BMX Texas Take Over: Riding into the Lone Star State!
Name: Steve Strong
Hometown: Dagenham, UK.
Started riding BMX in: 1981.
Number of bikes in the collection: 3 at the moment, built around 25 decent ones I was happy with.
What was the first project bike that got you into collecting BMX bikes?
Steve Strong: 1981 Team Murray 'Track Certified'.
How difficult was it to find parts for it in the beginning?
Steve Strong: When I first started, I knew nothing of the UK scene. I was (and still am) a member of BMX Society and BMXMuseum. Primarily all of my parts came from Ebay.com and the Museum pages.
Name: Alessandro Barbero
Hometown: Ceva, Italy / Woodward, PA, USA
Started riding BMX in: As a kid in the late '80's. Pro since 2001.
Number of bikes in the collection: Most of my bikes are Race bikes from 1975 to 1985. I don't know how many exactly.
What is Italy's history like regarding BMX Bikes. Do you have any Italian BMX bikes in your collection?
Alessandro Barbero: Of course I got some, so I usually try to split the BMX Toys from the Real BMX that
Name: Chad Powers
Hometown: Grew up in Nokesville, VA, live in Richmond, VA now!
Started riding BMX in: 1996
Number of bikes in the collection: 250-300 rideable bikes
The BMX museum you've got going at the shop is fairly new. Can you explain how it all unfolded?
Powers BMX: it’s not new! It has always been in the works. But we just moved the shop into a bigger better spot which we had build a section dedicated for the BMX museum!
When you were looking for a new location, was starting a BMX museum always on your mind?
Powers BMX: Yes, the museum was a main point of the new location!
It seems you've got plenty of bikes. How do you decide which bikes deserve a spot in the museum?
Powers BMX: We don’t dislike anything that’s BMX! We are going to downsize it a little, get rid of some doubles.
What's the oldest bike in the line-up?
Powers BMX: We have a Schwinn Sting ray. I personally love the '70s BMX.
Name: Mike Janssen, owner BMX Museum NL
Hometown: Shanghai, China
Started riding BMX in: 1982
Number of bikes in the collection: 100+, all part of the BMX Museum NL collection which opened the doors on February 8 th 2009.
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Mike Janssen: Definitely! I started to look in 2000 for my own 1984 GT Pro Series because I regretted it
Name: Aykut Hilmi
Hometown: London, England
Bike: Hutch Trickstar
What's your earliest memory of the Hutch Trickstar?
Aykut Hilmi: I saw an American commercial and was hooked! At the time I had a red Raleigh Burner and we used to make half pipes in our local park
Who were some of the Hutch riders that you admired back in the day?
Aykut Hilmi: I didn't have much knowledge back then about BMX riders apart from the ones
The latest episode of the Union Tapes is live now featuring Nick Phillip.
"We finally caught up with Nick Phillip, and we get deep into it on many topics that he had hands on involvement with. This one gives us all a deep dive into much of the mystery for most of us, meeting Jess Dyrenforth, Rom trips back in the early days, starting AA as a mail order from his bedroom, landing a job at BMX Action bike, working with Dave Curry, and talks about what an influence Curry had on the scene.
We talk all about the behind the scenes of BMX Action bike RAD magazine, the early Southbank scene, Mons jam, being a rider rep for the UKBFA, AA becoming a clothing brand, the rise and focus of street riding in the magazine, the style change within BMX as it evolved away from its constraints. The push for evolving the character of BMX, moving to California in the good ole USA to work for Freestylin Magazine, Homeboy and Ozone, getting into the early rave scene in the late 80s, right up to what he’s up to today."
Riders mentioned: Jess Dyrenforth, Dave Curry, Craig Campbell, Alisdair Mckenzie, Damon Nicholls, Eric Steel, Billy Stupple, Marco Lara, Andy Ruffell, Tim March, Dave Slade, Craig Grasso, Andy Jenkins, Spike Jonze, Maurice 'Drob' Meyer, Dave Nourie, Eddie Roman, Dave Vanderspek Skateboarders: Bod Boyle, Dobie Campbell, Joe Lopes, Todd Swank
We finally caught up with Nick Philip, and we get deep into it on many topics that he had hands on involvement. This one gives us all a deep dive into much of the mystery for most of us, meeting Jess Dyrenforth, Rom trips back in the early days, starting AA as a mail order from his bedroom, Landing a job at BMX Action bike, working with Dave Curry, and talks about what an influence Curry had on the scene. All about the behind the scenes of BMX Action bike RAD magazine. Early Southbank scene, Mons jam, being a rider rep for the ukbfa, AA becoming a clothing brand, the rise and focus of street riding in the magazine, the style change with in BMX as it evolved away from its constraints.
Name: Billy Mills
Hometown: Romford, Essex, UK
Started riding BMX in: 99’
Number of bikes in the collection: More than 10, less than 20…
When you saw that S&M x Supreme bike, what did you have to do in order to score one?
Billy Mills: I’ve been into Supreme before the brand became ‘hyped’ around 2010. I’ve always collected the brand, so once I heard about the S&M collaboration I had to have it, I put feelers out to some friends but it was too exclusive to have one set aside. I eventually got this one from eBay after some pestering.
Has the value doubled already?
Billy Mills: This is the question that everyone asks, it’s a strange one, because 99% of the owners of these bikes don’t actually ride or know anything about S&M, they just have a computer program that
BOB HARO…You know the name, You know the brand, you know the legendary status Bob holds. At a young age, Bob saw an opportunity and wasted no time jumping in and getting to work. His hard work paid off and he’s here in the Unclicked studio for our 100th episode to break it all down for us. Let's get into it!