f-bom (Products made for gettin' RAD!)

New f-bom store

2011-11-20T06:17:00.001-08:00

Now that we have more products for sale and will have more new stuff coming soon, we developed a web store.

Visit this link to check it out:

http://www.f-bomproducts.com/store.php

The idea here is that everything that is for sale is all in one area of the website. The rest of the website can focus on being informational and have more details about our products, like materials products are made of, geometries, dimensions, and so on. We plan to evolve the store to be more and more customer friendly. For now, we have the basics up and running, but expect to see improvements as we move forward.

Enjoy!

Lower taxes for corporations?

2011-10-10T15:46:00.001-07:00

This is a hot political topic right now. The reality is, few talk common sense when this subject arises. The Left vs The Right......blah....blah....blah. We have all heard it.....more than enough times!

So the idea is that the government lowers taxes for businesses so they have more money to help the business grow. As the business grows, more money goes back into the system, the economy improves....and so on. This works in principle, but it isn't working in the real world we live in.....at least not in most cases.

You see, if a business is doing all they can to make bigger profits that go to shareholders and top executives, the idea that lowering taxes for businesses helps us all doesn't work so well. Especially if this business is outsourcing jobs! Heck, that means that a comapny is getting a tax break while not even creating many jobs for people who live here in the U.S. If fact, all outsourcing does is create more profits for the few people at the top of the company.

The problem with poitics and the media is that there are too many blanket statements. How about if taxes are lowered for a business that is doing all they can to help create jobs in the US? The corporations that outsource, or buy mostly outsourced products to sell (like Wal Mart) get a tax hike to cover the losses they are creating.
What I am trying to say here is that a subject like this isn't so simple as to just do it one way or another. It needs to be looked at a little closer and the companies doing good for our economy and jobs should be the ones that benefit, not the companies who do just the opposite.

Think about it......get off the political bandwagon and stop choosing sides. It is time to throw common sense and logic at these kind of problems.

f-bom products doesn't choose political sides, it simply chooses what makes the most since for all of our well being. The idea is that what goes around comes around......in a good way. By manufacturing as much as our products as we can in the U.S., we support those of you who buy our products. We simply do this by paying our fair share of taxes, just like you, and putting the money back into the system by having our shit manufactured here........and not waaaay the fuck over there where they could care less what we are doing.

What is 4130 Chromoly?

2011-10-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

This is the most commonly used steel in higher end bicycle frames. Many times it's just referred to as chromoly or chromo. If on a bicycle frame, it's likely 4130 chromoly. 4130 chromoly is an alloy. Alloy simply means, 2 or more metals combined. Some people call aluminum "alloy" as if that is what it is called. Yes, this is true, but misleading. Aluminum is an alloy, but so are all metals that have 2 or more materials combined. A chromoly frame is an alloy of Chromium and Molybdenum, which if you look on the periodic table of elements, you will find both listed. There are many types of steel, such as 1020 steel. This is common in cheaper bicycle frames or frames with mixed tubes. Many times you will see things like, Chromoly Downtube, on a frame description. This means that every tube on the frame is likely made with 1020 steel except for the downtube. The reason companies do this is to keep costs down and they put the chromoly tube as the downtube because that is the most common place for a frame to break. 1020 steel is much heavier and weaker than 4130 chromoly, thus it's not recommended for intermediate and experienced riders.

A little bit of added info about tubing. You often hear the term 'butted' when companies talk about their tubing. All this means is that the tube has a different wall thicknesses throughout. Double butted is most common on top and down tubes. This means that the top and down tube are thicker at the ends, near where they are welded, and thinner in the middle. Butting is a good way to reduce the weight of a tube without losing much strength. Tubes need to be much stronger where the tube is stressed the most during riding and those stress points are within a couple of inches of all the joints (welded areas where tubes meet). Sometimes more expensive tubing will be triple butted or even more. As frames (and other parts such as handlebars) get more expensive, companies can fine tune how a frame, or part, rides and how strong it is by changing the tube thickness throughout.

All that being said, this doesn't mean 4130 chromoly is all created equal. There are many different qualities of chromoly and most of it has to do with how pure the steel is. 95% of chromoly tubing is all the same, but the last 5% is the most important. Companies that sell higher (more expensive) grade chromoly tubing have less impurities in the tubing. This is a HUGE deal when in comes to overall bike quality and strength. Also, strength to weight ratio is heavily effected by impurities in chromoly. Most Taiwan manufactured frames, especially ones that cost less, use genaric and low grade 4130 chromoly tubing. But consumers are unaware of this. They simply see 4130 chromoly labeled on a frame and think it's just as good as any 4130 chromoly frame, but this is untrue. Many companies use lower grade 4130 chromoly to keep costs down. They know they need to use a thicker guage tubing to accomodate the weakness of the lower grade tubing, so the frame ends up being heavier than a frame manufactured with a higher grade of 4130 chromoly. This explains why you can get a mountain bike frame and fork for under or around $500 vs one that costs $800 to $1000 or more. Not only is it because of the cheap labor being used by outsourcing the frame and fork manufacturing to Taiwan or China, but it's also a low grade of 4130 chromoly. These frames will weigh a pound or more than a frame of the same size manufactured with a high grade of chromoly.......both frames being equally strong.

The bicycle industry super powers (yes this includes much of the bicycle industry media too) don't want you to know these fine, and VERY IMPORTANT, details. They want to be able to put the 4130 chromoly sticker on their frame and lead the consumer to believe this is the greatest frame on the market, for only $500 (mountain bike hardtail) or less in most cases!!! BMX frames are even cheaper still, especially on complete bikes that sell for under $400 and claim to have full 4130 chromoly frames and forks. Sorry folks, but it is not possible to have such cheap prices using high grade tubesets and becomming less possible as costs for imported goods rises.

Will an inexpesive 4130 chromoly frame last a long time? Yes, it likely will, simply because they overbuild the frames (adding a lot of extra weight) to make them strong. Many times you see added gussets on the top and down tube near the head tube. This is completely unnecessary if a high grade of chromoly is used and if a top and down tube is double butted so it's stronger internally at the ends.

A lot more factors come into play when it comes to tubesets being used for bicycle parts. But it is important to know that when you buy a cheaper frame, it's cheaper for a reason. Just because it says 4130 chromoly on it doesn't mean it's as good as a more expensive frame using high end tubing. It simply means that a consumer is likely going to see that sticker and believe the frame is something that is may not really be. It's called marketing and the bicycle industry uses it all the time to get consumers to buy their products and make them believe their products are of the highest quality.....when the truth is.....the lower cost is there because corners where cut, likely in more places than one.

The bottom line is, just because a bicycle product, such as a frame, has a 4130 chromoly sticker on it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good frame. You need to dig a little deeper and find out what tube set it is. Most frames that use a higher end tube set will state what the tube set is on the frame. If they do not, you can assume they don't want to brag about it because it is likely a low grade of tubing. If a frame is manufactured in Taiwan or China and doesn't specify a brand name of tubing, it is likely the cheapest and lowest grade tubing available.

Another thing to note. When buying a complete bike vs building one up from scratch, many companies will use lower quality tubing on the complete bikes to keep the costs down. This is why you see complete bikes in the $400 - $800 range......many of the parts are not as well made and high quality as the same part purchased as aftermarket, say a handlebar, fork, or frame. Companies refer to components for complete bikes as OEM (original equipment manufacture). OEM bicycle parts, unlike the auto industry, are usually lower quality and grade than aftermarket parts. A good example of this is an OEM brand name suspension fork that came on a complete bike almost always has cheaper internal parts than the same model fork found on the aftermarket. This is why you see a complete bike with a decent brand name fork on it for under $1000, yet when you price just the fork alone it costs well over $400. All the way from the grade of tubing to the internal parts, including bolts and such, corners where cut to make the same product for the mass market assembly line of complete bikes. The same goes for frames. You will see a riders signature frame on a complete BMX bike that costs $600 or so, yet if you want to buy just the frame and build up the bike, the frame will cost $350 or so. The frame on the complete bike is likely not the same quality as the frame purchased as an aftermarket item. Most bicycle consumers don't know this stuff and probably often wonder why the prices seem so unbalanced.

Be an informed consumer and also help inform others as much as you can. It is important we hold bicycle companies to high standards and that we make informed purchases when we buy bicycles and parts.

The costs of Taiwan and Chinese manufacturing

2011-09-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

So here is a bit of info about Taiwan and Chinese manufacturing. I know....I know.....many of you don't care because you really just want to ride your Taiwan made frame and feel good about it. You want to think that we live in a global economy now and this is just the way it is. You want to ride your bike thinking that no harm is being done by your choice to purchase a Tawain or Chinese manufactured "Surly, All-City, Specialized, Trek, Giant, Salsa, Redline, SE Bikes, and on and on and on.........OMG, so the list is huge! I plan to make a website listing all the companies and where they manufacture their frames and other parts. That will make it easier when I blog about this subject....:-).

But the truth is, you can pretend to believe it is all good. But if you actually care about the future of the United States (including our future FREEDOM) and how people are treated around the world by these giant corporations, then you will read the stuff below. If you don't care, then don't bother reading the truth about your decision to purchase an outsourced product.

The young women employed here say they are required to work 11-hour days, including three hours of mandatory overtime, in order to earn a basic monthly salary of 484 yuan, or about US$58.

The women say they must spend nearly half their wage on the drab company dormitories where, as migrants, they must live. They laughed ruefully when asked if they were able to save any money, or send money back to their families.

Source

The minimum monthly wage in Taiwan has risen by only NT$600 (US$21) since 2007, he noted.

"It is impossible to take care of your parents when you have to live hand to mouth," Ho said.

Source

Spooky Bikes has a very cool web page you should all read!!

Why do your bikes cost so much?

What really gets to me is finding out that women factory workers in Taiwan don't get to live at home with their families. They live in dorms by the factory and they have to pay for the dorm with 1/2 their wages, which are around 50 or so U.S. dollars a month. Seriously people! What the fuck! You think that is fair? You think that is just the way things are and how they should be? This is on top of the harm being done here at home every time a large company lays off it's workers to send manufacturing overseas. All those people getting laid off become either unemployed or have to work a service type of job such as cashiering at Wal Mart or making coffee at the local coffee shop.

Okay, I think I made my point. It's time for change. To make that happen, we all need to do things a little differently down here at the bottom 98%. I know we can't all change to buying 100 percent U.S. Made products right away. But when the option is available, it's important to buy U.S. made products over outsourced products, even is the cost is a lot higher. Overall, paying more for a U.S. Made product is costing us less in the long term. Stop looking at the short term gain and think about our future and long term sustainability of our nation. Buying U.S. when and where you can, can change the tides in our favor. Bicycle frames are a good place to start. There are plenty of U.S. manufactured frames out there and the quality is much better than Taiwan or Chinese manufactured product (despite what the bicycle industry tells us).

BMX Prototype is here!

2011-08-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

I built it up so I can try it out. Here is a pic of the complete build I am riding and testing. I will be taking this places so others can try it too.

The geometry of this frame is pretty tight.

Top Tube is 20.5 inches
Headangle is 75 degrees
Chainstays are 13.5 inches from center of spindle to center of dropout.
BB Height is 11.5 inches
Weight is around 4 1/2 pounds
Frame has a low standover for extra clearance above top tube
Top and down tube are OX Platinum
The rest of the frame is 4130 Chromoly
Brake posts and guide is removable for those who don't run brakes.

This frame is made in Davenport, IA by Standard Byke Co.

Cost will be around $450 for frame.

So far riding this bike is pretty awesome. It manuals well, 360's nicely, and feels light. This build is about 24 pounds so it's easy to throw around. I will be adding Profile Cranks to this bike as soon as I get the bottom bracket. That will drop the weight a little and well, put more US manufactured parts on the bike.

We strongly believe in supporting those who support US manufacturing. All our products will be made right here in our fucking homeland where they should be made. If you want to pay less by buying products outsourced to China and Taiwan, then you are part of the reason our economy is in the shitter. Think about it for a minute. Supporting those who send our jobs overseas is more Americans out of work.....thus less money going back into our system. It will take all of us the correct the problem we are in now. That means you too.......buy American and help us all out! THANKS!!!

What is meant by the term "Global Economy"?

2011-08-04T12:00:00.000-07:00

We are a bicycle company so why the fuck are we talking about politics and shit?! Okay, so bear with me for a minute here, because this is important......if you actually care that is. If not, don't waste your time reading, go ride and have fun!

You hear the term "Global Economy" used a lot, especially in the media. I also get that answer from people who really don't know what they are talking about.......their answer is simply "we live in a Global Economy" and that is their excuse for just about anything they do money wise.

So what exactly is a "Global Economy"? I am not going to go into some complex Wall Street economy technical talk, because the reality is, it's quite simple. You see, not all countries are created equal nor are any of them close to being equal. I talk a lot about China and Taiwan, mostly because that is where the majority of bicycle parts are made, but this topic goes beyond those two countries.

Here in America we have things VERY nicely. No, the fact you work 40 or more hours a week doesn't make your life difficult. If it does, stop doing it and find another passion because there are plenty out there. Anyway, so to make this simple, most of us would dread a job at a fast food place, and maybe some of us have one of those jobs and dreads it.....who knows? But the overall opinion is that a fast food job is bottom of the barrel here in America. What is funny is that working one of those jobs here in the U.S. not only pays about $7 an hour and above, it also has a lot of strict employee treatment rules. Minimum age, maximum hours until overtime pay, safety standards, you can quit any time you want, and so on. In the rest of the world, and most places companies outsource their products too, this isn't even close to the case. Not close meaning.........maybe 10% and likely not even that. Most people in these so called "Developing Nations" don't even make 50 cents an hour after conversion of their currency. Not only that, their working conditions are poor, many people get injured and there is no recourse of action if they do get hurt on the job. If a U.S. employee gets hurt flipping burgers, the company has to pay to fix them up and maybe more, especially if it's found that it wasn't their fault that they got harmed on the job. Minimum wage.....maximum hours before overtime pay.....nope....none of that. People work 12 hour days many times and basically, their life is about their jobs just so they can eat and have a roof, if they are lucky, over their heads. These people don't have nice houses or even decent apartments. They live in shitty conditions most of the time and struggle to find food and water, basic essentials for everyday life. A ghetto here in the U.S. would be a luxury over there. Here in America we live in a culture surrounded by the automobile. The thought of not owning a car here is...well....unimaginable to most people. Take the bus? Ride a bike? Walk?.......well, that is the rest of the developing world and certainly common in the countries that are manufacturing products to be shipped to the U.S.

