Bike check: Erik van de Wardt's Federal Perrin 21"

May 15, 2021

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 4316 times

Name: Erik van de Wardt
Age: 22
Hometown: Eindhoven, Netherlands

Why did you choose this frame out of all frames on the market today?
Erik van de Wardt: I mainly check what Paul has in stock and if there is anything with a geometry I like. I never really noticed this frame but when I saw the sweet colour I looked up the geo and found out is was spot on for me! I also really dig the ICS chainstay Federal came up with. I bought the last one in stock a few months ago before it was gone.

What was the biggest difference over the last bike you had?
Erik van de Wardt: Geo wise the bars are taller and the back end of the frame is one halflink longer which is perfect, coming from a too short feeling frame. I also really dig the OS bar clamping and ICS chainstay on this new bike.

How do you like the look of your bike?
Erik van de Wardt: Coming from a trashy custom painted white bike with chrome parts I am happy to

have a clean warm coloured frame with black parts. The all matte parts in the centre of the bike match really well too. Overall the bike looks like a perfect allround BMX bike to me now :)

Do you have anything customized on the bike?
Erik van de Wardt: Only have the bars cut down to 29" wide. And then just some different stickers.

Do you always have a clean bike?
Erik van de Wardt: My bike is always well maintained but the old whip looked really trashy in the end. I always enjoy having a dailed and silent setup.

What is the geometry and length of your frame?
Erik van de Wardt: It's a 21"TT with 75.5° HT, 71° ST, 12.9" slammed CS, 9" SO and 11.6 BB height

Do you experiment a lot with the sizes of your frame, stem, bars to find the right set-up?
Erik van de Wardt: I know what I prefer and I wanted a bit of a bigger bike now so I went from 9.5 to 10" rise bars (with a slightly lower rise stem) and went back to a 13"-ish back end. I also like the steeper 75.5° HT angle for nose tricks and whips. Also the stem went from 52 to 50mm reach but I don't really notice as the frame is 0.1" longer.

Usual tire pressure?
Erik van de Wardt: About 5 bar but sometimes I let it drop to about 3 bar over time before pumping it up again when riding more street.

What's a bike part you change on the regular?
Erik van de Wardt: As soon as my grips wear down my hands tend to get sore quickly so grips should always be decent. Other than that and pedals I want parts to last at least 2 years, some even 4+ like wheels and cranks

Please take us through your parts list:

Frame - Federal Perrin 21"

Fork - Odyssey R25