Who doesn’t love a bike check? I’m always curious about people’s set ups, and what you can bring to your own set up. With the help of David Paterson over at We the People HQ, today we are able to bring this exclusive feature on Naoto Tamaru’s new WTP Utopia ride, and his new signature parts which have some interesting tweaks, let’s get into it!
Lots of people messaging me about Ciaran Perry’s riding, and I dug back to my interview with him from 2009, his riding to this day is still relevant. Enjoy this one if you missed it the first time from the FM blogspot days….
intro/interview: EC
Ciaran Perry is the first of the ‘isolated’ interviews for my blog, it’s great that in a country as small as ours, there’s still amazing riders that I haven’t ever met yet. Throughout the UK and no doubt every other country in the world, there are pockets of riders or individual riders that help push the artform forward at their own speed, not inspired by trends, but their own personal aspirations.
Ciaran’s 23 years old, and lives in the South west of England, in Taunton. Not too far from where the NASS event happens.
No doubt many of you have seen Ciaran’s videos on global flat, Vimeo, you tube, if you haven’t theres a few videos within this two part interview, an awesome rider, with a real creative flair. Read on.
Your quite far removed from the rest of the UK flat scene, how did you get into riding? I’m always interested how riders get exposed to flat?
Well I used to skate for 3 years + before flat and was first exposed to flat at I believe the first ever NASS. Phil Dolan was doing a show with GT, I remember being massively intrigued by what was going on, it just looked so different and so fresh. I think even then I percieved it as being super creative and pretty much limitless ironically as a skater I was full into flatland skating but without the influence. I never knew who Rodney Mullen was or even saw flatland skating till pretty much after I had finished with it, it was just my natural style, so it was transitional to move to flatland. It was the perfect sport, my love for bikes and the creativity I enjoyed in skating all came to one with flatland. So yeah, Phil Dolan and the first issue of Ride (UK) I ever owned, which again had a Phil Dolan interview and Jimmy (Petitet) and Alex (Jumelin) interview in were my first exposures to flatland.
That shows the importance of flatland being in the magazines really, and also flatland in contests, that also really proves worthwhile when something I was involved in inspired somebody to get into flatland. Now your into flatland and fully involved, I guess you don’t miss the magazine coverage and everything has moved online pretty much? What’s your standpoint on lack of flatland in the magazines?
I can’t really say I was ever much of a magazine buyer anyway, they were more like if I happen to be going past smiths I’ll have a look to see if there’s anything worth purchasing, so for me whether flatland is in magazines or not is no direct concern, but now we are all online I think it’s positive for a number of reasons.
Firstly its easier to reach a broader audience online which is clearly a big thing, its also free online to both access and create so the concerns of covering costs aren’t so great, but also outside of that, the internet is fast and everyone now is contributing like a family, if some jam comes down you can guarantee someone was there and will be reporting it online within a day and then it will be talked about and to be honest the only negative I can ever see is the lack of quality in online videos compared to professional DVD work from Bobby and Chad, etc, but I think slowly that’s improving also.
At the end of the day flatlanders aren’t film makers so they just want to see the riding, which is a shame because the art of film making and presentation is important to. The end of magazines isn’t a negative though, it’s merely a focus shift to a more accessible online format, it’s basically made the most underground riders able to show off their stuff if they want to.
My plan is to go to Japan for Flatark in December 2023 and Chimera A-Side in January 2024. There is a 2.5-week gap between the events, and I have decided to stay in Asia during that time. I need some sun, to get away from the Netherlands, and time for myself after a challenging period. I quickly decide on Thailand: curious about the culture, food, nature, and I think it’s easily accessible for the relatively short duration. I know Toon from various events in the past years, and I message him that I will be in Thailand during that period. Off we go!
Continue reading
Announcing the winners of the 2023 Flatmattersonline Year End Awards in Editorial and Reader Choice categories! Thanks to everyone to took the time to vote – congratulations to all the winners and nominees. It is always a pleasure to host these awards, I’ll be in touch with the winners shortly + interviews with the winners soon.
– Effraim.
YU KATAGIRI:
WINNER OF READER CHOICE RIDER OF THE YEAR.
CONTEST RUN OF THE YEAR & LINE OF THE YEAR.
2023 was an amazing year for Yu Katagiri, Yu dominated the X Games in Chiba Japan and many of you voted for him not only as Rider of the Year, stating the X Games was a big factor in that decision, so it’s understandable you also voted Yu for Contest Run of the Year with his X Games final run.
