My bike. My escape, My release, My everything……well almost! Sadly it’s comes way down on the list of priorities these days. But it’s still my favourite possession in life by far!
This is my favourite bike I’ve ever had. I’ve been running more or less the same set up for a few years now and not looking to change anything. In fact I’m starting to look around for replacements of parts that are now obsolete.

Frame: Paris 1. Currently sporting a Rustic look for the spring time! What can I say!! Bought it when it first came out..hacked great chunks out of it (coz i’m lightweight freak) and it’s still going strong!! I ain’t about to blow KHE off or anything but credit where credit is due. They’ve been with us from the start and their still pushing it.

Forks: Inertia. Shame this company stopped, it was kinda what I wanted London bikes to be all about. Clean, simple and light. I’ve cut the dropouts out a bit so the wheel sits further up and made holes in the steerer tube and trimmed off other bits and pieces…okay I know I’m obsessed with my lightweight problem, but I’m going to rehab with Sam Foakes who’s bike is obese…..Bike like owner I hear someone say…stop it!!!

Rims: Sun CR18. These are light double walled and thin, they make my tyres look like 1.5’s and I think thinner tyres is the way forward. Tempted to try comet 1.35’s. Anyway had these rims for a couple of years with no probs 10/10.

Spokes: Double butted 13g-14g. Again had these for a couple of years and not snapped one. Had titanium ones before and would snap some every sesh. Alloy nipples in all colours. That’s how I roll baby!!!

Front Hub : Proper the first one with a magnesium shell and ti axle. One of the lightest hubs. Surprise surprise!!

Rear Hub: Ares the first one. It took a bit tweaking but it’s been running fine for about a year now with no probs. I ground down the sprocket to accept the thinner chains and a few bits inside, changed a nut or two for alloy ones all to satisfy my need for a lightweight bike. Yes I do keep an eye out for those men in white coats!

Tyres: KHE Mac1’s.. great tyre just too god damn expensive for a man with three kids a wife and huge mortgage!!

Inner tubes: KHE Front. Decathlon prestor vaule rear. No particular reason!

Brakes: Get real….Why would you want to stop or slow the flow???

Seat/post: Onzo bmx mini race seat. This is light as light can be, makes all the difference!!!! the seat post is samller diaimiter than regulaur 22.2 I think so I had to make a shim. Comes with the post glued in the seat. I put a seat clamp over it to strengthon. Probably wouldn’t recomend it to anyone but i’m happy with it and it’s holding up. But then i am the smoothest son of a bitch in the world…yeah baby, I’m the god father of this shit!!!

Seat clamp: Proper…why? It looked light thats why, got a problem with that!

Stem: Biz house with ti bolts and holes. What?

Bars: Suelo – Nice up sweep, No back sweep, look like two piece bars, just how I like them. I think this is my third pair..oh and there light!

Grips: KHE lock-on. Lock-on my arse I had to glue these puppies on, I like the feel though!!

Headset: half Federal half Kink. Can’t remember why.

Crank: Old profile bmx mini crank. Bought for a fiver off ebay. Love it! 10 speed ti bottom bracket/axle 168grams of lightweight bliss!

Chain: KMC 10 speed racing chain. hollow pins, inside and outside slotted plates. the lightest chain i could afford!!!

Pegs: Ares, the news ones. Plastic, light and thin in diameter. So far so good. I like to stand on them and try and do tricks.

Pedals: MKS Comfort lite. There meant for hybrids and stuff. There compact and light (of course). I like e’m simple as that!

Big BMX Bicep: optional but recommended. Big muscle + light-bike = Control baby and thats how I roll.

There you have it, the lightest Flatland bike in the world. Check the Guinness book of records if you don’t believe me!

intro and interview:EC
photos: Abigail Taylor

Where do I start this intro? Without rambling for hours… I’ve known Sam now for 11 years now, I’ve seen him grow from a lil kid doing one handed funky chickens in my local underground to accelerating through mind boggling combos under the most heated contest pressure in japan, throughout this time, one thing has remained constant. His love for riding. And the desire to push his riding. Without further a due, lets get this started…

Jaffa hows it going? What have you been up to?

