07.11.16
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The United KF22’s tall appeal

The details of Kyle Forte‘s much anticipated new signature United KF22 complete created a bit of buzz on the interwebs when they were released this past Friday.

And no wonder…

It’s a solidly spec’d complete…and on top of that canyoudigbmx.com got the scoop in the form of an interview on what motivated Kyle to make the jump (pun sorta intended) to the 22″ wheel size.

united-bmx-kf22-complete-bike-2-700x

It’s a great read and encapsulates a lot of what people are saying about 22s.

Of particular interest to this site, however, was Kyle’s belief that 22s are a great option for tall riders:

…this bike will appeal to the taller rider as well. The only options until now for taller BMX riders have been to lengthen your top tube, or put on higher bars & perhaps a longer stem. Riding a long low limo isn’t ideal & putting on really tall bars is likely going to either shorten your top tube if you run your bars back like I do, or if you run bars past the forks put your weight forward over the front. The 22”…looks like a bigger, in proportion BMX when you put it alongside a 20” with similar specs.

Solid points for sure.

I’m looking forward to seeing one of these up close.

07.07.16
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Scott Matual’s track-certified 22

In our last post, we learned that Scott Matual was testing the new 22″S&M Speedball tire.

Designed for dirt or park, the tires look like they’re going to be a solid tire choice once testing is complete.

And Matual is not pulling out any stops in his testing.

Scott Matual race 22

S&M shared on their Facebook page today that Scott Matual took home a 2nd and a 4th in 46 and over Expert this past weekend at the Great NW Nationals on his 22″ (with the prototype tires presumably)!

(Pic by RH Photography BMX)

06.24.16
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S&M testing 22″ Speedball tires

Even with the momentum of more and more bike brands entering the 22″ market, one of the sticking points in the adoption of this wheel/bike size is the dearth of quality tire options.

Thankfully, this looks like it is starting to change.

Much in the same way that S&M was one of the first big companies to jump into the 22″ scene (after Faction pioneered it) with a 22″ frame kit and tires…S&M is again trying to fill the gap of tire options with some new choices.

S&M 22in Speedball tires

Case in point, this week we heard the news that Scott Matual is currently testing some prototype SPEEDBALL 22″ tires for S&M.

The tires sport a broken up center tread from the TRACKMARK tire but in a normal casing with wire bead.  Designed for dirt or park, they will come in 2.25″ and 2.4″ sizes.

Nice to see some more 22″ tire choices on the horizon.

06.21.16
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The return of Chicago bars

Although I’m unsure of how the term “chicago bars” originated, I am sure that BMXers the world over have come across the term at some point in their riding careers.

(The moniker refers to the way-past-the-headangle forward positioning of a bike’s handlebars.)

Taller riders in the 80s tended to opt for a mild chicago handlebar position to accomodate the shorter frame top tubes of the era. 90s-era vert riders picked up the mantle in the decade that followed for better handling on the bigger ramps of the day.

In the years that followed, with the rise of dirt, street…and the benefit of longer frames…the chicago bar position seemed to fall out favor.

But is it on its way back?

If a recent Ride magazine interview with Charlie Crumlish is any barometer, signs point to “yes”.

In the interview, reader Daniel Miramontes asks:

Why do you ride your bars forward, and not aligned to your forks?

Charlie responded:

As bars get taller, they are brought closer to your body because of the angle of the headtube. It’s not 90 degrees straight up–it’s 75-ish degrees and pointed towards you. Say you have two bikes, both of them in line with the forks, one has 8.5″ rise bars and the other has 10″. The 10s will sit a lot closer to the rider’s legs and feel weird. So as I went taller, they kept moving forward and it feels great. Having too short of a front end feels like I don’t get any pop when I pull up. I’m also 6’4″ so it helps make my bike a little longer.

Granted, Charlie is known as much for riding a different looking bike as he is for his signature riding style.

charlie crumlish

That being said, you can’t argue with his explanation regarding how taller bars…and a taller riders height…point to the need to go at least a little chicago when you go to set up your bike.

 

If you want to get a little “Chicago” yourself, why not run a pair of the S&M FUBARS Charlie designed.