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Willers and Walker at BMX world champs

News from NZ City

Top New Zealand BMX rider Marc Willers is enjoying his time under new Canadian coach Ken Cools.

Cools replaced Grant White in March after the Australian unexpectedly stepped down.

Willers says Cools' approach has been refreshing. The world number four says he has spent the last few weeks in Phoenix training with Cools and he gets on well with him.

Willers and women's world number one Sarah Walker will compete in the BMX world championships in Taiyuan, China this weekend.

Willers says he is looking forward to the event, but the venue is vastly different to what they will race on in August in Beijing. He says it is a smaller scale track while the Olympic track is "BMX on steroids" and something a lot of the riders are not used to.

Willers and Walker will practice on the circuit over the next couple of days before the event on Saturday.

As a possible precursor to Beijing, Willers says the pollution in the city of Taiyuan has taken him aback. He describes the smog as "gnarly" and he is trying to avoid going outside.

Article is located here

Beckham calls injured North Shields BMX rider

My respect for David Beckham just went up another notch.

By Sonia Sharma, Evening Chronicle

SUPERSTAR David Beckham is more used to people waiting for him than the other way round.

But the footballer was kept on hold for 40 minutes as he waited to wish a speedy recovery to a paralysed BMX dirt rider.

Beckham was at the extreme action sports event the X Games in Los Angeles when a short documentary was shown on the big screen about Stephen Murray’s accident.

Stephen, who grew up in North Shields, suffered serious spinal injuries while attempting a double back flip on his bike during a competition in America last year.

He was left paralysed from the neck down but has vowed to walk again.

His plight touched Beckham so much, he got Stephen’s contact details and rang him up in a hospital in Baltimore to wish him well. But the star had to wait 40 minutes to pass on his best wishes.

More on the article here

Olympic Games revive biker Kintner's fire for BMX

News from the Seattle Times by Meri-Jo Borzilleri

When BMX was added to the Olympic calendar for the Beijing Olympics, some riders felt like they won the lottery. For new sports, the Olympics generally mean more attention, more money for training, more prestige.

For Jill Kintner, the news got little more than a shrug. She had raced on the bicycle-motocross pro circuit since she was a teenager at Kirkland's Juanita High; she won a world title in 2002. But now she gets her adrenaline charge, and a top world ranking, from mountaincross, racing mountain bikes downhill on an obstacle-strewn course.

More on the article here

Razak's son in training

This is Razak's son. Looks like he has the gate balancing act all dialled-up. This the way it should be folks...start them when they are young and they will grow up to be pretty good BMX racers. I only started when I was 15 years old but this kid has an advantage. He is ring an old Kuwahara too! Perfect bike for the perfect kid!

BMX: Biking more than a hobby

News from RapidCityJournal.com by Jake Nordbye

RAPID CITY — When 10-year-old Rachael Hopperdietzel and 14-year-old Victoria Hopperdietzel started BMX biking, kids at school would ask them why they didn’t play “normal” sports. The answer is more complex than one might think.

For these two nationally-ranked sisters, BMX biking is more than just a hobby. Beyond competing all over the United States and Canada and racing against athletes from all over the world, the Hopperdietzel’s both qualified to compete in Beijing, China in the World Championships.

More here: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/05/24/sports/local/doc4835001b8e298532083186.txt

BMX shop in Singapore?

I just got asked via a post in the blog about the No. 1 BMX shop in Singapore. I really had to pause and think about this one. As it is, there is no number one BMX shop in Singapore because as a whole, bike shops in Singapore are generally devoid of any thing BMX-wise. they do not understand BMX and they do not know BMX. Those that claim to know BMX (like some of these monkeys claiming to be BMX consultants) are normally people who get all their knowledge from watching freestyle videos and MTV. Imagine that, if these so-called consultants do not know about BMX, how do you expect those bike-shops to know?

We are still waiting for the SACA AGM. We want to have BMX represented properly. In short, we do not want monkeys spoiling the scene. BMX should be represented by real BMXers, BMXers who raced or who have raced. We intend to do that. This website intends to do that.

National Runway Cycling 2008

National Runway Cycling is happening this coming Sunday the 25th of May 2008. Lots of people are going for this event and it is one of the most popular events of the year cycling-wise. It will be happening at Paya Lebar Airport. More can be found out at the official website.

GT Bicycles - a flashback

Taken from their website, this video is kind of interesting. Who woulda thought that Gary Turner, in making bikes for his kids, would have inadvertently created this company. Amazing. Well, I can safely say that GT Bicycles has its roots in BMX

Coyote Acid Skull BMX

I have been asked about this BMX and there even seems to be on on sale in the local Yahoo auction site. Some person asked me if this bike can be used for racing. Well, technically, it can but the geometry will not give you much of an advantage. Another thing is the material is is made out of. The frame and fork are made out of hi-tensile steel. While that may seem good for most beginners, hi-tensile steel may not be up to the shredding of street riding or dirt-jumping. I had a hi-tensile steel bike before. It did not last very long either. It is a good and inexpensive bike to learn the basics of BMX on but there a lots of shops in Singapore selling bikes. Maybe you guys are better off getting one there.

