Re-Up; Preserving BMX History #18: Mike Janssen, owner BMX Museum NL
Name: Mike Janssen, owner BMX Museum NL
Hometown: Shanghai, China
Started riding BMX in: 1982
Number of bikes in the collection: 100+, all part of the BMX Museum NL collection which opened the doors on February 8 th 2009.
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Mike Janssen: Definitely! I started to look in 2000 for my own 1984 GT Pro Series because I regretted it
Re-Up; Preserving BMX History #17: Aykut Hilmi (GBR) and his copper Hutch Trickstar
Name: Aykut Hilmi
Hometown: London, England
Bike: Hutch Trickstar
What's your earliest memory of the Hutch Trickstar?
Aykut Hilmi: I saw an American commercial and was hooked! At the time I had a red Raleigh Burner and we used to make half pipes in our local park
Who were some of the Hutch riders that you admired back in the day?
Aykut Hilmi: I didn't have much knowledge back then about BMX riders apart from the ones
The latest episode of the Union Tapes is live now featuring Nick Phillip.
"We finally caught up with Nick Phillip, and we get deep into it on many topics that he had hands on involvement with. This one gives us all a deep dive into much of the mystery for most of us, meeting Jess Dyrenforth, Rom trips back in the early days, starting AA as a mail order from his bedroom, landing a job at BMX Action bike, working with Dave Curry, and talks about what an influence Curry had on the scene.
We talk all about the behind the scenes of BMX Action bike RAD magazine, the early Southbank scene, Mons jam, being a rider rep for the UKBFA, AA becoming a clothing brand, the rise and focus of street riding in the magazine, the style change within BMX as it evolved away from its constraints. The push for evolving the character of BMX, moving to California in the good ole USA to work for Freestylin Magazine, Homeboy and Ozone, getting into the early rave scene in the late 80s, right up to what he’s up to today."
Riders mentioned: Jess Dyrenforth, Dave Curry, Craig Campbell, Alisdair Mckenzie, Damon Nicholls, Eric Steel, Billy Stupple, Marco Lara, Andy Ruffell, Tim March, Dave Slade, Craig Grasso, Andy Jenkins, Spike Jonze, Maurice 'Drob' Meyer, Dave Nourie, Eddie Roman, Dave Vanderspek Skateboarders: Bod Boyle, Dobie Campbell, Joe Lopes, Todd Swank
We finally caught up with Nick Philip, and we get deep into it on many topics that he had hands on involvement. This one gives us all a deep dive into much of the mystery for most of us, meeting Jess Dyrenforth, Rom trips back in the early days, starting AA as a mail order from his bedroom, Landing a job at BMX Action bike, working with Dave Curry, and talks about what an influence Curry had on the scene. All about the behind the scenes of BMX Action bike RAD magazine. Early Southbank scene, Mons jam, being a rider rep for the ukbfa, AA becoming a clothing brand, the rise and focus of street riding in the magazine, the style change with in BMX as it evolved away from its constraints.
Name: Steve Brothers
Hometown: Eagle Point, Oregon currently, and Hutchinson, Kansas as a kid who raced.
Started riding BMX in: Sanctioned BMX racing? 1980... the shot of me on the PK is my first race. I got 2nd. Of course like most 70's kids, we were doing little "moto" style upgrades on our stingrays and stingray clones and making jumps and doing our thing... this seems to be fairly universal for BMXers of my demographic. But again, as far as racing in a sanctioned context, I was an ABA racer... had a PK Ripper in the beginning, but moved on to a GT afterward. I only raced for a few years, I sometimes reflect on the fact that I've been deep in this old school BMX scene for far more years as an adult, than I
Name: Billy Mills
Hometown: Romford, Essex, UK
Started riding BMX in: 99’
Number of bikes in the collection: More than 10, less than 20…
When you saw that S&M x Supreme bike, what did you have to do in order to score one?
Billy Mills: I’ve been into Supreme before the brand became ‘hyped’ around 2010. I’ve always collected the brand, so once I heard about the S&M collaboration I had to have it, I put feelers out to some friends but it was too exclusive to have one set aside. I eventually got this one from eBay after some pestering.
Has the value doubled already?
Billy Mills: This is the question that everyone asks, it’s a strange one, because 99% of the owners of these bikes don’t actually ride or know anything about S&M, they just have a computer program that
BOB HARO…You know the name, You know the brand, you know the legendary status Bob holds. At a young age, Bob saw an opportunity and wasted no time jumping in and getting to work. His hard work paid off and he’s here in the Unclicked studio for our 100th episode to break it all down for us. Let's get into it!
Name: Pat A Lar
Hometown: Brighton, UK
Started riding BMX in: 1990
Number of bikes in the collection: I’ve 2 & 3/4 complete and a couple of framesets at the moment but that is always changing. I’ve downsized a bit as I prefer Quality over Quantity.
What was the first project bike that got you into collecting BMX bikes?
Pat A Lar: First Old School bike I built was a 1983 Torker Magnum. I bought it locally and did the usual newbie mistakes by having it rechromed, covering it in reissue parts and it was all over in a couple of weeks. This was a significant point for me as I soon realised that there was so much more to the history
Name: Kelly Swanson
Hometown: Greeley, Colorado
Started riding BMX in: 1975, on my Schwinn scrambler, first race: 1977 on my trusty Mongoose Motomag!
Number of bikes in the collection: Currently own 10 vintage BMX completes-
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Kelly Swanson: About seven years ago I bought a 1/4 pipe off Craigslist for my son to skate and the seller had a late model OM Flyer, that I bought on a whim- Once I got my butt back on a BMX bike I was hooked all over again!
At this moment, do you wish you had started collecting earlier?
Kelly Swanson: It’s all about timing and passion, I would never change my path to getting where I am today.
Do you feel there is a need for BMX products to survive for history's sake?
Name: Woody Itson
Hometown: Keller, TX
Started riding BMX in: The 70’s
Number of bikes in the collection: I have 15 complete bikes and some frames and parts that may or may not ever turn into anything
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Woody Itson: I didn’t actually decide to collect any BMX stuff to be honest. In fact there was one point where all I had was the one bike that I was riding and some miscellaneous parts and uniforms in a box.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.