Stoked On Fixed Bikes Issue 16

M AG A Z INE

NO.16

/

JA NUA RY

2014

www.sofbonlinemag.com

It’s up to you!

FREE or DONATE

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W E L C O M E 4

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Rider: Pancho Location : Mexico Photographer :Aaron Borras

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JANUARY 2014

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ew year, new adventures!

This january in europe has been perfect for riding bikes so far and I definitely took advantage of this!

Riding through the woods every mornig just gives me the right amount of energy boost needed for my upcoming adventures this year.

Im planning to go to Berlin, Lyon, Nice, Les2Alpes, Pila, Bratislava, Friedrichsh afen,Scotland,Norway, Barcelona and hopefully to many other places.

Finally, I am working on a new version of my website and I am planning to organise an exhibition in London.

THE TEAM EDITOR - PHOTOGRAPHER - WRITERDESIGNER - RIDER

Greg Falski REDACTION TEAM

Anto But Ricardo Lino Saskia Haex Mae WEB SITE

Alvaro R. Fernandez CONTRIBUTORS

Ride on!

Greg Falski

Duarte Pinto de Lima Aaron Borras Arturs Pavlovs

http://www.trufixkru.com

Szymon Nieborak

http://delayedpleasure.com/

Jason Sellers

http://www.fwdbound.com

Jakob Santos Teddy Morellec Vincent Perraud 8 BAR TRU FIX CREW TERRAMOTO CREW HELL OR WIN Red Bull Content Pool Online - ISSUU.com SOFB ONLINE MAG PART OF POLE SHIFT PUBLISHING http://poleshiftpublishing.info

For contributions, advertising and other enquiries, please contact gregfalski@gmail.com

THANKS TO Family and friends, all crews and riders, organisers and advertisers.. would not be possible without all of you!

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CONTENTS SOFB ONLINE MAG 16

4 GALLERY 6 IN STRAPS 8 CONTENTS 10 HOT DATES Get ready 12 8BAR Berlin to Prague 20 INTERVIEW Jacob Santos 20 MINIDROME Paris 32 TERREMOTO CREW Mexico 38 COPENHAGEN The Fixiest 44 RED HOOK Milan 52 REVIEW pages 56 ARTURS Interview 62 MINIDROME Milano 68 HELL OR WIN crew 74 BIKE CHECK 8Bar 76 TUGA TOUR Lisbon 82 FISH column 84 BIKE POLO London

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Manuel on his Bombtrack Photo: Jason Sellers

COVER

Tom La Marche and Super Ted on a cold night in Frankfurt, Eurotrip 2009.

I shot this picture to be on a cover one day...

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HOT DATES Updates on comps, jams, race venues and all crazy fixed bike events happening near you.

If you are running these kind of events then let SOFB know as soon as possible and we will put it here.

Revolution Series Oct 26th 2013 - Jan 25th 2014 Manchester, Glasgow, London SSP Race From Vienna to Bratislava SAT 08 02 2013 / 10 00 H / meet at Citybiker London Bike Show 2014 Feb 13th 2014 - Feb 16th 2014 in ExCeL, London Taipei Cycle 2014 Mar 5th 2014 - Mar 8th 2014 in TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taipei Fixed Days 22-24 March 2014 Berlin, Germany Bespoked 2014 – The UK Handmade Bicycle Show 11th - 13th April 2014 Lee Valley Velopark, London, Eurobike 2014 Aug 26th 2014 - Aug 30th 2014 in Friedrichshafen, Germany Photo: Szymon Nieborak http://delayedpleasure.com/

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8BAR BERLIN 2 PRAGUE WITHOUT A MAP PHOTOS AND TEXT : 8 BAR

In time where everyone shares their rides with friends on online platforms and plans their tours weeks before… we thought it is time to go back to the roots and explore a bit more!

Most people think that you have to fly to Asia or Africa to have a real adventure. But sometimes it is closer as you can imagine… Take your bike, go out for a ride and take a new road that you didn’t take before. Make the left turn where you always did the right...

