2020V14

STEVE BUDDENDECK PHOTO.

WWW.DCSHOES.COM

AVAILABLE IN STORES NOW.

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013 News and assorted junk

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Reformist

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da Worlds

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Ace of Spades Subscription competition

All sorts of action from around the place and your chance to win a Federal Foundation.

Who said flat was dead. Planet X and ESPN thats who. Of course they know jack shit about BMX.

A massive Aussie contingent takes on the world in Cologne, along with some tales and km’s across Europe with Mike Daly at the wheel.

Subscribe for your chance to win this issues test rig.

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RSVP only

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D.I.Y.

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No Parking

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US mail bombs...

Triple Six put on a hell of a comp for those invited.

Yeah we said this issue would be street only and we lied. To make it up to you, we have 11 pages of kick arse street photography thats low on fizz so you can slam it down fast.

A few words on the lost art of building your own park.

So, you scored some cheap parts from some OS mail order shop and now my local shop has shut down and I’ve got no sponsor. You suck. The reality behind the OS mail order scam.

COVER//José power grinding//Nitai CONTENTS//Kim Grosser breaking free of the city limits//PeReiRa

2020bmxmagazine

v14

Exists thanks to//Matt Holmes, Mike Daly Pixel and paper manipulation//Holmes

Contributors//Jamie Mahon, Ross D Lavender, Clint Millar, Chris Moore, Lacy, Jamie Moore, Nitai, Shane Badman, Simon O’brien, Grub, Nick Edwards, Alfonzo deJesus and a cast of thousands...

Photos//Graeme Pereira, Jamie Mahon, Chris Polack, Chris Moore, Beardo, John Young, Tim Kiddle, Nitai, Kade Hillier, Dave Sayer, Grub, Smiley, Zack Musarsa, Ian Robinson.

The Godfather//Michael Steingraeber, thanks buddy!

Photographic (+life) inspiration//Tony Nolan All editorial enquiries//ed@2020bmxmag.com.au Advertising info//sales@2020bmxmag.com.au Publishers//Holmes & MikeD Webheads//www.2020bmxmag.com.au Editorial and photographic contributions are welcome, but 2020bmxmagazine cannot accept responsibility for the loss or damage of material. Send a stamped self-addressed envelope if requiring return pronto. That said, we do look after your stuff like our own!

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Underground Down under coming up.

How To

Get your whip on with Kenny Raggett.

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Beats and pieces

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New Products

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Bike check

More rock’n’roll and digital vision for your perusual.

Save those dollars cause theres new proddy in town.

Easterns’ complete Ace of Spades gets a roll.

2020bmxmagazine is published four times a year by 2020bmxmagazine Pty Ltd. RRP $6.95* Every issue more and more crew get themselves involved in 2020bmxmagazine, making it the riders manual for the whole of Australia. If you want to find out how to submit words, ideas, photos or fill our ipod with good tunes then contact us.

Yo, what you waiting for?

Distributed in all states of Australia by Gordon&Gotch.

New Zealand distribution by Gordon&Gotch NZ. For bikeshop sales in Oz email sales@2020bmxmag.com.au And for New Zealand call 09 625 3018 or FAX 1800 186 640.

Printed in Australia by Quality Images.

Made on an Apple 1.8 Dual G5.

All material copyright ©2004 2020bmxmagazine Pty Ltd. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers, but possibly that of the author. Respect yourself and others, when riding and in life. And apparently you have to wear a helmet when on public roads. Also, start training for the 2008 Olympic Games... *Recommended and maximum price, cheap eh?

Correspondence and competition entries to// 2020bmxmagazine PO Box 498 Newtown NSW 2042 or email whatever@2020bmxmag.com.au

05 B I K ESE RS: 0 2 W E N SE E TH E E EAST ER N DEAL es AT TH ES Mildura Cycl

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NSW Bike Barn Parramatta 44 02 9630 38 Bike Barn Liverpool 44 02 9602 02 Basin e Th t Bikes A int Sanctuary Po 77 37 43 44 02 dney Cycology Sy Gladesville 00 02 9879 70

L GnzUER ARD PASaCnA M u Sa

by M

ALLCITY

A recent forum thread on www.ozscenebmx.com has shown that there’s some debate about which city of Australia rules. A debate which quickly turned into a full on war of bullshit words. It started sounding like a state v’s state, rider v’s rider deal. WTF? Was I suddenly plunged into some weird, twisted nightmare revolving around some team-based ball sport? Didn’t I get into riding in the first place to stay clear of ignorant jock freaks with no tolerance for anything beyond their own small mind? Initially it sounded like some crew had obviously lived for long periods of time in each city and had bitter experiences in them all. But reading on it seemed that a few days in a different place was all that was needed to judge it for life.

Before you go judging a city, or anything for that matter, you should probably spend a little time getting to know it first. After this, go right ahead; make your judgement if that’s what makes you happy.

Opinions rule, especially when they’re informed, but blindness and ignorance just plain suck. And if you’ve taken a look through the dirty window we call TV recently, the end result is hate and hate brings with it some pretty seriously messed up people and ideals.

If you’ve ever had to move house, town, city, state or even country, you know that the first few days are probably not the best example of what a new place has to offer. Double the crap factor of the new place if it wasn’t your choice to move there in the first place. A lot of time can easily get passed thinking how you had the best of everything where you came from, and at first glance, the new scenario isn’t looking that good. But remember it will probably never look good with a pissed off attitude. To expand on that, visiting a new city can bring a similar experience, especially if you step into it with a closed mind, or the opinion that where your from is the only place to be.

But if you choose to make the move to enjoy somewhere new for good or for a chance to check out something different, it all changes. Those first few days are gold. Suddenly it’s a holiday, a new beginning, whatever. New faces, spaces, places… Rocking around any new neighbourhood on a 20inch is always good. It’s a passport to fit in and breeze right on through pretty much anywhere. Scratching below the surface, looking around a few more corners, being open to someone you meet. This holiday vibe changes the way you look at everything.

Luckily I’ve had the chance to live in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, along with a lot of smaller places over the course of my life. And through riding have had the chance to travel around this country and beyond.

Given the chance, I’ll live a lot more places. Not to mention travel a hell of a lot more. Why? Cause it’s always something new, it’s always going to be different, and theres always going to be new people to meet. Plus you can always go back to the places and people you know and love.

When it comes to the crunch, this mag pretty much purely exists due to all the people, places and experiences in my life. Without those experiences, you’d find a mag full of pretty much nothing, maybe some good pics, but devoid of anything real, devoid of experience and devoid of originality.

Riding can get you far. Where you choose to take it (or let it take you) is all up to you, but at the very least it will ensure you meet like minded heads on a regular basis.

The immortal words of ‘it aint where youre from, it’s where youre at’ still ring true, but don’t doubt for a second that every day you’ve spent on this planet don’t have any bearing on your world.

Dan Montoya proving Queensland is sunny//Nitai

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3

DEGREES

I had my motel room provided as well as transfers to and from the event site. Each rider was also given a cool Eastpak Bag, a copy of Dig Mag and a few other goodies just say thanks for showing up. Redbull had also organised a dinner the night before the whole comp started at some rather styling Italian restaurant with free beer or wine supplied! Yes, they certainly know how to make 32 of the worlds best BMX'ers be on their side from the start! Give any BMX'er alcohol and they will be your friend. On the Saturday of the comp they organised a BBQ with awesome food and more free drinks. During the comp at the site they had the fancy Italian restaurant cater our lunches with the best food I have ever seen for a comp. I was in heaven. On the Sunday night after the comp they organised an awesome after-party at some nightclub with a shuttle bus to take us there and as many drinks as you could handle. Lets just say that I had one of the best weekends at an international comp that I have ever had. We were all treated like kings. Oh, by the way. There was also some damn good riding

Guess who 360 double whipped the box? Jay Miron is king//Red Bull

Cardiff, Wales, England.

Out of all the events I have been to around the world I must say that the Redbull 3degrees was one of the most professional ones I have ever been to. Everything to do with the event made me feel like a rockstar. that went down. Standouts for me were Hannu Cools who fufanued the wall behind an 8 foot vert quarter. It had to be seen to be believed. It was great to see Gary Young ride at warp speed everywhere doing 3 times as many tricks as anyone else. It was great to ride with a few other front brakers as well, Dave Osato, Dave Freimuth, Tobias Wicke, Dustin Guenther were all giving the unique course a workout. Jay Miron came out on top though with the biggest flips over the six foot tall box jump and the best 360 double whip ever! Jay rules, that’s all that needs to be said. The course itself was very different in that it was on a 3degree slope (hence the name) It was very much a jumpers dream with plenty of box jumps and hips on the downhill flow that the course had. However there were plenty of lines still found by those who looked.

Overall it was one of the best events of this type that I have ever been too and hopefully I will be lucky enough to receive an invite next year. Yo yo!

Clint MIllar.

Clint Millar hitting up the picnic table//Red Bull

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ACT.FOUR

This was the forth year people have gathered in Canberra and it was an awesome weekend just like the others. This year was a bit unorganized, even though it’s not really an organized event.

There was a bit of confusion this year about when it was on or if it was on at all. In previous years it has been held on the Anzac long weekend so some people just presumed it would be then. But we never really put out the word that it was happening. It got to the Anzac weekend and a few people came to Canberra but nothing really happened.

The weekends had been a lot of fun for the last three years so I thought it would be a waste not to do it again. All that really needed to be done was to choose a weekend and spread the word. The next long weekend was in June so a few e-mails and a couple of messages later it was set.

All that had to happen now was for the word to spread.

June long weekend came along and so did a lot of riders.

It was really cool to see how many people made the effort to make it for the weekend. Even with the cold weather.

The reason for the ACT weekends is just to get people together, hang out, do some riding and have good times.

This year was a jam style weekend like the last few years and it worked perfectly. The weekend was spent riding

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Canberra’s parks and hanging out. There were some new faces here this year, which was nice to see. There was also a lot of amazing riding going on as always……….

Two riders that stood out for me among many others were Pete Radevo (Tailwhip machine) and Nathan Saunders (smooth as hell).

On Sunday night after a long weekend of riding everyone headed to Kambah for a Video premiere. The video was called GLASSES which is a Melbourne video produced

by Dao and Ian. The video was AWESOME and probably the best Aussie vid yet. I think it is due to come out towards the end of the year and you should definitely get a copy. So over all the weekend was a good time. Spent time with friends, met some new ones, did some riding, saw some amazing riding, saw an awesome video and had plenty of fun. Thanks to everyone who made the trip to Canberra, anybody that hasn’t been before is definitely missing out. Hope to see you for ACT 5.... Next year we will hold it on the Anzac long weekend (bit warmer) see you then.

Hunt Pete Radivo, Weston Creek, what more is there to say//RoBiNsoN

Massive steep arsed bank to rail. Brad Grantham//KoH

Martial presents:

one world ban

bmx jam

Rainy day, laced with euphoria from a days and a days before traveling. A hardened itch adorns to walk through the door of a quite room, merging to a blasting yet calm atmospheric rage. All this to be performed by true magicians, magicians with a lack of stereotypical repertoire, yet a bag of true tricks and style.

Among the many faces did these magicians stand out, be it Clint millar with effortless double whip nose stalls or the new space exploration, headed by Tom Booreman, with out of this world airs, with only the earth looming below and a finger on the boost button. Or be it even the most amazing event of the day. A lone wizard called John Young, who congered a crowd from far and wide to display true rail bombing technique, turning the ramps to tears wishing they were street.

But no less worthy, the countless other riders who laid their presence on the ramps of Switch indoor skate and BMX. With such a small space to write such alot of information it just isnt possible to explain the day fully, but I do know this!

This jam is the reaction of a rock thrown from the hand of an Australian rider owned and run company and this rock has made ripples, but they will turn to waves and will start a new respect and support for the Australian scene and produce quality and unique comps and jams to come.

To end the day say thanks to all who supported the jam with prizes and much help and a thanks to all the people who travelled afar and wide.

N.K.Edwards From the days turnout at the one world ban and the constant support of the local scene on the mid north coast, all this and a change of hands of management of the park. It has come to light that there will be another BMX only night at Switch on Saturdays. This added onto the Thursday night sessions will make it more accesable for bmx on the coast. So come along and support the indoor park at port, and ride because you want to.

ZOO YORK NO PARKING

Win a Federal Foundation Stowaway Distribution and Federal Bikes have sent us this prime new Foundation complete bike to giveaway to one lucky reader.

The Frame design and geometry is the same as the Division, which has had years of refinements/fine tuning and is used by the whole team. It is not only the frame but also all the smaller details on the bike that make it ideal... Federal team grips and seat clamp, Euro B/B, Tubular chromo 3 piece cranks, 39t 14t Gearing, Seat stay brake mounts. All good.