Yu won the Flatark, with a ridiculous “never been done” that you the readers of FM voted as line of the year during the best trick format finale to the contest, plus Yu won a few of the Chimera A- side events.
It’s no rocket science, Yu Katagiri is on top of his game right now and is the rider to beat on the contest scene, I personally would love to see a video part out of him each year as well as the contest riding much like Dub is doing. Congratulations Yu!!
JEAN WILLIAM PREVOST:
WINNER OF EDITORIAL CHOICE RIDER OF THE YEAR.
READER CHOICE & EDITORIAL CHOICE MUST WATCH EDIT OF THE YEAR.
Running Flatmattersonline my outlook on Rider of the year appears to be obviously different than the readers, which keeps things interesting. Many of you focus on contests, whereas running FM I think Video parts as well as contests are important. Jean William Prevost was that rider in 2023 that delivered on both fronts, the way I see it contests and having a video part also are really important in being a complete rider. Nowadays as the modern day pro, you should have a video part, someone like James White springs to mind here and someone I want to shoutout as he had so much amazing content all year, an amazing video part and even a few contests to boot.
Dubs “Comes in waves” could easily have been three video parts, we can of course focus on the amazing tricks, but the narrative and story telling throughout really shown through for me, and sat him apart from all the rest.
Dub killed it on the contest scene, with one of the best runs of the year at the Huffjam, podium at Fise Montpellier and X Games. Dub had an amazing year, also running IGI and helping out other riders along the way, and that’s what it takes to be rider of the year in my opinion.
AUDE CASSAGNE:
READER CHOICE FEMALE RIDER OF THE YEAR.
Photo: Swpix_cycling
Female Rider of the Year was the closet run award in 2023. For the second year in a row, Aude Cassagne took the honours, congratulations! Winning Fise Montpellier and the UCI world Championships in one year is no joke, plus a lot of instagram content and a solid “Revive” part makes Aude the complete package, understandable how many of you voted for the second year in a row.
YU SHOJI:
EDITORIAL CHOICE BREAKTHROUGH RIDER OF THE YEAR.
Photo: Swpix_cycling
Breakthrough rider of the year is in mind one of the most important awards for a number of reasons. We need new talent breaking through, that in turn pushes the top level. What a year 2023 was for our winner, Yu Shoji. Yu won the Fise Montpellier contest and the UCI world championship in Glasgow, dropping fresh moves throughout the year to boot including his new crackpacker turbine into snake spin with signature flat spin jump style. Congratulations Yu!
HERESY BMX:
EDITORIAL CHOICE BRAND OF THE YEAR.
The flatland industry is a small one, with so much love poured into each brands products to make them happen. This year’s winner is once again, Heresy BMX. Besides product, Heresy recently added Jeanne Signeur to their team, and adding another female to their amazing team adds another dynamic to the squad. Heresy are also one of the only brands in the game to release video parts each year, big fan of that they do for the flatland community. Congratulations Alexis and Heresy!
ATTILA TOTH / FOUR PEGS BMX:
EDITORIAL CHOICE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION.
Last year’s winner Rodney Williams was well received, this years award for Outstanding Contribution goes to Attila Toth from Four Pegs Bmx! This award isn’t really about riding, it is about a contribution to the culture and lifestyle side of what we love.
Attila goes out of his way to support the flatland and BMX scene, he also sponsors riders all across Europe, and supports events, he has recently started making bike parts and is doing it independent style, which I respect a lot. So much to admire about Attila, congratulations!!
Hello everyone!
It’s time to announce the nominees for the 2023 Flatmattersonline Year End Awards in Reader Choice (You at Home) and Editorial Vote (Me at FM HQ!). Congratulations to everyone who got nominated, and thank you to everyone who took the time to vote.
– Effraim.
READER VOTE:
RIDER OF THE YEAR:
Julien Baran
Yu Katagiri
Jean William Prevost
Yu Shoji
Kio Hayakawa
EDIT OF THE YEAR:
Jean William Prevost: Comes in waves
Dane Beardsley: About Time
James White: White Noise
Sebastian Grubinger: Finale
Viki Gomez: 20 Years on red bull
FEMALE RIDER OF THE YEAR:
Carin Hommura
Aude Cassagne
Jeanne Signeur
Louise Signeur
Leticia Moda
CONTEST RUN OF THE YEAR:
Yu Shoji: Uci Glasgow final
Kio Hayakawa: Chimera Round 3 final
Yu Katagiri: X Games final
Yu Katagiri: Flatark
Jean William Prevost: Huffjam
LINE OF THE YEAR:
Dane Beardsley: Last trick in About Time.
