If Godzilla was to attack San Diego, what front brake related trick would you want to do on his face in order to save the city? Either an ET nosepick dremel to the groin or a top side cancan nosepick karate kick to the dome.

Do you and Dirt Ron have front brake battles? We actually unite our powers like wonder twins, but it’s more of a holy experience, like that scene in karate kid (pick any one of them).

You put together a video for us a while ago, how’s the editing board been treating you? It was super fun to play around with Final Cut. That was my first stab at it on my own, with some scrap clips i had from the past few months of riding… I’m looking forward to working with it again, but that requires more clips to be filmed and logged… in progress!

What parts do you go through the most? Grips and pedals for sure, though I’ve eased up on the pedal grinders and these Olastic grips seem to be staying in shape.

Is there anything you’re particular about on your bike as far as setup? Basically everything, but I really like to experiment with different setups (2 pegs, 1 peg, 1 brake front, 1 brake back, stem lengths, seat heights, etc). My bike is basically a transformer with an identity crisis, but in the end, I always seem to come back to a brakeless ballerina bike.

I’ve been told your alias is Ohio, which leads me to believe you’re from there. When did you move to sunny SD? Do your friends back home call you Diego? I’ve lived in San Diego for a few months shy of 2 years now and it’s been an adventure. I am originally from Cincinnati OH where a number of people call me a number of things, but I don’t think I’m spanish looking enough to have heard Diego.

Tell us a little more about Awkward Words. A few years ago I started a blog that was essentially an outlet for me to doodle and share my weirdness with whoever might be curious or bored, so of course I put it on the Internet. Speaking of which, it could use some more attention these days, too busy riding!

What’s going on here: tumblr_kv6d1gEQH91qaaocio1_500.jpg This is actually pretty out of character for me, since i usually draw more basic, cute stuff, but this is one of Ron’s monsters that I drew my own version of because I thought it was so insane and I was extremely hung over after a night at his place and in need of a distraction for my bruised brain. As for what is actually going on, it’s a magician monster stranded on an island puking all over his own eyeball while solving a rubics cube and conjuring a rain storm

If the Red Power Ranger walked up to you and asked, “Yo Tom, how you do them manual lines so well?” How would you respond? I would probably slap him in the face and ask him where the green ranger was. The green ranger was Tommy, definitely the most badass. He had his own power zord, which was a dinosaur. Plus he was the mysterious loner, so bonus wolf points… or i would just give him some spare change: 1h9jxd.jpg

Are there any projects that we should keep an eye out for? San Diego BMX is reuniting in a furious blaze of glory so watch out for revival of America’s finest city in the bmx scene… other than that I’ve been getting more into shooting photos lately, so hit up tomisthinking.tumblr.com if you’re ever bored online. That and awkwardwords.tumblr.com are my two blogs at the moment, so I’ll have to get that stuff some more updates soon. Peace, love and 69.

Jim Cielencki has a Bike Check up on the Ride site. After going brakeless for a bit, he’s back to running stoppies again. Find out what else is on his bike and why by clicking the photo above!

All photos taken by Josh Hayes.
MJ all day and Billy Mays forever…

A few things about this video:

1.) The intro is pretty cool.
2.) I’d be scared to be one of those kids pushing up against the rail for Mike to grind on.
3.) He’s riding with a tweaked wrist and killing it.

What’s Dirt Ron up to these days? Trying to get another job so I don’t have to borrow money to pay rent, spinning signs on the weekends, riding bikes with the buds, hanging out with my babe, beaching since its summer time, maybe going to oregon in a few days.

If your candy bars were literal, edible candy bars, which brand of candy bar would they be and why? I don’t really like sweets but I use to like Twix when I was a kid.

You have a front stoppie on your bike. What are some of your favorite things to do with the front wheel stopping action? I did my first candy bar nose manual the other day. Uh… It always feel cool to do a fakie nosepick and look at the tire on the coping.