To go in the running for this bike, all you have to do is email us the answer to this simple question: What state does Federal rider Brad Grantham live in?* Email your correct answers to: foundation@2020bmxmag.com.au

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*Just in case the, answer to this will be posted on the Stowaway website. www.stowaway.net.au

Last issues Zoo York No Parking comp had only a few legit entries, that is, riding with no brakes. Among the excellent entries that made us laugh we're random shots off websites and old school shots from before most of you were ever born. Rock on. Luckily, we found a deserving winner. Stuart Dolley of Melbourne takes it with this kinker, cause it's gnarly and cause the photo is screwy, gotta like random stuff like that.

Also winning big last issue with a Haro Freestyler was Paul King from Magill South Australia. Nice new bike yo.

HEAVY METAL HEROES

9

What is a narrative of two days worth of HMH if you don’t even remember what went down? Five weeks to the day after HMH 9, it’s a Saturday morning I have half cleaned my apartment in a blatant act of procrastination. The week just gone has been an up-til-midnight attempt to get this article done - madness, guilt and stupidity sitting in front of a blank computer screen trying to remember what happened.

On a brighter side, I was asked to write about the feel of the day, so if you wanted descriptive trick details and an inventory of who did what, its probably in your best interest go to your newsagency and read the other Aussie BMX magazine - you know the one; the only Australian magazine that fully covers BMX or whatever they boast. Anyways, here is a list of things I did remember.

The contest began on the Saturday with Dirt. I had no intention to turn up on the day to watch a bunch of studded belt wearing kids firing it up over the first set. After spending the morning down at Crossley Cycles, Chris Moore said he was heading down late afternoon to get some Pro Dirt happy snaps. With that, it felt weird not to go and support Schneider’s little get together. When we arrived, the “little get together” was infact not so little with a staggering turn out. People everywhere - hanging out, riding, sitting in the dusty afternoon sun, there was an awesome vibe about it all.

I have never been a big fan of Dirt (hence why I wasn’t keen to turn up in the first place) but from what it saw it was crazy. Rider’s young and old, rookie and experienced busted flowy style through big sets of humps, doing some pretty impressive stuff. Even the not so smooth riders where still good to watch, they were sketchy as hell casing left right and centre adding to some tension filled drama with whether they were going to split their head open or not. In recent history we’ve seen the fads of doing backies and superman seat grabs and finally (probably where it sparked an interest for me to actually stand and watch) were the fresh new line of tricks you’ll soon see every kid at his trails doing – nose dive 3-0’s and the Dilleward inspired 180’s.

We left not long after where I was dumb enough to miss one of the best sessions of “bike” ever had at the concrete Mini. Everyone was apparently stepping it up all the way, right up to the point where Lee Kirkman utilised his Flatland ability and busted a Decade air (or was that a decade drop in…

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shrugs, I wasn’t there remember...). The gauntlet was thrown Lee had won and that was the end of that. Word up Lee Kirkman!

Day two started a little awkward, my bro had been taken to hospital after some serious back probs. Not too stoked and drugged up, my bro lay in the hospital like a retard wondering if he could connect to the internet through electronic jacks used for medial equipment.

Chris and I arrived a little late after that with an even bigger turn out than the Saturday.

The contest ran through Street, Vert and Mini with a good 90 riders competing over the two days and 160 entrants in all events.

Unlike most of the HMH contests this one felt much different to the previous. In the past you would spend a good part of the day walking around bumping into people you knew and sit around talking your ass off. This time it was a struggle.

Most of the crew that I knew were either overseas, working or simply weren’t there. It’s a very odd feeling to turn up at a contest and actually look for people to talk to. On the positive though it was also a sign that so many new faces are turning up to the contests and truth that riding is getting bigger. Most of the “Pros” were out doing their international contest thing which in some ways was gratifying providing an opportunity for some of the up and comers to get a shine of the spotlight. The day in itself touched as an organised jam rather a contest. It was very stress free atmosphere and a whole lot of fun.

One of the things I did remember from the contest was The Nudie Guy. How could I not remember this dude. During his Street run The Nudie Guy (yes, I have no idea what his name is) stripped down to his shoes and hat and did his whole run in the raw. It was probably the best thing of the day really, he kept doing these crazy stretched one footers where you saw all of the goods.

It reminded me of a days when HMH’s tradition was burning old mattresses

Bobby getting his sunset soul on//Nitai

Reggie rules Dulwich//Brendan Jones

The real jam DULWICH HILL OK, 2020 screwed up and missed the Dulwich Jam. How? Too long a story, but come the arvo on jam day it all became clear... Still a huge turnout rocked out to what may be the the most BMX'd park in Sydney. If you're in Sydney looking for a place to ride, Dulwich will always acocmodate your park needs. For a location: www.skateboard.com.au

Gallivant around on the web

It’s been 2 years since there was a decent web report in this illustrious magazine.

Well this over ambitious web head himself thought “Lets bring that idea back, bigger and better than before”. Enter issue 14 in 2004 and here it is, but with a difference.

Being the webmaster of possibly the oldest BMX site in the country (www.safreestyle.com) that is still operational, I came to thinking about where the appreciation is. Maybe if I was on the outside looking in I would see it, but to cut a long story short, this column has a difference. Instead of just looking through the sites and telling you about them, I thought I’d give you a little background on the site as well and to shed light onto the people behind them. So in-between downloading porn (Ok, I got the porn reference out of the way) I came across the following sites from our neighbours to the east, New Zealand representing...

and kicking down brick fireplaces…anarchy at its best. Speaking of anarchy, Rick Hunt rocked around with a super old school Anarchic Adjustment T-shirt. You don’t see too many of these now a days.

Riders worthy of a mention were Nicki Buckard whom I had never heard of before but had some awesome skills, Nic Richardson who entered in everything and just straight out ruled, Nick Cooper with his Dirt run – nose dive 3-0 >> 3 whip >> tailwhip >> 180 and props to Shannon Wilcox - representing the female contingency in Beginner 16 and over Street (…and can jump a box better than I can) keep it up Shannon!

A few companies showed up; Seven, a new clothing brand which I believe Jamie Bell has some connection with and the GoonCrew. On the Saturday I arrived to see a black tent with GoonCrew smeared all over it. I won’t diss it too much because they did help Schneider; however I question any company that has “extreme sports” written on their tent. I don’t care what people say but BMX isn’t an extreme sport!

In the end the sun went down, some kid won a WTP complete bike and everyone seemed to have a smile on his or her face. I think many times we forget that a contest isn’t about whos better and who got what place, more so an environment where people can get together in common bond and feel comfortable in their surroundings.

This was one of the first times where Mark Schneider wasn’t stressed and went all BWAH having to run around and get things sorted. Soley because of the many people who help on the day made HMH9 such a treat this would have made the contest a nightmare for Schneids. Everyone who helped out needs thanks and recognition – the judges Jamie Bell and co, Rick Hunt and the commentators, Nic Richardson’s Mum and Dad are forever kind and supportive, Roy Jarmey and the many others who made the day the way it was.

Sponsors need a word up also, Crossley Cycles, Triple Six, Big Deal, Bike First, Helensvale Cycle Scene and the list goes on, thanks all the same! The Beenleigh BMX Stunts Association Inc. needs a shout out for all the work that gets done to Beenleigh. It is these people who are bringing life to not only the BMX park but also the community.

For all the results and video footage from check out the BBSAI’s official website: www.bbsai.org Ross D Lav

NZ flatland

20 Inch Mayhem

Webmaster: June Dungca jdungca@ nzflatland.co.nz

Webmaster: Sam Skinner wethebadass@ hotmail.com

The deal: One look at NZ Flat and you get the idea that June has put in a lot work into this site since it started in the beginning of 03 with only a little outside contributions.

Now on version two, it’s full of stuff to keep any flat rider happy. It has a heap of photos and video that give you an insight that yes, flat is alive and well in kiwi land. It serves as the best source in New Zealand to find out about the jams they organise or to hook up with flat riders if either you live there or are travelling there. You almost get the impression that there is no dissent amongst the ranks and flat riders in New Zealand have a kind of family vibe. Great site.

The deal: Another relatively young site that started out around the beginning of last year is a solo effort. You may also know it as BMX Junkie and seen a heap of site redesigns, but one thing remains the same, it’s a zero bullshit bmx site. Easy to find what you’re looking for here. Navigation is essential for websites and this one is easy to navigate, nice. The thing that I found really good was the amount of places they display around NZ. One of the places is Jellie skate park in Christchurch where the site is mainly focused on. A must view here is the full pipes they get to ride. When you see them, you’ll drool. Street, park and dirt content await you.

www.nzflatland.co.nz

www.20inchmayhem.com

Well there it is. If you have a suggestion for a site to show up here email me at dave333@safreestyle.com. Lastly check out www.brisbanebmx.com, continuing the legacy left behind by bmxicity and reporting on web updates of Aussie bmx sites. Don’t BMX, be BMX. Dave Sayer

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Nick Richardson//Gunta eVil

SMC//Chris WoodaGe

Flying SOuth Clint Millar and Nick Richardson are off to New Zealand to do a demo for 4 minutes! Thats right, 2 minutes on a vert ramp and 2 minutes on a box jump. Crazy stuff, all expenses paid for a celebrity boxing match as the pre entertainment.

Its going to be telecast live through out NZ. Dave Manconi and Haimona Ngata are also going to doing the demos with them. Dont worry, Clint and Nick will be staying longer than the 4 minutes and will be checking out the fine parks that NZ has to offer.

The long awaited Wethepeople team DVD will be out by the time you read this. It will feature the entire WTP worldwide team including sections from Clint Millar, Luke Weatherall and Nick Cooper. So go hassle your local BMX shop and get yourself a copy.

COALITION FORCEs After becoming dissatisfied with the way that riders interests were being ignored at his previous employer, Greg Walsh set out to make some changes the best way he knows how.

Coalition is the new beginning for Greg and he has bought many riders you may be familiar with along for the ride; Taj and Joe ,Brian Terrada, Scott Malyon, Mike Tag, Dave Parrick, John Dye, and Ryan Metro are amongst some of the riders who will be representing and helping shape the image and most importantly the design and function of the Coalition products. The Australian team is being finalised as soon as possible. Check the web sites for more up to date info as it becomes available. www.coalitionbmx.com www.stowaway.net.au

SIGNATURE STYLE

Mono PROTO

Getting yourself to the USA is a mission in itself. To get there and step up to those you idolized in mags and videos is another thing. So what if you scored a pro model signature bike ontop of all of that. We got some anwers from Steve McCann on his rise and rise...

How long have you been with Mongoose?

I’ve been with Mongoose now for about 4 years. And I plan on hopefully finishing here too.

What’s the contract you have with them (how long?)

My new contract is for the next two years. They added in a couple of things I was pretty happy about, like the signature frame, which has me really stoked.

What was your initial reaction to the thought of a bike with your stamp on it?

Well at first it was all talk, and I have to admit I really thought it wasn’t going to happen. But now I’m riding the bike of my choice and it’s amazing how well it turned out.

How long has it taken from 1st thoughts and talks to production?

Well we sat down at the gravity games and put together the rough design and things kinda went from there. I’d say about 3 months till I had the first frame.

What’s been your input into the SMC signature Mongoose?

Well I chose all the angles and picked out what it would look like. The colour was between blue and orange, and

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orange won from the first sample...

Has the frame come together as you wanted it. like angles, lenght and feel?

I more than happy with it, Brian and every body in the office/factory out did themselves...

Will you ride as good as SMC if you get one?

For sure, probably better! I know it’s made the world of difference for me..

How has the start of the OS season been for you?

Amazing, the year just keeps getting better. I’ve placing in the top three in most contests, and I just got the wild card for the x games. Things couldnt get any better...

You had a break over the (Aust) summer, did that make a difference to the way you’ve come back to the competition scene in the US? Yeah, after last year I was pretty burnt out... I guess it was a combination of things you know. Too many comps and way too much traveling. But after all that time off I’m fresh and ready for the year...

What are your main aims this year?

I guess I aim pretty high, so I’d love to win some sort of

Being stashed away on the quiet side of the globe usually means we see the latest and greatest bits and pieces after the rest of the world. But not this time. We spotted a prototype Wethepeople out here getting some serious testing under Kenny Raggett. Even under a serious Xmas looking disguise the Mono couldn't hide a 2.68kg frame running a super steep 74.8° head angle, meaning everyone can change their name to Hamilton. Also of note are the angled brake pivots offering better alignment and super minimal dropouts. Production models will have gyro tabs along with the integrated headset system.