Yu Katagiri: Flatark Best Trick.
Kio Hayakawa: Xft upside pedalling Uci Glasgow semi final.
Yu Shoji: Crack jump to Saturn spin.
Takato Moriya: Backwards pedal junkyard full flip line.
EDITORIAL VOTE:
RIDER OF THE YEAR:
James White
Jean William Prevost
Yu Katagiri
Yu Shoji
Kio Hayakawa
MUST WATCH EDIT OF THE YEAR:
James White: White Noise
Jean William Prevost: Comes in Waves
Sebastian Grubinger: Finale
Takahiro Enoki: Heresy
Dane Beardsley: About Time
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION:
* To be announced next Sunday.
BREAKTHROUGH RIDER OF THE YEAR:
Yu Shoji
Ren Oshima
Jijejije Bmx
Takuji Izumi
Takatora Hishkawa
BRAND OF THE YEAR:
Heresy BMX
Four Pegs BMX
IGI FLAT BMX
Ares Bykes
Nous BMX
*The 2023 Flatmattersonline Year End Award winners will be announced next Sunday (28th January).
As promised, here’s a glimpse of some contenders for the Flatmattersonline 2023 Year End Awards. These are just a few highlights from FM Instagram and standout edits. The complete list would be too lengthy.
Check out #flatmattersonlinelineoftheyear2023 on instagram for more videos. Happy voting and enjoy!
It’s that time of year, the Flatmattersonline Year Awards for 2023 are upon us. The readers of FM have around a month to vote, so plenty of time for you to consider your votes for Rider of the Year, Edit of the Year, Female Rider of the Year, Contest Run of the Year and the most difficult one but a fun one to break down, Line of the Year. As always have fun with it!
Reader Choice:
Rider of year
Edit of Year
Female rider of year
Contest Run of Year
Line of Year (video highlighting some of the contenders dropping in a few days, stay tuned!)
Editorial Vote:
Rider of year
Must Watch Edit of year
Outstanding Contribution
Breakthrough Rider of year
Brand of the Year
How do you vote?
Send your votes through to: effraim@flatmattersonline.com – entitled Flatmattersonline Year End Awards 2023.
Please vote only by email, it gets too complicated with DM’s, facebook messages etc.
When’s the Deadline for voting?
Voting closes Sunday 14th January.
VOTING NOW CLOSED!
Nominees announced:
Sunday January 21st
Year end award winners announced:
Sunday January 28th.
Please note:
Voting only counts via email. Plenty of time to go through edits over the new year, and look back via the site on the highlights of the year that will follow over the next few weeks, take your time and good luck and most of all enjoy the process of voting!
Flatmattersonline.
Have a good Christmas everyone, and happy new year!
Thanks to everyone who supported the Flatmattersonline 15th anniversary merchandise launch, appreciate the love!!
Effraim.
When reflecting on 15 years of running the site, my initial thoughts trace back to the “To scuff or not?” article on the Blogspot site. Contemplating how much Flatland has progressed—advanced tricks, evolving techniques.
Up steps Mark Ward during a session at my flatland school, Mark is a fellow rider and designer, who’s worked with Greystoke BMX, Haro Bikes, and Dale Holmes racing brand Dvide recently. He proposed a futuristic series of drawings for Flatmattersonline Merch, offering a glimpse into where Flatland might be in another fifteen years that somewhat aligned with what I was thinking of to celebrate the anniversary. Continue reading
Text: François “Fan” Debroux.
Photos: Glenn Mehltretter & Robert & Ruben Castillo, Kevin Cunningham.
Massive thanks to François for reaching out with this awesome repo following on from Barre’s Oya Street Jam repo. So good to have people all over the world contributing towards Flatmattersonline!
Text: Barre Neirynck.
Photos: Barre Neirynck, Djou Nien.
I hit Barre Neirynck a message after I saw a few photos on Instagram,. Whats this event Barre? I don’t know much about it, it looks amazing. Barre came through with this repo, shouts to Barre and Djou Nien for helping out with photos. Nice to get a repo back here on Flatmattersonline. Enjoy this one!
TRAVEL DAY.
It all started last year when I saw some footage from a underground contest on a island thirty minutes away from the west coast of France!
Between Normandië and Bordeaux.
The vibe was so dope, that it sparked my interest to know more about this event.
The name of the island is Île d’Yeu, and is organise by Etienne Taraud and crew, the event called Oya Street Jam! With a resident population of only 5000 people, community style.
