Streetwear brand Crooks & Castles has collaborated with SE Racing to come up with a dynamic, cleanly designed 26″ Flyer BMX Bike for limited release. Only 300 were made and they are retailing for around $750. The white color gives way to intricate little designs and detailing from the embroidery on the back of the full grain leather diamond quilted seat to etching in the handlebar end caps, its a pretty flashy bike no matter how you break it down.

Akademiks is celebrating its 10 year anniversary with the recent sponsorship of Bulldog Bikes. The two brands form an innate connection through a strong focus on positive youth originality and individualism with a street edge. With the reshaping of the Akademiks brand, styles such as slim denim fits and aggressive washes lead to a genuine match with the Bulldog riding team.

Attention all BMX Racers, Factory BMX Outsiders is throwing a little race down in the San Diego, California this Saturday the 11th. Five dollars get you on the track all day. Zero dollars will get you inside to watch. As you can tell from all the sponsors there will be a raffle. Check the flyer for more info.

Hello my name is…
Jenn Tsang.

Aka…
Diamond Girl.

I was raised in…
NY and NJ.

The reason that you’re reading about me is…
Because I brand manage Rocksmith Tokyo and Kilo. I represent Cipher Footwear stateside and I am half of Complete Technique. You like my swavvy, ‘nuff said.

I work for…
Money, bitches!

Right now I’m working on…
Launching virals for Spring, scaling brands overseas, shaking off my graphic boredom, inventing media space travel, becoming an anthropologist.

But I’d rather be…
Posted up at an arcade in Kowloon with a 22 of some foreign extra stout, sucking spicy, dried pork out my teeth.

My most prized possessions are…
My Peugeot, Doscar aviators, and Taiyou Matsumoto comic collection.

But I’d give it all away for…
A hand-assembled Lego desk from someone I loved.

The first thing I do in the morning is…
Fix my cowlick while listening to Bob James’ “Feel Like Making Love.”

The last thing I do at night is…
Have me some Woodford Reserve.

My mama always said…
The world isn’t fair.

I love it when people…
Hold elevators, choose matte, and grow things (like avocados).

In case you don’t follow skateboarding or just like the ambience of living in a cave, Scott is an amazing pro skater, and one of the first white dudes on Chocolate Skateboards (way to break those barriers!). On top of making a name for himself on four wheels, Scott’s always been known for his impeccable personal style. So when Scott transitioned into shoe designer at Lakai, no one was surprised. As the saying goes, if the shoe fits…

When did you decide to become a shoe designer?
There wasn’t a time I said to myself, “I’m gonna be a shoe designer.” I guess the first sign of interest was when I got my first iMac. I would play around with Illustrator and teach myself to draw. I got into drawing shoes and submitted one to Lakai; it ended up being my first pro shoe. Through the years of having pro shoes, I’d go into the design office and work closely with the designers. Most pro shoes are made without much input from the skater. What prompted my career change is age. I’m not getting any younger and I’ll eventually have to hang up the pro board. So better get started on the future than try to hold onto the past.

Your first pro shoe on Lakai was definitely the best-looking shoe in the line, but the shoe was never made. How frustrating or disheartening is it to do all the work and produce a sample, only to have the shoe go into the vault?
I was bummed that shoe didn’t make it. It skated great and for that time in skate shoes, it had a good shape and a nice low sole. Years later everybody is asking for it. That always happens. The market is far behind what we want to make. It’s very frustrating that you can’t do exactly what you want with the design. Sales will always slow down the progression of design. Sales will always look at what’s done well in the past and request more of that. At the end of the day that’s what it’s all about, making shoes to sell. It’s fun to tackle the challenge of making something you like that is also received well in the market.

Lakai makes strictly skate shoes, but do you ever get the urge to design something that isn’t built around the abuse a shoe can take from griptape? Will there be a Scoot’s secret stash?
I’ve been thinking of that a lot recently. When I have the extra time I’d like to start working on a shoe of a non-skate nature. We could release something that is off the normal skate style. It just comes down to when we have the room in the line.