Checkout www.wethepeople.de for more info.

Downside whip to bank//holMes

Check Bike Pro Clint Millars' 2004 Wethepeople Thrillseeker (20.5TT) I have tried to make my bike as light as possible while still retaining the strength that I require. I still need a 14mm axle up front but have got titanium ones made by wtp (thanks Harry!). I cut down my seatpost to save weight.

I have also run my brake levers upside down so as not to cut my thumbs to pieces on all those sharp little bolts.

I also had to machine out my forks to take 14mm axle. I run a tuff neck tank top headset cup on both ends to save weight. Basically my bike is perfect for me and my riding style. I would like to thank my current bike and all my previous bikes for a great last 16 years and hope to have plenty more good times ahead! Yo Yo!

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Fork: Wethepeople, Excalibur with 990 mounts Bars: Wethepeople Le tigre Brian Terada signature Stem: Wethepeople Soulmate with gyro tabs Headset: Tuff Neck Tank Detangler: Odyssey G3 Grips: Wethepeople Slapshot Bar Ends: Wethepeople Drops (titanium) Levers: Dia Compe Tech 77 Front Cable: Wethepeople Hi Slick Rear Cables: Dragonfly upper with Odyssey lower Brakes: Dia Compe Hombre front and rear Cranks: Wethepeople, Royal with titanium axle USA BB Chainwheel: Wethepeople Stereo sprocket 30T

Chain: KMC 410H Chain Tensioners: Odyssey Pact Pedals: Odyssey Jim C sealed magnesium Front Hub: Wethepeople, Pi mid flange, 14mm Ti axle 36H Rear Hub: Odyssey Hazard Lite cassette, Ti axle, 11T driver 36H Rims: Odyssey Hazard 7Ka 36H Spokes: stainless steel double butted Front Tyre: Odyssey Path 2.1 Rear Tyre: Odyssey Path 1.85 Pegs: Odyssey jpeg titanium (4 of them all the way) Seat: Macneil seat post combo Seat Clamp: Tuff Neck single Weight: 12.8 kgs (28.25 pounds)

When not schooling the UK, Matt F is usually laying down the law at Sydney's only vert haven, Mona Vale//Mahon

KING OF ENGLAND?

In what was the first King of the Skatepark competition for nearly twenty years, it seems the local heritage was shattered

by Matt Fairnbairn who kicked arse all over the place winning 1st place on vert and 3rd place in old school quarter pipe. Adam Hough and Dinny Spicer also made the trip to session one of the UK's best skateparks, Epic in Bermingham, both pulling in either side of the top 10 in the skatepark comp.

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Cairns//CenoBite

CHECK MY RIDE...

OK, it seems a few of the Aus crew rockin overseas have acquired some fly new rides.

Living the riding dream brings with it a stack of rewards.

Think of big dollars and bling bling prizes as part and parcel of the creative outlet that is riding OS. You ride good, you get hooked up, be it in sponsorship or contest prizes. And what better way to spend those hard (?) earned dollars than on rockin new rides. Simon O'Brien's new flatland rig is straight outta the hood and still represents flatland to the bone with no brakes and a freecoaster, plus some dope radial lacing to boot. Ryan Guettlers recent win at a KOD had him roosting around on his new 43cc mini Harley. And while stoked as all hell on his new signature ride Stevie McCann is just as at home on a pre 80's Mongoose...

GRAVITATIONAL CONSTANT First there was the Gravitational Constant flatland jam, then there was the Gravitational Constant 2 flat jam. Now there’s a difference, we jam with the skate park boys. Ya see, this all started when I first saw Elizabeth skate park when it was in the midst of construction.

To my joy I could see it had a decent sized area for flatland, not the biggest spot in the world, but it sufficed for the day.

Not that it made any difference anyway, because the only flatlanders we had on hand today were Shane Badman and myself, and I was to busy taking photos (and nearly getting my camera taken out by Shane’s back wheel, VERY VERY close to a collision between bike and cam) and giving away all the goodies that were provided by Carnage Clothing, Stowaway distribution and subscriptions of a magazine called 2020 or something (I don’t know, I’ve never heard of it either). Anyway, the day went like this...

I organise a ride to the park for me, my bike and the prizes in Shane’s trusty best 4x4xfar and he sends me a message that states “I’ll come get ya at 11:30”. Come 11:30 and he’s nowhere to be seen and for some strange reason I am not surprised in the slightest. Shane’s perception of time seems to be stuck in a worm hole or something because that’s the only thing I know of that even has a theory of distorting time. Long story short, we finally get to the jam about half an hour late and see the local crew throwing up the Slayers (you know, the metal sign \m/) We get all our shit together and immediately I thought I’d get things going by handing out a hat or two. Next thing I know, I’m getting swamped by kids wanting free stuff.

Later on in the day, I had it a little more organised and added a little flavour to it for my own amusement. I called up all the kids at the skate park, told them all to get in the bowl like a human breakfast cereal and threw stuff down to them from the bowl extension. Since I was throwing down Carnage stuff, that’s exactly what I wanted to see.

To my disappointment, none of the kids drew blood. No one even got hurt during the brake cable toss, (which was originally going to be for best skateboard trick, just for the irony of it) DAMN!!!

As for the action on the bikes, the locals who hit this park up as often as they can, owned the day. The local rider that is only known as “Cairns” to me was whipping out of the bowl with supreme style in-between stretched supercans and scoring himself a free hoodie. Not long after Terry Durham and Dwayne Golding turned the tune into a session on the vert wall extension on the back side of the bowl. Terry was up carving the bowl at speed to ice

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grind the extension while mixing it up with one handed icepick stalls. Enter Dwayne Golding. Dwayne was ruling the damn thing with toothpick stalls and the run of the day, icepick stall to hop over on the spine to a one handed pedal-back peg stall on the extension to 360 back over the spine to flatty over the hip as well as his 180 hand plants over the spine, SWEET!!

All the while Shane was keeping the flatland side of the jam alive with almost spastic spinning hitchhikers at speed. That’s about the only thing to note of Shane. Not because he wasn’t riding hard, it’s just that I’ve given up at being surprised by his ability. Whether it be 360 barflip jumps to steamrollers or hyper speed upside down pedalling megaspins, it’s just not that surprising because he is just that damn good. He had fun on the surface too, but anything had to be better than the “Disney on dust” session that was the original BMX Games flatland spot we rode 2 weeks prior.

A couple points of interest on the jam. The local council wanted me to supply them with insurance to the value of $10 million. For what, I do not know. There was no entry fees taken and prizes were handed out to the people who needed them, not necessarily for doing big tricks. I saw someone who only had half of his grips left, so he scored new Federal grips. Someone else was cold, so they got a hoodie. That’s how it works in my eyes. Secondly, no PA system, no music, no announcing. Again, this is a jam, not a comp. What I want to know is what has happened to our sport when you need prizes and music to get people together? Lets leave the prizes and sound systems to the competitions and remember what it is just to get people together and just ride, fun.

Even so, I must thank the people and sponsors. Michael Murnane from Carnage Clothing for sending over way more stuff than I expected, Matt Hodgson and all the guys at Stowaway Distributions for all the parts and videos and some editor guy named Matt Holmes from that magazine thing (all I know about this guy is that he writes huge paragraphs on internet message boards and takes photos of gimp masks) Gravity is your friend and the world is flat........Or not?

Cenobite

Mid flatty, Haimona forgot to add some stuff.: Words to be used at least once in a conversation to a girl; torrid and sodden, and Lee Martin, we won the rugby!

NZ News

Time once again for a lil bit of goss from the land of the long white cloud.

Foreigners galore, over the past wee while, NZ has been invaded! I’m serious! We had the pleasure of having Beeler Van Orman, AKA B-Unit with us for 5 months or so.

If you haven’t heard of the van Orman clan, then I suggest you keep an eye out for Teddy’s DVD, well I forgot the name, but it goes something like “the end of the end”, a good watch indeed. I think that Beeler fell in love with NZ nuggets, and I don’t mean the McDonalds kind.

Other visitors include a bunch of Brazilians, a guy from Scotland, a rider from England and NZ’s adopted American connection Mr Joe Rizzlich, who was out for a week to spend some “quality time” at the beeeaachh! The Q-Town boys have re-built their trails and they are looking bloomin splendid, and I heard rumours of a new millennium sized skatepark!?

Random sponsorship news is that Dave Mancandy now rides for wee-yipee-yopple bike company, through, triple fizzle sizzle distribution. Flip-whipper and Taupo local cousin Jed Mildon is on a canary yellow Mongoose for free and yours truly just got hooked up on Clive backpacks, bizzarro eh.

In other Manconi related news he’s just returned from the worlds, where he hung out with Fritz Muller AKA Clint Miller and ended up judging the bloody comp! What’s the world come to? The Wellington riding fraternity affectionately known as the BDA have been making little trips to Auckland as of late, apparently for riding, but somehow we all end up on the midnight train to maggots-ville, all aboard! Toot toot!

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Tauranga local Carl Cavangh unveiled his new baby to the world a few weeks ago and in the immortal words of Robbie Morales, “What ever dude”. A six foot high, wide as hell, indoor bowled mini ramp which has to be seen to be believed. Needless to say that it was heavily sessioned on opening day and saw some even heavier sessions on opening night, toot toot, all aboard.

X-air 05 is shaping up to be massive, based in Wellington next year, x-air is NZ’s version of the x-games, only a lot more laid back, a lot. The rider list is growing everyday, apparently the MacNeil team is gonna head out again, a whole lot of Europeans, the Australian connections and prody a few Americanos, so book your ticket now! And don’t forget to pack your swimming trunks and sandals, end of January fools.

And lastly if anyone knows how to get in touch with the rollerbladeing girl at the Altern8 comp in Sydney, I think her name was Liz, drop me a line, I’ve got a ticket to NZ, a bottle of champagne and a portable jackhammer waiting for her, badda bing, badda bang, badda boom.

This NZ’ers got to catch a plane now so see you all in January bitches. Peace out.

Haimona Hgata

Back 2 Basics 3

The Australian Titles! Will be on the 9th of January at Downey Park Netball Courts, Noble St, Windsor. There will be lots of prizes and a free BBQ. The jam format will be different this time with a Flatland bomb trick only comp.

Also on the list will be the Bunny hop height pole comp and a Launch ramp comp. For further info on B2B email Stewart at: hendrabmx@hotmail.com Brett Dighton is alive and well in Japan working as a Kindergarten teacher whilst awaiting for his new bike to turn up. Dighton is a Kindergarten teacher?!

FBM is making a Leif Valin Signature Flatland frame. No news as when it’ll be made or what it looks like but we’ll keep you posted on it.

Probably old news but news still the same, wethepeople have their 2005 product guide listed on their website.

Apart from small modifications to the div, wtp have

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released their new flatland frame the sinus. Not too sure if this means they will drop the pony or not. Also they have added a second flatland fork, the mantis. Check the website out for yourself: www.wethepeople.de/2005/ Diversion VM DVD 2 will be available by the time you read this. It was premiered recently at the KOG in Nagoya. This will cover a Brisbane scene report as well as a Simon O’brien interview. Liquidframe has picked up Intrikat vids and products. For more info check out www.diversionvm. com or www.liquidframe.com The “Bad Mutha Fucker in Charge” Shane Badman is back up to Cairns this August for his Annual flat demos for Wild on Wheels. Mr Badman was also seen in Hotrod magazine Crusin’ busting some skills for a WoW’s advertisment.

The N.Z. riders will have had a jam on the 31st of July and

flatlandWA Interview with Aron “Alien” Dobrowolski...

What is FlatlandWA? FlatlandWA is a group of guys, and a girl who all share a love for the art of mastering flatland bmx. We try to jam every weekend if possible and the website is the online meeting point for the group where we can discuss current issues and organise jams or outings. Its also a good source for free prezzies - like the stickers i made up!

How did it start?

Well, i was working on a few flatland tricks on my Haro Mirra 540 air, infact one in particular - the all mighty tailwhip. 6 months later i thought, “hey this flatland stuff is awesome!” and started on my quest to find other flatlanders in Perth.

About one month later and on page 14 or so of a web search for “perth flatland” i stumbled across a quaint little site calling itself ‘PerthFlat’ and some guy named “Bielecki” parading around half naked all over the site, along with pics and bios of riders. I was so stoked i emailed Bielecki direct and we discussed me wanting to run “Flatland WA” and try to spur on the Perth scene. There was only one thing left to do. JAM! So i met up with Bielecki, Matt and Joel at the library in the city and we had a bit of a pedal, some food, and i left dead set on getting the ball rolling for Flatland WA! Soon after this we arranged a few more jams where I took down all the riders profiles and got some pics together along with a website design. Somewhere along the way i learnt how to create the ability for Bielecki and Shaun (the grand-pappy of our group) to post direct to the site, and have anyone who stumbled across the place be able to comment on individual items.

