Turbo Kid | cruiser revolution

Top ten of 2015

31 12 2015

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!

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Tags: 2016 Skyway T/A 26, 24inch Chase Hawk Tire, 26 inch BMX cruiser, BMX Movies, BMX Plus!, Colony Eclipse 24, Encore Bikes Coda 24, Gary Turner, Redline PL-26, Scot Breithaupt, Stolen Bikes, Turbo Kid
Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Old School

Turbo Kid takes you back to the future

3 09 2015

Imagine thumbing through the shelves of dusty old VHS tapes at a video store back in the 80s, stopping at one with a super hero and a BMX bike on the cover. You smile, grab it, and stroll off knowing you’re in for some cheesy…but oh so fun…entertainment.

If you can go back and put yourself back in that headspace, well then my friend, you’re probably going to love Turbo Kid.

Billed as a post-apocalyptic love story set in an alternate version of 1997, it has one retro nod after another.

(Let’s just say hearing “Thunder in your heart” within the first few minutes made me extremely giddy.)

The movie follows the tale of an orphaned teenage forager who, along with his female-robot companion, must fight an evil warlord who controls the only water supply. The evil warlord is played perfectly — which in this case, is completely over the top — by Michael Ironside (who I remember fondly from movies in the 80s and 90s as a biker gang member or some other villian).

Of course there’s plenty of riding throughout the movie as it seems bikes are the only form of transportation in this world. I found myself squinting to make out all the details of the bikes…someone paid a lot of attention to make sure they looked sufficiently retro. (I got a kick out of seeing “Special thanks to Skyway Wheels” in the credits.)

Another nod to the past is the location itself. The movie is a Canada-New Zealand co-production shot in rural Quebec.

Yes, just like the most famous BMX movie to precede it, Turbo Kid was shot in Canada. It’s enough to make a Canuck BMXer a little teary-eyed.

Program notes:

There’s quite a bit of Kill Bill-style bloody gore in this movie so it might not be suitable for younger kids.
This movie is on a limited run in most places. Catch it if you can! (Otherwise you can get it on Vimeo)

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Tags: BMX Movies, Michael Ironside, Rad, Retro BMX, Skyway wheels, Thunder in your heart, Turbo Kid
Categories : Freestyle, goofiness, Old School, shenanigans

Is this the summer of the BMX movie?

15 07 2015

It’s starting to feel like the 80s all over again.

Remember when Rad and BMX Bandits were on the big screen? Those were heady times…filled with so much promise. It seemed like BMX had made it…at least to the big screen. (Heck, even Nicole Kidman appeared in BMX Bandits!)

Little did we know how long the drought between BMX movies would prove to be.

However, this summer seems to be where things really start to change.

The long anticipated Heroes of Dirt — with a whole slew of BMX cameos — is now making its way around the US, getting hype and generating positive reviews.

Following that we have instances where BMX plays a prominent role in more mainstream movies.

The Strongest Man comes to mind. A little off-beat in the storyline department, to be sure, but still pretty interesting nonetheless.

Then we have Turbo Kid.

Sort of a mashup between Mad Max and BMX Bandits from the look of it.

This one almost feels like it should be on VHS in a dusty remainder bin in an old movie rental place…and I mean that in the best possible sense. This has a retro vibe that I kinda dig.