2021 DownUnderGround – Australian BMX flatland championships

Looking forward to grabbing a cuppa and watching this one, always entertaining to watch and listen to the guys discuss the riding.

“2021 DownUnderGround, the Australian BMX flatland championships number 13 was a video only contest due to travel restriction within Australia. This made organizing a national contest problematic. For whatever reason the number of riders who entered was smaller than past years even though the concept was changed this year so riders could submit multiple clips in their video up to 2 ½ minutes. We did get two new riders entered into the beginner class that we have not seen in an Australian flatland competition, this was super rad. As we did for last year we invited the judges, Paul Chamberlain and Joe Cicman and James McGraw, to offer commentary, competition run reviews and general banter on the final video.”

Yuo Hayakawa: Welcome to IGI

Yuo Hayakawa is a young shredder from Nagaoka Niigata, Japan. You may be familiar with his older brother Kio, who has made his mark on the World scene from the confines of his indoor spot, well his younger brother, youngest of three brothers/riders is following in the footsteps of his two older brothers and really showing us the depth of his bag of tricks in this Welcome to IGI Edit!

Welcome to the Next generation!!!

Must Watch: MATSUDO YEAR END JAM 2021

The first Must Watch edit of 2022, and it’s no surprise it comes from Jimalog’s latest!
What it must be like to be blessed with what certainly looks like one of the best flatland scenes in the world, great riding spot, variety of tricks on show, riders supporting each other, the list goes on. Whatever you like, it’s here!

Great riding from Akihiko Takahashi, Masashi Itani, Yu Shoji (don’t miss his clips!),
Takahiro Ikeda, Shuichi Osada, Kazuma Nakajima, Takuji Kasahara, Nariaki Kudo,
Hidenori Ishizaki, Takahiro Enoki, Shinichiro Hara and Hiroya Matsumoto.

Yu Shoji’s clips stand out in this one, not to mention it is so good to see some fresh Shuichi Osada footage!

My day is made!

Time to Vote: The Flatmattersonline Year End Awards 2021!

Hello everyone!
It’s that time of year where we celebrate another amazing year of flatland, and honour the winners with a medal in each category.
This year I decided to switch a few of the awards up and most noticeably add A Female Rider of the Year award.
Womens Flatland is arguably the area of flatland I see growing the most especially in the last year with events such as Flatqueens really helping to showcase new talented riders. I’d like to honour these women, rather than myself vote I’ve passed that one over to you the readers.

I am sure you can agree. It’s been another strange year, the Covid 19 pandemic has continued to cause Havok and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast?
I ask the question once again, Are contest results albeit online as important with how you vote this year? What really matters to you? The video parts? What riders are doing for others, the list goes on.
You have plenty of time to vote, work your way through the year and see who’s contributing throughout the year, or who’s had that banger part that inspired your own personal riding. Everyone has different opinions, which is one of the many things that makes flatland so special.

Without further a due, it’s time to start researching and digging back through the year at what’s gone on throughout this crazy year.

Who is going to win the awards this year, it’s definitely going to be interesting…

Editorial Vote:
Rider of year
Must Watch Edit of year
Outstanding Contribution
Breakthrough Rider of year
Brand of the Year

Reader Choice:
Rider of year
Edit of Year
Female rider of year
Contest Run of Year
Line of Year

How do you vote?
Send your votes through to: effraim@flatmattersonline.com – entitled Flatmattersonline Awards 2021.

When’s the Deadline for voting?
Voting closes Sunday January 16th.

Nominees announced:
Sunday January 16th.

Year end award winners announced:
Sunday January 30th.

Please note:
Voting only counts via email, and you must vote in each category to be eligible. 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!

Flatmatters!

Effraim Catlow.

Hiroya Morizaki starts Crown!

HUGE news today from Japan, one of the best riders in the game. Hiroya Morizaki just started his own bike brand, over to Hiroya!

“I just started a new bike brand, Crown. First, let me introduce the new sample that just arrived.
The first frame is based on Delta, which I used to design for Quamen Bikes, a California-based BMX frame company back in 2005, and improved the design suitable for the modern flatland needs.

The fork is initially designed for the Garuda frame of Aresbikes but pursing as small a clearance as possible and shortens the length of the fork for the best possible usability at doing various types of tricks, front and back tricks, rolling, and spinning.
Every detail of geometries results from numerous tries and errors over two years. I’ll keep testing until the release, although the production schedule is still up in the air due to the COVID situation. Stay tuned!

Logo designd by Yuta Takahashi.

Must Watch: Viki Gomez / Rise 3

Viki Gomez / RISE 3 from Viki Gomez on Vimeo.

It’s been a quiet few weeks as we get into the festive season. Viki Gomez changed all that with this amazing new “Rise 3” put together by Sevisual. Viki showcases arguably the biggest tricktionary in the game, everything Viki does is amazing, but the standouts for me in this one:

2:56: Bike flip line that just develops as the line goes on, more and more tech, that x-ft ice cream body varial takes the cake for me, beautiful!

4:43: Steam Kickflip to halfpacker which is a Viki staple move, watch the new ride out!

Don’t sleep on this one…..