Where is FlatlandWA Headed?

With the up-comming WAFA (Western Australian Freestyle Association) series beginning in the next few months (fingers crossed!) we will all be competing against each other in battles/jams (Bielecki has taken charge of organising the format). Hopefully with the exposure the should come from the WAFA series and other events along the way we can pick up a few more riders, jam some more, have some movie nights / get-togethers and make a nice big group of friends. I’ve already got what i had hoped for from this small venture - FUN... and in the end thats what it’s all about!.

Art//alien

the 1st of August by the time this mag hits the stands. One day indoors and the other outdoors. For more info check out the N.Z. website http://www.nzflatland.co.nz Otherwise read the write up of the jam next issue…

Sydney flat crew are doing jams every other week at Hyde Park (near the War Memorial) check it out or contact Glen at - dr.worm@ihug.com.au for further details.

Sex Symbol #2, Michael Bielecki had words to say after he lopped his curly locks off just recently - “Summer tricked me, I woke up, saw the sun, thought Winters over, shaved my head, then it rained again…I miss my hair…” Expect to see Bielecki at the next BMX games in something rather er…raunchy…

No more news for now. Start sending your news, words and pretty pictures of Melbourne girls to: reformist@2020bmxmag.com.au Badman educating//Chris Moore

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Circle of balance

It has been almost 2 years since the first very successful Redbull Circle of Balance.

The long awaited contest was put on for the 2nd time recently in Oberhausen, Germany. 18 top flatlanders from around the world were invited to compete, be given the respect they deserve and perform in front of 1,500 people, many of whom were Redbull promo girls invited from all over Germany to the event.

The weekend started on Thursday with the arrival of all riders, a welcome dinner and a little partying. Friday was practise for everybody which also turned out to be a media frenzy. Everybody started getting used to the surface and some serious riding started to go down. That night after dinner everybody went go cart racing, this was so much fun with all the riders trying to better each other.

Comp results, 1st-Alex Jumelin, 2nd-Martti Kuoppa, 3rd-Jimmy Petite. Back at the hotel people then watched Chad Johnston’s new flick, ‘Flat Sphere’.

Saturday was the big day, some people went early to the site to practise and others went later in the day. Many riders went back to the hotel to chill before returning to the site at 8 pm. All spectators had turned up by 8.30 - 9pm. Old school German rap star ‘Spax’ hosted the event, which was quite good. The comp went for about 2 hours, amazing riding went on and there was such an amazing atmosphere because the crowd were really into it with good music. Once the comp was done everybody was into party mode. Riders were breakdancing, promo girls were everywhere and lots of fun was had by all. Early the next morning riders returned to the hotel, around 3 am. Sunday was departure day for everyone. This contest was one of the funniest and best I have ever been too. , Simon O Brien

NINJA SPIN This is a contest put on by Alex Jumelin every year in suburban Paris. It was also the first opportunity I had to go to this contest and I was not let down. With the major sponsor being Braun there was quite a good pro purse, money all the way to tenth; considering entry was 25 euros and you received most of what you needed for the weekend from food, alcohol at party’s Fri and Sat night as well as a very fashionable and comfy ‘KULTE’ shirt.

All up, the weekend was so fun; Friday night some riders did a demo at a rock concert downtown Paris while one of the best dj’s in the world mixed for us. And yes, party afterwards... Saturday was qualifying for all classes, beginner, expert, master and pro. The venue was a basketball hall which was great but at times it could be a little crowded due to so many riders. That night there was another party at a bar, free food and alcohol, with 250 euros on the bar for fosters! I was stoked! On Sunday things got underway around midday with practise then finals for all classes beginning with beginner and ending the day with pro. Before pro a couple of the worlds best breakdancers gave a demo which was incredible. The comp went well, but the best riding went on in a pro jam just before the finals, it was great.

All classes got really good prizes and the weekend wrapped up after this and everybody slowly left. Alex did a great job organising the contest, there were many international riders and I would recommend the comp to anyone. , Simon O Brien

By the way, Simon scored a 5th at the Circle of Balance and won the Ninja Spin comp. To the left is our man Mike S spinning at the COB//Red Bull

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stops to watch me ride for some reason .

You wanna bust mad styles out for the crowds yo?

Yeah dude! Impress the girls, dunno if it ever worked...

So who do you look up to?

As far as pro riders are concerned, my favourites are Day Smith, Jesse Puente and all the European riders. They got mad styles yo!

So what’s your style like, you ride front or back, both?

I want to do a bit of both but at the moment I’ve been spending a bit of time with the back wheel. Definitely try to keep it balanced though.

So where do you plan to take your riding?

I used to want to be a pro and make a living out of riding but that’s changed. Pretty hard to do that with Flat anyway. I dunno exactly where I want my riding to be but I want to be able to invent an original trick. Something that I can call my own. That’d be wicked!

Do you have contests and jams over in N.Z.?

We try to setup jams twice a year. Where everyone in N.Z. can come up and ride together. There are no comps for Flat here, but maybe in the future.

You do demos or something for the X-air comp?

We did a demo at the last X-air back in February with Shane Badman actually. That was great. At one point we had more or less the same crowd going as the Vert comp. We were both on at the same time. Hoping that they’d be keen to have us again next year.

June Dungca

Travelling has always been one of best educators for me. As a result I have been fortunate to have a lot of doors opened with it my perspective on riding and life has sharpened as a result. It always seems to be the case that the things that have the greatest effect come from where you least expect it. Heading to NZ in February was one of those experiences. Meeting with friend and fellow rider, June Dungca demonstrated that there is more to a scene than just the riding.

Keeping it together, keeping the vibe real and bringing in the new blood all the while continuing to ride yourself and progress is something that June has managed to do, and all with having a “real” job. June runs the NZ flatland website, organises regular jams and keeps the scene genuinely motivated through his efforts. A busy man, we managed to take some of his time and ask him some questions. Shane Badman MSN Interview by Ross D Lav. I had an idea that maybe we can do the interview here... it’ll flow a bit better. You up for it?

Sure man.

Awesome, Let’s start with the basics...

June Dungca (don’t ask about the name), 22, living in Auckland, NZ I thought Flat was dead in N.Z., how did you get into it?

I saw a Dixie Chicks music video when this guy did a 360 bunny hop, so I decided to look it up on the net. I came across flatland on this website then decided to try it, got hooked from then.

So how did you meet other Flat riders then?

Well for the first year or so I didn’t even know that there were other Flatlanders in N.Z. Then I met this dude (Bruce) that knew a bit of Flat. I met some while I was riding at the local mall Bruce told me about Parris but I never met him until we had the first jam.

Have you got decent riding spots over there? I read on your site that you had problems with security?

Yeah man, fortunately there’s a bunch of places we can ride here that’s nice and flat, mostly in schools. You just gotta love schools. Yeah security sucks, I live two minutes walk from the local mall and whenever I try to ride there at night, security comes up to you after 15 mins of riding telling you to leave.

So what keeps you motivated to ride?

A lot of things really, learning new tricks, watching BMX videos, good weather are a few. I kinda like riding when people are watching. It pumps me up whenever anyone

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So what else you get up to outside of riding?

I’m a geek... Well I do work with computers. ‘Internet specialist’. Umm I’ve been doing a bunch of graphics stuff Photoshop, web design, etc. I do a bit of video editing with one of the riders here (Ian Quigley). He actually has a job as an editor. I don’t go out much really. I’m anti-social, like every other Flatlander on the planet.

Give me the skinny on your set up?

London Bikes Dagmar handlebars, Morales frame (recently painted orange), Kore zero offset forks, Kore pegs front and back, Sun Rhyno Lite rims (much much narrower that your normal rims), Nankai free coaster, GT 1pc crank 175mm, plastic Haro smallblock pedals, Odyssey modulever and evolver for the front brakes, primo steroid seat.

What’s one good thing about riding Flat and one bad?

If you want to be different from everyone else, do Flat! Good thing, probably that you’re one of the very few people that can do it. Doesn’t that just make you feel special? I guess what’s bad about Flat is how difficult it is, but it’s not all that bad. I mean that’s part of Flatland. It just wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for that, right? It weeds out the true riders from the one that’s just in it for the look or something.

What is riding to you? Lifestyle, challenge etc?

Oh it’s definitely a challenge! That’s why I like it. You really have to work what you want to get out of it. You know. It’s a lifestyle too coz you end up adapting your life around Flatland in one way or another. Flat is something fun to do with my time really. Its good exercise for me too since I don’t really want to pay to go to gyms and stuff. I reckon its boring in gyms. It’s a good way to meet other people that are interested in the same things as you.

Thank-yous?

Shane for telling you to do an interview. All the local riders here in N.Z.! And to whoever else that supports flatland.

Alright, now is there anything that you think we’ve left out or that you want to mention, like a last words?

Oh yeah I’d like to take this opportunity to plug the local scene’s website. www.nzflatland.co.nz. I try to update it as often as I can but check it out to see pics and other stuff.

We’ve got a guestbook where you can post something to the locals in case you’ll be in the country. I’d like to thank the guys who help out with the site. For everyone that’s reading this, keep riding hard! 2020

ealer visit d t s e r a e n act your t n o c o t r o st models e t la e h t w To vie

u a . m o c . s r e d a r t e c n a v d a . w ww

Colonel, superman seatgrab to first place//holMes

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Alan Perry

Reece Macey Rockstar Kenny Ragoo

Luke Weatherall

Damian Connoly Luke Fink foot jam on vert

MIXING DRINKS SEEMS TO ALWAYS BRING ON THE BEST NIGHT OR A HEADBANGER OF A HANGOVER. COCKTAILS ARE EVEN A BIGGER GAME OF RUSSIAN ROULETTE. SO MIXING A SCUBA, SURF AND ACTION TRADESHOW WITH AN INVITATIONAL BMX/SKATE COMP IN THE SYDNEY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE BROUGHT WITH IT ITS FAIR SHARE OF BUTTERFLIES. LIKE THE ONES YOU GET BEFORE GOING OUT ON A BLIND DATE… Luckily, with the crew from Triple Six Distribution in charge of the 20inch side of things, it seemed like the bar was open and also supplied water and berroca to keep the morning after symptoms at bay. Nice one guys. By this I mean the invitational rocked out in true BMX fashion, regardless of how the tradeshow went.

Sure the first few days had a list of seemingly endless little problems. Like the ramps were nowhere near what had been promised, practice and actual comp times seemed to suffer in order to let fishing demos and air guitar comps take place on schedule and of course, the compulsory security fuckwit issues had to be a part of it all. However, all these niggling problems paled into insignificance once the sound of cassette freewheels buzzed through the Entertainment centre. Maybe not as loudly as Tool playing in the same arena, but the riding made everyone in the place take notice. In a big way.

All the RSVP’d riders present had four runs over the Friday and Saturday to qualify for the finals on the Sunday. Only two runs were judged, so a few took the liberty of only riding one day, whilst others rejoiced in the fact there was an indoor park in Sydney and rode it whenever it was possible. At times punishing themselves brutally and or scaring bikini models on the funbox.

With a good mix of street, park and dirt riders, the heats were pretty full on. One minute runs upping the pressure cooker that is competition. Luckily for the nervously inclined, the $27+ entry fees to watch the riding and check out multimillion dollar scuba gear, some retarded fold up bikes and assorted other stuff, not many punters rocked up to check it out. Maybe one-day, event organizers may see the light and realize the people who want to watch these events don’t want to outlay big dollars to sit and watch, and exhibitors want people to come and check out stuff…

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Lee Kirkman spine flippin//holMes

Nick Richardson//holMes

E THANKFULLY THE DJ FINALLY FOUND SOM METAL AND WHAT EVENTUATED WAS ONE OF THE MOST INTENSE COMPS EVER Having said this, it was pretty funny talking shit with assorted trade show exhibitors about riding when all they knew was underwater gps units. Tell me where the link is?

Come Sunday, the vert jam turned into a full blown comp when it was discovered there was an extra grand or so cash lying around and a spare Xbox, along with some underage, burger munching Xbox promo girls. The vert ramp was super fast, had minimal flat bottom and pristine off white paint which saw the wrath of many a skid session. It also saw the incredible skills of Luke Fink carving all over it at warp speed. Yep, he won the $ and the Xgamestation thing.