What’s that sharpie drawing on your down tube? That’s one of my characters, Duty Wham Shit! I got some others like Doo Doo Brown and Handi Man Swazi Stan. I like to draw.

There’s a part on your bike that’s a bit of rarity these days… it appears to be a post-like product that’s attached to your seat. What’s it doing there? Haahaa. TO THE SKY!!!! Kids these days don’t even know about sitting down. It’s good to have the post up there for no footed nose picks and not landing Twhips to the pedals, stuff like that.

I’m not sure if this has been addressed before but how’d you get the nickname Dirt Ron? I usually just get brutally gross on road trips. I think Hoangs got dibs on the nick name. I like getting things clean and then dirtying them the hell up. I usually don’t stay clean for too long. I don’t smell… I’m just a little dirty.

Other than riding bikes, what else does Dirt Ron consider fun? Drawing, Beaching, Adventures, Drinksies and random events that can’t ever be prepared for.

If somebody was a Dirt Ron groupie, are there any online social networks they could stalk you through? I suppose the MySpace. If someone were to stalk me of all people they’d have to be a little twakked out.

Anything else? I like you guys.

We have a lot of new rims available in various colors for all of your shredding and color-coordinating needs. The top of the line Ribcage rim is now available in the following hard-anodized, brake-friendly colors: red, blue, gold and black. In the Rollcage front, new colors include Fluorescent Pink, Ocean Blue, hard-anodized gold and hard-anodized blue.

The Ribcage uses a proprietary grade of aluminum that maximizes the rim’s strength to weight ratio. Its cross-sectional design incorporates unique “ribs” that run around the inner circumference of the rim to provide support for the spoke nipples, preventing pull-through and stiffening the overall structure. The sidewalls have been thickened for greater resistance to ding impacts, while the inner walls remain thin, optimizing efficiency in the section.

The Rollcage cross-section uses the Ribcage as a starting point, but consists of a simplified cross-section design that is also slightly narrower. By using traditional 6061-T6 aluminum and eliminating the “rib” feature, the Rollcage provides a good balance between strength, weight and affordability. The sidewalls are thickened to resist ding impacts, while the inner walls remain thin, optimizing efficiency in the section.

The cross-section designs of the Ribcage and Rollcage employ a cross-spoke lacing pattern. The spokes are laced so they are crossing from one side of the hub to the opposing side of the rim, forming a stronger build, with the nipples positioned toward the center of the rim to reduce grind damage.

Matt Beringer e-mailed us a bike check today along with a couple of photos. With winter coming to an end, it looks like he’s getting his bicycle dialed for the warmer days ahead. Aside from a couple parts here and there, he’s pretty much taken apart his whole bike, for one thorough overhaul. Click the pics to make ‘em big.

FRAME: S&M Dirt Bike 21.25 FORK: S&M Pitchfork XLT STEM: S&M Redneck XLT BARS: S&M Beringer XLT HEADSET: FSA Internal GRIPS: Odyssey Beringer, no flanges LEVER Odyssey M2, Medium (the gyro cable one) BARENDS: Homemade 6 shooter ones CRANKS: Odyssey Twombolt, 175mm SPROCKET: Odyssey Million Dollar Sprocket, 28t (with half the inside guard cut off) CHAIN: KMC 410H black PEDALS Odyssey Cielincki, Magnesium PEGS: Odyssey JPeg Lighter (rear), old Odyssey Ti. front WHEEL (FRONT): G-Sport Marmoset hub laced onto Odyssey 7K 36 (black anodized) WHEEL (REAR): G-Sport Ratchet w/10t driver laced onto G-Sport Rib Cage 36 (black anodized) BRAKES: Odyssey Evo 2 GYRO: Odyssey SEATPOST: Generic pivotal SEAT: Generic pivotal couch SEATPOST CLAMP S&M TIRES: Odyssey Aitken, Plyte Street (1.9 rear, 2.25 front) HUB GUARD: Homemade CHAIN TENSIONER: Homemade BOTTOM BRACKET: S&M press fit

All photos are by Robby Klein.

