Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Flipper

Thank you for all the input on the t-shirts. It's good to know that—whichever one gets made first—I probably won't be left sitting on 50 of them. Hopefully I'll be sending something off to Supes in the next week or two. Obviously I'll keep everyone posted on the progress. Or lack thereof. (I know me all too well.)

•••••••••••

What's out there today? Well, there's this bike, which has now been e-mailed me twice, once by a reader, and today by its owner. Said owner mentioned that "Moeller said you'd abuse me for this," which is patently untrue. Just because you ride a bike that looks like it was birthed by a Holmes on Thalidomide doesn't mean you should be abused. Isn't the self-abuse of riding such a traveshamockery enough? Apparently not.

I can sort of see how something like this could happen. If you ride mostly transition, and maybe a little trails, your drivetrain is more or less unnecessary. In fact, it becomes a hassle. Taking the whole mess off makes your bike both lighter and simpler. In a way, this should be the kind of thing I approve of.

However.

The beauty of a bicycle, for me, lies within the drivetrain. The coolest thing about riding a bike—again, for me—is being able to crank really hard and go really fast. See: Stricker, Josh. It's not even about gapping over rivers or clearing a 40-foot double or anything, it's about going fast for the sake of going fast. I can't comprehend the thought process that would eliminate that entire aspect of riding. I mean, if you cut your legs off you wouldn't have to worry about athlete's foot or sprained ankles or deciding what shoes to wear, and you'd be a lot lighter, but it seems to me the negatives would outweigh the positives. Would you ride something that looked like this?



Me neither.

•••••••••••

Another reader sent me what has to be the eBay auction of the year, if not the decade.

Not sure whether you realize it or not, but over the past couple of years, the price of vintage BMX stuff has gone through the roof. Hutch parts are more or less worth their weight in gold, and I recently sold a clean set of early Skyway Graphite Tuff Wheels for over $1,200. Since there's no BMX Blue Book or anything, you have to rely on other eBay auctions to inform you of what current values are.

Lately, even mid-school parts (or, to some, new school) have been getting more and more expensive. And maybe it was because of their recent 20th anniversary, but it seems like S&M frames and parts have been going up most of all.

All that said, the person who listed this is obviously insane. And, judging from the seat position, possibly a velociraptor. (In case you were wondering, they do, in fact, ride bicycles.)

••••••••••


34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think I could ride a bike without my "left foot forward".... I get confused just thinking about what that would be like.

Anonymous said...

i'd like to see that kid do a 360.
i bet its really hard to spin with both feet even like that

Anonymous said...

One step closer to the scooter....

Smitty said...

How do you get around on that bike? Well, you drop one foot and push. That makes it a scooter.

Smitty said...

I should add that you are right on in your thoughts, Russ. Take away the drivetrain, you take away the soul of the bike. Who wants a bike with no soul?

Anonymous said...

"birthed by a Holmes on Thalidomide"

hilarious and perfect. Russ, you drink for free if you ever come to the ATL.

Anonymous said...

I picked up a 24" for my GF a couple years ago, and when the shop I got it through put it together (after I told them not to), the seat was at exactly the same position and height as RARE! guy's Dee Snider sig model (WTF?).

I didn't ask dude what was wrong with his mind and/or crotch, because I was afraid of them both.

I still see bikes around town that he must have assembled for old ladies who remember Thalidomide and can't figure out how to move the seat down. No one's ever on them. They're all off somewhere icing their butts.

Russ said...

Al! I got your e-mail(s), I'm just slow at responding. Half barspins, haha.

It's worth noting that after I found that "Nubs" video, I Googled "NoFx 'Nubs'" to see whether the song was based on a real person.

It was: http://www.facebook.com/people/Talli-Osborne/575840169

Anonymous said...

i wish i had a widowmaker. not that that one, obviously. but still...

Mexican John said...

Those 'cranks' are made by a company called 'Curb Rider'. Quite apt really cos you wont be riding much else with a bike set up like that.

Anonymous said...

I don't really care about the evolution of bmx bikes with lower frames and stuff like that. They still are bikes but this takes the price. That is not a bike!

