting bolt as well.
Pretty flashy, huh?
So flashy you would think they would be offered as an after market padset, right?
Surprisingly, they were only sold as part of the bike…not separately.
Like the OM Flyer and Fit CR29, it too sported a Zap Pad-like pad set.
When I posted a comment saying to the effect, “Sigh, I wish these pads were offered separately”….I was shocked to see a reply moments later, saying yes, yes, these pads are actually available separately.
In some ways this was unexpected…but in other ways, perfectly in line with S&M Bikes/FitBikeCo style antics.
When overbuilt frames were a thing, S&M responded with the Heavy as Fuck frame. When things veered in the other direction, the Light as Fuck frame came into being.
And yes, if you think they’re trolling SE and Todd Lyons a bit here….well, I can’t speak for FitBikeCo, but signs point to yes, that seems to be happening.
From the name, an obvious takeoff of the iconic “PK Ripper“…to the colorways “Stu Blue” and Gloss Black with Gold Anno…you know what style they’re trying to evoke.
As surprising as it is to see a 29″ fork from S&M Bikes, this is legit!
Apparently despite the popularity of 29″ cruisers from SE Bikes, 29″ replacement forks are hard to come by.
Sensing a market opportunity, the guys at S&M stepped in (stepped up?) to answer the call. Sporting similar styling and a name that’s reminiscent (or at least rhymes) with the iconic “Landing Gear” this is now available for order from Planet BMX.
Dubbed the “Pounding Beer” fork, it’s a bit tongue in cheek…but would you expect anything less from S&M?
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast…for the number of times I saw footage and mentions of the new SE Beastmode cruiser this weekend was truly off the chart.
If somehow you were away from your social media feeds this weekend, here’s the lowdown.
SE hooked up with NFL player Marshawn Lynch to collaborate on the new Beastmode cruiser.
Apparently SE Bikes (and BMX bikes in general) are seeing a sales spike over the last couple years.
That’s definitely good news! I don’t know if it’s “go-go 80s good” but it bodes well for our little piece of the cycling universe.
In other, semi-related news this week, SE also dropped some sneak peeks of the 3(!) colorways of the new 2018 So Cal Flyer.
I gotta say, I’m kinda digging the middle one…it has that Mike Buff/BMX Action trick team vibe that really takes me down memory lane.
I’m not so sure about the Killer Bees/Stryper colorway…but yellow and gold ano are definitely retro-fabulous, so I’m sure they will still get a segment of the old school heads with that version.
The blue one? Classic. Hard to go wrong there.
All in all, a good week for SE and “mainstream” coverage of BMX in general.
The annual “Spring Fling” happened down in Florida this past weekend and from all indications it looked like it was off the hook (Do people still say that?).
In addition to bringing together a bunch of rowdy BMXers, it was also where quite a few 2018 sneak peeks went down.
SE bikes‘ Todd Lyons brought a bunch of cruisers from their yet-to-be-released lineup and he wasn’t shy about showing them off.
A classic 20″ frame, reimagined as a 29″ complete….it was one cool looking bike…and as Stompin’ Stu (the ST in STR) demonstrated, a more-than-capable wheelie machine.
However, as cool as it looks out of the box, it’s always interesting to see how someone customizes their bike to suit their tastes.
Yet we just haven’t seen much of that to this point with the STR-29. Actually of all the ones I’ve seen, they’ve been bone-stock.
But that all changed this week.
SE shared a picture in their social media feeds of Clyde Akers STR-29…and he definitely souped it up.
With fresh paint, a liberal sprinkling of gold ano and larger tire* in the front…you definitely have a fresh take on the original factory-version STR-29.
Huntington Beach (HB), California has been an iconic flatland spot since the glory days of Martin Aparijo and Woody Itson busting out cherrypickers for the magazines.
Today, that spirit still lives on.
Every Tuesday, a crew of old school flatlanders meet up to bust out some flatland moves.
Apparently an SE 24″ Quadangle Freestyle ended up there for one of these sessions and the crew ended up busting out some quality flatland on it.
The 2017 SE 26″ PK Ripper Looptail sure ticks off all the “retro-fabulous” buttons.
This limited edition cruiser sports a “black sparkle” colorway that’s designed to dazzle in the sun and is chock-full of old-school goodies, including:
cruiser revolution 