The 8bar team riders Stefan and Max took it a bit further and came up with the idea to go from Berlin to Prague without a map. Just with a compass and the option to check their coordinates twice a day.

Stefan: “We were always looking for an opportunity to test the 8bar TFLSBERG Singlespeed Cyclocross Bike. So here we go… With the TFLSBERG we were able to take paved roads, forest roads and also some Single trails.

The beeline from Berlin to Prague is only 280km and if you go on normal roads it would be 400km. So we thought we can easily make it in three days.”

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DAY 1: We started on a Thursday morning and kept heading South-South-East (SSE).

It was sunny and we were in good mood. Max and I literally took every path that headed SSE but got lost a lot of times. After four hours of riding there was a sign showing us that Berlin is just 45km away… 45km in 4 hours?

Our daily goal for todays was to get at least around 150km away from Berlin?

The first signs of doubts came into our heads and we were not sure if we can make it to Prague in three days if we would continue like this…

Luckily the following road was leading us in the right direction and we got already 80km when we did the first lunch break. Now it was the first time to check our coordinates... We were pretty happy as we found out that we got lost from the beeline by only a few kilometers.

The rest of the day was a nice ride on paved roads and some forest roads. We managed to do 160km on the first day and ended up in a town called Finsterwalde.

(Everyone who has been to Finsterwalde knows that you normally won’t stay here longer as necessary if you use a map.)

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Our goal of the day was to cross the Czech boarder, which was at least another 160km of riding if we find the right road.

So we started early and headed SSE again on a paved road. This way we made around 100km in just a few hours. As we got closer to the Czech boarder it got more and more hilly. We suffered a lot with just one gear and our big bag and had to push our bikes at some of the uphills in the forest. The next problem was that there is no road every few kilometers which crosses the border. So we ended up riding around 20km in the wrong direction just to find a road that crosses the border.

Nevertheless we made another 173km on day two and fulfilled our goal to get to Czech Republic. As we checked our coordinates in the evening we found out that we missed the perfect line by just a few kilometers.

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Our ride on day 3 was mostly along the Elbe… After 50km of easy riding along the river we got into some trouble. Because of the heavy rain in the past weeks there were some parts of the bicycle lanes flooded. So we asked ourself if we should give it a try and ride throught the water or go back and look for another route. As we looked on our compass it was clear that we have to give it a try!

As the Elbe went in the wrong direction we sticked to the rules and went SSE again (even if we knew that the Elbe would have brought us directly to Prague).

The last 50km were on one of the most boring roads… It was just straight, packed with cars and slightly up- and downhill. Our buds hurt and we just wanted to arrive.

Then we finally saw Prague… All our pain was forgotten and the smile finally came back into our faces!

It was a great feeling going downhill into the city centre of Prague…

It was a great feeling and Prague is a perfect as destination for such a trip.

We suffered a lot in the last days, but it was a really nice trip…

Don’t plan too much and you will have the adventure of your lifetime! Go out for your ride… take the new path and just go as far as you want!!!

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SICK RIDER INTERVIEW

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I met Jakob in Barcelona some time ago. He is a really progressive rider and working hard, still he is a relaxed and cool guy.

Jakob Antone

Santos Photos: Duarte Pinto de Lima Text : Greg Falski and Jakob

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Photo: Duarte Pinto de Lima

I like riding street and dirt, the dirty nitty gritty type shit, ya know?

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INTERVIEW

with Jakob Antone Santos WHO ARE YOU, WHERE ARE YOU AT THE MOMENT AND WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? I’m in my living room watching my son James play with Ninja Turtles.

WHAT MAKES YOU SO GOOD AT RIDING FIXED? Practice man. My dad was my biggest influence; he always pushed me, but never too hard. ALSO, NOT BEING A BITCH AND TRYING BIG SHIT!! The dudes I ride with, we all push each other.

COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THE LAST TWO COMPETITIONS/JAMS OR ROAD TRIPS YOU WENT TO? Ride-N-Style and Summer Fixed were the last two competitions I went to. They were both poorly judged, but they were a good time riding. It’s always good riding with the homies. And man, Portugal…. Fucking amazing. It was my brother Jesse Santos’ first time out of the country, and it was a real dope experience to share with him. I had a few very proud BIG BROTHER moments out there, especially when he would get the street spots, park ledges and rails he hit.

DO YOU LIKE TO RIDE STREET OR PARK MORE? ARE YOU BETTER AT ONE MORE THAN THE OTHER? I would say I’m better at street than park.

I’m not a big fan of riding park; I like riding street and dirt, the dirty nitty gritty type shit, ya know?

WE REALLY ENJOY YOUR EDITS, WHO IS MAKING THESE? CAN WE EXPECT SOME MORE FROM YOU..

My dad, brother, and friends film for me, and sometimes I edit, but the shit that looks good is filmed by guys like Colby Elrick, Chris Fonseca, Matt “SLUMWORM” Reyes, and JBALL. Whenever I go out to film for an edit, it’s just like a normal day of riding, but with cameras.

I KNOW THAT SOME RIDERS GET SCARED OF BIG JUMPS ANDOBSTACLES! HOW DO YOU PUSH YOURSELF? I don’t really think about the “what if”, I more so just go for it, and if I get it, I get it.

If not, I get wrecked haha.

YOU INSPIRE A LOT OF RIDERS WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM? Keep pushing the sport, and keep riding.

Don’t fall off or quit like the other dudes who couldn’t keep riding fixed. DON’T SELL YOUR BIKE!!

HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR CREW? WHO DO YOU HANG OUT WITH..

I don’t really have a crew. I ride with damn near everyone around me who rides, but the dudes I do ride with are like family, ya know? It’s like a big ass brotherhood. I really only kick it with Colby Elrick though, filming for my edit and just bull shittin’ around.

WHAT IS THE NEXT OF YOUR PROJECTS? I’m currently working on my “WELCOME TO SKYLMT” edit, and I’m going to Thailand at the end of March.

LAST QUESTION; ANY SHOUT OUTS? I wanna give the biggest shout out to my biggest fan, my son JAMES. Also to my girlfriend Desiree, my parents, my brother, Colby Elrick and the SKYLMT family, all my homies, Fat Jon, Mark, and Chad Magad. If you’re riding and pushing the sport, then you too. AMERICAN ICON FOR TAKING CARE OF ME. OH AND ALSO LOPEZ FAMILIA

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Photo: Duarte Pinto de Lima

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ALSO, NOT BEING A BITCH AND TRYING BIG SHIT!!

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PAR

Paris Invaders!

He has held the audience spellbound until the last second! Finishing second in 2011, he had to return to the title and will indeed overcome the most stubborn.

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RIS INVADERS! MINIDROME Photos: Teddy Morellec, Vincent Perraud /Red Bull Content Pool Text : Greg Falski and TRU FIX

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Latvian Toms Alsbergs was the big winner of this crazy French edition of the Red Bull Mini Drome.

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*How did it begin ...on a monday we went to do a tour around the city ...that was two years ago . At the beginning there were Javier Espinosa , Oscar Espinosa and Jorge Garcia.

That night we stopped in the middle of the road by a lake, smoking a joint and drinking a beer ..we started to talk and decided to build a crew, which then we called TERREMOTOCREW - we went for that name because most of us met on a soccer field where we played foot ball and bikepolo and there was a graffiti saying >>The earthquake>>.

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TERREMOTO CREW Photos: Aaron Borras Text : Terremoto crew

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Terremoto Crew is a huge reason Mexico City is my favorite city in the world to ride in Lucas Brunelle 35

Every Monday we met in the evenings to ride, joined by new people and many who are now part of the crew - we are now about 15 people some play bikepolo (Fernando Morales , Guillermo Romero) others only run races , but we’re always together on events and parties.

