#props bmx

[snakebitebmx]

Go watch the Relic Roadtrip from Props Issue 79. Bunch of rad dudes shredding concrete in the South.

www.snakebitebmx.com/props-issue-79-relic-roadtrip/

[imeugene]

Today we have Instagram pros. It’s a kind of a term that is met with a bit disdain but it’s just reality of the fast paced culture we’re met with today. Rider post every single clip of any progress. Quantity is preferable to quality and a lot of today’s riders can really make that work. Technical riding styles that are popular today can showcase every variation ever learned and landed. Not ever leaving anything to the cutting board. The casual nature of Instagram allows anything and everything to be usable as long as its meets a certain quota. This format is good for only certain type of riders though. The type that learns quickly with constant incremental progress. When a pro a certain level and what they is working towards groundbreaking it’s pretty interesting to keep up in real time. But some rider’s don’t need to do all that to be groundbreaking. Some rider’s don’t even have to have an epic section to be groundbreaking. They just need pop their heads in at the right moments and do the right tricks and history will remember them for those moments. Jimmy Levan is one of those riders.

I don’t think any one section can give Jimmy true justice. Maybe some older head will cite early 90′s section but that isn’t what we know Jimmy today as. Jimmy is the guy who did the Church Gap and that Seattle Gap. It’s crazy how just two bunnyhops cemented this guy into BMX history but that’s how epic those few seconds were. It’s not that he’s bad rider cause Jimmy is definitely not and has a unique style that represents his rockstar persona but it’s just these moments are defining moments in BMX progression. One of those times everything stops and the focus is one person and one trick. That’s the beauty of deadman riding. When life is truly in jeopardy to land a trick, it’ll make people look and remember. 

That’s why a whole Props webisode can be dedicated to one guy trying to do a trick. It really was that crazy, today and even more so that time. It’s a trick that very few have done or tried afterwards and now permanently reformed into something not nearly as intimidating, it’s one of those times where a lot of people remember when it was done and by who. Gaps have that effect. Go big, go home. When someone accomplishes a real sizable gap, it makes you think why? Cause a truck down a 13 stair is impressive no doubt. A serious amount of balls in involved. An equally amount of technical prowess but when someone tries to jump a double 15 or something like that straight. You just think why? It’s so simple in one way of thinking but to counter act that is that it absolutely has  to be deadly. A gap that is not sessioned.  A gap that is not to be retried. Something that musters every ounce of confidence and whatever skill that rider has. There aren’t a lot of riders like that anymore. Sure we got the Bone Deth guys who do crazy gaps and equally crazy tricks but the thing about being a deadman rider is that there is a certain attitude where you either do the biggest one or you don’t. It’s not about style. It’s not about tricks. Only height and length. You either rule the moment or you don’t. 

Jimmy has his legend status cause he has two moments under his belt. Two times where you can honestly say it was absolute in real life insanity to try these things. This isn’t some flatland ledge combo that some guy struggled for years. Or some amazing spot that no one ever found. This is a guy who is more or less solidifying himself by pure balls basis. In a adrenaline fueled, male dominated extreme sport like BMX that trumps all. Jimmy did it twice. That’s why they’re make some Props documentary about him. If he just did regular toothpicks and the occasional x-up he wouldn’t be who he is today or garner the amount of respect he does. What Metal Bikes was wouldn’t be half as interesting. Seize the day they say and when Jimmy does that. He really does. 

I think that madman rockstar persona he has is totally justified cause I don’t think any rider that knows of Jimmy and his accomplishment thinks of him any other way. Like how wack would it be if someone behaved like him but didn’t do what he did. Like some crappy rider adopted his persona to be more a personality than a rider. What a serious cop out but with Jimmy he really is the full package. Dude is a rockstar. Someone who deserves a best of album or discography one day. You can listen through all the terrible songs for those few moments where he truly shined harder than anyone else. Like that band Journey. Everyone knows Journey. Journey is amazing. How many songs can I name made by Journey. One. Don’t Stop Believing and it doesn’t even matter. 