Good thanks. I have recently moved to Manchester to work for British Cycling as a Go Ride BMX coach. It is all about developing the sport at grass roots level, going into schools and council sessions to promote Manchester BMX club and coach riders BMX skills both in the schools and on the BMX track. For me it is a great opportunity to work with the best cycling organisation in the world, and develop the sport of BMX. It isn’t flatland, but it is nice that I have an opportunity to work in a similar area. It ties together my Sports Science and Physics Degree with my passion for BMX. I am really happy at the moment and am enjoying my new lifestyle a lot.

How have you found the move from KGB to Zion? I know you look up to Martti a lot..
It was a tough decision. As I have said before it was always a dream of mine to ride for KGB, and I am really proud that I have had a chance to represent Martti and Viki for 2 years.Martti is the best Flatlander of all time in my opinion. He dominated flatland both in contests and in videos for years. Even right now the KGB vid is ground breaking. I don’t know anyone in this generation who is as far ahead of everyone else as he was. I also don’t know anyone who managed to win all the comps whilst still being so hugely progressive and innovative. I do look up to both Martti and Viki a lot and view them as friends and this made my decision hard. The reason I have moved to Zion is that Mislav has offered me a fantastic opportunity to design the bike that I have always wanted. I think the quality and engineering of Zion great and I also really like Mislav. These factors seemed to offer me a new opportunity that I really wanted to pursue. It was not a quick or easy decision though. A massive thanks to Martti and Viki for their support.

So I guess you know this interview is “focussed” (haha sorry Sam couldn’t resist) on your frame, firstly tell me about the bent tubes on the front end, they are very specific in their construction?
Absolutely. I wanted simplicity, but couldn’t ignore function. Whiplash type tricks are an important part of my riding so I looked at where the foot steps over the frame, this is why there is a slightly tighter bend at the front of the top tube. It isn’t drastic and it isn’t the lowest frame on the market, but it has room in the right area for whiplashes. The down tube is smoothly bent, again, I like to be tight in when doing halfpackers so felt room was important in this area. The tubes do not touch, because we wanted to avoid excessive welding which often makes frames brittle. This is also why you do not see any multiple welds and gussets in the front end like many frames.

The seat tube angle is kicked back, it’s perfect for slotting into cliffhangers?
Seat tube angle is a feature I am happy with. It is kicked back by a degree to most standard frames. This is because I like to be locked into cliffhangers, it has also proved more comfortable slotting in and out of them too…It really helps

You’ve previously always rode shorter top tube frames why change?
Space. Again I guess it was whiplash focused, more room to whiplash. It has turned out to be a really comfortable frame for a lot of other tricks too. I’d also like to point out, although it is longer, it doesn’t feel massive, it actually feels nice and easy to manipulate.

I’d second that…The back end is super short, why did you choose that?
Backwheel combos. The overall wheelbase is really similar to the superpower. This makes deathtruck type combos a lot more comfortable. It also spins really nice and tight on the backwheel. It might be one of the specs to come under review, maybe add a tiny bit of length to balance out the frame a little. Whether that happens or not, the back end will still be tight for the reasons mentioned above.

14mm dropouts, you’ve always had to cut out your frames, must be nice to just slot that 14mm axle in there now? What about the guys who run 10mm like me haha
The 14mm dropouts might seem a bit strange but I have always run 14mm hubs front and back. 10mm axles don’t hold up for me and I hate breaking them. This has meant every frame that I have has needed its dropouts filed, and to be honest I was sick of it. The frame will come with 14mm to 10mm adapters as I understand not everyone runs 14mm. This should make the frame friendly to everyone.

I’ve been riding the mid version for about a week now, I find the front end really comfortable and stable on whiplash stuff…
That is exactly how I have found my frame. Whiplashes seem that bit more stable and I feel like I have room to move. Really happy with it in that area

What about the weight, I know the weight of bike helps your current non pumping style, the prototypes have come out lighter than you expected right?
The weight obsession in flat puzzles me a bit. Momentum is such a key factor in all flatland. For the last 6 months I have been trying to minimise pumping through using the weight during turbines and whips to generate momentum. You can only do this on a frame that has some weight behind it. The weight actually makes riding easier. I am currently riding the 4.58 frame and to be honest, I am thinking of taking the weight up a bit, maybe get it close to 5lbs. I really don’t think it will be detrimental, only beneficial. Also, weight distribution is key to this frame. We are testing three types of tubing to see which gives the most stable and steady responses. Extra weight through a whole frame doesn’t tend to make a bike feel that heavy. It tends to be heavy components, like a back wheel or cranks for example.