We have made several alley cats and the last was with 400 people ....our alleycats are always open to anyone who enrolls and every year we party hard and ride harder .

We made friends with Lucas Brunelle during a BFF some time ago and he became a very good friend.

Aaron is our favorite photographer, always taking amazing pictures in all the things we do. Almost all photographic material having the crew are made by the man.

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Riding with Terremoto Crew has taken me places I never thought I’d go Lucas Brunelle

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I went to Denmark and by coincidence ran into this cool fixed gear shop....

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Photos: Greg Falski Text : Greg Falski and Doddy

BIKE SHOP - THE FIXIEST

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PLEASE TELL US HOW YOUR SHOP WAS BORN, AND HOW THE CREW MET...

I started the fixiest back in 2010 when i was 21 years old.

I fell in love with the fixedgear scene when i was 16 years old.

Back when i startet people thought i was crazy biking on a trackbike on the streets without the option of brakes.

A fixedgear shop then open’d 2 3 years later and i started buying my parts from them.

I got hooked on making bikes, and startet buying my parts online because of the high danish prices.

I later on decided to open op my own shop in the heart of copenhagen, so i could get the best possible prices and build what ever bike i thought would sell.

I then meet my bestfriend/business partner, through a nightclub place’d next to my shop, we startet smoking some joints together, and later on we decided to become partners.

We have been involved ever since.

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We have work'd with REDBULL, Carlsberg, BT magazine, MSN, SOUNDVENUE, OPEL, media agency's, etc.

WHERE DO YOU THINK FIXED GEAR WILL BE IN A YEAR FROM NOW? I see the fixedgear scene as a wave for many people, but it’s here to stay forever, and i strongly believe in RACING A TRACKBIKE ONLY. Tricks are awesome on a fixedgear, but its made for going fast, i think tricks are for BMX’s

BEST Farhad Khamseh

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RED HOOK CRIT MILAN Photos and Text: Greg Falski

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This is the 4th year the Red Hook Crit is being held in Milan.

Participants include great racers such as Neil Bezdek, Evan Murphy and Stefan Vis .

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As the race took place in the middle of the night, the racers had problems to find their way around which led to crashes and delays, even before the main race had started.

The track was really fast and challenging and that was just pure pleasure to watch!

The best riders from both, Europe and the US took part in that crazy competition as always giving their best and more

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Eduard Grosu won this fantastic race in Milan. Congrats!

Evan Murphy finished second just before Neil Bezdek.

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NEIL BEZDEK Red Hook Criterium Championship Series

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Results: 1. Eduard Grosu 2. Evan Murphy 3. Neil Bezdek 4. Pablo Rodriguez Lopez 5. Marius Petrache 6. Augusto Reati 7. Stefan Vis 8. Thibaud Lhenry 9. Francesco Martucci 10. Alessandro Bruzza

MASH SF 2013 Red Hook Criterium Championship Series

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BB 17 Karma

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Product review Photo&Text: Mae and Greg Falski

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BB17 Karma One of my main bikes I have been using for about half a year now. I like that on this bike you have as small bike draft due to the geometry of the frame. The quality of the finish and the stiffness of the frame are excellent. Also I also think this bike looks pretty sharp.

Together with the 8bar crankset it makes a perfect machine to transfer your power straight to the bike without wasting strength. www.breakbrake17.com Knog Arc 5.5 This Blinder Arc 5.5 does a great job for night rides as it provides strong light. There are different sizes of handlebar mounts and also helmet mounts, what I found very useful as I am riding different types of bikes.

At the moment this is my favourite light and I can highly recommend it to any riders. www.knog.com.au

RESTRAP Nathan from Restrap sent us two pairs of their straps.

