Tony and Prolly have all of their Profile (and other) components ready to go, and I have a package on the way. Can't wait to see how they look after they've been completely built up!
Huge thanks to Drew @ Milwaukee Bikes for all the time and effort he's put into this project...
And now he'll be riding with him (or rather against him) again at the Tour of Cali. I liked Landis when he was with USPS and Phonak. His interviews were always an entertaining read and he seemed much more like someone I would hang out with than most guys in the spandex set.
Here's the thing about Landis though... I'm not surprised he was caught doping at the TdF in '06. I mean come on, we all know he did it. No way in hell he makes that comeback ride in stage 17 unless he's on some kind of rocket fuel. What surprised me the most about that whole incident is the fact that he didn't just come out and admit it. All he had to do was simply say, "Yeah, my hip was killing me, I was desperate after getting dropped on stage 16, so I did something stupid." He would've been immediately forgiven by cycling fans and the media, and he wouldn't have ended up looking like such a schmuck through the ridiculous appeals process.
I thought that if anyone would man up to cheating, it would've been Floyd. I thought he would've been the last guy to pull a Tyler Hamilton. But that's exactly what he did, and that's pretty disappointing in a way. Nevertheless, it'll be good to see him back in the Peloton, even if it just means we get to see him bust his ass again...
It's fun to watch how quickly some of the newer riders are progressing through the standard tricks these days, and then they start throwing down new stuff of their own. Progress. Things to watch for in this clip: a 360 tap w/ a barspin, and a skid to face skid on a wall. Not sure I've seen either of those things before...
Matt Rice from TrackBikeTimes.com asked if I would do an interview for the site, and I was naturally happy to oblige. It's always fun to look back on how all of this stuff got started. Check it out here.
There's a great post on the Profile Fixed website right now about how to overhaul a Profile hub. Excellent info, and it's coming directly from the source, so you know it's legit. Check it here.
Lots of big new things are coming for the fixed gear set from Profile this spring, so keep an eye out...!
As you probably already know, I love the hardcopy. One of my favorite bike related 'zines back when I first started riding fixed was a rag called "Leapfrog," which was put out by a guy named Scott Spitz.
I was recently going through some stuff and found a copy of issue #10, which was published in 2003, and which was also the last issue that Scott ever did. It has some really killer stuff in it, and it's pretty cool to look back at how things were 5+ years ago, so I decided to scan the entire thing and upload it.
Got a package from Italy yesterday with a DVD in it called "Bici Batte Auto." It's basically a compilation of several different documentaries about the history of Critical Mass, riding and racing in big cities, and the development of modern urban bike culture. The short that we compiled for the Bicycle Film Festival called "The Making of Bootleg Sessions v.2" is included in the culture section, and it's even translated into Italian, which is kind of surreal.
I haven't had a chance to watch much of it yet, but the doc I'm most interested to see is by a filmmaker named Ted White called "We Are Traffic." It was filmed in San Francisco in 1992 I believe, and looks like it could be pretty good. There is also a 60 page book included in the packaging. I can't read any of it because it's all in Italian, but it is very well put together.
Big thanks to Naoto for including us in this project...!
I've said this here many times already, but J. Martinez is a great photographer, one of our favorites, as evidenced by the fact that we used one of his photos for the cover of Bootleg Sessions v.1. Last night he sent me a link to a video that he had created using photo sequences that he took during the BFF in NYC last summer...
Good lord those are ridiculous. The over-commercialization of the Obama inauguration is moving full speed ahead right now.
I have to say that the apparent idolization of Obama is starting to make me nervous. Don't get me wrong, I voted for the guy and I have vastly increased hope for the future now just like much of the rest of the country (and the planet), but let's keep in mind that he's still a politician, and all politicians, no matter who they are, should be met with a healthy amount of skepticism.
Keep in mind that in the months immediately following September 11th, Bush's approval rating was over 85%. That's the highest approval rating for any U.S. President ever. Think about that. And then look at what happened. His administration took that as a free pass to do whatever they wanted, and the country pretty much went straight to hell over the next several years.
Now obviously Obama isn't Bush. I'm not suggesting that. All I'm saying is that we should always be wary of what any President is doing, and we should always look at every action with a critical eye. That is our duty as citizens of not only the United States, but of the World as well.
We got the first batch of footage in this week from the guys in Minneapolis, and there is definitely some solid stuff in there, including two things I've never seen before. That's always a good sign when the first thing you get is fresh. There's more to come from those guys as well.