So let's go back to the word "Global Economy" for a second. What does that really mean when people or the media says it? Well, clearly it doesn't mean that other parts of the world have an economy like ours. Sure, most western nations do, but most of the nations making our products for us don't have the luxuries and opportunities we have here in the U.S. So "Global Economy" is a corporate term.......it means that giant corporations operate around the world and well, make a shit ton of money doing it. Why? Because they pay people very little and treat them poorly while they are at it. Each large corporation has a few people at the top making all the money. Then they have a slightly larger group making our typical "middle class" salaries and then maybe some U.S. workers that have "fast food" level jobs....possibly working in a shipping warehouse or something similar. On the grand scheme of things, almost all the money gained from outsourcing production to another country is shifted to the top few people, usually in politics or in the media referred to as the top 2%.

Global Economy does not mean "Equal" economy around the world. It simply means, more money for the wealthiest people in the world (top 2%). So when people are led to believe that buying a product made in China, or some other low cost labor nation, is supporting a "Global Economy" and that is how we must think of things today, they are mistaken. Buying a product manufactured by the cheapest labor possible is not helping the people around the globe, it's helping the wealthy get wealthier and the poor, as well as most of us in the middle class, get poorer.

When a company does a bunch of things, like laying off U.S. workers, to make adjustments so they show profits on a chart somewhere.......where do you think those profits go? They go to a few shareholders and a lot more goes to the top people running the company, usually in the form of a multi-million dollar bonus. They are simply taking the money out of the U.S. and putting a little of it in some other country and A LOT MORE of it in their pockets so it does not get recycled back into our economy. "Global Economy" defined right there.....plain in simple. No Wall Street bullshit.......no guy on TV telling you this is the trend or this is how things work. I just explained how it all works in one fucking blog post!

So next time you use the term "Global Economy" think about what it really is and stop pretending that is how thing are and should be......because it isn't.

In order for America to be helpful to the rest of the world, we need to first take care of ourselves. We need to grow from within, take back our jobs, manufacturing, engineering, education, and all that stuff that made us the strongest nation in the world to start with. Once we regrow and become strong again, we can reach out the other nations and allow them and teach them how to do that same thing we do here. If we keep on our current path, the United States of America will eventually become a developing (or should I say it is a declining) nation......if it isn't too late already!!!!

Two new How-To videos

2011-08-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

The first is a How-To Corner video and the second one is How-To ride Obstacles in the trail.

MTB How-To: Cornering from Thomas Bjorn on Vimeo.

MTB How-To: Gettin' Over Obstacles from Thomas Bjorn on Vimeo.

Our goal is to do a whole series. So now we have 3. Just in case you have not seen the How-To Bunnyhop one, it's is below....:-). Hope these are helpful for you!

How To Bunny Hop from Thomas Bjorn on Vimeo.

First f-bom BMX frame almost complete.

2011-07-27T10:58:00.001-07:00

This frame is a sign of a future to come. We here at f-bom believe there is a large trend emerging..........people are sick and tired of corporations sending most of America's work and money overseas while our economy is quickly shrinking!

The first BMX frame is a prototype to be tested and to help us figure out what we want to do with future frames. We are also planning on building up a 26" dirt jumper, also built by Standard Bykes like this frame here, and who knows what else!

One of my favorite brands has always been Standard and another is S&M bikes. Both companies have been around for over 20 years now and still continue to make frames in the U.S. The concept of f-bom isn't to compete with any other U.S. manufactured brands, but to add to the list of available U.S. made BMX products and bring awareness to the consumer about our economy, politics, and well, the harm being done to our nation because just about every large bicycle company outsources potential U.S. jobs to Taiwan and China.

f-bom isn't going anywhere anytime soon, we are staying right here and going to help make an impact! We support any bicycle company that makes the choice to manufacture high quality products here at home where we need jobs and to rebuild our economy from the ground up. Not only that, we choose manufacturers whose quality simply kicks fucking ass over the stuff coming across the ocean. Why, because the people building those products are not riders and they could care less if a tube is cut correctly and accurately or a weld is done right.

f-bom is about community and supports those who value the importance of keeping work here in the United States. It's time for change and to make change happen, we all must take part and realize that it must come from the bottom and work it's way up........because change obviously isn't going to happen at the top and trickle it's way down to us common folks. We have given them a chance to do that and all we see is more outsourcing of jobs and the highest unemployment rate in many decades!!!

It's more than just buying a damn good quality product! It's about supporting something you truly believe in!

BMX frame updates.

2011-07-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Rick down at Standard Bykes just sent me updated images of the f-bom frame during it's build process.

Here is the front end with head tube, bottom bracket, and seat tube all attached. The top and downtubes are OX Platinum, the rest will be 4130 chromoly and all tubing comes from U.S. sources.

Here is a closer look at the integrated head tube. For those who don't know, an integrated head tube allows for the headset bearings to fit into the frame without the need for headset cups. This is pretty much standard (no pun intended) issue for all modern BMX frames. Check those welds dude!

Speaking of no bearing cups needed, here is the mid bottom bracket shell. The bearings just press right into the frame. Good stuff and so much easier to work on when installing and removing cranksets.

This is where you say, "why the fuck are you showing me a tube with a hole in it?" Well, because I can? This is where the removable cable guides will go. You see, we don't know if you want to run brakes or not. If you don't want to run brakes, why have all this extra stuff sticking out of the frame if you ain't gonna use it?

So there you have it. A frame during the build process. How often do you get to see these details? Made in the U.S.A. so the money you put into our frames goes right back into your economy to support people who actually ride and would love to make you more bicycle parts.

How-to videos and more

2011-07-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

We have a list of riding tips on our wiki page. Wiki Riding Tips and yesterday we introduced our first how-to video on How-To Bunnyhop.

How To Bunny Hop from Thomas Bjorn on Vimeo.

We plan to do more, a lot more. Hope you find this information helpful. Pass it along to your friends who may want to learn more skills and hone their riding ability.

f-bom BMX frame during manufacturing process

2011-07-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

Our BMX frames are being manufactured by Standard Byke Company in Davenport, IA. Here are some pics sent to us during the building process.

Looks like the front triangle is getting dialed in before welding it up. Looking pretty damn good!

This frame should end up being just over 4 pounds when finished. Once we get the frame in our hands, the fun begins. More pics to come...

Why use wider rims?

2011-07-02T13:00:00.001-07:00

I see a lot of riders running large volume tires on narrower rims. This doesn't make a lot of sense because the wider tire on a narrow rim looses a lot of it's stability. In order to keep the tire from flexing, higher amounts are air pressure are needed, thus not giving the rider the benefit of running lower pressure for more traction and better ride quality off-road.

The image below compares a larger volume tire, such as a 2.2, 2.3, 2.35 or bigger, on a wider rim and a narrow rim. There are a lot of rims out there that are only 22mm - 25mm wide. These work fine if a 1.95, 2.0, and maybe a 2.1 tire is used, but any bigger and the tire simply looses it's support, especially for cornering. See the image below to see how the side forces while cornering effect both rim types.

If you plan to run 2.2 tires or bigger, we highly suggest you run 28mm or wider rims. Our prototype has Velocity Blunt rims on it which are 28mm wide. We are running 26 x 2.35 Kenda Small Block 8's at about 30 PSI...sometimes a little lower. They feel is pretty solid, but as the air pressure gets below 30 PSI we can feel the side flex of the tires in the corners. We are thinking of running Velocity P-35's on the prototype to see how they feel. That extra 7mm can make a big difference in ride feel without much added weight.

Keep this in mind when you want to run larger volume tires. It is important to also run wider rims as the tire get bigger, simply so the tire isn't wrapping around too much and losing it's side support from the rim.

More misinformation....sigh.

2011-07-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

So someone asked my why I was so critical of All-City. The answer is pretty simple.......they misinform the consumer........a lot. They are marketed as some small hardcore brand based "in" Minneapolis when they are not. They are owned by the largest bicycle parts distributor, that would be QBP, and all their components are manufactured in Taiwan. In fact, they are not even located in Minneapolis, they are located in Bloomington, MN.

Here is an example of the misinformation they put out there:

Note what the address says...."Minneapolis, MN". The truth is, 55438 is located 2 cities out of Minneaplis......as shown below.

Why does this bother me so much?.....Is what I have been asked. It bothers me because I equate this the how Fox News misinforms their viewers, although at a much bigger scale. They do little tricks like this to get people to think and believe one way when the reality is quite different. It is a bit frustrating seeing a company do this knowing they are contradicting their own beliefs and many of their consumers beliefs. In fact, if you go visit the QBP website and look at their address, they correctly say "Bloomington, MN". Both are at the same address, but All-City puts down Minneapolis instead of Bloomington. So it's clearly not a typo. How many consumers will actually look up a zip code to see if a company is telling the truth about where it's actually located?

If they just simply told the consumer the true facts, I wouldn't have such an issue with it. To see companies in the bicycle industry do these sorts of things, much like the auto; banking; oil; food; and other industries we are critical of lately, is a bit upsetting to say the least. If a consumer knowingly buys something they know is a QBP brand from Bloomington, MN and manufactured in Taiwan, then they are making an informed decision and I have no problem with that.

So there you have it. From the 612 crank to the address on their product cards, All-City Cycles isn't much different than Fox News. How is that for a comparison....;-).

Been working on the design of our 3 new frames.

2011-06-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the 3 designs we are currently working on. A BMX frame and fork, a 26" dirt jumper, and a 26" hardtail mountain bike.

Here is the BMX design. A fairly current and traditional BMX geometry for Street or Park. The frame will be low and good for tailwhips, no-footed can-cans, and anything else you can dream up while airborn.

Our dirt jump frame will have a super compact rear triangle and a longer effective top tube than most DJ frames. Our top tube will be 23.25 inches. We are also going to steepen the headangle to 72 degrees. We feel that a bike that is meant for air and tricks should be roomier and handle quicker than most DJ bikes out there on the market today. Think BMX with a 26 inch wheel.....that is what we are shootin' for!

This frame is currently in prototype stage and we are lovin' how it rides! Check out our helmet cam footage below to see this bike in action at Lebanon Hills trail.

As we develop and test our products, we will keep you posted on the results. Check back here often to see what we are up to.

Our situation here in the United States

2011-06-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

I just read this following tidbit from a political group I belong to.

"America's in a tough spot right now. So many people are hurting. Yet in Washington and our state capitols, the big debate is about how much more pain to inflict. How many teachers to fire. How many new tax breaks to give the rich.

It's pretty clear by now that we can't wait for Barack Obama, or the Democrats, to save us. But the one thing that might turn things around is an honest-to-God mass movement—something on the scale of the civil rights movement or the antiwar movement—built around a vision of an economy that works for all of us, not just the top 2%."

I agree that our government isn't going to solve all of our problems. We have to do it at the grassroots level and that means all of us who are part of the middle and lower classes. The rich are not going to change and Washington certainly isn't, Republicans or Democrats......so it's up to us, the people of this country we all care about.

This is one of the reasons why I started f-bom and why I strongly believe in keeping as much of the production of our products here within the United States. By keeping the design, development, testing, and manufacturing here in the United States, we keep the control of money here. We also gain more political power when a smaller company with good strong moral values grows and proves that manufacturing can be done inland and it doesn't need to be outsourced like most of the bicycle industry is doing right now.

So when you hear about job loss and all these rich CEOs, CIOs, top dollar shareholders, and so on getting richer while the middle class keeps getting poorer. Think about where your money is going. Is it going to companies that believe in keeping this country, and it's people, strong? Or is it going to a company looking to maximize profits with the few at the top not matter how damaging those profits gains are to the nation and it's people as a whole.

Seriously people, think before you buy.......this is the only way we will get through this, from the bottom up....because there is no such thing as the trickle down theory.

Prototype MTB frame is ready for testing.

2011-06-13T05:42:00.001-07:00

Here is the completed frame still in the stand at Peacock Groove. It has all the cable routing for front and rear derailleurs, brakes, and 2 sets of water bottle mounts.

Bringing frame home to assemble it. This method uses a lot less energy than a container ship coming from Taiwan.....:-)

Here is the initial complete build for testing. We are waiting on an XC fork so we can put the matching front wheel on, but until then, we will test with this 100mm DJ fork. The angles look sick and initial riding around feels really good.

Here are the specs:

16" frame (for riders 5'6" to 5'10" tall)

Top Tube: 23.25 effective.
BB Height: 35mm drop from rear axle.
ChainStay Length: 425mm to most forward position (about 30mm adjustability). Production frame will have more when custom f-bom dropout is water jet cut to our spec.
Head Angle: 72
Seat Tube Angle: 73
100mm suspension corrected.

Weight 4lbs 4oz

Attention to detail. Notice the ovalized seat and down tube at the bottom bracket. We did this to help reduce side to side flex while standing and pedaling. It will help transfer more power to the rear wheel where it belongs instead of that power being wasted on a flexing frame.

We will be doing some testing and updates as we go along. Check back often for more pictures and info about how this frame rides.

Prototype frame is complete!

2011-06-12T07:08:00.001-07:00

It is time to get some photos, then put it together. Once we have a rideable bike, we will be taking it out to some local trails for testing and to see if it rides how we want it to. Once that is done, we will schedule some test rides at local trails so people can ride it and give input.

These are exciting times.....the birth of a new bicycle frame that is truly Minneapolis bred from the design all the way to the manufacturing of the product.

If you want a test ride, follow us here or on our Facebook page to see when and where we will have these rides.

f-bom sticker page

2011-06-11T13:44:00.001-07:00

We decided to create an f-bom page of f-bom stickers placed.....well....wherever you feel you want to place them. So get some stickers, put them on your ride, skateboard, car, or anywhere you want. Now snap a photo and send it to us.

Here is a pic of Sam's fixie with a sticker on the head tube. He told me he was "bomin' it down!"

So have at it and email your photos to fbomrocks@gmail.com and you might just get on our web page. Keep in mind, take a good quality shot and be original. Blurry photos and just crappy shootin won't end up on our page.

Here is where to go to get your sticker online....http://www.f-bomproducts.com/stickers.php

Prototype frame geometry exposed

2011-06-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the geometry for the f-bom prototype mountain bike frame.

16" frame (for riders 5'6" to 5'10" tall)

Top Tube: 23.25 effective.
BB Height: 35mm drop from rear axle.
ChainStay Length: 425mm to most forward position (about 30mm adjustability). Production frame will have more when custom f-bom dropout is water jet cut to our spec.
Head Angle: 72
Seat Tube Angle: 73
100mm suspension corrected.

