On my recent trip to Tokyo I discovered that the Japanese really love their minivelos. And of course there were also mini-sized fixed gear bikes, like the one I saw at the DEPT Geek Garage.
In fact, with the 20" wheels the one in the picture is not that different from these fixed BMXes here. Except that those BMXes are way cooler, of course.
After you get bored riding your color-coordinated fixie because everyone else has a bike exactly like yours, these will be the logical next step. Bridgestone in Japan is bravely showing the way to the future...
Here's my non-cycling themed advance Xmas present and a big thank you to all of yo'all - to celebrate my just over 500 posts I've written and the over 300 000 visits you've made to my blog:
Here's a video from last Saturday's Geek Garage at DEPT & Mataki Nite. I was actually there and I will post plenty of pics later once I get my shit organized.
One thing that is not obvious from the video or the pics is the fact that the tricks contest was actually pretty much ruled by the BMX guys. They were THAT good. In my opinion none of the boys on the pisto bikes had much to say on that. The whole happening was pretty awesome. Nice bikes and great people.
Special cheers and thanks for the stickers & the Nitto parts to 3Bancho!
Lot of people's been recently interested in tricks / freestyle forks that would be strong and barspinnable, and consequently more and more companies are coming up with their different designs to satisfy the customers needs.
Here's another new 700c fork design from the Spanish custom bike company Kinethic. It's long, straight, strong, to be used with a 1" ahead stem, lugged steel and hand made in Alicante, Spain. Price is 150€. Looks good to me.
For inquiries and orders email Gerard at: remixmj@gmail.com
Oooh, this is really fascinating. Ben's Cycle has somehow been able to dig up some vintage Nitto adjustable stems from 'the Nitto warehouse'. Well, besides being quite price-y at 400 bucks, it's actually pretty damn ugly too. It reminds me of this too. But what wouldn't you be prepared to pay for that 'the only stem you will ever need'...?
RED PISTA ALERT! RED PISTA ALERT! RED PISTA ALERT!
Check this out. The guys behind the Pistamania.blogspot have five, yes, I repeat 5, vintage Fagging Pursuit Track Frames for sale, 350€ + shipping each. Sizes 53/55/56/58/58cm.
Straight from Italy. And at least one of them is NOS too. Or are all of them actually NOS?
All right guys, I'll be away for a while now. There might, or might not be, posts here during the next week or so. And one thing, don't leave buying those Christmas presents until the very last minute, mmm'kay?
In the meanwhile, check out my new 'Blogs I Like'-section (scroll bit down and look right) to see what other people's been up to and keep yourselves entertained with this: 'The Chase' by Mustaninja.
Here's an Italian 1980s Sannino 52cm pursuit track bike for sale locally here in Helsinki. The frame's been painted black, unfortunately, and the original 650c steel fork has been swapped into a 700c carbon one. The bike also has a pretty interesting seat post.
Whatever. I would buy that bike if I didn't already have a secret new project going on...
A while ago I wrote about Outlier's new 4Season Black Lotus OG Pants. Well, the guys have been keeping busy because since then and release two more pant designs and to top it off, a nice cycling cap as well.
The new models are the OG Winterweight Dry pants, a very classic looking Wool Lotus trousers and a woollen cycling cap, all looking mighty good and stylish in that casual-type of way and made from smart hi-tech materials too.
And when I'm thinking about NJ, I'm like 'F**k Bruce Springsteen, it's Naughty By Nature, biaaatch!', hah ha ha. Also, I need to point out that my girlfriend spent a year living somewhere in north NJ as an Au Pair after high school so we have almost like a family connection going on here.
So, can you spot any similarities between these two BMX-themed videos?
First we have some random emo-kid with big hair and tight jeans rocking out in his bedroom to some screamo-whatever sounds and practicing his barspinzzz...
Then we a random washed-put big time rock idol guitar hero with big hairdo and very tight jeans goofing around on nice old school BMX, and falling off it a lot.
Ghostface's 'Be Easy' got me so pumped that I need to post my other favorite Tony Starks joint right here, 'Apollo Kids' from back in the day. So good.
I've absolutely no idea what these are about, I just found on them somewhere on the interwebz but the pics are way cooler than those Mike Giant designs, for example. And considering how old the photos are, the bikes are most likely fixed too.