1. Horizontal 2.Diagonal The Diagonal fit perfectly with the MOTO pedals. They are made from one reclaimed seat belt what makes them not only cool looking but also eco- sensitive. www.restrap.co.uk

MOTO Urban Pedals We have been in touch with Alireza from Moto for months, and he did a great job informing us about upcoming lines and so on.

This pedals look supercool as you can see on the picture, we love the wooden feature and the special grip makes you feel really safe riding your bike with those pedals. www.motobicycles.com

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OTHER SIDE OF LENS Issue 16 with

Art큰rs Pavlovs

He is a big part of the fixed gear movement in Riga, he works hard on his portfolio....

Photo: Arturs Pavlovs http://www.trufixkru.com

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INTERVIEW

with Arturs Pavlovs

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SOFB - YOU LIVE IN RIGA.. HOW DOES THIS INFLUENCE YOU AND YOUR WORK? My hometown is Riga (Latvia). I grew up here so basicly all my life I’ve spent here except some trips abroad. This city has been my holy inspiration throughout the years. The streets we ride, the spots we have sessions at, places we shoot pictures, the pubs and bars we party at…altogether it has made me of what I am now. Riga is a small city and fixed scene is just rising and Fixed Freestyle is at it’s very beginning so I don’t expect to make enormously big gap or handrail pictures but i do my best to show it’s from it’s best perspective.

SOFB - FIXED GEAR IS GROWING ALL OVER THE WORLD, WHEN WAS YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH THIS SPORT? I first started to ride a fixed gear bike when I was 3 years old, but that was a small three wheeled kids bike. But if for real then I got into fixed gear scene 2008. It was lots of fun and it hasn’t changed since. It took me 3 fixed bikes to really understand what I want. With third I built my dream machine which I ride now.

SOFB -WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE RIDER TO SHOOT WITH? DO YOU HAVE ONE- OR WHO MADE YOU "STOKED ON FIXED BIKES"

Photo: Arturs Pavlovs http://www.trufixkru.com

I don’t have a favourite rider yet but the most pictures I’ve made with my very good friend Toms Alsbergs - the fastest man in minidrome there is.

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SOFB - YOU RIDE BIKES YOURSELF, HOW MUCH DOSE THIS AFFECT THE WAY YOU LOOK AT THE SPORT THROUGH YOUR LENS? I’ve been into extreme sports (Skateboard, snowboard) and photography for a long time now and I know these sports well enough to understand how the trick should look and to know the perfect moment when to shoot cause I’ve been working a lot together with BMX, MTB, Wakeboard, Snowboard, Skateboard riders.

SOFB - FILM OR DIGITAL? I shoot Digital but I love film and I know i’ll start to shoot film as well one day. Nowadays everything has to happen fast and that is one of the reasons why I choose it. It would be not possible with film as well as it is pretty much expensive. Other reason is that there is a possibility to fuck up things with film and you’ll know that only after you’ve developed your film but with digital you see everything on the spot.

SOFB - WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE TIME OF DAYLIGHT TO SHOOT IN? I feel comfortable in any conditions.

It may rain or snow be bright sun or cloudy. I don’t care. I have some tricks for every conditions. It really is a stupid thing to say that good pictures can be made only under sunny conditions or bright light. You just have to use your creativity to break that myth.

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SOFB - WHATS IN YOUR BAG, ALL THE GEAR YOU USE FOR PHOTOSHOOTS, HOW HEAVY IS IT? I never leave my home without my all time favourite camera Canon 1D mark 2, Canon 15mm fisheye, Canon 24-70, Canon 70-200, 3 Canon flashes and of course 4 peaces of pocket wizard.

And yes I am a CANON fan. Maybe the greatest one until Nikons starts to sponsor me ;)

SOFB - MINIMAL SETUP? Minimal setup is my all setup – never leave anything at home.

SOFB - IF YOU COULD GIVE A YOUNGER YOU AN ADVICE ON HIS WAY TO THE FIRST FREELANCE ASSIGNMENT WHAT WOULD YOU TELL HIM?

