Category Archives: News

James White & Luke Glover win Roll on Flatland

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Photos: Effraim, Ben Marvin.

The premier Roll on Flatland event at Pitt St Skatepark hosted by Mike O’Connell was a huge success for U.K. flatland with around 40 riders plus spectators in attendance. A proper good day of riding to kick off the contest season.

Congratulations to James White throwing down a flawless second run to take the £150 cash prize donated by Rob Ridge followed by Jason Forde and Steve Green.

In the expert class, we had 15 riders with Luke Glover taking the win with his flat/street style followed by newcomer of the day Ellis Morgans and Billy Hughes in third.

Big up Mike, all the judges, staff at Pitt skatepark, riders and spectators for your support.

Roll on the next one!

James White: The Lost Tapes

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Johann Chan comes through with another gem from the archives, with James White. Here’s what Johann had to say:

“I was rummaging through my old VHS-C tapes recently and found a tape with JW June 98 written on it. I knew it would be decent if it was footage of James, but what I found was a full session of filming with James at South Bank from 1998, pre-brakless, and before he dropped the scuffing.
Packed with inside scuffing, clockwise, anti-clockwise, rolling both feet. James takes us through a dialled pre-brakeless trickionary on board his Hoffman EP.”

One Love Jam 2025

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Darin Wright just dropped the official One Love Jam edit from this years event, around hundred riders made the trip to Newport Beach, Southern California.

Check the edit featuring:

Riders:
Glenn Goland
Martin Aparijo
Mario Contini
Dave Nourie
Brian Huffman
Robert Castillo
Joey Kyllo
Bobby Carter
Ruben Castillo
Dino Jeffers
Shayne Khajehnoori
JF Boulianne
James McGraw
Bo Wade
Ahmed Johnson
Ryan Russell
Pete Brandt
Dub

Must Watch: Brandon Fenton/ Lashed Out

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The whiplash road of progression in flatland, not many walk the walk.. Brandon Fenton is one of those guys, that’s taken the time to master the skill, commitment and balance point. Offloading a few years worth of variations, there’s numerous examples to highlight.

2:10: Just off a foot jam, how many backwards whiplashes Brandon can do, not to mention spot envy. 10 backwards whiplashes is so hard, backwards bar variation at 3:09 too!
2:44: Opposite side downside whiplashes might be one of the best looking flatland tricks ever, here Brandon makes it look easy…
4:36: Regular backwards whiplashes rebate to opposite backwards whiplashes.
5:30: Opposite whiplashes turbine no scuff to backwards whiplashes.

And many more like I said, the lonely road of whiplash progression seems few and far between in modern day flatland world. Loved this edit Brandon put together, a pure artist unlocking the codes and his technique is on point. Respect!

Rest in Peace Bill Freeman

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Sad news today as we learn of the passing of Bill Freeman, the man behind the invention of the Cliffhanger in 1988. His impact on the riding community was immense, and his legacy will live on.

Those who knew Bill remember him not only for his contributions to the sport but also for the great times shared on rides and trips. I was lucky enough to interview Bill on a trip to California back in 2010, sharing his passion and insight on inventing such a staple move still to this day in flatland circles. (See video below)

Rest in Peace Bill. Photo Credit: Spike Jonze.

THE 2024 FLATMATTERSONLINE YEAR AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

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It is time to get into the winners of the 2024 Flatmattersonline Year End Awards. We had a record number of people voting this year, as well as some good suggestions for how the awards should be announced for next year. Congratulations to all the winners, and also everyone who was nominated.
I will be in touch with the winners soon for their contact details to send the medals out!!

Flatmatters!

READER CHOICE RIDER OF YEAR + CONTEST RUN OF THE YEAR + LINE OF THE YEAR + EDITORIAL CHOICE RIDER OF THE YEAR

YU KATAGIRI.

Yu Katagiri won the reader choice by a fair margin it’s fair to say. With around 60% voting for Yu, and you can see why.
He got my vote much like my vote for Nora Cup, because he’s pushing the sport and dropping brand new tricks and taking risks in his contest runs which is pushing the sport at the highest level.
This might not win contests all the time, but does win respect and he’s setting a standard now which is so promising for the future.
Not to mention when he does get it right, it’s something to experience in real life. Hence why many of you voted for his winning run at the Japanese championships in November! Jaw dropping perfection in signature snappy Yu Katagiri style.
And you can’t forget Yu dropping the no footed backwards spin levitating and jumping through to switch foot ice cream on the opposite side on Jimalog’s Umikaze edit, this move sent shock waves through the flatland scene. I haven’t seen a trick like that for years, this levitating line broke new ground, and physics for sure. Well deserved Line of the year!!
Congrats Yu for winning four awards in 2024, the future is so bright for Yu!

Continue reading →

Hang 5 Podcast: Episode 50 with Gonzalo Bellanti

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“For this episode, Francois sat down with a relatively less known shredder from Argentina. He has been riding for 20 years, first in the streets of Buenos Aires, honing his skills with fellow local riders. As his riding grew, so did the opportunities and he got to travel the world, do a residency in Abu Dhabi and now calls Melbourne home.We discuss his roots, the growth of the Argentinian scene, competing, living off your passion, travelling/working abroad, sharing spots, why he chose to go back to a 9-5 and how he still hit the UCI stops in 2024, and how he plan to do it again this year, the need for federation support, how he is learning tricks/links and so much more! Welcome to the life of Gonzalo Bellanti.”

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1164767

Must Watch: Float/ A Flatland Film

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Anthony Schneidewind at TS Visual Media put in hell of a lot of work into producing a flatland film together just over an hour long!! Mostly in like mix tape format with a few sections put together that I really enjoyed. The time flew by watching this, loved the Wright brothers part, Will Redd’s part at 39:46 with some unique turbine moves, death truck puppet turbines, locomotive turbines, and much more to boot, to mention all the amazing riders in between throwing a clip here and there.
The highlight without a doubt is Bruno Zebu’s part at 53:00, x-ft skills to pay the bills. His lines are absolutely ridiculous and just keep building, his pivot skills and generating speed mid pivot is something special, I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t watched it yet.

I would say grab a cuppa, and jump on this one as soon as you can. It’s a great start to 2025!