but they're going fast.  If you want one, get it now.  Next shipment won't be until late next month at the earliest.

Bikes should be here next week.

Michael from Paris sends this BB build out of the Atelier des Velos shop.

cute as a button

Straight outta my old shop, Freewheel, comes this Big Block build from Killian

you see what he did there?

Nice bike guy!!

I'm back.  Doing what it is I do around here.

our homies from Texas and some lines from our new team guy Justin Taylor

SweatHogs G.C. from AJ Austin on Vimeo.

Sungwoo Kim - Summer 2010. from swoo on Vimeo.

welcome to the family

The Robeast and I are hopping in my 86 VW van and taking off for Wyoming all next week.  Going to go biking, hiking, climbing, and swimming.

I'll be back on the 26th to answer all your emails and business type stuff. 

If you're in Jackson, we'll be using Shadow Mtn as our basecamp, come holla at your boys!

From Adam comes this info for you regarding brake compability:

We are aware that some U-Brakes do not work with brake pivot design of the Dropout frame [and fork]. This is not a unique scenario to All-City. Many BMX companies have frames with limited brake compatibility.

• Demolition
• Flybike
• Suelo
• Primo
• Dia Tech – box
• Odyssey
• Tektro – angled
• TRP

In addition, these brakes should also work  based  off of their similar design to brakes that we have tested and confirmed: 

• Eclat
• Proper
• Revenge

from our sister city in St. Paul comes this build by Lee, a wrench at Grand Performance

The standard brake capable Dropouts are finally here!  with 5mm more tire clearance than the L.E.'s

U-brake capable, dirt, city, whatever destroying, chariot of doom!!!

Every year in Minneapolis I organize an event called the All City Championships.  This event is how I got involved in organizing the Minneapolis Cycling Community and was one of the reasons I started Bike Jerks (I needed an organization under which to organize events).  These things eventually lead me to help start All-City.

  The event is coming up in August, my full spiel is below.  This is a huge deal in Minneapolis, and if you've ever wanted to visit us.  Now's the time.

 
The big one is back for it's 5th anniversary. The dates are August 19th-22nd. Tons of stuff going on all weekend. If you've ever considered visiting MPLS, now's the time to do it. I'm going all out on this one and it's going to be f'ing huge.

This is my personal invitation to you, the world, to get yourself here and experience Minneapolis bike culture to the fullest. There will be racing, swimming, nudity (probably not the good kind), partying and partying. When it's all said and done you and your liver will likely no longer be friends. (bring it on Texas!)

Here's the rundown of events:

Thursday Night - Fixed Gear Freestyle Heavyweight Championship of the World
I'm renting out a skatepark for 3 hours. One hour of jam, and two hours of contest. We will ride from One on One to the park, get rad, and then go swimming. A & B classes, and a women's division if there are any women interested in competing.

After the amazing experience that was Midwest Mayhem, I am super excited to hopefully host all of the heavyweights of the FGFS scene. Fly in Thursday during the day, ride the comp, and on Friday we'll spend the day riding street (there are some crazy spots here, and lines that we've been waiting to see get done). The rest of the weekend will be a nonstop party. Talk to your sponsors, beg your parents, whatever you gotta do, just get here. It's gonna be a big deal.

Friday Night - Match Sprints, Trackstand, Afterparty
Head to Head single elimination tournament, mens and women's divisions.  The Robeast is the three year running champ, can any of you hosses out there dethrone the King of Sprint? As for trackstand, it will be a trackstand comp with people yelling "take your shirt off" the whole time.  The Bedlam theatre (best balcony in town) will be hosting us after the sprints, drink specials!

Saturday - All City Championship Alleycat Race, Afterparty
It's going to be a racer's race with the most badass woman and man taking home the title of "All City Champ." If you think you're fast, show up and prove it. Men's and Women's categories with prizes for 1st through 3rd place. There will also be a masters division for men and women 35 and up, a prize for first fixed gear, and a DFL winner.

Expect picks and drops, a time trial component, and about 25 miles or so of racing. I will be posting several of the manned stops ahead of time to help level the playing field for the out of town contingent.

The awards and afterparty will be in the alley behind One on One, there will be several kegs, and hopefully Kopish and D.O. (sp?) will be spinning jams. Likely some hot derby action will ensue. There are few things better than a good party in a downtown alley, and this is going to be a good one.

There may also be a little street fair in the alley before the race for any sponsors who want to come out and setup a table and show/sell their goods.

Sunday - Freeride
Zito's annual booze cruise wraps up the weekend on Sunday. A slow leisurely ride through town with beer, DJ's, and fireworks. The perfect capper to the weekend's festivities.