Even if you’re afraid of some projects just go for it. It will be a massive experience. Photoshoots where you know and understand everything will give you nothing but great pictures. Experience is what will make you. Leave your comfort zone and go for it.

ANY FINAL THOUGHTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD? Shoot to kill your audience

Photo: Arturs Pavlovs http://www.trufixkru.com

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MILAN MINIDROME Photos: Damiano Levati, Olaf Pignataro /Red Bull Content Pool Text : Greg Falski and TRU FIX

Milan!

The Red Bull Mini Drome has landed for the first time in Italy, and has made Milan the capital of the fixed gear bike. A real show dedicated to the urban-fixie , which brought together hundreds of the Space Sarpi 6 'fixed for fixed', from all over Europe!

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The race was attended by 106 riders, including Olympic bronze XCOMarco Aurelio Fontana , who have played 32 passes for the final 1 vs 1 at an average of 40km / h on a velodrome 10 times smaller than that to which we are used to (25 meters), the stuff of 'fixed' in short. On the day of November 23rd fixed gear maniacs once and again gathered to fight for pride and fame in the worlds smallest minidrome in Milano. 100 competitors and a few hundred spectators were able to witness one of the greatest fixed gear competitions of all time.

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It actually couldn't be better. As a surprise for everyone after the qualifications runs first six places belonged to Latvians. The crowd couldn't get in because of the fully packed inside. The noise was incredible inside of all the spectators that had come to see the battle of the year. Arturs pavlovs crashed badly in the qualification runs leaving pretty sure space for Toms Alsbergs to win the race. Charlie O’Connor had a god chance of winning as he is a track specialist with massive legs and power but still. After a long day Toms Alsberg did it again and took gold back home.

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The Wolfpack transcends velo-genres, fixed nd free, 700 nd 26, BMX, Hardcourt Polo, Alleycats, Traffic nd Tarck, with FGFS at its core.!

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Photos: Hell or Win Text : Greg Falski and Colin O’Reilly

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Most throughout the ranks are active or discharged couriers and being in a relatively small city, so called “scenes” tend to intermingle giving a tight-knit community, generally tolerant of whatever you ride, there’ll always be haters. I certainly try to foster this sentiment with the ethos of Hell or Win, appreciating going balls out whatever your at, all Hail the Rippers.

The current Hellkrew Johnny Blaze 66 Johnny has been down from the get go, on some bike for most days of the month, total bike freak, courier, Dublin Bike Polo co-founder, and all round trickster, dudes got some kind of velopsychosis, sound familiar?

Omar Keen photographer, Hell or Win blog contributor and FGFS rider, cous throws down both in front and behind the lens, while splicing edits of his own with the Don’t Mind the Fuckin Dog crew, some of whom, Father Slim James and Oisín, have been throwing down for Hell of late.

Daz Exemplifies all out, tore streets apart in his days on the road, skitching like Spidey, tarck monster, stuck with it and it shows.

Kropa Hailing from Poland, spartan and work-horse on the road, alleycat killer, Dublin Bike Polo cofounder, dudes got his shit wired tight and attends polo tournaments every other weekend like some kind of playboy of the hardcourt world, should be hitting Florida for the Worlds.

6 Colin Currently Ronin of the road, masterless warrior, Hell or Win’s creator, designer and rider attempts to meld passions for bikes and visual art with some anti-establishment sentiment on the side. Use the hate to create with a multimedia barrage of shock and draw in these pre-apocalyptic times.

Evil Rides

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Please check out www.hellorwin.net 72

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BIKE CHECK Photos:8BAR Text: Greg Falski and Stefan Shot,

Ucon and 8bar are two Berlin based brands who teamed up for this bike collaboration.

They worked on this project together for the last year to make something special happen.

One of them is ‘Toons’, a Berlin famous painting artists and a true fan of the whole bike culture since he was a small boy. He handpainted the frame and brought their vision of the “feathering-design” into real life.