Then it was over to the 30 or so riders in the street course comp, they had been pared down to 12 or so left riding after the previous two days mayhem. Instead of the usual one-minute run gig, the finals were run in the jam format. Groups of 4 riders all had an eight-minute session to impress each other and more importantly the judges. Thankfully the DJ finally found some metal and what eventuated was one of the most intense comps I’ve ever witnessed. Without going into a play by play of what, how and who, the riding that went down was any judges nightmare, especially those in the hot seat. Super intense, technical, massive, classic stylin and just plain rockin riding went down and then

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Mozzie aka Daniel Dunn now riding for Armourdillo and Diamond Back//holMes

some. With new faces and old (ageing 16 to 30+), the styles were varied and did somehow steer clear of just a funbox comp. The final jam group of Luke Fink, Clint Miller and Clint Bensley was amazing to behold. Simply balls out riding that had to be seen to be believed.

Each rider pushing themselves and each other to the edge of what has ever been achieved at comp level here in Australia.

When the 3 jam groups finished up, there could be only one winner. In what was a surprise win to some, Clint Bensley proved to all that going bigger than everyone and landing everything in the final counts for a hell of a lot, 1st place to the Campbelltown ruler.

Probably the biggest highlight of the weekend was the fact that everyone overcame the petty little problems that will always come hand in hand with event managers that don’t know what BMX is and made the weekend an amazing one.

Chris and Mike from Triple Six Distribution staged and ran an incredible event under massive pressure from both the riders and the 3 different companies running the whole event. Without their patience and endless sorting shit out, the comp would’ve never taken place.

So a huge props for making the comp one to remember. 2020

photo essay V1

PARK FREE

This issue was supposed to be a street only gig. No parks, no ramps, just found obstacles and the way they are ridden.

With the sudden burst of comps around the country and overseas, we decided that there was too much to miss by sticking to the ‘No Park’ theme throughout. So yeah, an apology is due for that. However, in order to keep calm, avoid riots and the like, we’ve put together some of the best street riding photos from around the country. Theres some familiar faces and some new to check out and possibly motivate you to maybe hit up that strange object you saw a few weeks back. Everything is rideable to some extent, and if all the shiny new parks were suddenly gone, then I’m sure we’d all be looking at the places we live in differently.

Theres something about this shot that has you thinking about square pegs in round holes. Regardless of childhood flashbacks, this Brisbane wall gap to squeeze through sign post that was bent just right to ride gets slapped by Jamie//Nitai

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Under the headlight beams, Wes Sargent pedal picks the crap out of this fine bank to wall with the assist of a few stray pieces of ply//Nitai

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A days sweeping and cleaning crap out of this drain can be a life changing experience for some. For Daniel Hunt it all boiled down to just having to ride it. Why? Cause it was there//MaHoN

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Studying late for architecture and modern art appreciation exams right? Zac Musarsa turning it down from the Melbourne landmark//RoBiNsoN

Massive wall pop from one of the most rudimentry kickers yet to feature in 2020bmxmag. Perfect tranny equals big air right? Kim Grosser//PeReiRa

You know how you ride certain ways to get places, day in day out. You know every little bit of the trip. You know it so well it just passes by cause it’s all the same, every day. How pissed would you be if you rode past this for years before taking the time to look over a fence and find these transitions lying dormant and waiting for you. Luckily Luke Fink had none of these dilemmas//HolMes

When not breaking nearly every piece of his body, Brendan Jones is known to ride with serious style and finesse. Take this fine X’d wall carve as example one//MaHoN

Dirt, fence, chainring, backwards. Match made in heaven. Wiggy getting wiggy with it//CRoG

Elective class? Wasn’t this good at my school. Pete Radivo banging down a nasty double kinker in one mighty idyllic location//RoBiNsoN

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The instigator of the nosedive three-oh craze. Bohan//PolaCK

By Mike Daly

This was my first worlds, not really sure why I hadn’t made the effort to get to them before but I had heard all the stories and they totally lived up to the hype. Right now im sitting at Shanghai airport during my 10hr stop over on the way home to Aus, should have paid the extra bucks for a more direct flight but saving a couple hundred dollars sounded good at the time. I already did the 10hr stint from Paris but the lemon tea is just starting to wake me up enough to write something about what went down.

T

his year the Aussies were out in force, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, all represented with about 25 Aussies in town for the festivities. All the usual suspects were there, Clint Millar, Matty Fairbain, Luke Fink, Colin MacKay, Cory Bohan, plus a whole crew just keen to travel and soak up some of the Euro atmosphere; drinking beer and checking out the girls. The comp was in a park in down town Cologne right next to the river. It’s called the Jungenpark which means youth or children’s park, this was the 20th anniversary of BMX freestyle comps at the Jungepark in Cologne. Everything bar the flatland was outdoors, which caused the organisers a bit of a headache as it rained every day. Luckily though the rain came and went so all the events could be run even if they did get a bit off schedule, anyway there were several beer tents around the venue for rain delay entertainment.

I had heard that the worlds, especially when in Cologne, where almost as much about partying as riding. This was definately the case with a lot of riders this year looking pretty shady on the street course after a big night out or just deciding not to ride at all. Cologne is a pretty cool city and we were lucky enough to have a local to show us around in the form of Clint Millar’s girl? Tina who took us to some cool bars and clubs as well as a few rather sketchy ones, thanks Tina. We also had time to check out some of

Cologne which is dominated by the Cathedral or what the locals call the Dom, it’s the one that took 700 years to build and somehow managed to get away with nothing more than a few bullet holes in WWII. Its light until 10pm in Germany in the summer and as the comp was running late they were using every second of daylight possible. In fact by the time Jay Miron got on the mini ramp for his final run its was pretty much dark, Jay didn’t complain though he just went faster and higher than anyone else. By the time the comp finished at 10pm and you got back to your hotel/hostel, you didn’t get out to the bar until like 1am. This led to getting to sleep around 6am so by the time you got out of bed and to the comp it was late afternoon. I think we ended up with a kind of jet lag, especially the day we had to leave the hostel at 9am.

OK on with the riding. I’m not going to go too in-depth about who did what, just gonna to point out a few of my highlights.

The dirt jumps looked sick, probably one of the best dirt set-ups I have ever seen for a comp. It all started with the usual scaffold start ramp, nothing new there, but half way down the ramp was a wooden kicker that dropped down to a dirt landing. After this you had enough speed for a massive double set, the landing on this was well over 10 feet tall.

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I HAD HEARD THAT THE WORLDS, ESPECIALLY WHEN IN COLOGNE, WERE ALMOST AS MUCH ABOUT PARTYING AS RIDING. THIS WAS DEFINATELY THE CASEWITH A LOT OF RIDERS THISYEAR LOOKING PRETTY SHADY ON THE STREET COURSE AFTER A BIG NIGHT OUT OR JUST DECIDING NOT TO RIDE AT ALL. The course then split into 2 runs each with 2 hip jumps, one for lefties and one for righties, these rejoined for the 4th set. The last jump also hipped off in each direction but with a bit of a step up thrown in and each side led into a berm to send you back toward the start ramp. All up the course had abit of everything, big, tech and fun and the riders looked like they were stoked to be riding it. As far as the results went Chris Dole took first, Corey Bohan second and Gary Young third with Luke Fink getting a seventh as well. Corey was blasting in his usual full on style, massive one foot 360’s over the first set and good flow throughout.

Mini ramp was also a full on comp. The ramp was the regular mini that the worlds have always used, nice and wide with a big sub box, only problem was with the rusty coping that just grabbed, not much room for grinding tricks. Paddy Gross took first in mini, Paddy is from Germany and lives not far from Cologne, he’s a super tech and dialled rider and also one of the nicest guys on the planet. Jay Miron took second, he basically went all out as usual and did one of the biggest 360’s over a spine that I have ever seen, well over 8ft high. Go Jay ‘el-presidente’. Third went to Chris Dole with Luke Fink sixth, seventh to Clint Millar, eighteenth Pete Radivo and twenty seventh to Colin Mackay. Taj had an interesting line where he aired off the side of the ramp and tyre tapped a nearby tree, well near by was about 2m beside and behind the ramp. He didn’t make it back in and im not sure it could be done but he smashed himself trying.

In master mini Dan Hunt took joint first place with a solid run of smooth airs and tech, he also got pretty close to a whip to peg stall on the sub box. Dinny Spicer grabbed eighth and seventeenth went to David Brown (Brownie from Canberra).

The course for street looked a little disappointing when I first saw the set up, I didn’t think it would allow for too many lines as it looked pretty much like a straight back and fourth kinda deal. There was an impressive list of riders signed up for street though, in fact I would think that this years worlds probably had one of the best turn outs for a worlds in a long while. The super stars were in town, Miron, Mirra, Osato and more pro names plus heaps of other riders, over 100 pros all up. This was the first time I had seen Cory Martinez ride and he rocked. Check out the curved wall ride to double peg grind on the huge wall/sub box set up and then barspin out just to add some difficulty. Results wise first went to Gary Young, second John Heaton and third Jay Miron, MacNeil basically owned the street comp. On the Aussie front Colin Mackay took sixth, Clint Millar eleventh and Luke Fink eighteenth. Dinny Spicer also took third in Master street but broke his thumb in his second run. Last I heard he was hanging out on a French beach, his text message mentioning something about half naked girls.

MAIN//Clint Millar rising above the media frenzy that is becoming the worlds. BMX must be popular or something?//PolaCK ABOVE//Cory Martinez, obviously bored with massive wall to grinds thought barspins would liven up the action//dalY

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Australian style. Matt Fairbairn//dalY

Matt’s riding has improved a lot since I last saw him ride, he’s now totally up there with some of the best vert riders in the world. Go Matty go! Luke Fink also grabbed fifteenth place but didn’t make the final.

Master vert was all but dominated by Aussies, second place went to Daniel Hunt, fourth to Mark Schneider and sixth Craig Peters.

Last up flatland, I have to admit that I completely missed flat. I’m bummed because almost all of the top guys in the world were there, I think it was held before 2pm so pretty much everyone was still asleep from the night before. The flat riders had their own tent at the back of the contest site complete with pumping DJ with all the tech music that gets those crazy guys spinning all day long. Australia’s world dominating flatland rider Simon O’Brien was missing form the comp due to sponsorship travel problems so this was another reason I probably didn’t make it down there.

Results were first Akira Okamura, second Travis Collier and third Justin Millar. Check reformist for more info straight from the flatlanders mouth.

Girls! Yes there were Girls in Cologne, there were also girls riding in both Street and Flat. I got the chance to see a bit of girl on street action and was stoked on what they were doing. Cranking all over the course, airing the 8ft quarter, jumping the box. Gotta get more girls into BMX, we have girl pro skaters and pro surfers so lets support the chick riders. Incidentally check out the latest issue of Props, I think its 52 for an all girl road trip. Cool Well all up my first worlds was a pretty good experience, only down fall was not riding my bike very much due to sleeping in and shooting about 500 photos with my shiny new Canon 10D. Perhaps next year I will actually have to enter or something?

GIRLS! YES THERE WERE GIRLS IN COLOGNE,THERE WERE ALSO GIRLS RIDING IN BOTH STREET AND FLAT.

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Vert was also a pretty solid comp, nice big ramp and plenty of big guns ripping it up. I was disappointed that Miron and Mirra didn’t ride, Dave was hurting big time from a crash in street earlier. First place went to Simon Tabron who did possibly the smoothest 900 I have ever seen, how you get a trick like that dialled I just don’t know. Second went to Jay Eggleston with Tom Stober taking third. Matt Fairbairn grabbed a very respectable fifth with some nice high airs, plenty of bar spinnery and a very close attempt at a 540 bar spin. I’m pretty sure he would have got back up and pulled the next attempt if he hadn’t gotten a blow out.

Taj?

Hunt picking the sense out of the ALIS HQ ghetto bowl in Christiania//dalY

road to the worlds

AFTER SPENDING A WEEK IN COLOGNE AT THE WORLDS WHAT WOULD BE BETTER THAN SPENDING ANOTHER WEEK SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR WITH HALF A DOZEN SMELLY BIKE RIDERS,.

B

ut this time in Scandinavia. Yay! Well I missed the mud fest that was the Roskilda festival, I voted for a week in England with the decidely civilised Doug Cain and co. I did miss out on seeing the newly re-touring Pixies which was a disappointment but I didn’t mind missing the mud and no shower for a week.

OK Niles Thanilid is our Denmark connection, Niels has been out to Australia a couple of times and now it was our turn to return the favour. Only difference was that there were about 10 bike riders all looking for a spot on Niels’ floor. Aussies in attendance were Hough, Brownie, Wallice and Dan Hunt from Canberra plus myself and Trav from Sydney. Token English man was Doug Cain and our tour guide Niles Thanild.