We wanted to create a frame with a really aggressive feel and one that felt comfortable and stable while standing and riding technical features or while catching some air. But we didn't want to sacrifice the cockpit feel of a standard XC ride while a rider is seated, which is where a rider will spend most of his or her time.

We believe that 80mm should be the maximum length of a stem. Once you get beyond 80mm a riders weight is out too for over the front wheel when standing during technical riding. Also, over 80mm steering becomes more like swaying from side to side, which is not desirable at all. I (Shad) am 5' 7" tall and will be running a 50mm stem on this prototype. A taller rider can run a slightly longer stem, but once a rider is over 5' 10" tall, we recommend moving up to an 18" frame which will have a similar geometry but with a 23.75 inch effective top tube length. An 18" frame should accommodate riders from 5' 9" tall to 6' 1' tall.

Keep in mind this is a prototype, not production, so we can try this geometry out and see how it works in the real world. We will be scheduling test rides at various trails here in the Minneapolis area soon. Keep an eye on our blog or Facebook page so you don't miss a chance to ride the 16" prototype.

A visit to Peacock Groove

2011-06-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

It was 97 degrees today as I hopped on my motorcycle to go visit Erik at Peacock Groove. Sometimes it's so hot you don't even want to ride a bicycle! As I have mentioned before, he will be the guy who builds the f-bom singlespeed (also can run gears) frame. I took some pictures and some video of Erik in action.

Here are the rear dropouts welded to the chainstays.

Here Erik shows the tight fit after a tube is cut. When you want perfection, you gotta sweat the little details.

Here is Erik in action. This is what he does best! Notice the tattoo......niiiice!

Here is the finished weld. Nice and clean!

We will be out testing this bad boy soon! It is important we get the geometry exactly how we want it for when we start doing production frames. This is going to be a very aggressive riding frame and I want to make sure it is spot on before we start selling them to riders who like the shred a little while they are out on their XC singletrack ride.

Here is a video of what went down today:

Why steel?

2011-06-06T06:54:00.001-07:00

You see a lot of bicycles out there and right now you see a lot of aluminum and carbon fiber frames and forks. I have always enjoyed the advancements the bicycle has made, at least up until recent. The industry doesn't tell you about all the failures that happen with carbon and many times with aluminum. When a carbon or aluminum frame fail, they fail instantly and without warning. The more the industry tries to bring the price down on aluminum and carbon fiber made products, the riskier the products are to use because these manufacturers are mass producing this stuff in Taiwan and China. You can go to Target or Wal Mart and buy an aluminum bike now. It may not be good aluminum, but it is about getting a consumer to buy their bikes and if they can brag about aluminum, many consumers fall for it.

We are making our bikes out of steel. Steel is trustworthy, lasts longer than aluminum, and a lot longer than carbon fiber. Word on the street is that any carbon fiber part being used should be replaced after 5 or so years. There are steel frames still in existence today that were made in the 1800's and they are safe to ride if they have been restored. So some people might say, but steel isn't as light as those other materials. Well, they are correct, it isn't as light, but it's almost as light and many.....many more times reliable. Not only that, steel has a very nice ride quality to it.

So let's talk about weight for a second. On a bicycle, the frame and fork are the core. They hold everything together, kinda like the skeleton in your body. The frame and fork are the two most important components when it comes to the bicycle, but they don't have to be the lightest components. Where weight really matters is in the wheels. If you want a fast bike, get really good and lightweight wheels. A steel frame can be made very light and within 1 pound of a comparable sized aluminum or carbon frame. 1 pound on a complete bicycle isn't that much, especially when added to only the frame and fork. If you can build a carbon mountain bicycle at 21 pounds, then a steel mountain bike with the exact same parts will weigh 22 pounds. Heck, you can take a shit before a ride if you care that much about 1 pound! That one pound isn't going to make you any faster, especially since it is in the frame and not the wheels or crankset.

As manufactures push the envelope on frames, they put the riders at risk. As they cut corners to drop the price on aluminum and carbon fiber parts, riders who have these parts are taking a higher risk. My suggestion is that if you want some of these highest end components, pay the price and get the really expensive handmade stuff that is made in the United States or Europe, especially carbon fiber parts. Don't skimp when it comes to your safety.

As for steel, there are a ton of variations in how steel is made and how the alloy is mixed. You might hear 4130 Chromoly a lot. That is because it is the most common form of steel used in higher end frames. Throughout the 80's and 90's, 4130 chromoly was the most common used steel in BMX frames. Since then, there have been many advancements in steel, so you will see many variations of steel alloys on bicycles today. One can argue all day long about which one is best, but most bicycle frames are made of some pretty good steel and so it's not worth sweating the details. When we test our frames, we will be looking for the different qualities we get from different steels. OX Platinum, Super Therm, and standard 4130 tubing, all double butted, will be the types of steel we will be looking into. But most of how a frame is going to ride and feel will be based on the design. You be be assured that we will choose the right material for the job when it comes to f-bom frames.

Evolution of the mountain bike frame.

2011-05-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

When mountain bikes first became popular in the early 1980's, many bicycle companies jumped on the bandwagon. It was a good bandwagon to jump on, that is for sure. The problem was (and still mostly is to this day) is that most of these companies that mass produced mountain bikes came from a history of designing and manufacturing road racing style bicycles. The first mountain bikes were a bit awkward to say the least. Most people rode their mountain bikes on open dirt roads, ATV trails, and XC Ski trails. There was not much singletrack back then. They essentially took their knowledge of road racing design and applied it to their mountain bike design with a few tweaks.

The first thing they knew they had to do was make the frame and fork wider so it could accommodate larger tires and wider rims. They also knew a drop bar wasn't the best application so they put a straight handlebar on the bikes. The frames got a little beefier to handle a bit more abuse and some companies laid back the head angle of the steering to mellow out the ride some. They mostly did this because they felt off-road riding was more unstable.

Besides those few adjustments, mountain bikes essentially had the same geometry as a road bike. These frames were not designed with an off-road concept at all. They were essentially road bicycles altered for dirt riding.

Over the last, damn it's been 30 years already? Okay, so over the last 30 years the geometry of mountain bike frames has not changed all that much. They have to some degree, but there is still a lot of road bike influence going on in the modern designs. One of the reasons for this is that many mountain bikers cross over to road biking and back. They have a certain riding style and they essentially use the same style of riding whether they are on or off-road. But not all riders are like this. Many of us come from a BMX or Freeride background. Many of us also like to ride singletrack and not wide dirt roads and ATV trails (referred to as doubletrack sometimes). Most mountain bikers enjoy challenges such as rocks, jumps, skinny boards, berms, and so on. Even modern mountain bike trails are evolving and becoming more flowing and have features that cross over from Freeriding and BMX. But the standard XC mountain bike frame isn't designed for these types of features. A freeride bike or dirt jumper are not designed for the distances of most XC trails, thus they are not as ideal to ride on these newer singletrack style trails.

One huge issue is that most frames are designed for a rider to be in a seated position. They are not designed for a rider who is standing and jumping or going over rough terrain such as rocks or logs. The moment a rider stands up on most XC bikes, they feel awkward and their body and weight are forward and over the front wheel because of the longer (road bike type) stem and shorter top tube. If a rider goes off a jump this way, the front end of the bike tends to nose dive. If a rider doesn't pull up extra hard to keep the front end up, they will land on their front wheel first and might risk endoing. Going down steep downsides of rocks or logs has the same problem, the rider must lean way back behind the seat in an awkward position to go down most steep angles. All because the front wheel is tucked up underneath the rider while they are standing.

So, why not extend the top tube and shorten the stem? By extending the top tube and shortening the stem, you keep the same seat to handlebar length (often called cockpit) while bringing to front wheel further out in front of the bike. This has many advantages. The main one being that when a rider stands to attack an obstacle or go off a jump, their weight is more centered on the bike and not over the front wheel. Another good advantage is more clearance between the toe and front tire. Ever rub your toe on your front tire when turning? Yeah, not fun! But one big benefit of this is that is makes the overall wheelbase a little longer, thus allowing for a steeper headangle for quicker steering on tight singletrack. You see, a longer wheelbase will make the bike have more stable handling, especially in turns and at higher speeds. But the quicker steering will give you faster response in tighter situations which are common on singletrack. All good things.

The f-bom XC mountain bike frame, which will now be able to be a singlespeed or gear hardtail, is designed with off-road in mind from a person who has been riding off-road since the late 70's (that would be me). A modern mountain bike frame needs to be able to handle all the features that will be found while riding off-road. Not many frames are designed this way, they are designed with the idea that a rider will always be seated and pedaling along, sometimes climbing steep hills too. They are not well designed for the steeper descents, jumps, and obstacles found in most trails we all ride every day.

Some other tweaks we are doing to this frame will be raising the bottom bracket slightly. This is for 2 reasons. One, it sets the rider up better when needing to pull up the front wheel and it gives a little extra clearance of the sprocket when going over stuff. The frame will be in testing soon to see how all this works in real world riding. Some changes will likely be made as we test, then we will come out with a production frame. No idea on how long this will take since we don't know what to expect once testing starts. But f-bom's goal is to have a production frame out by the end of the summer. We'll see how that goes....heh...heh. Wish we could predict the future.

Just along for the ride? I dont think so!

2011-04-17T08:15:00.001-07:00

When riding my bike I have always felt better when I take charge and have full control. You see, there are two ways to ride......you can let the bike do the work and tell you what is going to happen........or you can have control and tell the bike what it is going to do. When mountain biking with others, I easily see who is in charge and who isn't. When I teach or mentor someone on a bike, which I do often because people ask me to do so, I teach them to be in control.

Do you just ride off the drop or do you pull up and hop off of it? If you just ride off, even if you pull up some, you are letting the bike make the decisions......if you pop off the drop.....you control what the bike is doing. Do you just steer and lean through a corner or do you push the bike through the corner? You want to push it through!

I have learned most of this from my past and present BMX experience. I applied it to mountain biking from day one and it has made me a better rider. Many mountain bikes are designed for a rider to be seated and riding through things. That is what the suspension movement is about and also why 29ers have become so popular. They are designed to make riding easier with less skill needed to accomplish technical feats. I honestly don't have anything against these movements. It is getting more people on bikes and more people out enjoying their lives. So that is a good thing. But there is a special crop of riders that don't want all this help......they simply want to ride and be the person in control. That is the target audience I am going for with the new f-bom singlespeed (can also be geared) frame. It will be quick, agile, and fast. It will be comfortable to stand and catch air on or ride over that big rock! Pulling up the front end will be easier and steering through tight turns will be a breeze. It will be a riders frame.......for someone that truly wants to be in control. Not many XC frames are designed this way.......so that is why I am making one that is. This frame is simply going to be what I have wanted in a mountain bike frame the day I swung my leg over one in 1987.

Can a Minneapolis area bike park be a reality?

2011-04-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Well if I have my way, it will become a reality. Part of my business plan (f-bom products) is to open and run a bike/skate park. Now we are not talking your traditional type of facility here........this will be more like a Ray's than a 3rd Lair. But I want shops built into the complex and such too and likely will run f-bom out of the same space.

The reason I bring this up is because the more I promote and sell f-bom stuff, the more money and momentum I will have when going to a bank to get a huge loan to open this place up! I am not saying this just to sell stuff, only buy things if you want them, but everything I do sell goes back into the company, which then goes into getting a bike/skate park open and will also go back into creating more products. The things we make more profit on are apparel, which right now is a t-shirt, but hats and other clothing items will be coming soon. Skateboards and the frame we plan to come out with won't net us much profit, but we do feel those are important parts of the business model and it helps our community grow by supporting the production of things within the U.S. and locally too.

I talk a lot about community on our site and in our blog. That is because f-bom products is about supporting the community that supports us. I want a bike park so everyone else can have a bike park and well, a kick ass place to ride in the winter too! I am already looking for warehouses, likely in a surrounding suburb because Minneapolis is just too expensive. I have looked in Maple Plain and have a few leads there, it's about 20 minutes out of the city and where I have already lead the effort to build a dirt jump park for the town there.

Okay, back to working on my business plan so I can go to the bank and start begging for money. If anyone has experience in this area, please PM me as I don't have a ton of experience writing business plans. Also, if anyone wants to help look for warehouses that are big enough to put in a bike/skate park, let me know.

If you want to follow us on Facebook, here is the link.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minnea...ts/58968052052

Thanks for reading......now go ride!

Spent some time on a products page.

2011-04-14T10:25:00.001-07:00

As we come up with more products to sell, I decided it's time to create a products page to link to the different products we offer. As we get more products, I can just add them now, pretty cool.

f-bom products page

Products now available are t-shirts, stickers, and a variety of skateboard styles, colors, and graphics. We will be offering a Minneapolis made 48 inch long board within a few weeks and a singlespeed mountain bike frame (maybe fork), also made in Minneapolis, in a couple of months.

We also plan to offer more clothing items such as hats, shorts, and more t-shirt designs soon. Metal CNCed keychains cut like the logo will also be available soon.....so come check back often. We will be blogging all progress and of course, other stuff we like to blog about.

Okay, back to drinking some mid day beer.........I like this 1888 Bock my lady got me....yummy!

Just got a slightly blurry cell phone image!

2011-04-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

Here is the tubeset for the prototype singlespeed mountain bike frame sent to me by the framebuilder who will be making the f-bom frames. Good shit indeed. We talked about geometry and some tweaks to stiffen the side flex of the frame last week. Now it's build time!

We will update everyone on the progress of our prototype and of course, let everyone know when the riding begins. This frame is going to be designed to be an aggressive dirt riding frame that will have a good well balanced geometry for the intermediate to skilled rider. It is designed to be ridden on modern singletrack and well, if you want to catch some air, it will be well balanced for just that! You won't be hanging over the front wheel while standing on this frame like you will on most of XC frames............we are moving into a new world of technical singletrack and this frame is designed just for that usage.

If you are not following us on Facebook, you should be......:-)

Where are we at today?

2011-04-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

Still rockin' as I type. Right now we have t-shirts coming on Monday (in 2 days) in sizes medium and large. If you are in the Minneapolis area, I would rather just meet up with you and save you shipping and such. They are $17.95 and here is what they will look like:

Contact us using our contact page if you want to get one locally. contact f-bom products

I have the new trucks and wheels on the f-bom prototype longboard and have been riding it around town. It's designed to be a fun cruiser board for getting around town, taking on the train or bus with you, and so on. But I have to say, with the 180mm wide 50 degree kingpin Randal trucks on it, downhills are a blast! The board is 48 inches long and carves like a dream....gotta love it. The concave is nice because when you are pushing with only one foot on the board it is super easy to control the board with your other foot. It's easy to know where center is and can easily focus on pushing hard to gain speed or climb that incline.