Then there is the product-designer and illustrator ‘Stulle’ from Matzmate who did an amazing job customizing the bike saddle, foot straps and handlebar.

This is the setup: frameset: 8bar - KRZBERG rims: 8bar - ULTRA 60mm carbon hubs: 8bar - MEGA crankset: 8bar - SUPER v2 seatpost: 8bar - SUPER v2 saddle: Selle San Marco - Zoncolan Urban stem: 8bar - SUPER pedals: 8bar - SUPER slim straps: 8bar x Veganski tires: 8bar - SUPER handlebar: Deda - Crononero Low bartape: Leather Please check the “making of” clip http://vimeo.com/78356645 http://www.ucon-acrobatics.com/ http://8bar-bikes.com/

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TUGA TOUR LISBON

2013

Photos: Duarte Pinto de Lima Text : Jakob Santos

Portugal…. Fucking amazing. It was my brother Jesse Santos’ first time out of the country, and it was a real dope experience to share with him. I had a few very proud BIG BROTHER moments out there, especially when he would get the street spots, park ledges and rails he hit.

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The TUGA CREW

Jakob Santos

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Jakob Santos

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Ricardo Lino

Jesse Santos

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Jakob Santos

Ricardo Lino

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FISH

s column

F.a.s.t. Amsterdam is actually more then a criterium team. We love all facets of biking. mainly on fixed gear bikes.

(16 november my awesome dad passed away from braincancer. Im proud he could still make it to RHC Milano. I miss him.)

Our good friend Sunny Bergman invited my girlfriend and me to spend Xmas holidays in chateau de Gressoux in the northeast of France.

When the Strava Rapha #festive500 came up again i thought to catch up on mileage, training. I needed a monks ride to relate to the whole situation with my dad. I planned to ride my bike to France.

From Amsterdam it would be a 700 km ride but i don't want to stretch it too long. So i decide to shorten the route. After plan A and B i set off with plan C. First i visited my Kiwi friend Angus Edmund, who was attending worldcup cyclocrosses in Belgium and holland.

He resided in Eindhoven in the south of the netherlands so after some asking i stay with his host aswell and on the morning of december 25 i set off to Zolder, Belgium to meet up again with Angus ( Who is actually another talented all-round biker and triathlete aswell as a bikemessenger and bikeshopkeeper in Copenhagen, Denmark) And my old bmx buddy Anders 'bender' Bendixen. Who were there to train for next day's worldcup cyclocross.

After the meetup, some laps on the course and missed chances to take nice instagram-pictures of my friends and Marianne Vos, i made my way to Hasselt and Liege (belgium). From Liege i decided to ride straight to Bastogne and on the way i started to wind down. i take about 3 stops to get up to energy. First in cold and noisy busshelters and finally on famous Ardenne crossroads called Baraque de

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fraiture, a warm stop got me to recharge and at noon i am able to move on to Bastogne.

By nightfall i pass the border to Luxembourg. And after a lot of climbing and descending i reach Luxembourg city a bit past 8pm.

At a downtown mcD I recharge my lights and phone and got some coffee.

Kind of beat i decide to check out the train to Metz or Nancy. The disability to pay with cash in a the machines made me race off to Thionville, France, where i thought to be able to make the train to Metz but ofcourse i did'nt. So i had another rest. It was now about 0.30 am on december 27.

Funnily at the moment i leave Thionville to head to Metz around 1.30am. A person with very nice legs and a bad taste hooded bomberjacket comes footing around the corner of the trainstation i was taking a rest at.

It was my girl. They just passed Thionville and found out where i was but didnt tell me where they were. She was worried sick of me and my idiot trip. This helped a bit for both of us.

I race off to Metz, France. And there i crash a bit in a little park and the trainstation. At 5.30 am i take the train to Nancy to skip about 60 kms of boring roads and prevent i would collapse somewhere close to the chateau and had to get picked up. I wanted to roll on own power to the chateau.

