October 2009

Rick Moliterno’s Bike Recovered!

October 27, 2009

Good news - Rick got his bike back. It was found in an apartment across the street from the D’port skatepark. Missing its brakes, but otherwise intact.
Read about it here:
http://www.standardbyke.com/blog/?p=2479

Rick Moliterno’s bike stolen in Davenport, IA

October 20, 2009

If you’re in the midwest, particularly around Davenport, IA/The Quad Cities, keep your eyes open, for Rick Moliterno’s bike. It was stolen earlier today from the Davenport skatepark. All of you outside of the area, lookout for it on craigslist or ebay. It is a pretty custom ride, with features and parts that only Rick has.

Rick Moliterno's stolen Standard 20" BMX

Here’s the info from Rick (Standard Byke Company Owner/BMX Veteran), himself:
My bike was my first and only bike made here in our shop. It had unique engraving on the head tube and drop outs. It had a custom green paint job to match my 1963 Ford Galaxie. The fork had straight cut legs and a freestyle steer tube instead of race. The compression bolt was a sample we never sold.

It had a titanium Standard front peg that is like 10 years old. Oh yeah, the frame has euro bb and a 27.0 seat tube…2 things no other freestyle frames that are up to date have. Man, I loved that damn bike! It had so much I liked plus being the first one from here and being the one I am getting back to riding full time on again….

If you see this bike, let Rick/Standard know via:
info@standardbyke.com
twitter.com/standrdbykeco

July 2009

Stompin’ Stu Documentary From Bang! Pictures

July 22, 2009

Stu Thomsen, Greg Hill and other race heros from the 80s.

Looks like Mark Eaton of Bang! Pictures and of course the “Dorkin in York” series of videos, is at it again. Following-up on the BMX documentary, “Joe Kid on a Stingray”, Eaton is releasing “Stompin’ Stu, the Story of BMX Legend, Stu Thomsen”. Looks like it will be similar in style to Joe Kid, with filmed interviews, vintage film/video footage, as well as still photos.

I forgot that Stu’s wife is Greg Hill’s sister. But hearing that in the trailer, I was reminded of how much the magazines used to push their rivalry back-in-the-day.

I love to see BMX remembering and celebrating its roots. For too long, we’ve only focused on the new and now. Every day that continues to change. Good stuff.

Check out the trailer here.

Discuss over at the BMXMuseum.

Found on ESPN, posted by Brian Tunney.

June 2009

Dinosaur Jr Video featuring BMX/Skating

June 5, 2009

Too good - I noticed this on the FBM site when Crandall posted about the video shoot a few months back. You gotta watch it to see how they got Jay, Murph and Lou to “ride” in their new video for their song “I’m Over It”, from their upcoming album, Farm. Can I just say that I’m stoked to see the original lineup lasting past the “reunion” of a couple years back?

Also, saw that Weezer was just shooting a video featuring some BMX riding as well. More to come on that. Greyboy supplied them with a whole bunch of Sundays to roll on in a LA ditch. Rad.

March 2009

The Hackflip

March 22, 2009 in Freestyle, Roots, Skatepark by Jeremy | No comments

Nothing like a new term in BMX - and it is a trick that is completely over the top. Here’s a photo, courtesy of @odysseyBMX of Jim Bauer and Rooftop attempting a 1-handed backflip on a sidehack into the foam pit. They were at Woodward West for the Old School BMX Reunion. Should be a ton of coverage on this event soon, and we’ll keep you posted here at the ‘Roots.

Ah, video as well, from ShredorDie.com to check it out click on pic below to follow the link.

How sprockets are made - Tree and SuperRat Machine Works

March 20, 2009

Sprocket Making Video from andy chapman on Vimeo.

Nice little video of the making of the world-famous Tree sprocket at the world headquarters of Phil Wasson’s shop, Super Rat Machine Works. Damn, I miss Phil and Courtney, and my hot-pepper infused lattes (heh) from the Songbird.

Found at TheComeUp.

This is why you run front brakes

March 10, 2009

Baco 10 section with Chad DeGroot from chad degroot on Vimeo.

Chad Degroot’s part from Baco 10 - Kickstart my heart, indeed.

December 2008

Happy Holidays

December 31, 2008

I fell off the blogging wagon over the past few months, as seems to be the case with me every-so-often. My school and home lives have both been busy, and I haven’t come through with new material for a while. So, I at least wanted to say “Happy Holidays” to those of you who take the time to read my ramblings. I wish all of you and yours a safe and Happy New Year. So here's a classic clip from the movie E.T. of the bmx chase scene.

November 2008

Red Bull BMX 816 Session Video

November 11, 2008

In the infancy of this site, I posted about a contest that happened in KC at the Pleasant Valley Skatepark. During the contest, I noticed a guy rolling around on a skateboard, filming. I was told by Ivy Melvin from Red Bull that the guy on the board was Trevor Hawkins of Butter Films and she had hired him to grab some footage. So, over a year has now gone by, but I stumbled-upon Trevor’s work on YouTube last week. Almost 10 minutes worth of some great footage of the good times had. Gotta love the long-jump section around the 3-min mark.