London businesses urged to get staff cycling

Saw this article at BikeRadar.com and I wonder if it will happen here in Singapore. Wishful thinking I guess. An excerpt of the article is here:

Increasing numbers of Londoners have taken to two wheels and are cycling to work, including the Capital's new Mayor, Boris Johnson. Now Transport for London is asking cyclists to register for the Workplace Cycle Challenge to encourage even more Londoners to cycle to work.

The old-school BMX gathering at Bukit Batok Skatepark

As usual, it was a great gathering of all the old-schoolers and I must say that I really look forward to such gatherings. Present last night were Salleh, Eddy Chan, Freddy aka Kruger, Ismail, Hassan, Frederick, Selvan and his lady, Eddy Meng and Rick. The highlight of the day had to be the old "black horse" bike that Eddy Chan restored. Truly a work of art but my gosh, the laid back head angle made it exceedingly difficult for me to pedal, given my long legs and all. I had to sit way back at the end of the bike in order to ride this bike effectively.

Photos are here: http://z15.invisionfree.com/Singapore_BMX_Forums/index.php?showtopic=1166

New BMX shop in Tampines?

well, I have heard rumours but that is all they are at the present...rumours. Seems that they are going to bring in lots of BMX racing-specific stuff. That looks pretty promising. More details when I get more details :-)

Singer oil to the rescue!

There are times when your bike may need some lubrication, especially the chain. BMXers who ride and race often need to check their chains for obvious signs of wear and tear and change it when necessary. I make the habit of changing mine every 6 months if I ride often. To maintain it, I de-grease it and apply a thin layer of Singer oil on it. Singer oil is relatively inexpensive (about $1 a bottle) and is good. I have been using it for years and I have yet to find a good substitute for it, bang-for-buck wise. Get a bottle today. It can be found in most hardware shops and some provision shops.

SACA AGM soon

The Singapore Amateur Cycling Association, also known as SACA, will be holding its AGM pretty soon. A vote will be called for a new VP of BMX. There are lots of people out there who call themselves BMX consultants and BMX guys but sad to say, many of them do not even know the bare basics about BMX. So when you choose a new VP of BMX, please choose wisely. The YOG is coming up in two years time. The last thing we need are monkeys who know nothing about BMX spearheading the cause.

Mike Moeller on Supercross?

According to BMX News, that is exactly what happened. This is not new news but it is pretty interesting. Looks like Supercross have some new blood! According to the article:

Not wanting to fill the vacancy with just any AA Pro as we want a rider that has loyalty to the program and is as nice to the kids and fans as the rest of the Supercross Pro's are we decided to leave the spot open for a bit. That was until we received a call from one of the nicest and most loyal AA Pro's on the circuit. Mikey Moeller. Seems that he had decided to leave Crupi after being with them for 9 of his last 11 years and was looking for a new home.

There you have it. The newest Supercross Factory Flyer!

Colony BMX "Fantastic Plastic" pedals

Way back in the day, there were plastic pedals (well, not really plastic but they were not made out of metal) like the MKS Grafight X which were favoured by freestyles and the like. They were highly popular, so popular in fact that KHE at one time made a copy of them, not too long ago. Looks like times do not change for some. Colony BMX has their new plastic pedal out called the "Fantastic Plastic" pedal. According to their website, it says

The design has changed quite a bit from our original concept. The pedal is now much sleeker & the replaceable steel pins are gone due to reasons beyond our control. But it’s all good. We also did away with the half axle design due to its limitations in design.

Check it out at http://www.colonybmx.com.au/news/

Kawasaki BMX team

One of my friends just showed me a video of the Kawasaki BMX Team. Looks like they are taking a leaf out of Kuwahara's hat by making bikes as well. They look an awful lot like the Kuwahara complete bikes. Could this be a resurgence? You never know. Cool!

GHP making cranks?

Some of you might not know who Greg Hill is or was. One of the legendary BMXers out there who has had a long and colourful career in the BMX world. Greg Hill started off his own company in 1983 or 1984 and called it GHP or Greg Hill Products. He would it up later but resurrected it again in the early to mid 2000s. His company used to make frames, forks and bars back in the day but now, they have all that and cranks as well! Check out GHP at GHPBMX.com and see what else is there.

PK Ripper featured in upmarket magazine

According to BMX News in this article here, it seems that SE Racing is featured in a high-end magazine called "Omega Lifetime" Check it out! Recognition of the highest order my friends!

The DK Bicycles Alpha Line

According to Dig Magazine, DK Bikes is coming out with the Alpha Line. This is something similar to Haro when they came up with their Premium Products line. DK has some new stems, sprockets and seat-clamps from this line. You can check it out at DKBicycles.com

Been busy

I have been pretty busy at work and have not had much time to update the website. I do have some free time now after all that and I will be putting up some articles soon.