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We started out little Scandinavian holiday with a few days in Copenhagen, nice little town, about 1.7 million people and the king of Denmark lives there. We started our little visit with some quiet beers down by the harbour, cool hang out with a heap of bars and restaurants.

Riding wise we hit up the Faelled Park skatepark which is in a park in Copenhagen. This park is definitely home made with some local crew building a new bowl as we rode. It has a heap of different ramps, some were pretty sketchy but there was definitely a bunch of interesting stuff to ride. While in Copenhagen we also rode the X-Hall, funny name but these bowls were sick. 3 bowls, one 9ft, one 6ft and the other 6ft – 3ft. These were the best wooden bowls I had ever ridden, super smooth and well built. I especially liked the over vert corner, but the whole set up was fun.

Leigh Ramsdell

by Mike Collins

See we tested this rockin Eastern Ace of Spades at crew and then theDirt Works y! it awado to give gotta told usAll is you

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TOP//Daly getting used to the northern hemispheres gravitational pull.

TOP RIGHT//Neils Wheels on one of the most ancient cement parks imaginable//dalY ABOVE//Browny launching one for the old school//dalY

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After a few days in Copenhagen we hired a couple of cars and headed for Sweden. Driving from Denmark to Sweden means taking the 18km bridge across the Baltic sea. After that it was a 4 hour drive to Gothenburg, past many an Ikea and Volvo driver. We had been pretty lucky in Copenhagen weather wise but I think the entire time I was in Gothenburg it rained. The night we arrived we rode the Galaxen skatepark. This was one of the most ghetto parks I had ever ridden, low roof and kinks galore in the ramps. That said it was also a pretty fun session, lots of weird lines and a good vide going down with the half a dozen locals that came out of the soggy woodwork.

After a big night on the town we crawled out of bed keen to ride the infamous, “skatepark in a mountain”. I had heard stories about this one, its basically a hollowed out mountain that apparently it used to be a ammunition factory during the war. It’s now a skatepark but because it’s basically a cave it has its own weather system and in the summer you get clouds forming in there and it kinda rains, inside! Anyway the mountain skatepark was not to be as its was securely locked up when we arrived and countless phone calls and text messages couldn’t open the doors, bummed!

So after a day of hanging out in rainy Gothenburg we decided to head back to Denmark, via an old school snake run in a biker gang compound. This sounded kinda sketchy so we just played dumb and wandered straight in there. The place used to be an amusement park but was apparently brought by a biker gang to be used as club headquarters, Dan Hunt had been through there last year on his little Swedish trip and been swiftly kicked out. So what the hell lets give it another try. This time the whole place was deserted and after wandering around for about 15 minutes keeping an eye out for shotgun toting bikers we found our prize, a 70’s style snake run. This thing was total 70’s style, no coping, or lip for that matter, and transitions? what are they? But hey you don’t find things like this everyday so lets grab the bikes and see what we can do.

The session lasted late into the avo, with Niels looking for any lines possible and everyone else doing laps over the hip. Session over and not a biker in sight, so back on the road and instead of the bridge we took a little ferry ride back to Copenhagen.

Next day we headed to a suburb of Copenhagen called Christiania, this place is like a hippy compound and is totally left over from the 60’s. Apparently they declared independence from the rest of Denmark and have their own laws and stuff. Basically it’s a hippy market, couple of vego restaurants and somehow pot is legal there, well not really legal but you don’t get busted with it. They also have a cool indoor bowl built by the guys that own Alis clothing company. This bowl is cool, tight trannies, over vert, bowl corners that are almost too tight to roll around, totally my cup of tea. A fun session was had by all especially Wallice, Hunt, Niels and myself.

This was to be our last night in Denmark so we headed out the local bar / pool / foosball spot and all staggered home some time after 5am. Copenhagen is closer to the North Pole so it gets dark about 11pm and light around 3am and it’s so hard to get to sleep after the sun comes up. Copenhagen is a cool city, I would have liked to spend more time there, I guess I will have to plan another trip next year.

Mike D

We live in an age where it’s just about compulsory for a council to build a concrete park of some kind. Since Christmas 03, I’ve ridden two parks that never existed till now. I guess the more parks that get built, the more opportunities people have to ride which is a good thing, that will help to take BMX to the next level (where ever that is).

The only thing about this that bugs me is what will happen to the D.I.Y. element of BMX? Will it disappear? Will people still bother to make a backyard setup?

Although I am definitely for the council built concrete Meccas, I feel the need to give some props to the backyard setup. From bodgy to brilliant, the D.I.Y. backyard setup is a work of art and deserves full respect.

From checking out a couple of riders setups I decided to write a little piece about them, to give these beauties the respect they deserve and hopefully get you stoked on the idea of making your own set up. Don’t get the idea that I will be spoon-feeding you ramp and box designs coz I wont for two reasons. One that D.I.Y. is an acronym for (Do It Yourself) so it would be an oxymoron to do so. And two: They’d suck because I’m not a fancy park designer. What I will give you, is an idea of what people have done, some tips and a few starting points.

To start off with you have got to have somewhere to put it. That requires a backyard or a shed or something.

The next thing to consider is who owns that little piece of Australia? You have got permission from who ever owns it, e.g. parents, landlord etc, as having to rip down all your hard work hurts, hurts deep. Next in line is figuring out what you want to build and what the hell you are going make it out of. Think laterally here: it’s your set up. So build something you like or have seen or have never ridden but would like to or some wacked out shit that only you know how to ride. Once you have made up your mind on what your gonna do, figure out what you need to build it and where you’ll get it from. Have a good think whether you have to buy the stuff or can you just ‘find it’ lying about the place. Like maybe all those ‘unwanted’ Chep style pallets could be useful in making my bank to sub? Or that old road sign would fit nicely as coping. There are plenty of things out there that can be easily and effectively turned into stuff to ride, grind and so on. The more of this useful junk you can find the better, as you don’t have to fork out your hard earned pennies for it!

OK, so not all of us have got the space to build a spine with wallrides to hip to vert wall, but the concept is the same. Work out what you want then get off your arse and make it happen. It’s that simple. Just ask Drew how good a solo session any night of the week is//Mahon

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Daniel Hunt and Rusty have been busy building a backyard ramp in Canberra. They are renting a huge old house right behind Parliament House that is apparently going to be demolished soon, so I guess the landlord doesn’t care too much about the ramp or late night vegan BBQ’s that have been going down//dalY

Unfortunately stuff like plywood (the essential ingredient when making ramps, banks, boxes and so on) is usually hard to come by. A visit to your local hardware shop is pretty inevitable. Come up with a good story about what its for and you might get a discount on bulk amounts (It works sometimes). Otherwise try hassling some tradies at a local building site. They usually have plywood and even if they don’t they’ll have an awesome pile of off-cuts and scraps which might contain some good shit.

Cooper Brownlee getting busy on his new playground

Some useful links: www.heckler.com/ramps www.tumyeto.com/rampplans.php www.rampplans.org www.freerampplans.cjb.net

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One thing I must add is that quick dry cement is one of the most useful things out. You can sculpt all sorts of rideable treats out of this shit. Put it on your shopping list. Angle iron is another little beauty. It’s great to use as coping or to give a ledge some extra slide. Have a look around your town and see if you can find something like an old fridge, washing machine or TV. You can make some really cool sub boxes of out these and it sounds pretty cool when you peg stall on em! The last tip I’m gonna give, you should have learnt in woodwork at school. But for those who were too busy bumming around, use screws instead of Grub on home turf nails when attaching your plywood, this will make it heaps stronger. If you don’t you’ll be forever hammering nails back in and have a pretty shonky ramp.

So now you’ve read this get your arse in gear, find some stuff to use and build yourself something to ride. It doesn’t matter how big or small, just having something to ride in your backyard kicks some serious balls. But remember, many hands make light work, so get all your bum mates to pitch in as they will probably end up sessioning it more than you do. And besides, scavenge missions are heaps of fun. There’s nothing better that scrounging around hard rubbish, tips, under the house or anywhere you can think of. Especially when it means you’ll have somewhere new to ride! At the end of all your hard work you are left with something that is way better than any council production. You don’t have to worry about dickheads, you can ride it whenever you like (lights=night sessions), you wont have the scooter brigade snaking you every run and last of all because you made the bloody thing. Go build. 2020

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Mailorder?

Where you choose to buy your 20inch bits these days could in some ways determine the future of BMX in this country. You see mail order bits coming into Australia from overseas are becoming a pretty serious issue come 2004. Not just for the companies here locally trying to do biz, but for the whole damn thing we call a scene in Australia.

M

ail ordering from overseas has always been around for those into BMX in Australia. Years ago it was the only way you could get certain brands into the country beyond the big names, mainly cause back then most of the gear available was racing stuff. Forget getting anything you saw in the mags (if you could even get a mag beyond the boredom of BMX Plus). Luckily this has changed over the last years with virtually every brand imported to these shores through local BMX distribution companies. But the mail order option still holds the allure of sometimes offering a significant saving. Meaning more than a few people choose this option as a way of getting the gear they need.

It’s a pretty long and drawn out process. Finding a reputable overseas mail order store, tracking down the parts you need and doing the math on international dollar conversions, working out how to ship it and then crossing your fingers hoping that within a week (or four), your gear will turn up. You also better hope it is the gear you ordered and that you can make it all come together, cause the crew who sold it to you are far from around the corner if you want to take it back. Especially if it came in yellow instead of black...

In the end, if you do get some bits all the way here to Oz, make it through customs, pay all the relevant import duties and compulsory GST on imports, you may save some dollars. After the exchange rate conversion and shipping costs, it may even have you paying more. So it’s a little like poker, you might win, you might lose.

But that’s a pretty small and selfish problem when you step back from your own deal and take a look around. The major issue with bringing in mail order parts from overseas is a much greater problem that goes far beyond you getting left with either no bike for a few weeks or a cracked one forever… While mail order provides a possible cheaper alternative to riders looking for a new ride, the dollars going back into BMX in Australia is zero, nada or even more simply put, sweet FA. Over time, this equates to less sponsorship of riders and events from shops, distributors and parent companies alike on these shores. It means less crew will be likely to want to even try and put on events, basically less of everything, including people riding, funding for parks, everything…

It’s a pretty whacked out situation. Especially when the answer to it all is so right around the corner. Your local store. Or maybe the one in the next suburb if the local one doesn’t know jack about BMX. Even an Australian BMX mail order company if you live in the middle of nowhere. The fact that a local Australian store supports BMX by stocking the gear we all want to ride is a big thing. Don’t take it for granted. They’ve got dollars invested in making sure the good shit is available to you, when you need it. Like on a Saturday morning and your psyched to ride, and your bars bend first trick… Without your local store, you ain’t riding all weekend. The deal is, the gear is there. You can check it out. You can make sure it’s the right gear for you. You can get advice and maybe even a discount? Add to this a workshop where your prized ride can get tuned, rebuilt or just plain kept running. Given the size of the scene around a store, they may even have a few riders on a flow team, and even better than that they may be part of competitions and shows through sponsorship or otherwise. Fact is that these people running the local store are probably just as passionate about riding as you and want to see this BMX thing grow. More people riding mean more places to ride and more acceptance of riding as a whole. All in all, that local store is a vital part of the riding community, almost like a mothership. They allow more people to see what is available in BMX, can advise the new crew of what they need and where to ride and even hook new riders up with crew to ride with.

Problem is, this possible upfront saving in your pocket has a few problems attached to it. Like forget walking into your local store and getting help from them, they’ll be charging you hard for buying elsewhere to start with. But bigger than this is the issue of warranty. Say you bend your new frame that took 6 weeks to get here, and then it cracks under the head tube two weeks down the track, you are going to be pissed to say the least. Again, forget calling your local shop and asking them to take care of warranty for you.

Even if they sell that brand. The shop and the Australian distributor of your cracked frame are going to let you know pretty quickly that you’ve screwed ‘em by buying it overseas and you can take it back to the factory yourself.

Distribution companies here keep solid records of serial numbers on frames, so they and the store know where the bike came from. Add to your dramas a few words of abuse and all you get is the click of the dial tone. Stoked. It’s going to be up to you to get that frame back to where it came from, meaning you fit the bill for shipping it back to where it came from along with all the international phone calls. Bottom line is you won’t have a new frame for ages, if it even comes in under warranty.