Jimmy Levan

Road Fools - 1 (1998)

Edited by Chris Rye

[imeugene]

Voice of a Generation

I’ll start out by saying that I really came into my BMX self later in the midschool era by then Taj was already an icon and has relegated himself into his underground legend status of T1 rider/owner. I liked his section in Forward but I never really understood the importance of Taj until you compare BMX before him and after him. 

Go watch any BMX video like mid 90′s and prior. It is not pretty. When I say style was missing it’s not necessarily that there wasn’t any, there were certainly people with style. It’s just seems like the front runners weren’t people who were actively pushing for it necessarily. People seemed to be more about seeing what’s possible and how to get it done. How it was landed, how it was performed, weren’t really of that importance. As long as you rode away it was acceptable. The aesthetic qualities weren’t there, it was definitely more a technical outlook back then. The riders of that time was still coming into a fairly new sport and developing the frameworks that we take for granted. When the first video camera were beginning to appear, movies were not filmed the way we are accustomed to today. That groundwork for cinema like the angles and the acting, all these things that help you immerse yourself into a new world weren’t laid out and automatically understood. It took years of people experimenting and learning collectively to get to the point we know the rules today. Another example would be how paintings looked so unrealistic prior to the Renaissance, once again a group of people had to take this art form and develop the rules and outlooks that became standard. BMX was very much the same during this experimental and learning era. There is a huge chunk of BMX that didn’t feel developed and it was Taj’s generation that helped polish what was created before into something more like what we know now. It was like the jump from movies being filmed like theatre to movies being filmed like...movies. 

It was Taj’s level of clout that really cemented this move toward style. He was a big name but not only that he was a bigger than life figure that we as people as look towards. Taj represented a growing underground culture that was completely outsider and intertwined with BMX, giving it a cool type edge. Which is something that still exists today, no matter the difference in ideals in them. With Taj’s generation being hardcore punk. Something you see a lot in the core riders of his time. They shed the jerseys and California surf look and became something more. Taj grew dreads and didn’t eat meat and people followed. Even with introverted demeanor he spoke so much through his actions and inactions that kids all over of the world sweated him. The fact that his riding was top notch and something different and new was just half the package you got with Taj. 

It was through Taj and other like minded figures of that time that BMX has grown into an culture it is today. A culture that celebrates style which allowed for less technical riders who were still incredibly stylish to thrive. A place that has very strong ties with other contemporary youth subcultures. It’s what made BMX something that you could excitedly talk about with other non bike people. Taj is a living legend whose place in BMX is both unspeakably large and still understated. Taj helped make BMX cool.

Life After Pro - Taj Mihelich

Edited by Chris Rye (2017)

[imeugene]

Underrated

It’s a word that gets thrown around too much. That so and so is underrated when in reality there is probably about a few hundred other guys around the world who are at their level. Doing the same tricks in the same clothes but for whatever reasons they’re not a professional. Maybe they live in Lithuania or Kansas, or listens to ICP. It could be anything really, such is the fickle nature of the being a BMX industry it seems like. I don’t think anyone can be underrated and be easily replaced at the same time. It just doesn’t make sense. Underrated should be a rider with real credentials. Someone’s whose riding stands alone but for whatever reasons isn’t given that same pedestal other legends in the same boat. Underrated is not some kook who had a few good tricks at Vans skatepark in California. I believe in the power of language and to for underrated to relegated to something like that. Eh. There is a rider who I think is truly underrated. Obviously you already know cause his section is posted above but yea. BK is mad underrated.

He’s like modern day Jim Cielencki, a true one of a kind street rider but just not given that ‘cool pass’ that edgy teenager that consist of the BMX demographics give. Which doesn’t really make sense cause his riding is like a modern day Dave Young, a legend that people still make t-shirts using his name value alone. BK is too normal for his own good in BMX. A hobby that often likes to parallel sponsorship to inner city gang struggles, BK is not that. Just a regular honest hardworking individual who truly worked himself to get where he is. No gimmicks at all. His riding speaks tremendously alone. It makes him all that much more interesting and respectable in my opinion but that differs with common attitudes who’d rather see what Backwood their favorite pro is smoking.