These boards will be for sale within a month at $130 a deck with grip tape. All you will need are trucks and wheels of your choice. I suggest these U.S. made 180mm 50 degree Randal trucks with 70mm or bigger wheels. Contact f-bom here if you want to reserve one. contact f-bom products I think they will go pretty fast and the first batch will likely only be 10 or 20 boards.

Our prototype singlespeed mountain bike frame should be ready to ride in a few weeks. Just in time for the trails to open so we can shred, I can't wait!

Don't forget about our skateboards that we have available here. Okay, back to work getting the f-bom online store up and running. Thanks for reading!

A fun day at Randy's place!

2011-04-05T01:45:00.000-07:00

It is a lot of fun to go where your shit is being made and see how it all goes down. Randy Herget of Edward Sales in Chaska, MN is going to be doing my t-shirts and some of my board graphics. So yesterday it was time to figure out how we wanted to apply the f-bom logo to the new Minneapolis made long board we plan to produce. We decided to try a sticker and see how durable it is and see how it looks.

So here is how it went down. We started with the f-bom graphic on the computer, he was able to send the graphic to a special printer (if you can call it that) that had sticker paper in it and it cut out the graphic. It took about 30 seconds.

We then took that sticker paper and went into the shop with it and the following happened.

Randy used an X-Acto knife to remove all the pieces of sticker surrounding the graphic. It was obvious he has done this a few times as he was quite quick about it. I had to slow him down so I could get the photo.

Once he had all the excess removed, he placed an adhesive sheet on the front side of the sticker. This is how you can get a die cut sticker to have all the floating sticker pieces to remain in place. Oh yeah, his printer must be called a die cutter....:-). After the adhesive sheet is applied, Randy can peel the backing off and start pressing the sticker on the board.

Once the sticker is applied and well pressed on the board, without bubbles and such, Randy can then pull off the adhesive front sheet.

After the front sheet is removed, here is the completed product. In order to apply this sticker, the board must be sealed and protected, which is done by the board maker, Mission Bell. Now we get to test the board and make sure the sticker is durable enough.

Here is John acting like a New York business man on his cell phone. Yep, if you want some reliable transportation that you can take on a train or bus, this board is it! Oh, the graphic held up under this gruelling test phase...:-). Now to take it to the streets and ride the thing and see how it holds up. I am waiting for some Randal 180mm trucks with a 50 degree kingpin angle. The trucks on the board now are 150mm wide with a 42 degree pin. The board rides nice this way, but I think it will get a lot better with the new trucks.

Another thing to add about my day yesterday. I stopped by a shop called Familia Skateshop on Hennepin Ave in Minneapolis. I looked at some Indy trucks and was very happy to see they are still U.S. made. They have been a favorite of mine (on street decks) for many years and I love the Independent Truck Co. logo! The shop is quite cool, so check it out if you are in Minneapolis. On a negative note, I saw a Sector 9 board with some trucks that looked like Randal trucks.....like the reverse kingpin and all.....and same shape too. But the trucks were not Randal, they were some Chinese made rip off. I like Sector 9 boards, but come on! Why rip off the real deal with some Chinese made crap?! So if you are ever wondering why you can get some of these complete longboards so cheap, this is likely why. They are not supporting U.S. made products 100% and even worse, they are using a rip off brand made in China.....kinda sad.

Okay, back to Randy's shop. He has my shirt in and will be screening them this week. We will have them for sale for about $17.95 a shirt with screen graphics on both sides. Our first run will be larges and mediums and we don't have that many. I will have them up on the site for sale by the end of the week, so get one before they are gone! Yes, we will reorder and if these go quickly, we will order more on the next round.

If you are looking to get an f-bom board and don't want to spend the dough (because this board ain't gonna be cheap) check out our online shop. These boards are pressed in Canada and graphics are applied in Colorado. Yep, no container ships being used to ship them across large oceans and well, they are good quality decks. Also, this is the only place we currently offer street decks until we find someone locally to make them: Online board shop.

Now go skate, or bike, or sit on the couch drinking a beer during the game. Just fucking do something productive because life is short!

The oil crisis denial of the U.S.

2011-04-04T11:08:00.001-07:00

I was driving by a gas station today and I saw the price at 3.79 a gallon. I recall a conversation with a former co-worker of mine about 3 or so months ago when he was buying a new Chevy Tahoe SUV. I told him I didn't think it was a good time to buy such a vehicle that gets about 17 MPG, on a good day. He balked and said he needed it and he really wanted it because it would do all this stuff for him. At the time the gas prices were about 2.69 or so. I told him that gas prices were predicted to go up to and over 4 dollars a gallon.......and again he balked at me while he and a few other co-workers made fun of me for being so anti-SUV. I told them I was just trying to give good advice and that's all.

Well, just before I left a few weeks ago, prices were around 3.45 or so, I overheard him talking about ways to save gas in his new Tahoe......and he was thinking about using the cheaper Flex Fuel and complaining about how not many stations had the stuff. Here we are today headed for 4 dollars a gallon.....:-)

This gets me thinking about all the oil wasted simply because of all the outsourcing of manufacturing we are doing in this country. If you recall a few blogs back about "Bunker Fuel", each round trip of a container ship uses about 1.5 millions gallons of oil. That is a single container ship bringing all these bicycles, bicycle parts, skateboards, and skateboard parts........along with all the other goods that are manufactured overseas.

While the bicycle industry is working hard to get more people on bikes, they are being counter productive about the oil problems on the manufacturing side. I call this a profit motive more than a moral motive. More people on bikes is less people in cars.....great! It is also more money in their pockets so they spend a lot of money lobbying Washington to get more bicycle laws passed. They donate a ton of money to advocacy groups who promote many forms of biking. Not a bad thing at all in my opinion, but it is still sales and profit motivated. They do this while they waste billions a gallons of fuel to have product manufactured in Taiwan in China. It is certainly a contradiction because......well......while promoting people to be green by getting them on bicycles, they are not being very green themselves.

It is time to change how we think and do things as a nation. We need to bring the manufacturing back to the U.S. As fuel prices rise and as we have less and less oil in this world, outsourcing of manufacturing isn't going to be so cheap anymore. We might as well get ahead of the game and start developing facilities here in the U.S. that can do high quality mass production......because right now, we don't even have a skill and labor force to do it.

This is why all f-bom products will be made in the U.S. wherever possible......Canada as a second option. But never overseas......we will help evolve a business to do what we need if that is how it has to happen.........and that is why we talk about community a lot. Support those who support us!

f-bom believes in supporting the community that supports us.

2011-04-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a blurb on the Friends of Bloomington Skatepark Facebook page.

"The Bloomington Skatepark at 90th and Portland will renovated in the spring 2011. The Friends of Bloomington Skatepark are the local skaters, BMXers and supporters of the park. Together with the City of Bloomington, the group will help plan, fund raise and continue to provide a safe and positive place to ride and skate."

Right now we are just working to get f-bom off the ground. But we plan to help when and where we can. We will be donating $50 to the skatepark cause and suggest that those who want to help also donate what they can afford. $5 is suggested, but if you can do more, that would be great.

Follow on Facebook

Last year f-bom as an advocacy group advocated for and built a Dirt Jump park in Maple Plain. This spring we plan to work with MFC (Midwest Freeride Community) to get the Maple Plain Dirt Jumps ready for riding all season. Those dates are May 13, 14, and 15.

I (owner of f-bom) personally volunteer my time as Trail Steward and Dirt Boss at Theodore Wirth mountain bike trails which are managed by MORC (Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists) and MOCA (Minneapolis Off-Road Cycling Advocates).

The idea here is that if you believe in something, you support it. f-bom is about community and part of that is supporting bring jobs back here to the community where they belong where we can do it. But another part is to support those who support f-bom by helping out with places for people to ride and skate! We believe things go full circle and that is how it should be. Outsourcing of jobs and not putting money and volunteer help into the community do not help complete the circle that makes community successful. So we will never let the community down, now matter what it takes. Most companies stop supporting the community when they become big and successful............f-bom will become non-existent before this happens!!! We refuse to follow in their footsteps!

Keep an eye on this blog for updates on community support when more info becomes available.

Mountain bikes have been around for 30 years now.

2011-03-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

In the early days of mountain biking, companies basically took their road bike frame designs and beefed them up and made the frame wider to accept bigger tires. The geometry didn't change much, and if it did, the head tube was slacked to slow down the handling of the bike. A straight handlebar replaced the traditional drop bars of a road bike. Brakes were changed to have more power. Besides that, not much else was done and well, the geometry was not really ever off-road geometry.

Over the last 30 years, some companies have evolved the geometry of mountain bikes, but only slightly. Besides the freeride bikes, most mountain bikes have retained a basic road bike geometry that they have evolved from. Here at f-bom this isn't going to be the case. My background is BMX and mountain biking came later. From the first day I rode a mountain bike, I have never quite felt like any mountain bike rode the way I would like it to ride. The closest I ever came to having a frame I liked, and I still have the frame today, was when I had my On-One Inbred frame. It has an effective top tube length of 23.1 inches for a 16" frame. The head angle was still a bit slack at 70 degrees though. I ran a 50mm stem when I rode that bike and it felt quick and when on tight singletrack, I was actually able to comfortably steer through the turns and I was not way over the front wheel when in a standing position doing technical stuff. With the longer top tube, the front wheel was actually out in front and not under me. This made the bike feel a lot more stable on descents and going over logs and other things that would cause the front end to drop down while leaning my ass over the rear tire and well behind the saddle.

Many popular singlespeed frames have the traditional short top tube and tight wheelbase, which just doesn't seem right on an off-road machine that is designed for technical riding. I see 100mm, 120mm, and even 150mm stems on these bikes. That puts a rider way forward and over the front wheel. This won't be the case with the f-bom singlespeed frame, it will be a frame that is purely bred for off-road technical riding in tight singletrack. The prototype will be tested and adjustments will be made to make the frame agile, stable, and able to tackle slow maneuvers as well as fast sections of trail. This bike will be mostly dialed in by myself and be a very well rounded machine. I have a well rounded background and want to make a frame for someone like myself who didn't grow up riding road racing bikes, we grew up on BMX or freeride bikes and dirt was in our everyday adventures!

Testing the f-bom 48" longboard

2011-03-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is a prototype and from what I could tell today, it rode quite nicely.

The thing I noticed about this board was that with the nose tipped up slightly where the truck mounts, it seems to have a nice carve to it. The front actually comes up into your left foot (regular stance) and kind of gives you that feel with the back foot like you can just push that back out there and hang it. I am not very experienced, but I did notice the turning difference and I liked how the front truck steered quicker than the rear, unlike my previous board where they were even.

Testing in Minneapolis, within' 3 blocks of where the board was made......awesome!

So now it's time to find some wider wheels and some real long boarders and get some opinions and likes and dislikes, then off to working with Mission Bell to tweak anything we feel needs to be changed.

Okay, enough of this blogging stuff........I wanna ride!

One of my favorite movie scenes!

2011-03-29T14:34:00.001-07:00

If you have not seen the movie Falling Down, it is a must see. It's about a guy who loses it while sitting in rush hour traffic and abandons his car. During his walk home he has a series of incidents and this fast food scene is one of them.

This is a great scene in the movie. At the end of this scene he points out how the burger he received is nothing like the burger pictured on the menu board above. What I find interesting is that this is what we see every day. We are marketed to constantly on TV, billboards, radio, and more recently the Internet. Yet most of the marketing that we see rarely portrays reality as we see it every day.

How often does Chevrolet show ads of people sitting in traffic jams in their fancy new car? How often do you get smiling service from someone behind the counter at a rental car place, fast food restaurant, or airport ticket counter? How many athletes do you see drinking soda? How often does a person take a pill and lose 30 pounds? I mean seriously people, this is what our society is about in most cases. Marketing is a huge component and not only that, most of it is just flat out false! Yet people fall for it. You know that little lizard they use to sell insurance..........how many people know if Geico has a good and fair insurance policy or not? I have to say, that little lizard guy is pretty funny.........and I also bet he sells a lot of insurance to clueless people who don't read the small print and details on the insurance policy.

The next time you buy a bicycle, skateboard, or any other sporting goods product........find out where it was made and who is behind it before you buy. You might be surprised at what you find out......you know, the small print. Look on the product, like a bicycle frame and look for that little "Made in Taiwan" or "Made in China" sticker. If you are buying a part, look on the packaging. If you see a U.S. flag on a frame or product, make sure is says "Made in the U.S.A." and not just "Designed in the U.S.A." or some other misleading crap. Because designed doesn't mean anything accept that maybe some guy said.....I want to make a mountain bike......there you go, designed in the U.S.A.

Can you find the "Made in Taiwan" sticker on the Litespeed carbon road bike? Yeah, I was actually surprised myself when I saw it. I thought Litespeeds were made in the U.S. So even I was clueless!

If you are perfectly fine with buying product that has been outsourced to China or Taiwan, then this blog post doesn't matter much to you. But many people actually do care and many people are tired of just about every company outsourcing our jobs overseas. That Litespeed carbon bike isn't cheap......most of these high end carbon road bikes are $3,000 or more and guess was, just about every part on these bikes comes from Taiwan or China.

Don't be fooled by some small black and white ad in the back of a magazine either. Just because you see an ad like this doesn't mean the bike company is a small manufacturer. Some of them are, but make sure you find out the details about these companies because many of the new hipster brands are nothing but a major bike company with a really good marketing group that knows just how to target you!

f-bom long board sneak peak.

2011-03-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the prototype f-bom board before it is finished. It should be done this week and ready to ride.....so hope that snow melts.
These are made by a guy named Andy Bell right here in Minneapolis. He also does drop decks and a very cool looking coffin shaped one. If you look at the nose you will notice how the front is sloped upward slightly. This will give the front truck some more angle and steering while keeping the rear truck stable. It will be available to test and try out, so if you are interested in trying one, let me know. Just go to the contact page at f-bomproducts.com to contact me.

I am not sure what the final retail cost will be on these, but it will be around $150 for a finished deck with griptape and of course the f-bom logo on the bottom, similar to the other decks I have posted. At 48 inches long, this board is sure to be a great grocery getter that will love every downhill you can find on your way!

