Marco is sponsored by our homies at W-Base and Hold Fast, as well as for Mishka Japan. The Japanese riders can get up like none other. Here’s a short from a forthcoming project called No Boundary. Hassy has other edits on his Vimeo, so check them out too!

Independent Fabrications X Bodega X BaileyWorks from Quarter Productions on Vimeo.

3 of my favorite New England companies teamed up to produce some really awesome bikes. Independent Fabrications, Bodega and BaileyWorks. Shot by a great videographer, Quarter Productions for High Snobiety.

Check it out!

Photo by FGL Andy

Tony “the international asshole” Fast slumming it in London.

Tom and Tony are over in London right now. After the weather they’ve been having in Philly, they’re stoked to be in somewhat warm weather. The guys headed over to attend the Shop 14 1-year anniversary and just hang out with the Fixed Gear London / Charge / Shop 14 crews.

Looks like a great time and I just wanted to point out that somehow, Tony can always pull off any Mishka ensemble.

That’s right, this Spring we’re really starting to round the D.A.R.T. program out into its own beast. And believe me, this is only just the beginning of D.A.R.T. branded items that you’ll be seeing in 2010. Big things in store, before you guys know it!

Head over now to John Prolly’s site to get the scoop on the collection releasing for Spring 2010. There you’ll find more images and detail on the return of the beloved (and much requested) Swarm Windbreaker, a merino cycling hoodie, and, of course, D.A.R.T T-shirts galore!

P.S. That’s right, bringin’ back some tie-dye.

Mishka supports and sponsors Empire, a film about riding your bike in the city. Here’s their final teaser before this Summer’s premiere in NYC. This is a shortened edit from the 2009 Bicycle Film Festival. Really stoked on this project.

Photo by Tim Kainu | Sean Milnes from OPEN Bicycle in Boston doing a 180 down some stairs.

Two weekends ago was the Mid-West Mayhem in Milwaukee. It was the dead of winter and yet somehow, this event drew riders in from every part of the country and even Canada. NorCal, SoCal, Texas, the South, North East, New England, everywhere. Through the aid of their sponsors, riders were able to pay for tickets and ship their bikes out to the event. I don’t think anyone expected it to be as big as it was. The date approached and I flew out to Milwaukee at 6am.

I’ve been sponsored by Milwaukee Bicycle Co. / Ben’s Cycle for a few years now and I had never been to their storefront before. Since I was in town so early, I got the full tour of their facilities.

It’s an amazing shop. They stock everything from vintage parts to modern road, mountain bike and fixed gear components.

The bikes they’ve collected over the years are gorgeous.

… and in pristine condition.

Across the street from their internet sales and main storefront, is the Ben’s Cycle and Fitness storefront. The main shop has been open since 1928. A few years ago, they bought the storefront across the street, which was an old movie theater. Inside this theater is loads and loads of vintage bikes, new-old-stock components and crazy junk (there’s no better was to describe it).

Back over in the internet sales office, Drew gave me the grand tour of their facilities. Of course he made me drool by pulling out these new-old-stock, or NOS, Campy Pista (track) cranks. They may not look like anything special to you, but this model in particular is incredibly rare. They lack the flutes (carving out) in the arms and have a printed Campagnolo shield. The last pair of these they had sold for $900.

It was now getting later in the day on Friday and people started showing up. Eric Puckett came in from Texas with a few other kids. Dude’s a ripper and we hook him up with Mishka stuff.

Tom was also there.

Doing what he does best.

He was doing this all morning. Like bouncing a tennis ball inside a prison cell.

I wanted to do bike portraits this entire trip, but only took a few. Here’s Tom’s Charge Scissor. Thing’s got some war scars. A huge dent in his down-tube from bailing on a nose-manual at the Brooklyn banks.

Here’s Eric Puckett’s Volume Thrasher.

Which he knocked over while I was taking photos of it.

We were all stir-crazy at that point and wanting to ride. Luckily our friends from COG Magazine were there to show us around to a few spots. So the crew that flew into Milwaukee on Friday took off around the city hitting up spots. Here’s tom pedal grinding a ledge.

Check after the  jump for way more photos, video and a recap of the entire weekend!

(more…)

Wait, did Hitler quote me at the 1:44 mark? Did the Nazi’s just get Prolly’d?

Today I met up with Joey Krillz and Bill to shoot some photos of the new Transient Messenger Bag samples they’ve been using for the past few weeks. While shooting photos of the bags, Joey was messing around, doing some bunnyhop barspins. I caught him mid-air in this one and was pretty stoked on how it came out.

Krillz has also been wearing the Spetsnaz Mark III jacket all Winter. One of the many messengers we hooked up with a jacket for some input on the design. So far so good!

In what may be the biggest fixedgear freestyle comp ever, the Mid-West Mayhem is pulling people from all over the country to Milwaukee in the dead of Winter. We’re stoked to support this and I’ll be there!

If you’re in the area, you should swing by the Cream City Skatepark for the comp. Should be a great time.

It’s NYC in January. It’s cold, shitty and miserable outside. Riding in this weather isn’t bad, considering you have the right gear. I’ve been wearing the Spetsnaz Jacket nonstop. With the right baselayers, it’s perfect for riding. Durable too. I’ve taken a lot of spills in it and it’s yet to rip.

Last weekend Ed Glazar and I went to this spot in Queens he’s been eying for a bit. It’s a really steep wallride in Sunnyside. There’s a good amount of grade change, so the vertical wall gets higher as you go downhill. Hitting a flat to bank wallride isn’t easy and at this point it was in around 10 degrees out. All you can do is haul ass at it and stick it for a second before popping off. Ed snagged a few shots, but this one is my favorite.

Luckily we were in and out before the snow fell. Good times.