Modern riding styles also conflict with BK’s own personal style. It’s megaramp in the streets. It’s absolute aggro in even the most go big go home style riders. Those riders are a dime a dozen and what BK does on the handrails is not relatable at all. In his generation that type of riding was definitely more popular and respected but today’s riding focuses more on technical riding on small ledges not the attitude of conquering the biggest rail. The fact that he hasn’t really conformed to any trends makes his riding that much more memorable cause who really rides rails like that anymore? Maybe Sean Burns and a few Bone Deth guys but that’s I don’t think anyone on the level of Brian. It’s a riding that is universal cause it’s fear inducing. One day all this smith nose bars, it’s just gonna be another trick that people did at the time. BK’s riding is timeless cause at the very root of BMX street, he’s still progressing upon that. Not some fad or momentary thing. Like the handrail is never gonna go away. The standard to be a good street rider is just that. When Mat Hoffman did the first rail. That still resonates. When Dave Young did Nowhere Fast, that clearly still resonates too. Brian is just an extension of all that. Van Homan, Josh Heino, Sean Burns all these riders who are still timeless have been able to tap into that fear induced riding that is universal to everyone, even non riders. An everyday person is not gonna care if someone does a oppo smith nose switch bar but if they saw Brian on one his rails they automatically get it. It’s a real show to everyone. 

Brian Kachinsky

Hold On by Windor For Derby / Facing Up To The Facts by Beehatch / Dizzy Street by Silje Nes / Full On by Samien

Props - Issue 70

Edited by Chris Rye

[imeugene]

I really like Ian Schwartz. Definitely top 5 in my favorite rider list. I think the last write up kind of got off tangent didn’t really explain itself well. 

In art and especially prevalent in movies there are certain tyecasts/tropes we follow. If you see punk rocker type rider with skin tight jeans and a leather vest, you can imagine what type of riding he’s gonna do and to what type of music. You see a swag rider whose decked in the latest gear and you can also do the same. In movies using cliches like that are called tropes and usually its to greater expand meaning by combining multiple things into one package so things don’t get too hectic. Imagine seeing some punk rocker ride to Dipset while doing flat ledge tech tricks. Imagine how awkward that’d be. .

In riding videos the story is always more or less the same, it’s expression of the rider. The bike is a vessel, the song, the clothes he wears, sometimes even the editing and camera. All that is used to ultimately define who the rider is. You hear an old punk band like the Ramones come on and theres a good possibility you already know what’s gonna happen before it happens. The thing I liked about Ian was that there is no real trope or typecast involved. People are naturally inclined to behave and dress in a way that makes them easier to understand to the outside world. Ian seemed like a regular guy but did the most unique riding. He wasn’t presenting to the world that he’s a creative, he just was. 

I think around this time is the moment where Ian started to really bridge the gap from using a gimmick and being a visionary level rider. People always say to be ahead two steps ahead of the rest because being three would make it too far ahead and Ian’s been on this freecoaster kick for a while, he’s more or less the the originators when it comes to really utilizing it fully into his riding, everyone knows that. I think that notion applies to Ian before. He was three steps ahead and the rest of BMX had to have sometime to digest what he was doing. It was so new and different that often things like that have a way of being ignored as treated as a gimmick, too different for people to relate. In early days of Ian, I remember some people thought what he was doing was gimmicky. I think I mentioned before skill level it wasn’t necessarily harder than what other people were doing, time proves that to be true with how easy kids are doing what he originated but during any era no one wants to be too different. Unless your an artist of sort then I’d put Ian as a true master of this 20 inch bicycle maneuver medium.

I bring up the trope cause that’s kind of what made Ian’s riding a bit more exciting cause he was this guy who used mellow songs and created his own brand of riding that is unique only to himself. So many people sweated it but no one is like Ian but Ian. If you never saw an Ian Schwartz section and you saw the guy and the song and everything else but the riding, you’d still never be able to guess what he’s doing. Not that everyone should be like that but riding needs riders like that to shake things up from time to time so it doesn’t seem like team sports where the only difference is just the uniform and the plays. This is an individual sport and Ian is individualism at its finest. 