If you are interested in any of Andy's other decks, they are sold at The Alt Bike and Board shop in Minneapolis. Just go in and ask and they will tell you all about them!

Standard's remake of an awesome classic!

2011-03-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Back in the 90's Standard Byke Co. came out with a frame called the STA (Stronger Than All). It was an instant hit and many of my friends got one and loved it. This was back when the average freestyle/street bike weighed in at around 40 pounds or so. While I was surfing the Standard website I noticed they still have the STA, but it is redone and well, a hell of a lot lighter than they were back in the day.

At 5 pounds 4oz this frame is only slightly heavier than the average frame, Stadard does make lighter frames, but this is the STA........and holds true to it's name! Check the specs! Standard STA

Updated with integrated headset and mid BB, but retaining the (your head tube won't snap off on hard landings) gusset! It also has the pierced top tube at the seat tube, just like the original. This bad boy is made right in Iowa, not Taiwan like most BMX frames. Standard has always made their shit here. For more info on other standard frames, forks, bars, and products....check out their website!

Standard Byke Co.

This is my new haircut!

2011-03-28T17:26:00.001-07:00

Why do I have this look on my face? Well, you know.......I was looking for web development jobs today. I was polishing my fucking resume and talking to........business people for a good chunk of the day.....ugh!

Yeah, let's face it. f-bom is new and I know I won't get rich off of it. But right now, I want all the money made by f-bom products to go back into f-bom products and those hard workers that manufacture them! To do this, I need to get a decent web gig for awhile until things get rolling and processes become efficient, hence the grumpy look!

I am not doing this to get rich, that is for sure. I created f-bom for the sole purpose to get people to realize we can make shit here......I am out to prove that the idea of "lowest price possible" is the worst idea ever and it's going to kill this country if we continue thinking this way!

On the bitchen front, I will be meeting the skate deck guy tomorrow, Andy, and we will be talking about a new f-bom longboard made right here in Minneapolis! FUCK YEAH!! On the bike front, the tubeset is being ordered for the f-bom prototype singlespeed mountain bike frame. We talked geometry today and I should have a prototype frame within a month or so.

So this post runs full circle. Me going back to work will make ends meet so f-bom becomes a HUGE success......which it will because the momentum is there and it's not going to slow down any time soon!

Been working on the f-bom website.

2011-03-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

One big change is the web address. f-bom is now at f-bomproducts.com . I also added a contacts page so people can e-mail us. f-bom is not an organization anymore, it's an actual company. So it's time to treat it as such. But that ain't gonna stop me from saying 'fuck' every now and then. If that offends you, well........then it offends you. People who get offended by the word fuck tend to be people who watch Fox News and claim to have morals, yet they shop at Wal Mart often. So I am not too worried about throwing the f-bomb every now and then....:-).

Anyway, it was a productive weekend. I have been working out details for the singlespeed prototype mountain bike frame and on Tuesday I meet to discuss details about a Minneapolis made long board and will work on having a prototype made.

What sucks.....well, f-bom is just getting going and it will take awhile before it becomes a self sustaining company. I am glad I am a web applications developer because I can go make some money while I am waiting for f-bom to pick up. You know, this is that whole thing about honesty I talk about all the time. f-bom will happen because I plan to do whatever I have to to make it happen!!

I am excited! I can't wait for the prototype board and prototype frame........I will show them to people and let people ride them and give input. This will be a fun venture for myself and many others involved in making f-bom what it is. This is the beginning of something REALLY good and I love the support I am getting from the community!

T-Shirts and Skateboards Update!

2011-03-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there are now 2 t-shirt designs available on Zazzle. One is the Bike Park shirt that Thomas designed for f-bom. The other is the standard logo shirt. Boards are up for sale too.

But here is the scoop! I have the logo shirt being produced right here locally and honestly, I don't make much off of the Zazzle shirts.....so only buy them if you really....really want one and are willing to pay the higher price. Because the locally made shirts will be selling for $17.95 for the f-bom logo shirt and when I do the Bike Park shirt locally, that will be $19.95 (more colors and front and back print). Yeah I know, I am a shitty sales person because I basically just talked everyone out of buying a t-shirt from Zazzle.....:-)

I should have a prototype Minneapolis made long board within a week or so. I will post pics when I get it and get some opinions on the design, size, and shape. The other boards are a good deal too so if you want a dope American made f-bom street deck or old skool 80's style.......I suggest buying from the online store I have up at f-bom skateboards.

Stuff is happening fast around here. U.S. manufactured bike frames will take a little longer, but trust me, those are in progress and going to be f-bom's primary focus when frames start coming out! I knew this would take some time, and money, to get going. It is interesting to see what it takes to make a frame. We will certainly show everyone the process as I feel it is important for all to see what it takes to make a frame.

Well, back to drinking coffee.

I wasn't born a business man.

2011-03-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

I know, this isn't new news right? My point is, I am doing this f-bom thing from pure passion and learning as I go. I have a ton of common sense and experience working in the business environment for a long time. So I am very sure I can pull this off, but not without a lot of mistakes and well......lack of polish. But is that what business is about? Is it about the clothes a person wears and the fact they don't say fuck all the time (actually they do, just not outright like I do) or is business about the end product? Because here at f-bom the end product is going to be kick ass! Kick ass is a business term.....right? Yeah, that's what I thought. I am human, just like you. I plan to run this company in a very human way. I say things outright because I don't have anything to hide. Most businesses don't want people to know much about what goes on behind the scenes......well, because what goes on behind these scenes isn't pretty. If most people knew what went on behind the scenes at most companies, those companies would fail because most people would choose not to support what they are doing.

Marketing is the key the keeps most companies going. I used to work for McDonald's when I was younger and going to school. Do you think I smiled all the time and ran around flipping burgers to music? No, I sweat my ass off and bitched at the shitty manager who didn't lift a finger to help when we needed it. Do you see this in McDonald's ads? No you don't. Why? Because if they showed you the reality you would be like.....hmmm?.....I don't think I want to eat there today. What I find interesting about this is that as a customer, people don't experience what is in the ads at all, yet the advertising still works on them. Go figure!

My business model is simply to do what I do best, come up with ideas and design shit. But I am also the owner of the company so I gotta put my non-traditional business self out there. My education is all tech based, you know.....I was a web applications programmer, not some dude who wore a suit and tie and talked shit all day to other people in suit and ties. I wasn't in marketing either.......but let's face it......marketing is almost always inaccurate. How many people take their 4 x 4 SUV and Pickup trucks off-roading though the rain forest? Wait a minute?! Rain forest? Aren't those protected and 4 x 4s not allowed to even drive there? Yet many commercials show this very thing........and well, people fall for it. Well, you won't see any of our skate decks shredding the rain forest, that's for sure.

I am not a business man, or should I say, I wasn't in the past. I guess this new venture of mine have turned myself into a business man by default. Hmmmm? What color tie should I wear?

4 f-bom skate decks now available online!

2011-03-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

If you are lookin' to rock a pintail longboard that is American made (Decks in Canada and Graphics in Colorado) then check this bad boy out. You can skate on a Chinese made board or do it the right way and keep it on this continent. Last I checked we were still buddies with those who live in the great white north. So why not throw them some support while supporting our fella's in Colorado at the same time? We are offering 4 boards through BoardPusher. A street deck, a park deck, old skool, and a longboard. Check them out here!

So why did I switch so quickly from using Zazzle to using BoardPusher? Well, I have nothing better to do right now than to research a ton of shit online. I found BoardPusher and called the guys to find out the scoop. They were damn cool and well, an actual skateboard company with team members and so on. I would rather support a real skateboard company than a company that makes a ton of other non-sports related product. So I will be dropping the Zazzle deck and you can buy them through here instead.

Okay, so this doesn't mean I am giving up on Minneapolis. I am still in the works on having a sweet f-bom deck made here. I want to keep it local where I can, but I also want to start providing product as soon as I can to get f-bom rollin'. So expect to see a sweet Minneapolis born longboard soon. It will cost more, but it will be made right here in our hometown and it will be.....CUSTOM! Kick ass!!

A California born sport gone to China?

2011-03-24T06:28:00.000-07:00

Skateboarding was born and bred in California, it's modern form in the late 60's and early 70's when kids started skating empty swimming pools. Fast forward 40 years and now we find most of the products made in China. Not only that, but they are made in China from Maple that comes from Northern California or Canada.

It is actually cheaper to harvest the wood from America, then ship it on one of those "bunker fuel" burning container ships to China where the wood is used to manufacture skate decks to be shipped back to the U.S., again on a container ship, to be sold. I think we have a serious problem here. Have we really gotten so into cutting costs on product that this is the way we do business? The difference in a U.S. made deck vs a China made deck is about $10 by the time it gets to the retail cost. A U.S. made deck is a lot better quality too, not to mention it employs people in America that will spend money in America and keep the economic cycle turning.

Did you know: China's environmental problems also affect the rest of the world. The country has surpassed the United States as the world's largest contributor of carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere. And unless China adopts environmentally friendly technologies, according to the International Energy Agency, in 25 years it will emit twice as much carbon dioxide as all the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development combined. (source)

f-bom refuses to do anything this way! We plan to come out with some locally made longboard decks and plan to have street decks made by a company called Board Pusher until I find someone who can do street decks locally. Currently I offer decks through Zazzle, but even though they are made in America, I would much prefer to support an actual skateboard company since they are going to put a lot more passion into f-bom decks than a company that doesn't specialize in skateboards.

By the time this fucking snow melts (shouldn't it be gone already!) I hope to be rockin' an f-bom prototype longboard.

Profile Racing has some bad ass parts!

2011-03-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

The first time I saw a Profile product was back when Greg Hill raced on the GT BMX team in the early 80's. BMX Action magazine did a Greg Hill interview and during that interview they had a little section on his bike. His GT Pro had a pair of Profile cranks on them. This was during a time when almost all bikes came stock with 1 piece steel cranks. Some bikes had aluminum 3-piece cranks, but those didn't hold up very well and were not very stiff. At the time, there were only 2 Chromoly 3-piece cranks that were popular. Those were the Redline Flight cranks (unfortunately no longer made in the U.S.) and the Profile Chromoly 3-piece cranks. Profile cranks didn't have a pinch bolt and still don't to this day. They also had a 48 spline spindle, which they still use today and many other companies have copied the 48 spline design.

This is one of the ads that Profile had in magazines in the early 80's. Here we are 30 years later and Profile Racing is one of only a small handful of bicycle companies that still makes their products in the United States.

They have many more parts than just cranksets. They have hubs, stems, sprockets, pedals, and more. They make BMX, fixie, mtb geared, and singlespeed hubs that totally rock!

If you are looking to add some American made parts to your bike, and we are talking super precision here, I suggest you look into Profile Racing products. They do make a Chromoly MTB crankset for those of you who want something that will last a lifetime! I think it's a good option for those singlespeeders out there and the look is clean.

My plan is to use as many Profile parts on the f-bom prototype MTB singlespeed frame that I will be riding shortly. Once I have it built up, you can bet there will be a lot of pictures and video of the setup.

What is Bunker Fuel?

2011-03-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

This is something we need to know about. Especially those of us cyclists who are trying to be as green as we can. Many people buy bicycles so they can drive less and reduce the amount of fuel consumption they use and pollution they put into the air. But the truth is, how green is the bicycle they are riding? Well, being that 98% of all bicycle products are made overseas, this next bit of info might surprise you.

Most companies have their bicycles made in Taiwan. The distance from Taiwan to San Francisco is approximately 6500 miles. The bicycles and components are shipped on container ships burning the lowest grade fuel there is. It is called "bunker fuel". The reason for this is because this is the least expensive fuel to use and keeps the shipping costs down. The problem is, this lowest grade fuel is also the most polluting fuel. A single trip of one tanker uses up about 792,000 gallons of this "bunker fuel". There are 90,000 container ships running almost constantly due to overseas manufacturing. (source) This is an environmental disaster and also a huge use of oil that we don't talk about much. As oil prices rise, we tend to blame automobiles for the cause. Well, automobiles are the cause to a large extent and the practice of driving less does help. But every time you buy a product that was made overseas, you are buying a product that was shipped on one of these ships. The bicycle industry is just as guilty as Wal-Mart for this. They want to be price competitive and in order to do so, they claim they need to manufacture their products in Taiwan and China. The truth is, this is not a very green practice and it is doing just as much damage to our environment as all the cars we drive in the United States every day. Add on top of that, it is using a lot of a precious and limited resource we call oil.......792,000 gallons of it per one way trip of one container ship. That ship does have to get back to Taiwan for the next load, so by the time it is done (I don't know if it goes full or empty so the #'s may be off) it has roughly used 1,584,000 gallons of fuel. More easily said as 1.5 million gallons......that is insane!!! Even if my numbers are off some!!!!

Let's add the fact that having product made overseas is jobs being lost in the United States. This outsourcing of bicycles is not putting money back into the communities we live in. The bicycle industry is growing at an all time rate right now and it's bigger than it ever has been. There could be a lot of new jobs created right here in the United States, but not if these companies keep outsourcing the production of bicycles and bicycle parts. It's time to start thinking differently. It's time to stop thinking that the absolute lowest price for a product is the best thing for us, the consumer. Pay a few extra $$ and get products made in the U.S. I know I am making this change where I can. I have been as guilty as anyone. I have 4 Surly bikes, all made in Taiwan. I have one American made BMX bike that was built in Iowa by Standard Byke Co. The cranks are U.S. made Profile Racing cranks and sprocket. The rest of the parts are unfortunately made in Taiwan. I plan to change my bicycle buying habits and I plan to help by having hand built f-bom frames made right here in Minneapolis. At least that is my plan and I think I can pull this off, especially if I get the support of the community. The prices will be higher than your average frame, but the quality will be top notch, the tubeset will be the best there is for the given frame style, and the manufacturing will help grow local businesses. As we grow and help local manufacturers grow, we plan to make more parts and other bicycle related goods, and some skate products too because skateboarding simply kicks ass!

So support us so we can support the community. If you don't support f-bom, at least support another company that manufactures products in the United States. I plan to compile a list of all the companies I can find and post them on the f-bom.org website once I get it up a running.

Where we are at right now.