Would you still wear the black Lakai Staple with the fake red Prada tab on the heel? How do you feel about designs or cues that’re so obviously borrowed?
When we did that obvious bit it was very new to Prada. It wasn’t really their trademark thing at the time. So we thought we found something outside our market that would be cool to apply to ours. Now it’s Prada’s swoosh.

What attracts your eye to a particular shoe?
Shape is everything to me. Toe view is most important since you have to look down at it.

The silhouettes of shoes have slimmed down a lot in the past couple of years, and the market seems to favor simpler, classic, almost retro shoes at the moment. Do you think that’s just nostalgia, or was design simply better previously?
Nostalgia is a big part in what’s going on right now. The classic look is running everything right now. Everybody wants to look like a pro from the ’80s. Also the key purchases that go on right now are men buying items they wanted as kids but didn’t have the money back then, whether it’s BMX bikes, sneakers, or whatever.

Where do you see things going from here? Are designers just going to increase the height of high tops until they hit your knees?
I think it’s gonna go back to tech, but with a more refined, cleaner look. It’ll have elements from classics, but modernized with new outsole constructions and materials.

What are your favorite shoes?
Nike Wovens might be my favorite. That is the one shoe I got into collecting when they first came out. I’m glad I still feel that way about them since I have so many pairs.

What are your everyday, go-to sneakers?
Lakai Manchesters and Chuck Taylors.

Any new brands impressing you right now?
Visvim. The brand started out making a few shoe styles. Now they put out a full line with bags, clothes, etc. The quality of materials they use is on another level. The owner of this Japan-based brand is so gnarly I’ve heard he consults for Comme des Garçons.

Legacy is sure to make a lasting impression; it’s one of the most unique stores to open in awhile. As with anything original, there are sure to be a few biters, but good luck with that. Legacy concentrates on limited looks, but deliver them with a style all their own. In 2006 the owners of BecomeFitted.com started planning for their first brick and mortar store. Since the owners are long-time collectors of BMX bikes and memorabilia, they incorporated their passion into their store’s design. The Legacy crew fabricated one-off bicycle clothing racks and custom-made Alder cabinetry to set the stage. The store contains a revolving collection that includes some of the most rare BMX bikes and memorabilia from the ’70s and ’80s. Legacy’s museum-style decor compliments the exclusive gear they offer from brands like 3Sixteen, Akomplice, Brixton, Black Scale, Diamond Supply, Dissizit, Elm Company, Estate LA, GrnAppleTree, Huf, Mighty Healthy, Mishka, Official, SSUR and Upper Playground. There are some big things on the horizon at Legacy, so be on the lookout for some Legacy Brand retro BMX parts and soft goods. They’ve also teamed up with Estate LA for a limited production 24” retro cruiser. So if you’re sick and tired of that LA traffic when you’re shopping for the latest, get on your bike and head to the beach.

www.BecomeFitted.com

1010 Aviation Blvd
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
310.379.4401

In case you’ve been on Mars, Mikey and Chuck are the Cool Kids. After meeting online, the two linked up, their music blew up, they jumped on tour with M.I.A., and the rest is history in the making, with everyone from major labels to Justin Timberlake itching to get a piece of them. Our boy Flakez caught up with Mikey to get the scoop.

Is it true that you guys met through MySpace?

Well, we basically hit each other up and met up one day ’cause we were talking back and forth for a week or so. We were both making beats so we were planning to see what each of us was doing. I was planning to drive downtown and dropped by Chuck’s. I got there probably at 11 at night on a Saturday, like winter ’05. We were playing beats for each other, talking about making some mixtapes and how we could collaborate. Chuck played this one beat and I was asking him about his rapping. He was like yeah, but he kind of had put emceeing on the backburner. I ended rapping for like two hours, freestyling, and it was just me rapping and him making the beats. So he gave me like 20 beats to write to and it started from there. Eventually we flipped our original concept and both ended up rapping.

So tell us about the bike culture in Chicago. I know the lead single, “Black Mags,” has strong influences from there.

Yeah, man, bikes are huge in Chicago. You got all these people who ride for transportation, because they don’t like cars, like old school mountain bikes and fixed-up BMXs. Chicago is pretty much dominated by bikes and cabs; those are pretty much the two most annoying things to run into. The bikers don’t really follow the rules of the road so you always get into problems.