Did you find it strange people almost expected you to reinvent the wheel with your frame design? I guess that’s a compliment towards your riding being original.
I was a little surprised that people were critical of it being ‘un original’. We had to way up things. The double triangle frame is tried and tested and the force flow diagrams work. Crossed tubes and unique looking welds and gussets can have forces running into one another. Trying to come up with something completely unique broke away from one key function of the frame which is strength. The bent tubes are gentle and smooth and do differ from the frames it has been compared to. Aesthetically, I am super happy with the frame and also think it is unique – perhaps not revolutionary, but it does have it’s own characteristics.

Lets talk about the colours of the frame, very strong colours, why did you pick those colours?
Because they look amazing. The paint on these frames is a little more expensive than most standard frames. I wanted a dark colour – the dark blue, a medium colour – the dark red and a light colour – sparkling silver (star platinum haha). (editors note: Sam’s Cliffhanger stall is referred to as Star Platinum in Japan- a cartoon character who has the ability to stop time) The paint jobs are really deep and sparkle. Personally, it is something I always wanted.

Whys it called the Focus?
Well there are a few reasons. In Japan, people call me Sam Foak uss, even when I explain it is Foakes haha.
The other reason is the obvious reason that you need to focus to ride flat and my name is Foakes, so it seemed like a good idea.

You’ve mentioned a few times, about your plans for some online videos, you’ve never really had your own section to date? Must be a hard void to fill after such a successful year last year?
A lot of video footage of me has been from contests or from general riding sessions. I have never really taken the time to write down combos and work on a video part. There is quite a lot of stuff I have done that I haven’t yet filmed so I guess that will be my starting point. As far as it being a hard void to fill, I think it will be. Last year I could 5 in a row some really hard stuff so stepping it up for a video is going to be a real challenge, but it should be fun. I also think it would be nice to cover a lot of tricks whether new or old because I have never really had a chance to do that in a section. I would like to cover a few things. Backwheel, backwards, turbines, stalls and whiplashes. I’m also thinking about having numbers as a theme. Not exactly sure what I’ll do but it’ll be gradual.

Your not competing this year, how do you intend to promote the frame?
My main focus at the moment is to develop my long term prospects in my career, so I think promoting the frame is going to be tricky to juggle. There is no way I can compete this year. I had to ride so hard last year to achieve what I did and I simply cannot maintain that at the moment. I have had a good break from flat since Japan last October and am slowly getting back into it on a recreational level. I am hoping to promote the frame by doing some web videos, hopefully a series. This way I can film when I can despite my progress slowing down a lot in last 6 months. I also hope people will like the product and want to buy it. I think when people see it, they will like it all the more .

Thanks for your time Jaffa, hope to see you busting out soon.

Lets get back on track.So you mentioned before you got some really old footage of Chase and Kevin from Bryan Huffman, whens that all going online?
Ah, the old footage. Yeah I have to edit that one soon. I want to be able to give Brian his tape back by the York Jam. It has some classic stuff. There was a contest here in 93 with Dennis McCoy, Gabe Weed, Chase Gouin and more. For Chase fans, this stuff is a goldmine. There is one part where Chase is practicing inside of a skatepark in the flat section between some ramps and this little kid is bombing around on his bike messing him up. It’s hilarious.

That in Pennsylvania?
Yup, Shimersville I believe
Yeah yeah I’ve seen that.
Awesome I look forward 2 seeing your edit though, what are your top 5 web edits Erik? You must look at them differently being a filmer/editor.
I watch everyones stuff. I love to see what everyone is doing. Top 5, hmm well I would have to say the Sevisual with Matthias and Adam Kun rules. That is one I would pay for. I always loved Lee Musselwhite’s Inertia promo with Radiohead, that was killer. The Cory Fester part in the Global-Flat Edmonton 2007 was insanely good. I love my boys from Texas so I always see what Rad Dad Mark Dandridge is doing with BMX Freestyler.com.