2011-03-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been less than a week. But a lot has happened in such a short time! I have registered the f-bom logo to be trademarked federally. All created logos are trademarked, but if not registered it's just a little tougher to work the legal end. That is why you see the little ® by the logo. At the same time I am setting up f-bom as a company to be fully legit. Not sure which option I am choosing yet.....doing some research on C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC and all that. It will be registered early this week though. Gotta get that shit moving fast! In the meantime, I can continue operations and any sales made during this time just have to be well recorded and added into the business expenses and gains as I move forward.

As far as product, I have 2 products being offered through an online service called Zazzle. It's pretty cool and both the products that can be purchased through there are manufactured in the U.S. as all products f-bom offers will be that way. This is temporary though. I am in the process of having t-shirts screened locally here in the Minneapolis Metro area, you know.....help the community while they help us. The costs will come down quite a bit so if you are patient, don't buy through Zazzle, wait for the locally produced and lower cost shirts. This is that whole being honest part that most businesses don't think is important. But, if you really want a shirt, or to be one of the first, hit up the Zazzle site and order away. The skate deck (also manufactured in the U.S.) is available through Zazzle for now. I am looking to find out who makes decks locally. I am not sure anyone does.....so if not, then I will find a good top quality deck that can be produced in the U.S. somewhere. Until then, they will be available through Zazzle. I don't think the price will come down much on the skate deck in the future, so you might as well order one now if you want one. Hmmmm? I am thinking long board too.....we'll see...:-)

I plan to do some bicycle frames. I am going to produce what I know at first. Right now that is of course BMX, Mountain biking, and dirt jumping. So expect my U.S. manufactured frames to reflect my knowledge base.....then we can expand from there. I really want the frames produced in or near Minneapolis. Until agreements are made, I don't want to disclose who will be making them. But when that agreement is made, I will certainly be talking about who makes them and we will promote the heck out of them too! You know, help the community that helps us....:-).

My mind is always going, always thinking up new ideas and new shit to say about this companies goals. This isn't going to happen overnight........but it IS going to happen because this is what I want to do with my life. I have lived and bled bicycles all my life........I have more scares than I can count, all from this fucking two wheeled device I fell in love with when I was 6 years old. The bicycle has been a major part of my life and will continue to be in the future and until the day I float off into.........well, we don't need to be talking about that yet.

f-bom is about community and about bringing jobs back to the U.S. where they belong! You won't find many bicycle companies that believe so strongly in those two values. I can only think of a small handful and I can promise you I will support them just as much as I support my own f-bom creation.......again.....because this is about community!

Okay, need to rest my brain now.......it's a Sunday for crying out loud!!!!!

So we plan to make a BMX frame.

2011-03-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

This frame is going to take some time because we want to do it right. It's going to be made in U.S. and there are no exceptions! We are sick a tired of seeing "Made in Taiwan" labeled on just about every bicycle frame we see! I mean, come the fuck on! What happened to this country?! So here is the deal! We are going to do this and for it to succeed we need the riding communities support! Yes, I know you can buy a nice complete BMX bike for $700 that was manufactured overseas. But is that what it's about? Is it about buying stuff as cheap as you can.....regardless about how it's done, who gets slave labored to weld it, and how far it has been shipped (wasting precious fuel)? If you just accept this, then go buy your Taiwan or Chinese made shit! But that's not what f-bom is about! f-bom is about community and it's about proving that U.S. production can be successful. We can work together to prove to all those big corporate fat bastards who send all our jobs overseas that it doesn't have to be like this! f-bom is about saying fuck you to those big corporations who cause this kind of global economic failure we have seen over the last few years. It's saying, stop making a few people rich by outsourcing our jobs and killing the middle class!

Besides, I have resorted to drinking shitty beer for this cause! If I can sacrifice for the cause, so can everyone else. Except, we are not sacrificing anything! It's about doing what is right and supporting the surrounding communities we live and work in. It's about saving our environment and at the same time, making a long lasting quality made product that is manufactured to be the best it can be because the people making it have a vested interest in f-bom succeeding!

Here are some of the initial specs, but of course, we will be testing with a few prototypes and making subtle changes.

20" BMX Street frame!

20.5" Top Tube

75 degree headangle

13.5 - 13.75 inch chainstay

11.5 inch bottom bracket height

Mid bottom bracket

Low frame profile for those who like to whip it!

Removable 990 mounts so you can run it with brakes or use your fucking shoe!

More details to come and pics as soon as we have some!

New US manufactured f-bom skate deck!

2011-03-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Order yours today! This deck is made in the US, which is what really matters! This is testing the waters to see how well a skate deck sells. If it rocks, we will do mass quantities of these and work towards selling them in shops. In the mean time, be one of the first to have one! Rock on!

Order here!

New f-bom T-Shirt!

2011-03-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is an American Apparel shirt. This muther fucker is made in the USA! Be one of the first to own one!

Order by clicking here!

Have a nice day!

When I was in Seattle last summer

2011-03-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

Last summer I traveled to Seattle. I had a lot of fun and the two main objectives where to hang out with my cousins who live there and ride my mountain bike at a few awesome destinations such as I-5 colonnade and Duthie mountain bike park.

When I was in town I couldn't help notice the massive shipping operation going on. So of course I looked a little closer. I saw a lot of shipping containers and I saw a lot of lighter blue ones. On the side of the containers it said "China Shipping".

Of course this triggered an immediate question........"I wonder how many China Shipping containers there are?"

I backed away a little bit so I could get a bigger view of the entire bay. I was astonished to see about an 80% majority of lighter blue containers on the land, being unloaded, and on ships coming in to dock. Not only that, but the ones I could see that were not blue, mostly a reddish color, had some sort of Chinese looking name on the side. Not sure if it was Chinese for sure, but it was certainly an East Asian name. Maybe Taiwan perhaps? Yes, I know this is the Pacific ocean and on the other side is China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and others. But if you saw how many crates there were, you would see how mind boggling it was. And this is just Seattle........one of the many Pacific port cities.

This brings up the question of how much stuff are we getting shipped in from China and other East Asian countries, versus how much product are we producing here at home. We as a nation need to take a step back and seriously look at this. This is not good for us as a nation. I am all for free trade, but having American companies manufacture their products overseas and then ship it back here seems like it causes two major problems. The first is obvious, we are losing jobs here in the U.S. The unemployment rate is at an all time high right now. The second, this is very wasteful and not an environmentally good practice. Those are the two immediate and obvious issues with this. But there are more issues. We are giving our technologies and product producing ability to countries that we don't agree with politically. China is a communist country that we have a lot of political issues with! The other problems are that most of these other countries don't produce goods with environmentally sound practices (which is one reason why product is produced at a cheaper cost). That is not only bad for them, but eventually bad for us too! Many of these countries have poor labor laws and people are basically making the products you use everyday with slave labor.

The bottom line is, this is not good for us and it isn't good for the planet. That is why f-bom will not produce any of it's products overseas. Better yet, we are planning on having product produced as locally as we can. The idea is that we want to support the community and be environmentally friendly while we do it. Less shipping distances means less pollution. The fewer the trips product has to make, the less polluting we cause. All while keeping the money right here in our own community. This is important for our future. We need to make changes to how things are done and f-bom plans to do just that!

It's time for change! Change that brings back the manufacturing and control over the money made from it back to the very people who work to produce and support the products we make.

Okay, f-bom is coming out of it's shell.

2011-03-13T11:12:00.001-07:00

Not as an advocacy organization, but as a brand. The intent of f-bom is to bring back and promote U.S. manufacturing. It's simply about saying, hey.......FUCK all you companies who send all our jobs overseas! We can build shit here and by doing so we are being green and at the same time....bringing jobs back to the U.S.

Making products overseas is far from GREEN! Think of all the products that are shipped across giant oceans and the amount of fuel used to do so. Then once it gets to our shores the product has to be shipped all over the vast continent called America to get where it needs to go. Many times it's shipped to a warehouse.....and then shipped from that warehouse to the individual shops. Some of these shops do mail-order business........so once again, the product is shipped again!!! WTF!!!! Don't you see the problem here!

So it is possible that a single product gets shipped 4 times before it ends up in the end users hands. Our goal is going to be to change this way of thinking. We simply can't afford to keep doing things this way! We are wasting so many resources when we don't have to. Not only that, we pollute a shit ton every time a product is shipped. So let's minimize it! And while doing so, guess what? We bring jobs back the the United States where they belong. We rebuild our economy from within and stop giving all the fat rich bastards at the top all of our money! We need more equally distributed wealth and the way to do that is get everyone invested in our products! Everyone including the end user. The person who ultimately pays the final price for a product they want to wear or use! How do we do this? Simple.....you start with quality! You also start with an understanding that prices may be slightly higher but each penny spent is going back into a system the ultimately helps the person buying our products!

f-bom is simply giving the finger to the way our corporations act and behave in our society. Yes......we are saying FUCK YOU to them......and we are not afraid to do so! If you don't like our attitude.........too fucking bad!

Politics and Hollywood

2010-08-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

It's the same damn thing! With media organizations like FoxNews, politicians trying to get elected without a care of who they represent, and lies to win.....it's all fake. You can take a side (Republican or Democrat) and beat your drums like you know what is best for our country. But reality is, neither of those parties give a shit about you and your lifestyle! You may read into the propaganda hype and get all excited about how so and so is going to make your life better. All you are doing is falling into the trap they want you to fall into.

It's time for American's to become independent thinkers. People who care about their neighbors, friends, families, and the community which supports them. It's time for American's to stop believing the hype and start looking around them and see what is really going on. Until we all start thinking independent from what is fed to us by the media and the fake politicians.....America will just keep slowly falling apart

Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you are with the wrong party.....PERIOD!!!

Now go ride your fucking bike!!!

When I was a BMX kid.....

2010-08-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

......there were few places to ride. So what did we do? We grabbed a shovel and found some areas in a nearby woods to dig and build a trail with some small jumps and some sort of banked turn we called a berm. When I hit my early teens I found a trail in Saint Louis Park that had been built by the locals. Those locals grew out of BMX and were well on their way to driving cars and going on dates. So a few friends of mine and I took to the trails with our bikes and shovels and started the second generation of what was called "Dakota Trails". At the time there were many BMX race tracks around the Twin Cities Metro, but I could hardly afford to race, so I worked to imitate what I saw at the tracks when I was able to make it out to the races. This was what BMX was like for me as a kid, and I loved every minute of it whether it was riding or shoveling to make the next jump or berm. Each scoop of dirt was on scoop closer to me being able to ride what I was building.

Today we have a different atmosphere. BMX has gone full circle. At one point it was almost non-existent, and then soon after a main event at the X-Games. In 2008 BMX racing was in the Olympics. I guess it's no longer the grass roots sport it used to be. But it's all good! I wished every day when I was a young BMX kid that my favorite sport would be more main stream and I hoped it would be on TV someday. Those wishes came true and I am happy for the sport and the many youth that swing their leg over a BMX bike and enjoy what I have enjoyed for well over 30 years now. Not to mention, there are still riders out there building jumps one scoop at a time that they want to ride.

For me, I still get the same thrill riding as I did the first day I discovered BMX. The sport has evolved and the riders now days are doing crazy stuff I could have never dreamed of. But that doesn't mean that a good old x-up over a big table doesn't feel as good today as it did 25 years ago! I love riding and I love catching air and that has never changed! I knew the day I rode a BMX bike for the first time that BMX would be in my blood forever!

Summer has been really busy.

2010-08-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

Been talking about an f-bom ride for awhile now......hmmmm?! When do I fit it in? Sometime between digging dirt and Maple Plain and building Section 6 at Theo I suppose. This weekend is the Urban Assault Ride and other stuff. UAR is on Sunday.......I drink a bit during the UAR...which makes riding urban street a bit of a challenge.

Well, Old Hwy 8 hasn't been sessioned in awhile......hmmm? Well, I will keep you all posted. Somewhere between here and there I will post up another f-bom ride. In the meantime, I will laugh at the fact Mr. Soupboy deleted his comment on that last f-bom blog..........hahahaha.....what a tool!

A Little Rant

2010-07-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

The other day I was called a pussy through a forum Private Message by a guy who calls himself soupboy on the MORC (Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists) web forums.

A pussy eh? What exactly is a pussy soupboy? Maybe it's someone who sits behind a keyboard and monitor insulting people in a website forum? Maybe it's someone who claims to be a dedicated mountain biker, but doesn't do shit when it comes to helping an organization advocate for trails. Maybe a pussy is someone who doesn't show up to trailwork to help build the very trails he rides. Oh, a wife and kids eh? Lame excuse! I have a friend with a wife and kids (good kids at that) who shreds on a bike in his 40's and not only that, he took a bunch of time to help build the Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park.

Tony has a wife, kids, is a full time worker, dedicated dirt mover at Maple Plain, and absolutely shreds on a bike in his 40's

Soupboy, you have no fucking excuses......you are just a poser with a big mouth.

f-bom is still alive and kicking.

2010-07-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

What has changed? Well, f-bom is pretty much as it always was, a group of riders who enjoy the sport of getting aggro on a bicycle! Yeah, I just said aggro! Straight from the 80's and widely used in Freestylin' and later, Go magazine! There is some history here and we will continue to live on as the Freeriders and BMXers of Minnesota!

The biggest difference is that we won't be an organized and officially recognized advocacy group.....but I think that that way we like it! Fuck being official, it's about having fun on two wheels!

Maple Plain is getting dialed, the streets are waiting for us, and the wood.....well, 3rd Lair has it goin' on! So let's rip it up and stick with our roots!

Maple Plain status

2010-07-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

The main dirt jump park is ready to ride. It's in pretty good shape right now. It needs a little more polish work in some areas, but it is certainly ridable and fun. Also, the more people that ride it, the smoother and better it will get.

The pump track still needs to be completed, but much of the dirt is in place, it just needs finish work and more rollers put in. It is not ridable at this time.

Go enjoy!

Work Party at Maple Plain on Saturday (7/3)

2010-07-02T11:06:00.001-07:00

I will be out there at 10am. It's time to do some finish work on the main jumps and work on the pump track to get it dialed in.

Bring shovels, rakes, and any other tools that we can dig with.

Bring your bike so we can all get some riding in while we are at it! After all, it's about having fun too!

Hope to see you there!

We are in the paper!

2010-06-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

Check out the nice article on our build project in Maple Plain. Click on photo to enlarge it if you want to read it.

Meeting with Eagan about the Lexington jumps next week.

2010-06-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

I meet with the city of Eagan next week to talk about the future of the Lexington Dirt Jump Park.

It looks like they are excited to get this place polished, maybe as well done as Maple Plain. They said they see that it gets a lot of use and has become a place the city wants to explore for it's citizens.