This is the biggest race in Minneapolis during the summer months and I hope all of you will consider attending, it would mean a lot to me. I will start a housing list in the coming weeks so you can hook up with a local and avoid hotel rooms. I'll make a post when that happens.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank all of the incredible sponsors who've signed on so far. Without you this wouldn't be nearly as much fun, you make it happen. Thank you. Hopefully more sponsors will be added to the list in the coming weeks. The handbills and posters are not yet printed so there's still time. (Hit me up if you're a company who'd like to sponsor this event, we'd love to have you)

The poster for the event was done by our friend Bjorn Christianson. In order to make back some of the effort, he will be screen printing a small run of these posters and selling them on his website and at the race. I'd like to encourage you to purchase this piece of Minneapolis history (sorry if "history is" too self aggrandizing, but it's the 5th year anniversary of the ACC!).

If you run a website or have a blog or whatever, I'd consider it a personal favor if you'd kindly repost this and help spread the word far and wide. The ACC is always a highlight of the summer and we'd love to see some faces from all over the country attend.

There'll be plenty of updates on the Bike Jerks blog and the race page will be up on the main Bike Jerks site shortly. Hope to see you there!

P.S. I started a Facebook page for the race and will be posting updates on there as well. If you wanted to be a fan of the page, that would be cool.

In addition to our roster of freestylers, AC has started to give back to the O.G. group of dudes/dudettes who paved the way for this whole fixed gear craze: the couriers.  We have picked up four messengers from around the country who not only kill it on the job, but kill it in alleycats, and are important figures in their hometown scenes.  We are super proud to be able to help support these folks who truly live life on their bikes everyday.  We will be helping them out with their equipment, they will be beating the shit out of our components and frames and helping us to improve the quality of everything we make.  It's a win win for everybody.

The first rider to officially (and by "officially" I mean, get us photos and such) join the roster is Chicago's own Nico!  I first met Nico this year at Stupor Bowl and ran into him again in Milwaukee.  He is the reigning NACCC champ and one hell of a nice guy.  Welcome aboard dude!  We will announce the other team members shortly as they get their bikes and parts built up.

City: Chicago

Company: Apex Courier

Hobbies: Cyclocross, track racing, comic books, kick ass rock & roll, going fast

Work Bike: All-City Big Block w/Chris King headset, Deda Pista stem, Truvativ Hussefelt risers, Thomson post, Brooks Team Pro (Boston Naccc 2009 ltd edition), Aerospoke front (courtesy of Don't Kill the Messenger alleycat), B43 laced to Somax track hub rear, All-City cog/lockring, All-City 612 Track cranks, Time ATACs

Races:
1st Place Male 2009 North American Cycle Courier Championships Boston
16th Overall Cycle Messenger World Championships, Tokyo 2009
1st Place Halloween, Chicago 2009
1st Place Cranksgiving, Chicago 2009
3rd Place pol-cat, Chicago 2010
1st Place Don't Kill the Messenger, Madison 2009
1st Place Velo-City Tour, Chicago 2010

Thanks: All my teammates on the Chicago Cuttin' Crew (snip!, snip!), Denise and Q @ Apex Courier, Jeff @ All-City for making this happen, all my homies in Seattle, SF, Philly, MKE, MPLS, NYC, Tokyo, and all around who have made me welcome in their cities and  homes, all the fast cats in CHI for being my family...and my family.

Butcher and crew

ZLOG crew day out from chris clappe on Vimeo.

It's that time of year when new stuff starts rolling through.  This week we have new grips!

We know that there are many of you out there who like the feel of the dual density Star Grips but might not be into the bold colors, so we decided to do some more muted colorways. 

BMX Star Grips in Black on Black & Grey on Black

Star Track Grips, Black on Black

These Star track grips are way more useful than traditional thin track grips because they're the same thickness as our BMX version. This makes them awesome for bullhorns or riser bar setups. This is the only grip I ride on my risers. I'm like the ability to catch the bars at any place on the flat during barspins and being able to slide my hands inward while mashing around.   

our dude Taylor just dropped a new little edit

Old Flip Cam Scraps from Taylor Dwight on Vimeo.

p>Some photos of the team guys I took while in NYC!

Shea with a tire tap on the wall

Sean

Butcher

We just got in our two latest hat designs, a revamped version of the "Shield" hat, and a black/blaze orange "Nice Cap."

We decide to go even more Minnesota with our Nice Cap by doing it in blaze orange. 

The Shield Cap now features a large shield on both sides of the hat and "Fast is Forever" under the brim

In stock now.  Get some!

coming out of the Phatmoose shop in Ottawa comes this lovely Big Block build by Paul K. 

check it

for their weekly "Bicycle Industry Insider Profile"

check out the interview here

I'm off to the U.P. for the weekend.  be back on Tuesday.

Have a good 4th of July.  Happy B-Day America!