So, once again, Chris Habib came out to document our trickery with his HVX camera. So clean… ALL HAND HELD. Shot by a pro. Chris has shot and directed a majority of the Sonic Youth videos and is the man in all respects.

Cycling’s popularity has hit a critical mass… especially in Streetwear. The current Issue of Vapors is devoted to all things 2 wheeled, and has some great features and interviews on who’s who and who’s doing what in the modern cycling world.

We were fortunate enough to be included in the Issue with a  small interview with John Prolly, the D.A.R.T. team captain talking about the crew, cycling and what makes the riders so straight up awesome!

Check out the whole issue here with Vapors Digital Edition!

Internet news site Vimby was at the Bicycle Film Fest this year here in New York and interviewed some the Bootleg Sessions and DART riders.

Check out Wonka with the 180 skid to tailtap!

My boys killing it! Gaps, drops and wallrides.

A Slow Wednesday Jam from Bootleg Sessions on Vimeo.

Big ups to:

Brooklyn Machine Works
Profile Racing
Continental
Mishka

So I sold the Rootbeer Casati because it was just too small for me. I was really bummed out, but there’s no point in keeping a bike that’s too small for you. Once I sold the Casati, a good friend of mine told me about a Merckx he was selling… so I bought that instead. For those of you who don’t know who Eddie Merckx is, he’s pretty much the Michael Jordan of Cycling and although Mike is aging better in retirement, Merckx could probably still whoop it up in a Criterium…

Without further adieu, here she is, the White Belgian Ale. Adorned in Campagnolo C and Super record bits, she’s ready to roll!

So last Friday was the second Peel Sessions competition I’ve thrown in Brooklyn. The first one was big and this one definitely topped that! Since there were Bootleg Session riders in from all over the country, we called it the Bootlegged Peel Sessions. A few of the DART riders were there, both old and new recruits KILLING IT as usual.

I won’t say much about it because these pictures from Mr. Zeta and Blake do it enough justice!

I would like to thank our sponsors and all the riders who competed!

Mishka
RED BULL!
Profile Racing
Bootleg Sessions [FREE BLS 2 DVDS!]
Urban Velo
Dave’s Quality Meat
Affinity Cycles
Laek House
Superflot
Milwaukee Cycles
Continuum Cycles

full size flier here

This weekend pops off proper tonight with the Bicycle Film Fest’s party entitled Bikes Rock! at Studio B

Then Tomorrow night is the Dear Velo art show!

…and Friday night is the beginning of the Film Festival!

Also on Friday is the Bootlegged Peel Sessions contest.

Sponsors Include [but are not limited to]:
RED BULL!
Profile Racing
Bootleg Sessions [FREE BLS 2 DVDS!]
Dave’s Quality Meat
Mishka
Affinity Cycles
Laek House
Superflot
Milwaukee Cycles
Continuum Cycles

Also DON’T FORGET to catch the World Premier of Bootleg Sessions 2 at the Afterparty Saturday!

WO m TH from TRACKUMA on Vimeo.

Great video from 100% Hardcore’s blog on Afromania.org. The competition went down in Osaka in what looks like a parking deck. I fucking love the way the Japanese have hooked their bikes up. Massive BMX Bars and long stems. Big ups to these kids for having a blast!

Reminds me of the bike-dancing scene from the blockbuster [heh] smash Quicksilver.

This weekend is the legendary Rumble Through The Bronx alleycat. Probably one of the most grueling races I’ve ever done. A lot of people think NYC is flat and easy terrain. That may be true in Manhattan, but in the Bronx, there are a lot of hills. Pair those hills with people who are generally confused by cyclists on the streets and a grueling 30 mile course and you’ve got one nasty race.

Last year, a friend of mine was involved in a 3-bike pileup wreck. He fucked his collar bone and we had to subway it back to Brooklyn so he could get medical attention. Rumble is no joke, as illustrated by the mind-blowing Ulgade artwork!

Pre-Register at 5borogenerals.com and spare yourself the hassle of registering the day of. They’ve also linked the course map as well since most people who live in NYC have never been to the Bronx as sad as that may sound

BE THERE!

FRIDAY MAY 30TH
9pm
Meeker at Jackson
Come After the first screening of the Bicycle Film Festival on Friday!
sponsored events
prizes

Footdown
Skids
Sprints
Freestyle
“Prolly Says”
Freestyle event will be broken into two groups: ‘new jacks’ and ‘jackasses’

working on the sponsors, expect a small entrance fee - like $3… Afterparty TBD

So a lot of great things have come from Mishka forming the DART cycling team. I’ve met a lot of people through various outlets, got to hook up my friends with clothing for doing what they love and have made some really awesome connections! One of these connections is Milwaukee Cycles out of, well Milwaukee. Also known as Ben’s Cycles, Milwaukee Cycles have been making more and more moves to supporting this exponential growth the Fixed Gear “scene” has seen over the past few years. Hell I bought my first wheel set for my fixed gear a few years ago.