Yeah, everyone loves Rad dad.
He may be the nicest guy I have ever met.

Even more the us lovely english folk haha
I would love to see more of the UK represented at Voodoo. I have been wanting to meet Keelan and Lee for a while. Met Sam last year, he’s a great guy. I am stoked that Paul Chamberlain is coming to the York Jam this year.
Is he?
Yup, from his own mouth.
Haha nice. I guess everyone wants to meet Kevin, he’s one of only guys I’ve never met..
Kevin sorta stays away from the limelight. He rides but the jam isn’t like it used to be where everyone wants to see him ride. Everyone goes now to commiserate and have fun. Kevin and the York crew will be there riding just like any other Saturday. Kevin is a new daddy. That is hot off the press.

Awesome, lets wrap this up Erik, we could talk for hours, let me give you a choice of 5 riders to film with, who would they be and why?
Wow, hmm. I would love to film the guys that we never see that much of anymore. I would love to film with Jeff DesRoche, Lee Musselwhite, Paul Osicka, Trevor Meyer and of course Mr. Jones.

I forgot to ask, what camera equipment do you use?
My gear, I use a Sony HVR-Z1U HDV camera as my primary and shoot stills with my Canon Digital Rebel 850xt. I love them both.

Any final shoutouts?
I would love to thank Kevin Jones, Steph Cerra, Tony Strickler, Aaron Frost, The Austin Texas crew, The York PA crew, my man Alain Massabova from Cream and the Frenchmen. Last but not least my boys Scott O’Brien and Terry Adams. They are like my extended southern family.

Thanks for your time Erik.
Anytime. You know me, we could do this everyday, ha ha.

We probably could yeah.

(end of flatchat)

Erik’s latest edit “Flatland soldiers”.

Two Flatland Soldiers from Erik Otto on Vimeo.

Erik’s Vimeo channel

http://vimeo.com/channels/monolithichd/

Flat chat is a new section to flatmatters, which is literally what it says on the title. This first edition topic of chat is Erik Otto and his “online videos”, I met Erik last year at the Voodoo jam, totally rad humble guy. Who doesnt mind being asked loads of annoying questions about Kevin Jones. Without further a due, lets gets started…

Tell me about Monolithic Erik what’s that all about?
Well I guess Monolithic was created to ultimately be a consortium of artists working and collaborating together on different projects. I have a film background and I have always loved riding so the two came together.
The name is a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, the monolith being the symbol of the next step in evolution.

Lil bit of thought gone into the name then, the Voodoo pre jam video is one of my favourite web edits..
Thanks man. That was a great night. I love the Voodoo Jam. New Orleans will always have a special place in my heart.

Yeah, you liking Bourbon street huh?
What’s not to like! ha ha. I have had some funny experiences there, that could be a separate interview. Let’s just say that Aaron Frost and I have had a good time. He is the little devil on your shoulder.

I would never have thought that.
Oh and seeing Tony Strickler getting kicked out of a bar on Bourbon street, not an easy task. It is always a good time. Love the vibe, the food, everything.

I see you just set up the monolithic channel on Vimeo

Yes, that is the best way to see my video’s in HD. My site needs to be updated badly. I have an entirely redesigned site in flash that I will have up by the spring time.
Vimeo is a great tool for connecting with riders and other artist out there.
I have some stuff that hasn’t been seen before from Texas and also from Voodoo. I have some things I shot here in Pennsylvania.

I guess that links to my next question, Looking at your vids they are pretty much contest footage based, any plans to get outside of that?
Absolutely. There is only so much you can do with contest footage. I think I have done as good a job with the contest footage as I can do. When I first started Monolithic, I put out 4 contest based DVD’s in the first 2 years and even though the quality was there, people just don’t buy contest DVDs. So I made the decision to just put up web videos that can help expose flatland to more people and get people stoked on coming out to events. I will be filming for a Pennsylvania Flatland scene DVD this spring.

