On Christmas Eve, I saw a great story on ABCNews.com about “The Bike Man”, Lewis H. Davis, a retired maintenance man, who rebuilds bikes for kids in Durham, North Carolina. He does it out of the good of his heart, through donations people make, or bikes he finds - usually rebuilding up to 150 a year. So good to see stories like this, especially when it involves getting kids into riding bikes - regardless of how, or what they ride.
Check out his story here: ABCNews.com (Thanks to FenwayKid over on the BMXMuseum for the link).
Also, I want to say Happy Holidays to all of you. I hope you and yours are enjoying the season and looking forward to 2008.
Black Lightning, the boutique bicycle and clothing company, has done four custom bikes for the release of Chicago hip-hop artist, Lupe Fiasco’s new album, The Cool. This is just the latest in Black Lightning’s promotion of the bmx culture since providing bikes for The Cool Kids’ video “Black Mags“.
It should be no surprise that Fiasco, with his documented love of skateboards/comics/bikes, would hook up with a company like Black Lightning to do something special for his latest album. His first single was “Kick Push“, an ode to skating, that earned him multiple award nominations.
The bikes feature the custom finishes Black Lightning is throwing down, with graphics in the style of the album art. Check out more images on the Black Lightning Blog - look closely at the details, some really detailed touches on these bikes.
Top Gear is my absolute, all-time favorite television show about cars, and a few months back, BBC America finally began running it here in the States. Last week’s UK episode featured riders Sebastian Keep and Ben Shenker racing one of the hosts, James May, through Budapest in a Fiat 500 retromobile. The way Top Gear shoots cars is always so well done, and they apply the same techniques to the riding here as well. Sebastian and Ben pull out some bangers along the way in unexpected places - some of which were obviously staged, but rad nonetheless.
Check it out at RideBMX UK (via defgrip).
It has been quite a week for news out of the SE camp, as I just got this little tidbit about another great auction for Stephen Murray. So rad to see the continued support of the BMX Community. Go bid now, you know you want to…
SE Bikes, one of the OG’s of BMX, has put together a one of a kind package to help raise funds to assist Stephen Murray in his fight to “STAY STRONG” and recover from injuries he sustained at the Baltimore AST Dew Tour.
These items are for collectors and serious BMX enthusiasts!
The Bike
This is the FIRST production bike of the 2008 PK Ripper Looptail. It’s the same EXACT bike that was on display at Interbike in Las Vegas. All of the normal production bikes have the serial numbers stamped in numerical order on the inside of the rear dropout. But this bike is unique in the fact that it does not have any serial number stamp. Only 250 of this bike will be available throughout the year in the USA. This was the first one made!
The Shoes
These are a brand new pair of the limited edition DC/PK Ripper DC Shoe. This shoe was also VERY limited worldwide and all stores are completely sold out. Size is 10.5. As a bonus, these shows come with a re-release of the “Joe Kid on a Stingray” video with bonus footage.
The Jersey
The most legendary BMX jersey of all time, the SE retro jersey. Made by Hot Shoppe in the USA. Size large.
Get in on the auction at EBay where you can type in Stephen Murray for the item or the listing information below.
Stephen Murray SE Bikes Collectors Package – 200185371813
Special thanks to Todd Lyons and SE Bikes for making this effort to raise funds! Happy Holidays to all!
Also visit www.stephenmurrayfamilyfund.com & www.myspace.com/murraystrong
There is a second auction package that will be released on EBay soon as well that includes a Quad Angle frame and tons of SE goods.
Shirts from SE - click for a larger image.
Todd Lyons at SE just sent over the news that they have all four of their new shirt designs in stock from sizes small to XXL. The BMX shirts come in the classic blues and browns, and they have one representing their single speed bikes which looks rad as well. You can get them through your local SE shop, now, just in time for gift-giving.
Personally, I’m digging the “number plate design”, and I’m a XXL if anyone needs to know, heh.
Fuel TV, the Action Sports channel available through most cable providers, (unfortunately, not Sunflower, my local provider, though we did have it with Comcast in Seattle, but I digress) has a number of their videos available at their site, or via the podcast menu in iTunes. Quick, well-produced segments from video-makers like Props and Fuel-produced shows like Firsthand, give you some great BMX videos to watch wherever you like.
There is a ton here from other sports as well. Plenty to waste at least a few hours on during these cold winter months. Sorry, we just had our first ice storm in Kansas, so I’m a bit bitter in many ways…
Check it out at the FuelTV site here - click on the BMX tab to the far right
Or
Download the podcasts directly from iTunes
Dennis McCoy grabbed from a video by krtschmidt.
Kurt Schmidt has a great site with a bunch of vintage freestyle info, and a ton of videos that he has put on YouTube. His most recent videos feature Eddie Fiola, Woody Itson, Dennis McCoy and Rick Moliterno at the 1988 AFA Finals in Wichita, KS. I wasn’t at this contest, though it was only a few hours away from my home in Kansas City, but some of my friends went, and I remember how stoked they were when they got back. You can hear the crowd just LOSING it over the tricks being pulled, something you don’t hear as much on the televised spectacles of today, even as guys are pulling triple-tailwhips - perhaps because the tricks are just SO big today…
Interesting to see the different styles between the four riders. Moliterno and DMC just fly through so many of the rolling tricks that were becoming popular at that time, whereas Woody and Fiola pull more of the power-moves that helped progress freestyle past the balance tricks and hopping of the early-80s.
I believe Schmidt filmed these videos, as he was deep in the freestyle scene of the mid-80s and 90s, and has the knowledge, history and footage to prove it. In 1991, he formed Standard Industries with Rick Moliterno and Bill Nitschke.
Check out krtschmidt.com, and then jump over to his YouTube collection. Make sure you have some spare time available. You’ll be there a while.
Jimmy Levan continues to progress well after his fall and head trauma that occurred a couple of weeks ago. He’s not healed, but he is healing.
Over the past week, a couple more chances for you to help him as he heads into a rehabilitation facility have been announced, and both give you opportunities to get a little in return. For the vintage guys, Profile has dug into their warehouse and has an auction running on ebay for a NOS 1985 Profile ProStyler Frame, Fork, Ladder Handlebars (Still with original warranty card), Padset (Still in original packaging), and old style Profile polished seat post clamp. For those of you new-schoolers, Dan’s Comp is offering a chance to win a new Shitluck Magnolia frame signed by Shitluck main man, Leland Thruman.
Click here for the Dan’s Comp Levan page.
Click here for the Profile auciton on ebay.
Oh, and the auction for Jim Bauer’s bike ended, raising $1,025 toward Jimmy’s recovery fund.
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