After the Monster Track Side Events and Velocity, Peter from Cog Magazine approached me and wanted to know if I’d be interested in testing out Milwaukee’s CRUSHER! When I first heard about the Crusher, I thought to myself “who would chainring grind on a fixed gear?”… After talking to Peter and hearing of the Bootleg Sessions hookup that they worked out earlier, I decided to give it a try. I have to admit, it’s a bit jarring to hear and feel what this does to your bike. But damn, it’s fun as shit.

Below are pics of my Crusher after about a month’s worth of hard riding. It’s pretty much thrashed. I’m working with Milwaukee on a few new prototypes and they’re sending me another one this week. Reminds me of skateboarding in so many ways.

and a pic of it in action

… bike check!

and finally, here’s a video of the action. I apologize for the shitty quality. I have better video, it’s just going to be used in a project and I can’t post it quite yet!!

Chainring Grinds from John Prolly on Vimeo.

Pics by Dancing Weapon of Mass Destruction and myself on Flickr

I’m always a bit late with blog posts. In the end, it’s better late than never…

So last weekend was the 4th Annual Bicycle Fetish Day in Williamsburg. Bicycle Fetish Day is put on by the City Reliquary and basically is just a all-day [and night] block party that brings all kinds of bikes together. The Schwinn Bike Club is there displaying their vintage cruisers and lowriders with crazy horns ablaze, vintage nuts bring out their wall-hangers and of course, the fixed gear kids are there, posing with their bikes and doing stupid tricks all afternoon.

The Philly crew came through and it turned out to be a great time.

Pics by Dancing Weapon of Mass Destruction and Dogseat on Flickr

Burd just dropped the Bootleg Sessions 2 Trailer. It’s pretty epic. Catch the World Premier at this year’s Bicycle Film Fest! Pre-order the DVD here!

“Bootleg Sessions v.2″ Fixed Gear DVD Trailer from Ride/Relax Productions on Vimeo.

So Burd, over at Bootleg Sessions not only received a nice flow package from us, he also finished the ‘tenetive’ cover for the next Bootleg Sessions! The cover features rider Sam Miller doing a fucking curved-wall ride on a track bike!!!!!!

I’ve seen a few of the cuts and all I have to say is this next movie will spawn a new breed of fixed-gear freestylers, a TON of hate, a TON of love and some awesome new projects in the coming months. Mishka’s proud to sponsor such an awesome endeavor and we thank Burd for all he’s been doing!

Be sure to catch the WORLD premier of Bootleg Sessions 2 at the Bicycle Film Fest at the end of this month!

So a while back, Brad from Urban Velo interviewed me about the so called “Fixed-Gear Freestyle Culture”. Seems he also hit up a few of my friends and co-riders in DART for some feedback.

So Todd [who threw Fixed Fight 2 recently] sent me some images and updates as to how the race went last week. Looked like a lot of fun. Seems his route ended up being about 22 miles in the beautiful Florida weather. Mishka sent Todd a box stuffed with all kinds of goodies including some DART shirts!

Here are some pics of the events and the after-event madness… and cupcakes.

Pictures courtesy of Inertiality on Flickr

Since Skinny’s always posting skate videos and DART consists of some old BMX kids, I figured I’d drop this bangin’ video on the Bloglin. The music is Benga “Crunked Up”

TUMULT & CHILDSTORE.SE DUBSTEP MIX from TMLTech on Vimeo.

Prolly singing out!

Saturday was Sludgement Day, an alleycat / circuit / cyclocross race on Randall’s Island. Randall’s island is just south of the Bronx, east of the City and northwest of Queens. You could live in NYC your whole life and never step foot on Randall’s. The City has plans of changing that, so they’re digging it all up and renovating the island.

Sounds like a perfect course for a bike race right?

Here’s the aftermath:
[pictures by DART rider Luke Stiles and cycling photographers Blake Sinclair and race organizer Nick James]

Andrew, toughing through the muck

Crihs took 2nd

This shit sucked

Josh falls hard

DART rider Wilis Johnson takes 3rd

Dave Trimble wearing his 1st place prize

The course was about 5 miles and we had to do 4 laps. So if that wasn’t enough, we had a good 10 mile ride home. It’s not the miles that sucked; that’s nothing. Being caked with mud, blood and tears beer is what sucked!

Then I woke up this morning and learned some new tricks.

…and I want to thank Milwaukee Cycles for hooking me up with a Crusher