Holmes

In a bluff that would rival even the greatest poker kings, we lured you, the reader into thinking that the amazing photo you see here actually has something in common with the long arsed story on these pages. Well, when it comes down to it, maybe Zac wont be able to ride Riverside park cause there’ll be no one helping him push the council to allow bikes in the park and his bike flow will be non existent if US mail order stores get all the $ from our shores. I mean the US has already fucked up enough countries havent they? Think about it//Ian Robinson

I hate the whole f’ing thing, but the bottom line is that people will order from OS if they think they can get it cheaper. And that means we cant support more comps, riders or magazines. Chris H. Triple Six

It’s pretty simple. Support to local Australian shops and distributor’s goes a long way. It allows both our local and national scene to grow. One day maybe even enough to become independent of the OS scenes. Ultimately I’m not here to tell you what to do, or where to spend your cash, but at least take a second to think about it. If you’re down with Australian BMX for the long haul and think yourself even a little hardcore then it’s a pretty simple answer. Support the crew who support BMX in this country.

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I’m sure there are some people complaining that we don’t sponsor enough people or events and then they go and buy direct from the US. Sure you may save some dollars, but it’s at the expense of the future of BMX in this country.

David W. Trickbits

M

y current position within Triplesix Distributions puts me out there talking to BMX shops on a weekly basis. There are many bike shops out there feeling the effects of some riders out there choosing to purchase their BMX parts from overseas mailorder companies. I can understand why some riders think they are saving themselves money by doing so but are they really? For starters the number of local shops that support BMX will dramatically fall. This in turn will make for fewer jobs for riders at these BMX shops. These shops will stock fewer BMX products making it harder for new riders to get into bmx as well as existing riders to get good bmx parts easily & quickly. This will in turn make for fewer bmx distributors here in australia. This will also lead to less support in the way of sponsorships for australian riders with the local distributors. Sponsorship for events like comps & jams will also disappear if the distributors close their doors. Magazines like 2020bmx will also cease to exist with less advertising dollars from the distributors and BMX shops as well as fewer reader numbers.

When you buy parts from overseas your warranty options are also very limited. No distributors in australia are under any obligation to honour any warranty issues that you may have. You will need to send back your item to where you bought it from. This will cost you return postage for the item not to mention the weeks or months that you will be without that particular part. If you were to buy your item from a dealer within Australia they will sort out your warranty claim with the distributor as long as its within the warranty conditions. In most cases you will have your new part in days.

So next time you need to buy some new stuff for your bike and for yourself visit your local bmx store, support them and the Australian bmx industry in general. We will all benefit if every rider does so....

Clint Millar

I guess more mail order will mean less BMX in Australia, meaning less people at parks so all good! But then again it means less parks. Less crew to chill with, less chance of a truckload of stuff. Sam fastplanting//Nitai

I

guess the main problem with Australian riders getting their BMX products from overseas is that’s where the dollar stops, the USA. Granted that the majority of our brands that we are a distributor for are based in the US, but all of them have still been cool enough to get behind riders and jams in this country. A perfect example of this is Federal owner, Ian Morris flying Brad Grantham to the States so he could ride on the Props Mega tour last year. To me this is the perfect example of an overseas-based company having a profound effect on the life and “career” (for want of a better word) of an Australian rider. Stowaway also invests time and money into riders so that they may be able to feel like their riding entitles them to more than just “free shit” when they ride for Stowaway they are part of something they can believe in. Of course all of this goes without saying, this is at the top of our job as a BMX Distributor. We put a lot of effort into making sure that any rider that wants access to our products can do so, also looking after warranty issues and on top of that making sure the retailers we deal with are happy with our service and know we are doing a good job. I guess the whole thing I’m really getting at is that if you purchase your products from overseas mail orders, you are ensuring that the money you have spent will not be re-invested in BMX in Australia and New Zealand. This means less, smaller BMX only focused companies, less sponsorship for riders of a pro level, less magazines and less people with clout lobbying councils for amazing skateparks. There would be less workaholics keeping trails going and the list goes on… Support your local BMX shop!

Jamie M. Stowaway

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I think the rider owned companies, manufacturers and local importers along with distributers really need to work with each other more.We’re not as big as the U.S. or Europe and if they want their product/ brand to sold and represented well in other countries, then they need to help the local distributer who in turn really need to support the local retail stores that support BMX. They are much better (I think) to really look after a couple of local shops in each state rather than try to just push more units through heaps of stores that will no doubt de-value products by stupid price wars and then not even stock BMX rider owned products when its not making them enuff dollars we have allready seen it happen.

Oolski-roc StrictlyBMX

lers dea 2020bmxmagazinGeteyour copy of 2020bmxmag from

the stores that really know BMX.

Support those that support our scene.

Col’s Bicycle Shop

1-66 Josephson Street, Belconnen, ACT

02 6253 1372

Leumeah Cycle Centre

13/185 Airds Road, Leumeah, NSW

02 4621 4917

Bike & Board

Shop 5b/141 Snowy River Road, Jindabyne, NSW

02 6457 1366

Blackman Bikes Penrith

88 Henry Street, Penrith, NSW

02 4731 3048

Camden Discount Cycles

184 Argyle Street, Camden, NSW

02 4655 7408

Carney’s Motorcycle

137 Vincent Street, Cessnock, NSW

02 4991 2208

Chain Reaction

Unit 8, 814 Old Illawarra Road, Menai, NSW

02 9541 0797

Cycology

242 Victoria Road, Gladesille, NSW

02 9879 7000

Fishers Ghost Bicycles

Shop G9, Narellan Town Centre, Narellan, NSW

02 4625 7362

Rainbow Cycles

Toormina Garden Shopping Centre, Toormina, NSW

02 6653 3692

The Full Cycle

437 Dean Street, Albury, NSW

02 6041 4181

Bicycle World

2/226 Queen Street, Campbelltown, NSW

02 4627 4210

Crossley Cycles

51 Cambridge Pde, Manly, QLD

07 3393 3470

Cleveland Bicycle Centre

165-175 Bloomfield Street, Cleveland, QLD

07 3843 2888

Different Cycles

22 Upper Dawson Road. Rockhampton, QLD

07 4922 8523

100% Cycles

Shop R31, Woodgrove Shopping Centre, Melton, VIC

03 9746 9246

Bike Land

75 Queen Street, Warragul, VIC

03 5623 2398

BMX MAD

116 Boronia Road, Boronia, VIC

03 9762 5210

Diavolo Cycles

36 Chute Street, Diamond Creek, VIC

03 9438 6969

Total BMX

6-8 William Street, Lilydale, VIC

03 9735 5077

Supreme Cycles

545 High Street. Epping, VIC

03 9401 3938

Georges Bike Shop

8/511 Wanneroo Road. Balcatta, WA

08 9344 2393

Margaret River Cycles

4/31 Station Street, Margaret River, WA

08 9758 7671

Bike Force Southern River

Shop 3, 395 Warton Road. Canning Vale, WA

08 9256 3380

Strictly BMX

417 Riversdale Road, Hawthorn East, VIC

03 9882 1112

Euro treetop invert//dalY

Travis JOHNSTONE Resides SYDNEY

foam pit I first met Trav just after he moved down to live in Sydney from his old home town of Townsville. We were riding a back yard pull out the in Campbelltown and Trav was sketchy as hell. Living in Sydney has definitely improved his riding no end but he still manages to for 7 weeks sketchiness every now and again. Trav is always keen to travel and came along on our world trip last year. We were travelling through the US and Europe without any of the usual road trip arguments. Basically Trav is a mellow guy that loves to ride.

Baz

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FOR MORE DETAILS CHECK OUT

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//JeFFers

James Sutter

Resides: Bacchus Marsh, Victoria At the age of 19, I have watched James progress into a technical / go big, stylish BMX rider. He first started riding dirt at the age of 13, and has never put his bike down since. After about a year of riding, he was introduced to street and ramp which he quickly picked up. He knows how to carve the copping, shred the street, and boost the dirt. At the moment James is living in America for 4 months working at a summer camp in New York. He is a ‘no worries’ rider, and enjoys the occasional glass or maybe even a bottle of vodka. He is a great mate and fun to ride with.

Paul Jeffers

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To advertise in 2020bmxmagzine Classifieds or anywhere in the mag for that mater, contact us via email on sales@2020bmxmag.com.au 2020bmxmag.com.au

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WHIP IT GOOD WITH KENNY RAGGETT

1. First up of you want to learn the downside whip its easiest learn it on a transition take off

to bank landing. This allows for sketchy landings without having to worry about landing into a tranny. This one at Gungahlin skatepark is pretty mellow which also makes it a little easier.

2. Kenny airs left to right so he is going to downside whip right to left.

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3. Ride up to the trannie with about the same speed you would for a regular jump.

4. As your back wheel clears the trannie kick the back of your bike down, in the same direction as you would normally whip.

5. At the same time use your bars to flick the back of the bike around,

this will help speed up the rotation of the frame. You want to try and get the bike off to you top side, so further up the ramp than you are.

This is where the downside whip differs from a regular whip in that

you are beside the bike not above it.

6. As the frame comes back around bring the bike back under your body, make sure you lift your feet so that they don’t catch the seat.

7. There are two different ways that you can get your feet back to the pedals. You can either bring up both your feet and as the frame comes around just stomp them back onto the pedals. Or, you can put your front foot on first to stop the rotation and then bring your back foot around behind the seat. Ideally you should get your feet back to the pedals before the bike lands so you ca get a nice solid landing.

8. Ride away smiling.

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driving guitars are, not once does lead singer Greg Graffin raise his voice. The message is the danger involved in our society’s seemingly out-of-control transition from the practice of open-minded and tolerant religious faith (or lack thereof) to wacko fundamentalism. A topic that has the world in a spin right now if you haven’t notied. A solid listen that will fill you with some fire and fight but with an educated and informed base. “It’s time to turn the tide” the only thing printed on the inside cover...

Maybe the best Bad Religion album to date, an album that speaks it’s mind of

Heavy Hitter High Rotation this Issue 36 Crazy fists a snowcapped romance

Remember back in 1977 when an orphan boy was rejected by kung-fu masters at a monastery, then was taken in by a beggar and a wiseman who teach him the martial arts. Until he’s ready for revenge on those who killed his father? Well maybe not, but it was a cool movie, basically Jackie Chan at his finest. Come 2004, a metal/ hardcore/something different band with the same name release ‘A Snow Capped Romance’. Similarities include stomping bass and guitar driven mayhem with vocals switching between hardcore aggression and melodic screaming. But that’s where the similarities end. Make no mistake, A Snow Capped Romance is an amazing piece of work and, although the musical influences are obvious, somehow 36 Crazyfists have succeeded in sounding better than their influences. It would appear that there’s more to Alaska than oil, polar bears and baked desserts...

Three against Angus

Aus rock on.

Hailing from Gladstone, Three against Angus’ Forever Falling EP is a solid rock/hardcore/ punk debut full of a garage band feel filled with more energy than an atom bomb. With riffs that would find themselves so at home in any 20inch vid fuelling hard and fast riding you can understand why they’ve opened for MXPX and The Ataris recently. Out on Febury Records, try and pick up a copy and check out the website on www.febury.com.au for details on the band and upcoming shows.

The Empire strikes first

Forever Falling

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the times with no holds barred.

Murder Squad

Ravenous Murderous lp/cd You only have to take one look at the promo photo of the Murder Squad, an apocalyptic four piece from Sweden, to know what sort of music they are going to be coming up with. If you are into Entombed or the Haunted then you should probably track this one down.

In fact its no surprise that there are similarities to Entombed as it contains ex members of the aforementioned band.

Slayer inspired blistering solos, songs about the end of the world, all the good stuff. A word of warning don’t put this on when you drive motor vehicles and be cautious about listening to it whilst riding as I cannot be blamed for what it might do to your mindset. Music for the end of the

Bad Religion

For their thirteenth studio album, Bad Religion reiterate their position on religion in a full blown album almost dedicated to their namesake. Hardly a song on The Empire Strikes First doesn’t include a comment on the spiritual climate in America. Each individual song has a war to fight, and the sum total of their combination is a representation of something to fight for. But as full on as the content and

that ended its days in a previous life. Now imagine that the band that is playing on stage is not a brass band as you would expect on a pompous ocean liner, but rather a band that sounds like a combination of earlier period Melvins and Unsane with maybe even a touch of Australian noise core acts from the mid 80s like The Lubricated Goat. Now imagine the ship has pounded the iceberg and is going down like… well its going down damn fast right? The Captain is going down with the ship as all good captains do and he is screaming at this band to keep playing like there is nothing wrong. The ship is about to be completely consumed by the freezing Atlantic and the band now is almost completely muffled by the black void. In the distance a long voice and a trombone call out their last notes…. the

century party, hells yeah.

Gorch Fork”

chiv

Self titled

If you could imagine the Titanic sailing again in this modern era and it’s heading straight for the fateful iceberg

last notes you will hear of Gorch Fork until you check this cd out.