Barack Obama is Your New President

November 4, 2008

America, your president-elect. Barack Obama is indeed your new bicycle.
Now that you rocked the vote, rock a helmet like him, too.

October 2008

Hacks and Kicks Videos

October 21, 2008

DJ Truly Odd and Greyboy released a promo video for their new sidehack company, Hercules, a couple weeks back, and it is awesome. Just looks like too much fun. They’ve ben working with Ben Ward from Odyssey on some of the design details, and showed a prototype at Interbike last month. Can’t wait to see more.

Well, Rich Hirsch and the Lotek crew have filmed a ton with a number of their riders over the summer, and you can now see the fruits of their labor over on VIMBY. The Lotek SF Mixtape Episode 1 was very street focused, and Episode 2 has quite a bit of park riding. Both are awesome in their own right, keep an eye out for their new episodes. Go check ‘em out.

Benefits and Bikes for Mike Aitken.

October 17, 2008

Video by Jordan Utley
As you have probably heard by now, and as I mentioned on the site last week, Mike Aitken was injured, and as the appeals have gone out to give him and his family a hand, the BMX community has responded. Odyssey and 5050BMX shop are raffling off a one-of-a-kind S&M LTF, Profile is auctioning an early Hutch frame, and there is a bunch of other stuff happening that you can check out at MikeAitken.com. You can also hear about Mike’s progress at his site.

Positive thoughts go out to him and his family.

Lighten the Mood

October 15, 2008

I got a couple great links from a couple friends this week. You can call them vintage, retro or whatever, but here’s some enjoyable viewing to be had.

First up, from Jason, I got the above video, “Industry on Parade”, featuring Columbia Bicycle manufacturing. A great look at an American bicycle factory in the 1940s. Check out the women who could be our Grandmothers lacing wheels around the 2:40 mark. As Jason said, it is definitely “worth the 5 minutes”.

Next, from Andy, who gave us the behind-the-scenes on the Nike Olympic designs a few months back - airwalkprototypes.com. Ollie pads, lace-savers, neons, and more. The site is a labor of love by a guy with a serious fetish for some rare kicks. Though I often rocked the ever-popular Adidas hi-tops or Chuck Taylors, I destroyed a few pairs of Airwalks back-in-the-day. The best thing is that you could probably re-create the visual design of many of these by using Nike ID, or Converse One.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some updated ways to help Mike Aitken, as well as a couple of new big bikes I gotta tell you about.

Mike Aitken Needs Our Help

October 8, 2008

Pro-rider, father, and BMX style-cat, Mike Aitken fell hard and is in need of the BMX community’s help. I hate posting this kind of news - similar to Jimmy Levan and Stephen Murray, amongst others, last year. Aitken is known for his amazingly smooth, classic riding style, as well as his Fit frame, popular with so many kids these days, the S3. Hell, I even run an Odyssey Aitken seat. Now, he and his family need some help with the oncoming medical bills they’re facing with his injury. I encourage you all to do what you can, even in these trying economic times.

Here’s the press release from Aaron Cooke, of the Athlete Recovery Fund, an organizing body that is trying to implement insurance for Action Sports riders and their families…

Mike Aitken is a Professional BMX rider in need of our help. Mike is an icon in the sport of BMX and is someone who rides with incredible style and passion for the sport. He is also a proud husband and a father. Read the message below from his brother Jeremy Aitken:“Mike Aitken has been hospitalized in serious condition. While in Pennsylvania over the weekend, Mike was seriously injured when he over-rotated a 360. He is currently in the ICU unit and has not regained consciousness. His injuries include a fractured eye socket, sinus and both sides of his jaw. A CAT scan shows no swelling on his brain. As soon as any changes in his status are available, we will pass them on. Thank you for your faith, prayers, and support of Mike and his family.They are needed and greatly appreciated.”10/6/2008

This is a time when we can pull together to make a huge difference in Mike’s recovery. No amount is too small and if everyone pulls together and offers a little bit we can make a dent in the medical bills to come.

Ways for you to help:
www.5050bmx.com There is a link and a Paypal account set up for Mike and his family.

www.athleterecoveryfund.com Click the “Make a donation button” and because ARF is a 501(c)3 Non Profit the PayPal fees are less than most anywhere else, meaning more of your donation goes to Mike and his family. All donations made at this time go directly to Mike Aitken and his family.

Mail a check to:
Athlete Recovery Fund c/o Mike Aitken
27636 Ynez Road L-7 #284
Temecula, CA 92591
Write check payable to Mike Aitken

Athlete Recovery Fund is in the process of providing a grant to also assist Mike and his family through this tough time. While extremely unfortunate this is the reason why we started our charity. For the PayPal and mailing address we are simply helping coordinate donations with the approval of Mike Aitken’s family. For large donations or concerns about receiving tax deductibility please contact aaron@athleterecoveryfund.com.