The moment i leave Nancy it goes straight up a hill, icy cold, it was clear i reached a country once ruled by romans. 150 clicks to go. Should be easy... The icy wind in my face and the never ending hill took a big toll on my energy.

On a flat road by the river Moselle, i finally reach the Vosges. And then Epinal, where i take the last charge, wifi and coffeebreak. From there i follow a beautiful ancient river Le Coney and canal l'est for about an hour and a half. When google directed me off the canal it seemed it wanted to tell me about the bikelanes in the area. For some reason all the perfectly straight 'roads' were bikelanes.

The first straight road was a slope

of about 18% and had a footdeep of mud. I thought i skip that one and took the bendy road instead.

Then i get directed to a straight road again, it was a supersteap road straight over a hill. After that one again a straight road on the map. in the beginning it was ok but soon it becomes a mud road again, but bikeable. In the end of it i am lost in the woods. Fortunatly old boyscout skills gets me back on some main road and i find the right direction, tho its a bit of a detour and pitch dark.

All this night riding would'nt have been possible without the kindness of Knog! The original blinder, and the new blinder road 2 front and rear saved me every night from car traffic and kept me going for hours more. 30 to go.

The darkest part of the trip is an almost desolate winding road with an occasional speeding car. After this road i finally reached what i thought was the homestretch to the chateau.

On the townsquare of Breurey-lesFaverney, an ancient looking village, google leads me into a little alleyway with a steap road leading to a church and a monastry, a graveyard and a road with a holy Maria statue looking over it; Rue des 1945... Brrr.

A person leaving his house with a car seems to stop and ask himself what a biker was doing heading to a dark dark forrest at this dark night.

The concrete pavement changes into a steap stone road in a dark tunnel of trees. The stone road becomes gravel after crossing D6 road. And the gravel becomes mud.

My lights threathening to die on me, i kinda panick in my tiredness. The chateau must have been 3 kms away and i was stuck in a dark forrest with dirt paths suddenly ending and my phone did'nt cache these.

My bike got clogged with mud and leaves. I decided to backtrack and call for the cavalry to pick me up.

Immediatly and fortunatly i found a road i missed that took me to a workers village and the road to Bougnon which neighbors to the

Gressoux chateau. My friends waiting in Bougnon lead the way with the car after my refusal to load in the bike.

It was Great to arrive after two nights and 535kms. I was d-e-d. But the chateau got me to powers again in the days after. I hope to show many people this and the area in the future.

Some people did the #festive500 in 24 hours or less on a racing bike with a group or solo, respect.

I could not do that but at least i did over 5000 highmeters, navigated myself, supported myself, on my dingle speed fixed gear Brooklyn Machine Works gangsta track with front ortlieb panniers and semi cross tires. In 2014 i will ride these rides with Vittoria XN pro tires.

See you on the road in 2014!

Stefan 'Fish' Vis. #fastamsterdam #fixedgearracing Fastamsterdam.nl Fish has his own team: F.A.S.T. With Fred van dapperen, Yvo kinkel, Piet Hugen, Stefania baldi.

Olaf Wit is our main sponsor with Wit Industries and is part of our team as sponsor coordinator and design expert. I get support from vittoria, gripgrab and brooklyn machine works and the whole team gets supported koga, cinelli, knog, kmc, fizik, giro, sockeloen, holleboom, tineli.

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Shoreditch Invitational Photos&Text: G. Falski

I am currently browsing my archives hoping to finally get it organised. Doing this, I found these pics from the 2008 Bikepolo in East London. Enjoy!

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2008

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Christian Donaj from goodtimesroll.de This german guys changed their website looks great. Please check it out.

This year Michał Lichtański, published a book about fixed gear and single speed in Krakow. He also is responsible for the nice pictures in this publication.

Follow the link to the projekt http://fixedalmanach2013.blogspot.comFixed Gear & Single Speed ​​Almanac Krakow 2013

TSE 2014 - Sign Up Now http://tse14.tumblr.com/

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