Do flatland videos really sell Erik?
There is no money in flatland, ha ha. It all comes down to distribution. Bobby Carter can sell a lot more DVD’s than the rest of us and even he has problems covering his own expenses. I can tell you this, not one flatland filmmaker is in this for profits. We do it because we love it and want to give back.
I mean it would be nice to have some travel expenses paid for, but no one is looking for more than that really

I was talking to Martti online yesterday and he now works in a bike shop full time, your talking about one of the best riders of all time, and he can’t make a living off of flat, he’s just released one of the best videos ever.
Tell me about it. it’s really sad.
That is really.
That is a very big reason that I am doing this now. I had about a 9 year stretch where I was out of the scene from like 95 to 04 and when I came back the first thing I did was walk into a local bike shop and asked them who rode flatland in the area and they looked at me like I was from mars. They had barely heard of it. At that moment I knew I had to do something to get flatland back into the collective consciousness of kids.
Yeah, the magazines seem to be totally oblivous to how flatland is part of bmx
That infuriates me. Don’t get me wrong, I follow and respect street riding as much as anyone but the fact that flatland can’t even get one page of coverage is an outrage in my opinion.

Yeah its bums me out, I’m over it though. I guess flatmattersonline wouldn’t have started but for Ride UK pulling the plug on that page.
Yeah, that was very disappointing. I was also said when Brian Tunney told me that they were dropping flat from DIG. At least we still have Cream. I am very proud to have contributed to that fine magazine.

Yes, I’ve used this video once before, but so what? Watch again. Voodoo jam pre edit

Voodoo Pre Jam 2008 from Erik Otto on Vimeo.

I just put these new OG caramel 3’s on my bike yesterday, off for first session on them after I post this.

Cream 32 is out now, the march/april edition is 20 pages strong in flatland coverage.

The tone for this issue is set in the editorial by Alain Massabova. To cut the editorial short, a street wear brand no longer wants to communicate in Cream any more, translate communicate for advertise…

I personally couldn’t agree more with Alains editorial, Bmx is already small enough as it is, segregating flat doesn’t make any sense, especially when its influencing other forms of bmx so much.

Let me also say that the 20 pages off flat in this issue is hardly too much, fits in nicely!

So whats in this issue (bare in mind im only covering the flat!)

-Columbia to Panama, nice diary type story of Raphael’s trip, some great shots of young kids busting out on ghetto bikes.

– Great interview by Matthias with Michael Machard, aka Mika, you may know this guy who did the Martti hang five jump to crackpacker, really insightful interview, that discusses his lifestyle, motivation for riding, the paris scene, and of course the hang five jump to crackpacker. Probably the best article in this issue.

– Photography Portfolio of Tomas Olajos, couple of nice shots of Adam Kun in scenic locations.

– The Japanese influence continues this issue with Kotaro Tanaka, and Akira Okamura, amazing shots from Green G.

La Gazette this issue has coverage of the Revolcon contest in mexico, Whos next exhibition in paris showing the work of Cream magazine.

– The Long beach jam gets a page, nice shots of Puente, and Chad busting..

And that’s the flatland coverage this issue, go and buy the best magazine for flat, show support.

New riders are few and far between in the UK right now, I met Andrew at the Tgm jam last year, he had progressed a lot from the previous year, 360 bike pivots to two footed dump truck, and some nice halfpacker switches, new talent is really good to see, his latest video on globalflat shows a bizarre jump in the level of riding, I asked him a few questions to find out more.

How long have you been riding for?
I’ve been riding about 4-5 years.

How did you get into flatland?
After buying a Hoffman street bike, I couldn’t be bothered to ride to East Grinstead skatepark each time I wanted to ride ramps so I started riding flat in my front drive after stumbling across bmxtrix.com. That site is basically the whole reason I started. A year later I got a DK Signal and just kept riding!

We dont see you at many events, last i can recall was the TGM jam, do you plan on hitting a few more events anytime soon?
Music and my A levels take up alot of my time at the moment, so flat is taking a backseat for a bit even though I like to find an hour or so a day to ride. I haven’t really thought about competing and in the past I’ve had clashing dates from work etc. In summer I’ll be out and about more though.

Your video has a really bizarre jump in level of tricks, from hang nothings up to realy tech switches such as 360 bike pivot to two footed dump truck for example? Was that an intentional thing, to show basics as well?
I didn’t think of my riding in terms of basic and tech really, I progress faster in some areas than others, the main backwheel pivot I do at the moment was dialed in a week or so, but I can’t even do Hitchhikers after years of trying!

Thanks for your time Andrew, keep at it!!