Most definitely. So how has the journey been getting to the point you guys are at now?

Well, it’s basically the same old story of coming up and grinding, doing shows for free just to get our names out there. Like we would do shows for dudes who would for some reason change their mind and be like, “We actually decided that we’re not going to pay you guys for tonight.” I mean, we’ve slept in cars on the road because we couldn’t afford to pay for a room in a hotel. We pretty much have the same story as all other artists. We’re not really pissed about it though; we didn’t look at it as bad thing. At the end of the day we look back at it and we’re glad people are digging our stuff.

I heard that some crazy shit went down recently, too.

Yeah, um, basically a couple weeks ago, Kenna had hit us up on the MySpace, asking what was good with us, label-wise. We told him we were just grinding. He was telling us that he was really into what we were doing, the route that we took and how we were taking steps that were very different from most artists in hip-hop. We told him we were coming to LA for a show so he wanted to meet up. After meeting Kenna, we ended up linking with Joel Madden and worked in Lionel Richie’s studio on some tracks. Then Kenna calls us back when he was at Justin Timberlake’s crib and JT jumps on the phone telling us that he’s digging our music. He went crazy over the video for “Black Mags.”

Are we about to see a JT x Cool Kids collab?

Maybe. We wouldn’t mind. We respect him as an artist and the music that he makes. We’re down as long it makes a song better because of the collaboration.

What has been the most memorable moment on the tours?

On the M.I.A. tour, the last show of the tour in Philly was amazing. The venue was huge and crowd was real live, going crazy, so there was this energy. Since it was the last day of the tour and because everyone had all gotten real close, it was pretty intense. But in Europe the craziest thing were the political riots going on outside our venues. Like people would be throwing Molotov cocktails, flipping cars, and other things rioters tend to do. It was NUTS, man! All the other people would just be acting normal, like, “Oh, just give them 15 minutes and they’ll calm down.” We’re just like, “Whoa, this is on some other…” It’s a whole different world over there.

Someone sent me some pics of Greyboy racing this custom sidecar BMX. I’m ashamed to admit I had no idea these existed. Might as well ask.

What do you call this thing?

It’s called a sidehack, piloted by yours truly, Greyboy. Truly Odd rides sidecar.

What possessed you to build a sidecar BMX? Getting groceries? Because I’ve gone to the grocery store on a bike, I felt like a triage nurse trying to sort out what I could carry.

BMX sidehacks were actually pioneered in the early ‘70s by Rick Twomey and his Rick’s Bike Shop team.  Originally they were raced on downhill dirt tracks, but faded into obscurity in the early ‘80s.  When I was growing up in San Diego racing BMX, my nextdoor neighbor and race buddy had a Gary Littlejohn sidehack that we used to fuck around on.  Fast forward to 2006, I find my own Littlejohn sidehack. Me and Truly Odd were itching to do something new and we both love bikes, so I asked him if he wanted to take the hack to the skatepark to see if we could rip it there. We did.

Is this a big underground scene, like S&M, just something that I’m not even aware of or attuned to?

It’s a very small underground scene right now, mostly racing on BMX tracks. I think we’re the only ones riding the sidehack in the parks or on transition.  We dig both though and would like to get a downhill dirt racing scene happening since it’s all on flat tracks right now.

Are there companies or individuals making these, or is the payoff only for those willing to do the dirty work?

There are a few garage companies that make them, but most of the time they’re custom.  We have one hack for skateparks and one for racing, both custom fabricated by 3-D Bicycles in Socal.

Anything else you want to say to your adoring public? Feel free to plug something. Can you still profit from selling music?

Well I’m finishing up a couple of new albums right now, so look out for those in a few months. But in the meantime check out GREYBOYMUSIC.COM and HEAVYWEIGHTS.ORG for a fix.  —PJC

Photos courtesy Eric Anthony/Girl Skateboards

Listen to “Black Mags.”

Four shops in the US got 20 pairs each. Hot Rod is one of them. Good luck (or fat chance), these things are already worth triple what you’ll pay retail, if you can find them. Blazin’…

If you’re game, you might try Primitive’s store opening… (Hint, hint.)

More photos after the click.