Niels Thanild from Sunshine distribution (our distro in Denmark) has a bikecheck on Fat.

Jim Cielencki has been in town visiting, drinking Starbucks and terrorizing the town in his Dodge Caliber.

Below you can find a bike check with his current rig.

On a related note, Jim’s BELOE shoe will be out soon.

FRAME- Sunday Second Wave 20.5
FORK- Sunday Morning 2.1
BARS- Sunday Forumph
GRIPS- Generic Longneck type
BAR ENDS- Odyssey Par Ends
STEM- Odyssey Elementary V3
LEVER- Odyssey Trigger Monolever
BRAKES- Odyssey Evo 2
FRONT WHEEL- Odyssey M7 (G-Sport Marmoset/7K-A 36H rim)
REAR WHEEL- G-Sport Ratchet/G-Sport Ribcage 36H rim/ 9t
FRONT TIRE- Odyssey Aitken P-Lyte 20X2.25
REAR TIRE- Odyssey Path K-Lyte 20×2.1
SADDLE- Odyssey Aitken
POST- Odyssey Intac
CLAMP- Prototype
CRANKS- Odyssey tWombolt 175mm
SPROCKET- Odyssey Million Dollar Sprocket 27t
PEDALS- Odyssey Trailmix Mag. Sealed

Again, I suck.

Well over a month since the last post, but hey I am slowly getting quicker. Bear with me, and by the end of the decade I might be posting every week…

Anyway, check out this little beauty. This is the new Macadamia Ribcage Rim. It’s a sort of rich chocolatey brown. This is an extra thick version of the hard anodising process we use. As the coating gets thicker it also gets harder so if you want to run brakes then this is for you…. or maybe you just love the funky colour.

These are shipping to US shops NOW so get your order in quick. These are NOT limited edition, this should be a stock option, but that doesnt mean you shouldnt rush out and buy them right now….

I am off to the Interbike show next week. If you are going, then please stop by the Odyssey stand and say hi. We should have lots of cool new stuff to check out…. Soon after we should be able to put some of it up on here for everyone else to check out. So look back in here at the end of the month.

Tootles.

On your marks. Get set. GO!

The other ribcages have finally landed.
Chrome 48s have now been joined by the hard anodised black and natural options in 48 AND 36 hole drilling, and to complete the range the chrome 36′s are hiding in there too. So whatever your ribcage desires, they can now be fullfilled!

Shipping out to distributors and the more discerning shops in the next week or so.

The “Natural” option is kind of a greenish grey hard anodising but is a strictly limited edition, just as hard and long lasting as the black, but a different colour!
When they are gone they are gone so don’t come crying to me if you leave it too late. Order them now to avoid disappointment.

But dont neglect the black and chrome either, they have feelings too you know! Best buy two of each to be safe….

It’s always going to be an ongoing thing adding content and product information but the basics are here. Feel free to wander round and look at everything. The tech columns have migrated over, and as an opening treat there are three new ones to check out. Just follow the “tech” link above… that’s also where you will find the wheel building guide if you are looking for it…

I also wanted to have some product news for the launch of the new site. So after a false start earlier in the year I am delighted to be able to announce that the new Ribcage rim is finally ready, it has passed final quality control, and will be shipping to US shops before the end of March. Supplies for the UK and Europe should be well on their way too.

They now are available in 48H Chrome. Hard Anodised finish and 36′s are on the next shipment.

The price is a little higher than some other rims but this reflects the special material and finishes. The material used is around 20% stronger than even the 7000 series aluminium used for rims. And the hard anodising gives a black finish that performs nearly as well as chrome. Spoke holes are guaranteed not to pull through no matter what…

Final production weights are 482g (1.06lbs) for hard anodised and 525g (1.15lbs) for chrome.

The packaging is pretty cool too. We managed to find a way to use cardboard instead of plastic, this actually gives more protection to the rim during shipping and is better for the environment too.