Our man Tyler Johnson getting ridiculous. Wow. And with a normal gear ratio too. Double wow. Not only is the move amazing, but that is an incredibly good photo by Jake Ricker. I don't know about anyone else, but I am now 100% stoked on the BSv.3 project.
I haven't posted on here in ages. Life has been quite overwhelming, but a well deserved hiatus from work, life, and self loathing begins this weekend. Tom and I are on a plane across the pond Saturday night to start our European takeover with the Fixed Gear London crew on Sunday.
Part of the stress has been waiting for some parts to arrive that I orderedalong with some ill new parts that just became or will become available soon. I want to thank Drew at Milwaukee Bikes and Christian at Profile Racing. I felt like a fucking kid on Christmas who was real naughty and can't play with his new toys for a few days. Here was the haul though.
Just for the haters who like ragging on the fact that we do bmx tricks. Why not run BMX ratios? Milwaukee Bikes machined this sick 12t cog and lockring combo that is available now. The cog and lockring are recessed to accomodate a chain on such a small cog. I can't wait to come across a 33t Tree Lite spline drive sprocket.
Next up is Milwaukees new fork's ugly bastard step child. The pure at heart are going to hate this, but I'm going to love riding it.
I'm going to be trying something new in the next few months. This next picture may or may not have something to do with it.
The North American Handmade Bicycle Show is in my 'hood (Indianapolis) this year, and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone who is coming in for it. Should be a great time. Shawn Wolf and I are trying to organize a screening of Macaframa sometime during the weekend, hopefully we can get that squared away and provide details soon.
Andy from Fixed Gear London posted some photos of the new Charge Bikes Fork Ted and I will be riding. I have photos of the complete frameset but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to leak them yet. Till then, take a look at this:
If you saw this post last week, you know that Ride/Relax Productions has been helping out a bit with the Fight with Flight flatland comp that's going down in Indy in a couple of weeks. The thing was only put together about a month ago, but it's starting to look like it may turn out to be sort of a big deal. Several of the top pros from the U.S. will be in attendance, Red Bull is putting up a nice purse, and Ride BMX will be there to do a photo shoot and a video of the event. Really looking forward to this...!
Got my copy of the Osaka crew's new Fixion DVD in the mail yesterday, so I thought I'd post a little review (more of a summary really) detailing what it's all about.
First of all, I have to say that the production work on this vid was amazingly good. You can tell immediately that the guys who put this together are pros. The format follows the standard skate video style with all the different riders having their own part, which works smoothly, and the camera work is first rate from start to finish.
The riding itself is solid. There are definitely quite a few clips in there that really caught my attention, and there were a few things that I hadn't seen before, which is always good. There was one rider in particular named "Yama" who really killed it. He only has one line in the entire vid, but it is easily the best skid combo I've ever seen... Ted Shred to step-over to opposite over-the-bars skid, and then he gets out of that by immediately switching around backwards Shawn Wolf style. And the dood does it super fast and smooth too. Good to see people still getting creative with the skids. The rest of the riders are all very good as well, Japan is really blowing up on this stuff.
I have to say that the best thing by far about Fixion is getting to see all of the amazing locations in the background. Cities in Japan have this unique sort of weird urban beauty to them, and that is in full force in this video. The spots the guys ride range from amazing to absolutely stunning, and I occasionally found myself watching certain parts twice because I had gotten so distracted by the killer backdrops that I missed the riding!
The only mild bummer about the vid is the fact that the infamous Osaka Tony's part isn't included in it. For some unknown reason he bailed on the project at the last second... I can only imagine what a pain in the ass that was for the Soundboarding crew who put the DVD together. Losing your ace in the hole at the deadline is tough, but the guys still came through and put out a killer video which is quite an impressive feat.
I definitely recommend checking out Fixion, you won't be disappointed. Order a copy here.
Also, here is the raw footage from what should have been Osaka Tony's part, in case you haven't seen it elsewhere already...
Nathan and Ben from Freeman Transport recently did an interview for Selectism.com. Very interesting read, I love their ideas about how a bike company should operate.
I guess it's official... Sunday is putting the 24" Model-C into production this spring. I may have to scoop one of these and set it up for riding flatland... wonder how much it weighs. I'm obviously hooked on the fixed thing, but I still like to roll around once in awhile, and it would be nice to be able to do it on a bike that fits me a little better...
** Shipping and handling will be added to all orders. Charges for a single DVD are $5 in the U.S. and Canada, $10 everywhere else. Multiple orders will cost slightly more.