We will be talking about changes to the jumps and I am hoping to convince them to bring (maybe buy?) us more dirt so we can expand on the pump track.

One thing I heard from someone who rides there is that they think it's hard to get enough speed for the big set. So is a tall staging area with a downhill going into it in order? I will see what possibilities there are. I am currently designing a layout for additions to the pump track and jumps, and a staging box will be part of that plan.

I will keep people posted here on the f-bom blog as to what is happening out there. I might even bring up the fact they should open up the skatepark to biking (legally anyway) and maybe even take the fence down. Why fence it in? Skaters are not prisoners? Also, that skatepark should be updated.

Let's finish what we started!!

2010-06-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

I have a skid steer (Bobcat probably) rented for this weekend and we will have a powered tamper again.

Make sure you plan for possible muddy conditions. Chance of rain on Saturday and so far forecast looks good for Sunday. The skid steer I ordered has tracks, so it should be able to move around better than the one last week. Dennis from Maple Plain will also have his big Cat early Saturday and all day Sunday.

Saturday (6/12): 9am to about 6pm or until we feel like quitting.

Sunday (6/13): 9am to about 6pm or until we feel like quitting.

I am going work boot shopping after work today....;-).

Let's work to get this project finished and ready to ride!

Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park Status

2010-06-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

It took 15 volunteers, 2 skid steers, a Cat front end loader, 1000 yards of dirt moved 1/2 mile, and 3 days.......to get this much done!

This dirt jump park includes an advanced row, intermediate row with transfer options, and a beginner row with pump rollers and small tables.

We have one jump left to finish on the intermediate line and a pump track to put in. That will be happening next weekend (12th and 13th) if the weather cooperates.

A huge thanks to the City of Maple Plain and all the volunteers who came to help. Also thanks goes out to TwinSix, Behind Bars Bike Shop, Quality Bicycle Products, Red Bull, and Pete's Pizza for all of the swag and goodies we received during construction.

A community of BMXers and Freeriders comes alive!

2010-06-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

I was happy last September when the City of Maple Plain voted "yes" to a Dirt Jump Park in their city. It took a bunch of people to come together and work things out so the city would know we were serious about doing this and doing it right. But that was just the beginning. The real truth is when you see all these people come together with support and physical effort to make it actually happen. We are about 1/2 way to having a dirt jump park in Maple Plain and it's only Friday. We have Saturday and Sunday yet to go and each day we keep getting more and more support! All I have to say is that I am impressed at how many people are committed to this project and how many others help us out and support what we are doing. It is a truly amazing experience. Not only that, but most my best friends are all here to come help out........some I have not seen in years, and some I just saw last week..........damn cool!

A huge thanks goes out the the City of Maple Plain, the community there, all the volunteers from our BMX and Freeride community.......and all those who are helping out even though they swear we are crazy for wanting to jump our bicycles. And most of all, a huge thanks to my close BMX friends for being there when I need them.....you guys rock!

Now let's finish this thing.....:-)

- Shad

This Sunday's f-bom ride.........

2010-06-03T19:37:00.001-07:00

.....can it happen at the new Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park? I hope so! If the dirt jump park is mostly or fully ridable by 6pm this coming Sunday, that is where the f-bom ride will be held.

I will keep on posting updates of the Dirt Jump Park status and if all goes well, hopefully we can shred on the new jumps and maybe even the pump track!

Day one is complete!

2010-06-03T17:39:00.001-07:00

The Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park is well underway.........3 days to build and shape this dirt into something ridable.....:-).

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.....come help out if you can!

Less than 2 weeks away for Maple Plain!

2010-05-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

On June 4th, 5th, and 6th we will be building some killer dirt jumps and a pump track in the city of Maple Plain.

The planning is in high gear for us to get this in place in 3 days. We need all the help we can get.

First, the things we need:

- Wheelbarrows: As many as we can get

- Shovels: Mostly spades, but some flat bottoms too and as many as we can get

- Any kind of hoe tool: I use a Pulaski and there are some other types of hoe tools that can be used to loosen up dirt where needed

- Rakes.......the iron kind

- I will try to get some McLeods too, it's a great finishing tool and we use them for MORC trails all the time.

Do you think we need anything else? Let me know.

Second, we need as many volunteers as we can round up. No dirt jump building experience required. Help spread the word.

Details:

Friday: We will start at 10am and work until 8pm or so. This is a long day, so come when you can. Most people will likely show up in the late afternoon after work, which is why it is going until 8pm.....or dark.

Saturday: We will start at 10am and work until 6pm. Food will be provided and some cool swag will be given away to some volunteers.

Sunday: We will start at 10am and work until 6pm. Food will be provided and some cool swag will be given away to some volunteers.

Monday......we will have a dirt jump park kids, adults, men, women, newbies, old school riders, and new school riders can ride!

Location: Just north of Hwy 12 on N Budd Ave in Maple Plain

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=111915451434455473966.0004715a11582f7f28898&z=19

There is a small parking lot there and a large parking lot close by in case we need more parking. Meet at the picnic shelter in the northwest corner of the park.

f-bom Sunday ride.........wait for it.....waaait for it......

2010-05-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

waaaaiiit fo.......okay fine then!! It's going to be downtown Minneapolis. We have a lot more daylight and can hit more areas than last time. Meet at Joe's Garage at 6pm and end at Joe's Garage. That is basically Loring Park.

Map.....yes it's a map to where you need to meet us! Damn.....get with the program!

Ride what you want.........we will session whatever we feel like!

Behind Bars Bicycle Shop supporting Maple Plain build days

2010-05-18T10:42:00.001-07:00

Chuck at Behind-Bars is now supporting the Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park build days along with Twin Six. Both of these companies heavily support riding in our area, so please support them and thank them for their support.

The build dates are June 4th, 5th, and 6th. We need all the volunteers we can get and if you show up, you might be lucky enough to be one who gets some free stuff from Behind Bars or Twin Six.

I also just got word that Behind Bars just got in a shipment of 2011 Kink BMX bikes! Not many shops in our area stock good BMX and Freeride stuff, so once again, throw your support to those who support the sport we love!

New t-shirt design!

2010-05-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

Check out the new f-bom t-shirt design created by our very own Thomas "duct tape" Dunning. Come on one of our rides where he shoots photos and you will quickly see where the nick name comes from.

You can get your very own right here at this link f-bom Bike Park shirt. We don't really make any money off of these......they are purely here for your wearing pleasure. Get one, and just maybe the chicks will dig you. Then again, maybe it will scare them away, but it doesn't matter because you will be representin' !!!!

This area will be filled with jumps and berms soon!

2010-05-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Come the weekend of June 4th, 5th, and 6th, this area will be filled with dirt jumps, berms, pump rollers, and all the things you enjoy riding your BMX or Freeride rig on! Come help us in Maple Plain during the build dates and not only do you get something sweet to ride in return, you have a chance to get some goodies from local shops and bicycle companies like Twin Six.

June 4th will be mostly a machine build day and we need a few volunteers. June 5th and 6th are a Saturday and Sunday and we need all the help we can get to make this place one of the most fun places to ride your BMX or Freeride bike in Minnesota.

I just got news from the Park Commissioner of Maple Plain that they will be providing food and drink for all the volunteers who come help out! It's super awesome to not only get the land to build on in one of their parks, but to get this kind of support from the city for the volunteers who make it all happen.

Email me at shad.holland@gmail.com for more details and get on the Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park info email list.

Saint Paul ride was a blast.

2010-05-10T06:13:00.001-07:00

This is a cool dock drop in Saint Paul and the helmet cam video to go with it.

Full set of pics here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdunningphotog/sets/72157624030111614/

You miss the Sunday f-bom rides ride!!

2010-05-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so 2 Sundays in a row without a ride......CAN YOU STAND IT!!??

This Sunday (5/9), Saint Paul at 6pm! Be There!

We are meeting at the Happy Gnome up on top of the hill. The reason, we can ride down the hill and have fun Downtown. Once we are all worn out, we can climb out of the hole to some grub and beer. Except Thomas.....he can't have any beer....Ha!Ha!

http://thehappygnome.com/ There is a parking lot, but I suggest we park in the street since we won't actually be hanging there until later.

Lexington Jumps in Eagan officially maintained by f-bom.

2010-04-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

In agreement with the City of Eagan starting on April 27th 2010, f-bom will be in charge of maintaining and building any future enhancements of the dirt jump park off of Lexington Ave.

View Lexington Jumps in a larger map

The next step is to find a team to work out there on a regular basis. Some changes need to be done out there before this happens, so expect there to be a push to get some volunteers out there digging soon.

Expo this weeked!

2010-04-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

MORC and f-bom will be putting on some skill sessions and demo's for the Bike Expo at the MN State Fair grounds today and Saturday.

We have 4 sessions scheduled.

Friday (4/23) at 6:00pm - Beginner Skills Session focusing on MTB riding
Friday (4/23) at 7:30pm - Advanced Skills Session/Demo focusing on BMX and Freeride
Saturday (4/24) at 1:00pm - Beginner Skills Session focusing on MTB riding
Saturday (4/24) at 2:30pm - Advanced Skills Session/Demo focusing on BMX and Freeride

A huge thanks to:

- MORC (Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists) for their help in providing the demo area.
- 3rd Lair for allowing us the use of some of their ramps and rails.
- Dustin Griess for being involved in helping with the Advanced Skills Sessions and Demo.

Info about the Expo. 2010 Active Living Bike Expo

Most important of all, if you come, bring you bikes and make sure you have a helmet!

Get stuff by helping at Maple Plain......:-)

2010-04-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

We will be giving away some Twin Six stuff to volunteers who help us build the Dirt Jump park in Maple Plain on June 4th, 5th, and 6th.

Check them out here: http://www.twinsix.com/

I am working on some more stuff too..........I want to make sure the volunteers who help us out know that their efforts are appreciated!

2010-04-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

We now have 2 Bobcats to help us with Maple Plain!

2010-04-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

The Orono Lions Club will be donating a Bobcat, Driver, and fuel for all the build days (June 4th, 5th, and 6th). The other Bobcat will be coming from a landscaping company called Outdoor Escapes. They will also be donating a Bobcat and fuel for 3 days.

We really appreciate the support from the local community for this project. Now our goal is the get as many volunteers as we can get to show up and help us build.

Now to get shovels.....we need SHOVELS!!!

f-bom forums going away for good!

2010-04-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of action going on in the f-bom forums. So I decided all we really need is this blog.....good enough.

But, I highly encourage you to register for the MFC forums (that is the Midwest Freeride Community). The more people in one place the better. That and I won't have to fucking maintain them anymore!....heh...less work for me.

http://www.mfcmtb.com/forums/

Buy f-bom stuff!

2010-04-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

Not sure if anyone knows this, but there is a place to buy f-bom shirts, mugs, thongs for your chick, and so on........check it!

f-bom store

Money made from these purchases goes towards shovels........yep, those things you build dirt jumps with.......so don't be lame!

Dirt Jump How-To in detail

2010-04-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

I posted this in the MORC Wiki. I had a lot of people asking for pointers last Sunday. Thomas took some side shots of me jumping so I could write this up.........thanks Thomas!

How to Dirt Jump!

Sunday's ride will be at Old Hwy 8!

2010-04-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

Meet there at 5pm this time. It's in the woods so this will give us more daylight.......up until about 7:45 or 8ish. If you show up later, that is cool too.

Old Hwy 8 Map

After this, the next ride will hit up the streets again, we just need to get our dirt fix on first!!

Oh, and we just might build a Mathew Kohner look a like dummy and have a burning sacrifice of him during this session.....;-).

Last Sunday's ride at the Lexington Jumps!

2010-04-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Once again we had a blast! Here are some photos Thomas shot while we were rippin' it up in the dirt!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdunningphotog/sets/72157623718357137/

Sunday ride at Lexington Jumps in Eagan

2010-04-09T06:47:00.001-07:00

Sunday April 11th, we are going to mix it up some and ride dirt. Plan to be at the Lexington jumps in Eagan at 6pm. Two reasons, I need Thomas so he can do some jump photos for an upcoming how-to I am doing and heck.....we all like dirt....RIGHT!!

Bring a shovel if you have one. It's a good chance that we might have to shape some lips and such when we are there. There are jumps for all skill levels, so don't be shy....come ride!

Google Maps location: Lexington Dirt Jumps

Directions:

From the west take 35E to Diffley Rd and go East on Diffley. Just Before you get to Lexington Ave, take a right into the ball field parking lots. Go to the far back lot where the skatepark is. Behind the skatepark are the dirt jumps.

Another great Sunday f-bom ride!

2010-04-05T20:26:00.000-07:00

We all had a fun and casual ride. After the ride we hit up Stubb and Herbs for some food and beer. It's great to see a mixed group of riders showing up and just having a great time!

Ride on Sunday April 4th.

2010-04-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ah.....we never made it to the West Bank last week. This means we will start the ride at the same location as last week. But we will head towards the Washington Ave Bridge and over to the west bank for some more good riding areas. This area has some tech and some huck.....so bring what you want....:-).

Meet at 6pm at Subway in Dinkytown. We will leave shortly after that. The sooner we all get there and get riding, the more sunlight we will have. So try to be punctual. Yeah, I know that is what your mother always told you, but this is me talkin'.....so take it to heart!

Enough room for all skill levels and riding disciplines!

2010-03-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

Getting into any more advanced form of riding is always a bit intimidating. Here at f-bom, our goal is to change that! It's important that all riders are allowed to express themselves at whatever capacity they are willing and/or capable of. There is no rule out there that says you have to be the next Sam Hill or Ryan Nyquist to ride freeride or BMX.

One of the things I dislike the most when I am out riding is attitude. I see it all the time. The skatepark, at the downhill races, and at the local jumps. I don't care how good you are or how much of a beginner someone else is, attitude is not needed or welcome anywhere! I don't care if you built the trails or not, respect those who choose to ride a bicycle and learn how to advance their skills......no matter what level that may be. Now I understand the whole poser thing, or the rider who talks all big, yet he can't clear a set of doubles........sure, they are just asking to get picked on, but give everyone else who is honestly trying their best a break!

As BMX and freeriding matures, there is a much wider range of people and skill levels out there. Let's all get along and have fun. The last two f-bom rides have been just that! All skill levels and everyone getting along great! That is how it should be and as far as f-bom goes, that is what we expect at all of our gatherings. So jump on board.......no matter what you ride, your skill level, age, or gender......come join us for some fun on two wheels.

Dustin Griess showed up and rode with us last night.

