RIP Levi's 511's

Last night my favorite (and often repaired) Levi's most likely gave up the ghost. I'm going to try to bribe one of my seamstress friends to do some reconstruction but I don't think it's going to be easy find any takers.

I mention this on the blog because it got me thinking about two facets of these pants that I have to come to fully embrace after initial skepticism.

Levi's 511 Skinny Stretch



The black patches are cordura scraps that I bummed off of Andy from Trash Bags. These patched the first saddle holes to appear and did a spectacular job of not failing. I highly recommend cordura patches, although getting the stitching on the inner (butt crack) side to hold up was an issue. It kept coming undone (once after getting spanked super hard with a paddle by a waitress at the Hofbrau Haus in Vegas, much to the delight of our Japanese dinner guests) and after the second time of having it re-stitched and fail I gave up. It did it's job though and having only three sides sewn up was never an issue.

The first feature is the Stretch. I found that purchasing a pair of stretch jeans to be a weirdly emasculating experience especially when combined with the "skinny" aspect. I know that's super immature but deep down inside there was definitely a little voice that whispered "straight guys shouldn't wear stretchy pants, bro." I am a 31 year old hillbilly for chrissakes and Joshy totally made fun of me for like forever. On the bike though they turned out to be magic. Super comfy and a great range of motion. The only downside is that you show way more ass crack when bending or riding than with non stretch denim.

The other more nebulous factor is the "Skinny" part of the equation. These were/are the slimmest jeans I've ever owned and at first I was super self conscious about them. However as I broke them in and rode them, I really came to appreciate the fact that you never have to wear bands to keep your pants out of the spokes and never have to roll your pants legs up which is super crucial during our cold and crappy winters. Even if you have long pants on but have to use a leg band, the leg band bunches the pants and shortens the coverage. No leg band or roll up equals full coverage.

I know no one wants to hear about how skinny pants are awesome as they pretty much aren't (and seem to be on the way out) but I gotta tell you that these things were super money for the 3 years before I wore the ass out (I also think the stretch material caused them to fail earlier than normal jeans). And are in fact the greatest pair of riding pants I have ever owned.

Totally going to get another pair.

Don't hate.

Tim Knoll

JR sent over a link to this amazing video of Tim Knoll. It reminds me a lot of Rodney Mullen's skating in that it combines flatland and street. Although that back roll thing seems totally cribbed from Erik Elstran (although what the fuck do I know about BMX and who originated what)

It's definitely worth a watch and it's almost the weekend so you might as well.

Tim Knoll BMX from tim knoll on Vimeo.

Grime Monday Morning

super good edit from The Grime

Homey Fall Fest 2010

I just finished uploading my pics of the 2010 Homey. I know the organizers decided not to call it that, but we all know what it was, plus I can't actually remember the official name.

I shot photos all day, got way wasted, and didn't end up with any shots that I'm in love with. You'll find some of my favorites below and the rest can be found in my Flickr Homey set.

I also shot a little video of a certain ripper in training hitting people with a tree. Watch it, it's adorable and gives a great sense of the vibe of this year's Homey.



now the photos


best costume

his mom made it the night before out of that weird material they use for hotel thermal blankets, you know the ones with the grey backing color.



this downhill was dope



what I assume is a Steve Smith original on the back of Gene's jumper








the respect in the Ref's eyes says it all


thanks for the bent rear wheel you son-of-a-bitch
(Pete I could never stay mad at you)


Cru Jones, the later years



as always tons of cool bikes

I want this Bontrager Cruiser so bad



and the worst single speed ever


don't forget to check out the rest of the photos here

and because this is my last excuse to post this until next year, let's all watch the pixelated blood from this famous crash from years past.

Favorite Things: Prana Headband

I bought this Prana headband at Miguel's in Kentucky's Red River Gorge in around 2001 on my first ever outdoor climbing trip. I took a bunch of heat from my traveling buddy, but I was stoked on my souvenir. I later started climbing with a group of dudes several of whom also owned these dorky things and they became known as "send bands" as in, fuck this shit, I've got my headband on it's time to send this thing.

Anyway, it has become an essential piece of gear for me as the seasons change. I often want a little ear coverage but it's too hot for a hat, so I wear this.

In my opinion it's way better than a handkerchief (sp?) since you don't have to dink around with any knots, and if you find yourself getting too warm is easier to pull down around your neck while riding with a helmet on.


It is stretchy, made of t-shirt like material, and is fucking awesome. If any of you out there are crafty, you should totally start making these things. They're stupid looking but super functional. It's one of those items that I always carry in my bag just in case.

For Mark

Craig Etheridge- CMWC video

check out this video of All-City new buddy, native 'Sconnie, and reigning messenger world champ Craig Etheridge from Seattle.



if you check the Guatemala footage you'll see some familiar faces such as our own Andy Larson.

via Zlog

Vote Today

stop being such an asshole and go vote already.


Especially if you live in Wisconsin. If Feingold (my Wellstone, plus I have tons of great stories about his daughter in college) doesn't get re-elected I'm going to be so pissed at you.

Capricorn ATB

Looks like Brad from Capricorn has gone and made himself a sweet mountain bike.

check it out

in progress





rear of seatcluster detail



painted and assembled

Dose of Awesome

Tricks and Drinks is on

dudes, we've gotta get a weekly ride going again.



for reals.

BMX Video Monday

Colt Fake Bone Deth from babysabbath on Vimeo.

Kings Rideshop Halloween 2010 from Richard Osborne on Vimeo.

Hitchcog

Hitchcog from Freaxed on Vimeo.

Track or Treat 4 Results

The race went off without a hitch. About 30 races lined up, but most of them didn't make it back for the second manifest. None of the women finished the first manifest which was surprising. I don't know what happened out there but I haven't heard of any incidents so hopefully it's all good.

The winners were:
1 Jerry
2 Sam
3 ELAN? (can't read my writing)

Afterwards we got wasted.]


the mummy won the costume contest and got a backpack for his troubles


Trackstand Comp won by Eric


Brandon was last year's champ and a crowd favorite but he ran into the side of a van and had to drop out of the race