TL: Yeah, we'll be there for sure in the same spot. Booth #1625. It's still being debated as to whether we will be back for 2010. Interbike is a huge expense & sometimes we think we could use the money in better ways. But every year we come back to Interbike. And when it's all said & done, we are glad that we went. Your booth is outside the BMX Zone, any specific reason for that?
TL: We have sales reps & employees that work for all 4 of the ASI brands (SE, Fuji, Kestrel, & Breezer). So it's nice to be by the three other brands' booths so I can have some help @ the booth throughout the show.
What's the number of the booth this year? TL: #1625. Same as last year.
SE has leaned towards the old school collectors with bringing back some classic models. How has that worked for the brand?
TL: It's worked great. It's given us an identity that was missing when the brand was resurrected in 2001. And it's super fun to design some wild & crazy retro bikes.
Next to that SE has had some interesting collabs with different brands. Can you name a few? TL: Well the DC bikes have been a HUGE success for us. The 2010 line will be the 4th year in a row that we have done collab bikes with DC. They have thrown huge parties for the bikes, printed double page ads with our bikes in lifestyle mags, made PK Ripper shoes. You name it. It's been all positive working with DC. For 2010, we have 2 bikes with them. A fixed Gear PK Ripper & a 26" Quadangle Looptail. The two other collab bikes we recently did are The Hundreds 26" PK Ripper Looptail & the Crooks 26" Flyer. Both brands are core streetwear brands with shops in Hollywood on & near Melrose Ave. They have huge followings. We did limited runs of each custom bike of only 300.
How many bikes are you going to show at Interike? TL: We'll have 23 bikes. Same amount as last year.
Do you have any new frames out or products that people need to check out?
TL: Yeah for sure! Big Daddy, AKA Lumpy, AKA Pat Laughlin has a new signature bike & frame out called the Heavy Hitter. It's on point & high end. The complete bike weighs less than 24lbs & retails for around $900. Then of course we have our $100 money wrap OM Flyer. That bike looks so crazy, it's cool. But what I am most proud of is how much weight we shaved from the entire 2010 line of bikes. The entire line is 32 lbs lighter! Some bikes like the Wildman & Floval Flyer lost over 3lbs EACH! Our bikes now are some of the lightest on the market.
The 2010 model line looks colorful. What's the thought behind that? How many dollar bills are wrapped around each OM Flyer?
TL: Those are HUNDRED DOLLAR bills! I'd say about $10,000 worth. The green is for the money & the gold is for the honeys!
How much should one of those actually cost? TL: It should cost about $10,000. But we have them at $800 MSRP. See, we're good like that.
What's a product you're proud of that you will display in Vegas?
TL: The $100 wrap OM Flyer, The Heavy Hitter bike, the 29" Big Ripper, the 24" candy apple red Quadangle Looptail, the new lightweight Wildman series of bikes, and even some of our cool looking single speeds.
Do you have more instore for the old school SE lovers?
TL: Always! I already have a 9-page document of plans for next year's 2011 line.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.