This video (NAME LINK) sums pretty much up about how I feel about bikes and riding them, doesn't matter if it's on my bmx, fixed gear or beach cruiser.

Anonymous said...

That 1st bike is "something else". How dumb is that dude

Anonymous said...

from the right up that guy gave the pedal/standing platform set up thing he seems more like a paid spokesman (read: shill) than a true fan of it and having a web site then doing a bike check on yourself doesn't help much, either. feeling if Briggs & Stratton gave him a bolt on motor he'd tell you it helps him get speed for the jumps and he'd endorse that as well. maybe i'm wrong, that's just how it looks to me.

Anonymous said...

which flatlander (you know, those that did hang-fives like 20 years ago) did this...? It was a while ago, but he got called out for doing his run at the x-games for a set up similar

Anonymous said...

Okay, I took the time to eyeball the "widowmaker" on ebay...

$5,000.00 - and one piece cranks... Now, if it comes complete with the ody (of old) version Bottom Bracket set, then maybe - confirm that the cranks, themselves, are actually ody excalibus - it's a lock.

Anonymous said...

Jason, you're thinking of Adam Pintek.
http://www.bikeflat.com/apintek.shtml

Anonymous said...

t.f.a. says "from the right up that guy gave..."

Brilliant.

Anonymous said...

holy crap...i have to call myself out in the "right/write" swap...i'm officially a doosh, sorry.

wade said...

Douche?

Anonymous said...

Touche?

Anonymous said...

spelled wrong on purpose to further mock myself. haha

Anonymous said...

it's a flatland bike man, no need for the drivetrain

Anonymous said...

No need for a drivetrain? But you used the word "bike"...


word verification: hateamp

Anonymous said...

This bike is hot
http://santabarbara.craigslist.org/bik/1029009084.html

Anonymous said...

"arrrrrrghhhh... is there anyone who just rides anymore?"

No man, just you. Tool.

Anonymous said...

regarding the craiglist posted above:

"U will probably never see another bmx built like this."

"The mountain bike forks have no affect on how the bike rides or its stability or cornering once you get on it the bike squats to its original height. so i also lowered the price sum but other than that this is a great bike for smashing through town or smashing down trails..."

Pure comedy

Anonymous said...

Pegals... Cheese town?

aL said...

i take back my tshirt vote, id rather have an Anonymous is hating... "tool"

Russ said...

That Powerlite caused a brain aneurysm, I think. Can't...think...

Anonymous said...

i don't have anything against trying new things in bmx. i wouldn't ride a bike with pedals where my drivetrain is suopposed to be, but it seems the word freestyle is lost on a lot of the bmx world today. people hate on eastern for merely trying new things. i'm from where eastern is based, so a number of my friends ride prototype eastern stuff. if it doesn't work, it doesn't hit the market, just how it is. i like seeing innovation on something like a bicycle, which has been around for centuries.

Anonymous said...

I would have that velociraptor on a shirt...

Anonymous said...

Your argument against the pedals is invalid, Russ. You can haul ass on a bike with this setup on a good set of trails, a flowing concrete park, a bigass hill, or a vert ramp.

To me, the problem is that when you take off the drivetrain, you've got yersef a 20" scooter. A bigger brother of the 16" Mongoose scooter from BITD. It is no longer a bicycle.

Flipper's idea that these things will make it easier to get into concrete parks is ignorant, though. The skaters that don't want bikes in "their" skateparks don't want glorified scooters in there either. This is just as hard a sell as bikes in skateparks, so everyone might as well work for bikes in skateparks so kids that can't afford shit like this can ride their Nexts in there as well. That's fair.

Sony Laptop Parts said...

All I can say is that you should be in a newspaper. You should most definitely be recognized for your work. Its not every day that I get to see art like yours. Go ahead, publish your stuff because I guarantee you that you will be noticed amongst millions of other viewers! Go ahead, take advantage of your talent, you got it!

Anonymous said...

Heres the solution to the price wars of BMX!

http://bmxbluebook.blogspot.com