Ian Schwartz

That Old Grizzly Thing by The Halifax Pier

Props - Issue 51 (2004)

Edited by Stew Johnson

[imeugene]

T H E  A N N U A L  J A M

Over a decade ago existed an contest that every in tune underground rider would look forward to. Riders from all over the world would come to compete in this annual event held in Toronto. Any rider could come to make a name for himself in these battle grounds, This was the Toronto Metro Jam produced by seasoned X-Games contender and at that time owner of Macniel Bikes, Jay Miron.

The Toronto Metro Jam was more exciting than the X-Games. There was still this sense of anything goes in it that the X-Games couldn’t figure out. Where as the X-Games held to a tight formula in which flips,whips, and consistency took the win, the Metro Jam was a loose structure that allowed for the diversity that’s natural in BMX to thrive in it’s own way. The street riders would try his latest rail progression on the handrail or the tech front brake riders to do the same on some sub box, some riders weren’t in it to win it just to land something on the proving grounds and make it official. In that sense it was an X-Games of sorts but for the underground. 

The courses were always well thought of. It allowed for box jump riders, flow based riders, street riders, and everything in between to find something they can use and really make use of. It didn’t particularly favor one above the other, only a rider who is well disciplined in all aspects could really make use of the full course. I think thats why riders like Corey Martinez and Gary Young who both have really well rounded styles fill the video but still Brian Vowell doing a half cab hang 5 down the launch ramp makes it own presence. 

It really celebrated the diversity in BMX, which I think was the key to it’s success all those years it was around. There was no doubt that riders all over supported it and that support came in different ways. Unknown riders from all over would come to try to make their own mark on the stomping grounds they share with UK street legend, Mike Taylor and X-Games All-Star Ryan Nyquist. A complete unknown could show up and really do him and make a name for himself or at least live the glory that comes with the modern day gladiatorial fight BMX contests were. I remember Mike Hoder, a complete unknown at the time did a memorable 3 over a huge gap after his run time was over. No one knew who he was besides being ‘shredder from the Northwest’. It’s stuff like that which made the Toronto Metro Jam prime. 

When the Metro Jam did it’s course. Gone are people’s fantasies in cementing their own glory. Gone an event that you can see all your favorites riders against each other. It was a bit of a bummer for BMX. Street jams are nice but their all a bit too voluntary, the best riders will do a single ok trick cause the lack of forced competition. Other times its just the same few faces doing the same few things. Other jams weren’t serious enough, which I guess sounds wrong cause this BMX after all but once in a while you wanna see the best go in and try their best. Fun is nice but fun doesn’t produce the best tricks of the year. Or last of all, invite only. Which is this biggest bummer cause everyone likes to see an underdog story. Whether it’s your local who decided to try to go big in the Metro Jam or your favorite street rider riding that one handrail, Metro Jam really tapped into that underground side of BMX really well and I think people really enjoyed it more for it. Nothing really came up afterwards that had the same impact as the annual Toronto Metro Jam.

Chapter 1 by Nightfist

Infared by Strike Anywhere

Props - Issue 52 (2004)

Edited by Chris Rye

[defgrip-blog]

PROPS BOX SET

[imeugene]

Props Bios were always pretty interesting. Some were completely riding with no voicework done by the rider at all and others were just a few guys joking around in front of the camera but regardless it always felt like it reflected the rider’s persona in sense.

In this bio, it’s Texas legend, Neil Harrington. He doesn’t say much but the few that he does say really flows well. It doesn’t come off contrived or scripted, just a guy saying whats on his mind. But the riding, well the riding is incredible. Cranksarms on rails before they were even a thought to 99% of the riders. Steep rails, long ledges for the one and done style riders, and some tech and obscure street maneuvers that are awesome like the crankflip manuel to turndown. Neil Harrington does it all. Not to mention he is steady killing the box jump and trails throughout the whole section. Huge inverts. Predator ice on subrail, how many time has that ever been repeated?! Mad respect.

Even though Neil is gone from the pro life and I have no clue if he still rides or not. The time he was in the run, you could always count on him to produce a stellar section and this Props bio is just one of them.

Neil Harrington

Sympathetic Sickness by Recover

Props - Issue 48(2003)

Edited by Joel Moody