2010-03-29T08:24:00.001-07:00

Here is a sculpture ride to tailwhip.

Good times were had! Thanks to all who showed up and enjoyed the ride!

Sunday ride on March 28th.

2010-03-18T10:37:00.001-07:00

There will be a ride starting from the U of M at 6pm on Sunday March 28th. We decided to start the ride from the other direction so we can hit up some U of M stuff while it's still light out, then we will head towards downtown or wherever the wind carries us.

For me, I want this ride to be more tech than huck. The last ride we did big stair gaps and other launches......this time it would be cool to do more technical riding. So if you have a hardtail or BMX bike, ride those. If not, bring your Full Suspension and huck anyway as there are always good huckable spots on a ride....:-).

We will meet in Dinkytown by the Subway just off of 5th street between 14th and 15th Ave.

That last ride was a great success, let's do it again!

First street ride session of 2010

2010-03-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

Some images from last Sunday's ride. Not much else to say, we'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

A big thanks to Thomas Dunning for hanging out and snapping pictures all evening. After the ride, a few of us hit up Joe's Garage for some food and beer.

You can make fun of fixed riders if you want....

2010-03-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

....but I feel the more fun we make of them, the better they will get just to shut us up!

Chris Akrigg THE MAURICE.0 from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Sunday Late Afternoon rides!

2010-03-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

This Sunday (March 14th) at 6pm there will be some street riding going on. We will meet at the north end of Loring Park (Minneapolis Community College) and heading out at about 6:15 or so.

We will head downtown for some fun, work our way over to the U of M to play some more, then head back to our start location at Loring Park. No limit on what you want to ride, dirt jumper, mountain bike, freeride, 8 inch DH machine, BMX, or whatever! Let's just go have some fun, it's supposed to be in the 50's and dry. Dark will be a little later as Sunset will be around 7:20 or so. My plans will be to hit up Joe's Garage for some drinks after the ride.

I will be trying to do more of these (almost every Sunday) throughout the summer.

Let's ride!

Basic sketch of a flow trail concept.

2010-03-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

This is an idea of what flow trail typically looks like. Keep in mind that this is not to scale by any means. Berms in the corners are to keep rider speed and momentum up and also help keep them on the trail. Not having a berm (flat corner) causes riders to have to brake going into a turn, and sometimes skidding occurs causing braking bumps just before the corner. The idea of flow trail is to not have to use the brakes while riding the trail. Some braking may be needed, depending on rider skill level, but it will be light controlled braking, not abrupt application due to a rider needing to slow down drastically.

Subtle rollers and tables are used to allow the rider to pump and gain/maintain speed. A more skilled rider will be able to pump though rolling doubles or even jump them. A table is always nice so less skilled riders can try to jump without the consequences of landing on the front side of a second roller. It is recommended to have a combination of both rollers and tables to accommodate different skills and add more fun factor to the trail.

The slopes on these trails should not exceed 7% and there are times you might want to have a short uphill grade to keep speed under control. The idea is to not have to pedal, but also to not have to brake. So if speeds become too great, add in a short uphill that is just enough to slow a rider down, but not enough so they have to pedal to make the ascent.

It is very possible to add sections of trail like this within any singletrack design. These areas should not be deep into the woods nor on 6 or more miles of trail. The idea is that everyone can ride a flow trail and not all riders are conditioned for a long ride deep into the woods. They want to go to the trail, do a couple of fun laps, perhaps with kids or beginner level riders, then go home. This being said, a flow trail can be incorporated anywhere to augment an existing XC trail to add some fun sections that riders can develop new skills on.

Hopefully this clears up some of the questions I have been getting about what flow trail is.

Survey results analyzed.

2010-03-11T10:38:00.001-08:00

Now that we have a good amount of survey responses, we can analyze them and see a definite pattern.

Let's start off by saying the these results are certainly lopsided. The reason I say this is that many people in the MORC forums responded and the most talked about trail subject in the MORC forums recently has been about flow trails, jumps, and berms. So I feel that the rest of the mountain bike community didn't really respond that much, it was mostly people who wanted change and new features that are in line with what type of riding they like to do.

That being said, the posts recently on MORC (Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists) and the many replies in this survey that included Berms, Jumps, and Flow does certainly show a trend. There are also a small few replies that seem like they don't want change. I expected that as there are a ton of traditional mountain bikers out there. They were around when the sport started and freeride wasn't even a coined term yet.....not even in snowboarding where the term came from! Many people enjoy traditional singletrack and I think it's important to keep that in mind as we evolve our mountain bike trails to accommodate a wider range of riding styles.

It's obvious there is a need for flow trails. We can't build them here in Minnesota (at least not at many of our local MTB trails) like they do out west. We just don't have all that much elevation to work with. But we can be creative and add in features where we do have some good downhill side slope to work with. Let's face it, those of you who ride 45 pound bikes are either going to have to lighten up that bike a bit or get some super strong legs. Climbing is a must to get to a downhill that will have a good flow to it. We already see a large trend going toward All-Mountain (or Trail) bikes. Basically these are bikes that are designed to climb just as well as they descend.

The survey was very positive and as much as a few want to criticize it, I think they are not being as open as they should to new ideas. Giving people a chance to just write what they feel and want is a good way to get an idea what people want. If you give them choices and limit what they should be talking about........it narrows the spectrum and keeps people from being creative and open minded about what they want. The Survey is still open......so if you have something to add, go for it.

There is certainly a need for changes in how our mountain bike trails are planned and designed. We have a lot of different types of mountain bikers who all want different things. Many of these riders cross over and many will once the opportunity is there for them to try something new and a little different. Just like most sports, mountain biking will always be evolving. As new and younger riders get into the sport, they are likely going to want different types of features. Today we see a need for jumps, pump rollers, berms, and good flowing trail.......in the future, something else might become more popular. It's important to stay on top of the trends and keep the sport of mountain biking alive and fun for all who choose to ride dirt on two wheels!!

Now we're talkin'!

2010-03-10T19:09:00.001-08:00

Some results from the trails features survey.

2010-03-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

Trail Features Results

There is some good stuff here. I will do another blog with a review of these results, but for now, you can take a look at them and see for yourself what people are looking for.

For those who responded to the survey, thanks for your input!

The ski area mountain biking problem (and solution)!

2010-03-05T12:13:00.001-08:00

The problem with ski areas and their mountain bike trails is that they are designed for the hardest of hardcore mountain bikers. If it's a downhill course, the trail is pretty gnarly with high speeds, big jumps and big drops. If it's an XC course like Afton and Buck hill have, it's got steep climbs, sketchy descents, and tough tight sections of trail only seasoned mountain bikers know how to conquer. As I stated a few blogs back, there is really nothing wrong with these trails, but the only cater to a small portion of the overall cycling community. For someone who wants to recreate and/or try mountain biking, these trails will do nothing but turn them away from the sport, thus steering them away from the ski area for summer activity.

Many of these trails are built with racing in mind. But some ski areas keep the trails open in the summer and want to bring in riders on a pay to ride basis. I think this is viable, but only if the trails are designed to accommodate beginners and recreational mountain bikers. using the hillside, the trails can be built in such a way that a lift will not need to be open to get some elevation and the terrain can be used to create a unique and fun experience for all riders of all skill levels. Having a chalet nearby with many amenities is what people are willing to pay for if they go out for a recreational activity on the weekend.

The vision of a ski area having to have a super tough and rugged trail is not something a ski area can make income off of. Not enough people are into punishing themselves to maintain the costs of running an operation like this.

It's time that ski areas do see mountain biking as a viable activity. Let's use Afton as an example. Right now, they have one XC Trail that is designed as the toughest trail in the area. It has steep technical climbs, rock sections, sketchy downhills, and is too long for your average mountain bikers endurance level. But what if Afton had a downhill course, a green flow trail, shorter easier XC trail and a harder XC trail. Even a pump track and dirt jumps somewhere. Bam! Now a destination for any mountain biker!

This would be a viable plan that would attract riders who would be willing to pay for such a facility. Think about it like the winter sports. You have a bunny hill for the beginners, a medium sloped hill for the intermediates, a steep hill for the experts, and a snowboard park for the extreme athletes who want to grind rails and catch air. Why isn't this same vision used for a summer mountain bike facility? Not only that, but they could have lessons and even a Bike Patrol. The riders could ride a lap or two, then stop in the chalet for some food and drinks.

If ski areas want to have year around business, this is the way to do it......plain and simple!!

Maple Plain build dates are June 4th, 5th, and 6th.

2010-03-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

We could not get the jump park in last fall, so we will be doing it this spring instead. I just talked to the city and they will be putting these dates in their up coming newsletter.

Here is our build plan:

We will need all the volunteers we can get. Please email us at fbomrocks@gmail.com if you can help out and we will add you to the Maple Plain email list.

More details to come as we get closer to the build date!

Please take this Trail Features Survey.

2010-03-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

It doesn't matter what you like to ride or what type of riding you do. Just write in what features you would like to see on your favorite mountain bike trail right here in Minnesota.

Keep it realistic. We don't have a lot of vertical elevation.....so we have to work with what we have here in Minnesota. That being said, we still have a ton of room to create awesome fun to ride features.

Also keep in mind your skill level. If you are a beginner, I would expect you to want features that are not scary to learn on......something that can help you progress your riding. If you are an expert rider, go for it....there is no wrong answer...:-). Got a kid that wants to mountain bike? Ask them what they would like to see.

Trail Features Survey

Thanks for playing.

Rethinking trail design....well, not really.

2010-02-26T13:01:00.001-08:00

You have to face it, most trails are developed for selfish reasons. You want something to ride, so you build what you like and are able to ride. There is nothing wrong with this in most cases and it's why most things are done in this world. You don't develop something unless there is a need for it.......and in most cases, those needs are personal (and maybe financial, but we won't go there since there is no money in trail building).

Where this is an issue is when you have a sport such as BMX, Freeride, or mountain biking involved. If you are an expert level rider, you are likely going to build expert level trails. Most riders don't really care all that much about what a beginner would need to develop and learn. Heck, most younger riders jump in way over their heads and crash their way to becoming experts. But it doesn't have to be this way for everyone. I hear these advanced riders say, well why don't the beginners just build their own trail. The problem with this logic is simply that most beginners don't know how. Not only that, there are a lot of people who want to try something out without the huge time investment to see if they even like it.

When I think back to my earlier BMX racing days, the BMX tracks were designed in such a way that anyone could ride them, yet a more skilled racer could jump or speed roll if they wanted to. So the concept is not new by any means. It's just that more recently, this concept has not always evolved into the non-race BMX or freeride crowd. Heck, even singletrack mountain bikers build long multiple mile tight trails that a beginner could make it 1/4 of the way through before passing out. So it's time to rethink trails and make them for all skill levels and ages.

BMX started in the early 70's and guess what.......many of those 30 and 40 some year old riders still want to ride. But they don't ride much at all any more. The excuse I hear most often is, "Everything is a double with a huge gap. I am not going to risk myself serious injury." This makes sense. Many of these people have jobs and families and getting wrecked doing recreation just won't work out so well for them. But if there was a place they could ride, many of them would and guess what? They would likely bring there kids with them and share their experiences with them. Future BMX and mountain bike riders right there!

There are two options for designing trail for all rider types and skill levels. One is the build alternate lines or trail, and the other is to design the trail in such a way that depending on speed and skill level, it can be ridden in an advanced fashion or by a beginner. The later is the tougher way to design a trail, but needed if space is limited. Examples of this could be to have all jumps rollable or in a table top fashion. A drop in a freeride course could be rolled down, or with speed, launched off of to make it be a 4 ft plus gap drop. In reality, a dropoff doesn't have to be a vertical drop wall, it can be at a 45 degree angle or even less. The advanced rider can still boost huge air off of it and land way at the bottom, while the less experienced rider can reduce speed and roll down it. Obviously, if you can do an alternate line or trail, you just sign it well and have a vertical drop off. The key here is making sure riders know what's coming.

It's actually really simple, but it doesn't get put into practice very often and thus it's hard to keep sports such as BMX and Freeride growing. The trails tend to only target the select few hardcore riders. Yes, many of those riders like it that way, but the majority of people would love to have a place to ride that isn't so intimidating and a lot more casual and fun.

f-bom is all about growing the sport and this is just one way we intend to do it. Maple Plain will be our first major trail that is put in place to allow for multiple skill levels. We are also working on assisting other organizations by helping with trail design and development.

Today I was thinking about the future of f-bom.

2010-01-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

Although this is a very small group and this website, and the web forums, hardly get used.....I still see a point in keeping this small group in place. I have made jokes about how f-bom will someday take over IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) all while people make fun of the name.

For me, f-bom has a place. It's loose and low to maintain. I also think as we accomplish a few goals, we will be well on our way to growing. Those goals are:

- Get the Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park built in the spring and organize a small group to keep it maintained.

- Reconnect with the City of Eagan to find out a way to better maintain the entire Lexington BMX dirt jumps and pump track. Currently only the expert level riders do work out there and only on the expert row of jumps. The rest of the facility needs to be maintained for the beginner and intermediate riders....along with the pump track.

- We are thinking about options for some skateparks. 1st goal is to see about options in making skateparks that allow bikes to be more 26 inch wheel friendly. Similar to Ray's Indoor in Ohio.

- Continue working on efforts with MORC-IMBA at the local mountain bike trails to help them offer more advanced features. This coming summer f-bom will be assisting with the building of the new sections at Lebanon Hills.

Things are moving forward and we are very excited about the Maple Plain project since that will be a huge success when it is completed. We already have the approval to put it in place, now we just need to get it built.

It's January, it's cold.......and the last thing I want to do is walk out the front door with 4 layers on. But f-bom is slowly, but surely moving forward one small step at a time.

We wish you a great winter season. Get out and ride when you can......heck, snow jumps are pretty awesome and the crashes are even better.....:-).

Unfortunately the weather has not been in our favor.

2009-10-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

The build dates for the Maple Plain Dirt Jump Park have been moved back another weekend. So the new dates are the 6th, 7th, and 8th of November. Since that is after daylight savings, we will start at 9am and go until dark (should be around 5pm). That should give us 8 hours each day.

Build dates have changed!

2009-10-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Due to the extreme wet conditions we have had lately, the contractor can not put in the required drainage and move the dirt. It will cause too much damage to the area we plan to build because the ground is too soft and over-saturated.

The new build dates are Oct 30th and 31st and Nov 1st.

Please come help us out if you can. We will need as many people as we can get to finish this project in one weekend.