Chiv

The Blurters Don’t Give A FUCK

Arrogant, juvenile, disgraceful, disgusting, fantastic. These are some of the words that spring to mind when you first chuck this CD in your player. Sydney’s self proclaimed kings of punk The Blurters have put togeter a ‘Best of…’ sort of deal compiling their last nine releases under the title “…Don’t Give A Fuck” (which is a very fitting title, by the way). The best way to describe their sound is as they call it “Scum Fuck Rock N Roll”: a mix of aggressive hardcore/streetpunk with a grinding, scummy undertone.

Throw in some angry, Aussie yobbo vocals and you pretty much have it. The album has 38 tracks, all originals bar 5. These titles include: Public Toilets, Pus Fuck, Motherfuckin Sexist Motherfucker and Sleeping on the Shithouse. Even without hearing them you know they aren’t some mummy’s boy pop-punk band singing about a broken heart or some soppy teenage dilemma. Although the CD is a bit on the offensive side, it is pretty darn funny too. It provides a lot of good laughs at the same time as being a solid punk rock album. Overall the CD is top notch.

38 songs for 11 bucks is good value by anyone’s standards. If you’re after a bad-arse, punk as f*%k CD that you mother won’t approve of, or just want something to listen to when you grovel around in your

LEGITIMISED? BMX gets organised! Over the last couple of years BMX Freestyle has become a respectable thing to do, what the hell, dirty bmx’ers becoming respectable. Is this because we have gotten more TV coverage, been accepted by more councils and governments, hell, they are even talking about the Olympics! All this attention has given us more skateparks, council approved, and paid for! trails and a super strong industry that supports sponsored riders and magazines like this one. But. What have we given up for this, maybe I’m just old and jaded? but I kinda liked it when know one knew what we were doing, it was kinda cool to hear people ask me if I was riding my little brothers bike, or just look at me like “what the hell is that kid doing riding that bike down the side of my building!”

I remember I was at Mona Vale vert ramp once, it would have been about 1992. I was sitting next to the ramp putting my pads on, some kid comes up and looks at me all shocked and says “you gonna ride that bike on the ramp?” like he’s never heard of a bike on a ramp. Perhaps it made me fell good that I knew bmx was cool and that everyone else was just ignorant. I am finding more and more that I seem to be in a constant battle between trying to keep bmx the way it always was, underground if you like and taking advantage of the benefits of becoming organised. Maybe I’m worrying too much, but I kinda feel somewhat responsible, what the hell, maybe I should just shut up and go ride my little kids bike now!

Mike Daly

DVD REVIEWS

Props 52

Animal DVD

Mega Tour 3

FBM 10 year DVD

This issue of Props covers the Toronto Metro Jam, Austin Scene Report, Women of Freestyle Road Trip, Backyard Jam, Braun Flatland Comp, BACO Midwest Tour, FBM / Last Cal Comp and the Homemade Street jam from Amsterdam.

That’s a lot of stuff, you also get Props Video Magazine Issue 29 from January 1999 as a bonus. The riding from the Metro Jam and Backyard is sick, the standard of riding at these comps is overboard, in my opinion, much better than what you see at the x-games. I’d rather see a flowing run of big and tech tricks on an interesting street course than a double back flip any day. OK other stuff in the video, everyone knows that Austin has a cool scene and its super good to see girl riders getting some coverage, we need more girls riding bmx I reckon. Simon O Brien gets some coverage in the Braun flatland comp coverage along with our friend Mike S, Simon also won the comp, go Aussie go.

All in all another good video from props.

If you live for the streets it’d be pretty odds on that you’d have already seen this DVD by now. If not then know that it’s a DVD with almost 100 percent street destruction, minimal park and even less trails.

The third instalment of the Mega tour series hit the road in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and even Mexico with over 45 riders from Blacken, UGP, Hoffman Bikes, Profile, Mutiny, and Empire. This tour has a pretty international crew with riders from all around the world, good to see. Maga Tour 3 follows the usual format, apart from a few semi organised demos, each team was able to do their own thing most of the time. The riding is a combination of street, skateparks and trails, so there something in there for every one. They also managed to hit up a bunch of pools, which made me pretty jealous. On top of the riding you will find all the usual bike video antics plus some skydiving action and Mat Hoffman driving his crazy paraglider/parachute thingo. There’s heaps of good stuff in the bonus section including more riding, out takes, bails, bonus Day 0, and a Shitluck team road trip that went on at the same time as the Mega Tour. The Shitluck section contains an optional audio commentary by Leland and John Paul, needless to say they sound very drunk!

Experience the first 10 years of FBM on DVD, but be ready for an all night session, at just over 4 hours, theres some serious couch time... There is some new footage, which is well worth watching, including the ghetto jam which rocks out, Steven Hamilton’s transfers alone are worth watching. But of course it’s the feature that takes the cake. All five of them. A twisted history lesson that’s full of chrome plated bikes and forward handlebars, just so you know crew didnt always ride black bikes…

Starting with 1995’s Ring of Fire theres no end to the action in the following vids, The Bar is Closed, Live Fast Die, Albert Street and All Time Low. On top of this you get all of FBM’s commercials, explosions, drunk antics and a super good slide show. An amazing journey through the history of FBM proving they’ve stuck to their roots and continued doing what they do best. Make stuff, ride bikes, get drunk and smash/blow stuff up.

83 minutes + bonus

83 minutes + bonus

Featuring bomb dropping sections by all their big name team riders who pretty much define the best street riding in the world. Included are: Vinnie Sammon, Lino Gonzalez, Jared Washington, George Dossantos, Tyrone Williams, Bob Scerbo, Butcher, Steven Hamilton, Corey Martinez and Edwin Delarosa. Also of massive note is the sections with Australian Animal crew including Marcus Rowsell, Peter Koh and John Comino. Bonus footage includes a Joe Tiseo Video history, a skateboard video, old footage and more.

New York City has a major role in this DVD and with the goldmine of rideable terrain there, it’s no wonder why. All up this production is the definition of street in 2004 and will most probably be a milestone for future generations looking back on the history of 20inch.

well over an hour

4 hours yo!

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ATI Grips You want long wearing rubber that also keeps your hands on the bars. Dual density ATI grips in two patterns with flange or no flange, that is the question. www.rideati.com (Southcott 03 9580 7388)

Marzocchi Dirt Jump Forks Coming to the party with the toughest forks on the market, Marzocchi have built some mighty beefy forks for your dirt jump needs. Not light, but solid as all hell.

Norco 03 9584 5300

Hoffman Fat Free Bars A little lighter where it doesn’t count make these new bars pretty solid regardless. Heat treated 4130, with a 7.7” Rise (you convert it!) 6° upsweep, 10° back. www.trickbits.com.au

FBM tough guy stuff Once again with the ultimate in rock’n’roll 20inch accessories. Check the bad mutha belt buckle to keep you looking hard and for those long road trips, FBM brings you the non-spill mug for your coffee swillin needs. www.stowaway.net.au

Felt Jetson chainring Fits standard 1/8” chains meaning a lighter ride. Sweetly CNC machined 6061 aluminium, 10mm thick for toughness, and comes with a replaceable grind shield and a number of size options to suit your ride. www.feltbmx.com (Southcott 03 9580 7388)

Felt Bakeshow tire Bakeshow tire street design, 120psi, low pro knobs and a high durometer rubber make em a choice rubber to roll on, also a new bead wrap to reduce pinch flats, super good hook up bead securely fastens tire to rim. www.feltbmx.com (Southcott 03 9580 7388)

The Shadow Conspiracy TIRES Belter: Designed for street and dirt use and come in 1.95” and 2.1” widths. 85psi rated knobby action.

Undertone: A good all round street and flat tyre, that’s fast on the cement. 1.85 and 2.1” and these bad boys go up to 110 for those who like it hard. www.triplesix.com.au

Dragon Grifter Sunglasses Need to get your hardcore look on, or maybe lay low for a while. Dragons new Grifter shades will take care of your styles and your eyes www.dragonoptical.com.au

Common Bikes Gaz, who is a big part of the UK’s Common Bikes just headed over to Aus to so look out for some Aussie made frames comming soon. This one has a 74.5 deg head tube, 20”, 20.5” or 21” top tube and comes in Euro or BMX bb.

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We The People Bars Brian Teradas Signature Le Tigra Bar are now available in Australia. Full 4130 heat treated Cr-mo “Sanko” Japanese tubing, 181.6mm rise, 10° Backsweep and 5 up, 885grams meaning very light. And they be forged in hellfire… www.triplesix.com.au

Primo Hub Guard Keep your rear hub in shape and your spoke heads from getting worn away when your on a grinding mission. Lightweight and slick looking little number from Primo just slots in over your hub. www.trickbits.com.au

The Shadow Conspiracy Pads In order to keep your knees working without the need to run massive pads, TSC have released their take on the low profile pad. Run em under jeans, their soft and hard moulded plastic inserts will take a beating before your knee does. Stretch lycra gasket and straps will keep them in place too. Theres some fine new TSC T’s out also. www.triplesix.com.au

Animal Edwin Grips Edwins new signature grips come with the special bonus of being able to make you 180 off, out of or over anything. Maybe not, but super grippy design on durable rubber means less changing grips between trying to be Edwin. www.stowaway.net.au

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Strictly Bitch Cranks 48 spline sealed bearing 100% cromoly cranks. Available in 175 mm clear, left/ right side drive compatable from Strictly BMX. They have some new beanies for the Melbs winter too. www.strictlybmx.com

Demolition JAR HEAD Stem 6061 billet aluminium all hollowed out to save you some grams. 53mm reach and come with or without gyro tabs. www.demolitionbikes.com

DRAGONFLY KATER frame One of the new frames from DF, this one is Markus Hampl’s signature model.

20.25 or 20.75 tt, 74.5 / 71 and a light weight 5.8 lbs, with euro bb and DF’s forged drop out. Black or Light Grey. www.kickassbmx.com

MARTIAL CLOTHING t’s They came to bow, they come to conquer. Ye be warned this is not all that is in store. martialclothing@hotmail.com

WRITTEN hoodie New from Melbourne’s rocking bmx scene is WRITTEN clothing, 100% rider owned.

Phil 0401 823 476

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Kenny Ragget gets his head all through this issue and even scored test duties on the Eastern which is now foot jam approved//dalY

EASTERN

ACE OF SPADES

Eastern have really been working hard on their stuff for the past couple of years and the new 2004 range is a testament to the hard yards.

And they’ve really turned into a fully functional rider owned company that’s stepping up to the task of taking on the big boys. Rider owned you ask. Think way back in time to a certain company named Bully and their bashguard bikes, a brainchild of BMX legend, R.L. Osbourne. You may have even been lucky enough to see their video, which amongst some of BMX’s most enduring riders featured a vert dog by the name of John Byers, who absolutely destroyed a decrepit old vert ramp in the forests of Somewhereville USA with monster airs.

Well John is the man behind Eastern. While the company has grown and evolved, the ethics stay the same.

Enter the 2004 Ace of Spades, all Motorhead style, guitars blazing, with a large amount of Leigh Ramsdell thrown into the design mix. Yep, he’s on design duties for Eastern on frames, components and ads. Nice. So what you have is a frame built to his liking and available to you as a complete bike.

First impressions were that it was pretty much on the money right out of the box. Well thought out rider touches that mean less messing around getting the bike going to your personal standard. Touches like a chrome back rim, compact drive train and dual bottom cables mean it’s tricked out from the start. Simple things that mean a lot, along with a hell of a lot less messing around getting it right after the purchase.

The specs go something like this; 20-inch top tube, a head tube angle of 75.4 and a seat tube angle of 71

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degrees. It has a chain stay wishbone, 7/8-diameter chain and seat stays. And an extra thick head tube so you wont flare it. Also, a chainstay length of 14.5 inches. Aimed at the all round rider not content with a super heavy beast, the Ace of Spades weighs in pretty light for a stock ride without having to sacrifice too much strength. A solid, yet light feel is the result that doesn’t mind breeding confidence. This combined with the well-geared compact drive train and good stem/bar height makes the bike feel ready for anything. Pedal it fast and it’ll get you over what you need. While the set up is pretty sorted for a complete, a stronger pair of three piece cranks may be the go down the track.

For the money ($799) it’s a super good deal for a bike that is ready to go and ready to build on with some extras that will make it a stayer. For more info, hit up www.easternbikes.com

Brendan Hanson whipping out in the golden afternoon sun//nitai

BRING ON SUMMER

With the winter passed, spring brings a time to ride. Trails grow and the days grow longer. Next issue will feature some of Australia’s best trails and the riders that ride them. Along with the best coverage of riding in Australia that doesn’t require any rules, some more competitions and a truckload more 20inch from those that ride to you in blazing colour.

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