how to save FGFS part I: edits and riding

there are really two parts to FGFS and i think i covered the equipment part alright. so lets move on to something that could really get me into some heat. if you havent noticed, im getting kind of picky with the FGFS stuff that i'm posting. you'll find out why after the jump.





FGFS is getting boring. pick your jaw up off the floor. yes, FGFS is getting fucking boring. i'm not one to bite the hand that feeds me, i'm not stupid. FGFS is slowly getting fucking boring. somewhere in 2012 i made a list of "rules" which stemmed from shit that bothered me about FGFS edits. i'm going to revisit these things and maybe add more.


perfect example of a perfect park edit.

park edits are okay. street edits are better. they will almost always be better. unless you are pulling really sick shit in a park that's really fucking flowy and your riding makes it difficult to tell whether or not you're running a freewheel.


LEARN IT OPPOSITE, LEARN IT SWITCH.

if you could do shit forwards, you could do shit fakie. furthermore, if you rotate one way, learn switch. you should have in your head "dont be a bitch, do it switch." it makes your trick bag 50% bigger if you could do your whole repertoire switch.


do it with flair, bro.

here's something at the very top of my list... FUCK JUST DOING FEEBLES. UNLESS THE LEDGE IS WAY THE FUCK HIGH, OR THE RAIL IS WAY THE FUCK SKINNY, WEAK FEEBLES ON WEAK LEDGES ARE FILLER. i am sick of seeing plain ass feebles. if you're going to do it, do it with flair bro. CHARGE INTO THAT SHIT. which brings me to another thing...


dew will carry speed through a line. if you could keep this pace, you're golden.

RIDE FASTER YOU PUSSY. i've seen way too many edits where people are literally crawling into tricks. and you wonder why bmx heads hate our fucking guts? yeah, it's harder with the fixed drivetrain but at it's core, you're the only one slowing you down. DONT BE A BITCH AND RIDE FASTER.

if the spot has been ridden before in another edit, then ONE UP THAT SHIT. i get it, some of y'all live in the same area. what i dont get is dudes doing the exact same trick on the same spot. DAZZLE ME MOTHERFUCKER.


it's not a hard 180 but this gap feeble 180 by jeffy diesel was pretty difficult.

here's one that's extremely specific and riffs off the feeble shit: if you're going to do something out of the feeble, don't bar. we've seen it. many times. many, many times. and dont 180 out. if you're going to do that 180 out do it clean. if you're gonna land slop, then that better be a hard 180. MORE HARD 180'S. DONT BE A BITCH, LEARN HARD 180'S.

no one wants to see 10 minutes of sponsors/shoutouts. no one. this isn't fucking nascar. dont do that shit ironically either.

this one might be a personal one but i'm going to put this here anyway. sometimes an edit surrounding a curb can be more exciting than one with a variety of spots.


torey thornton was one of the greatest examples of terrain oriented riding. that dude found spots that looked unrideable, and rode the shit out of them.

on the topic of spots, there needs to be more spot oriented riding. we know what you could do with a ledge so use it differently.


oscar khan. this dude was wild. he had a riding style and bike to match.

your bike. it looks like everyone else's bike. so naturally i'm going to gravitate towards strange and different things like 700c/29 or bb drop or chainless fixie shit. get weird. but don't get too weird to the point where i have a confused look on my face. remember, there's a difference between "wtf?" and "WTFFFFFFFFFFFFF".


even the grinds were timed with the music. damn son.

this one's kind of a specific one to editing i guess: if you're going to put background music, match that shit with the vibe of the riding. this is very evident when i see weak ass edits set to trap music. if you're going with that trap shit, you best be throwing some REAL TRAP SHIT.


the pedal check rule is real. take this one with joe mckeag for example. also supports the park edit rule, the cali hop rule- basically this shit is on point.

if you pedal check, do not exceed 2 hops. if you dont pedal check and time shit out, it looks clean and professional. pedal check once, it's okay, it doesn't look dumb. pedal check twice only if you're doing something pretty nuts. 3 pedal checks- youre fucking playin' dude. quit that shit.

if you're going to land off rolling out of a 180, don't do that california correction hop shit. that shit ugly as fuck.


HAAAAAAM-MER-TIIIIIIIME! HAAAAAAM-MER-TIIIIIIIME!

IMMA SAY THIS AGAIN. RIDE FASTER. RIDING FASTER IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER. ALWAYS.

all of this is silly and whatnot but i'd like to bring up a point that i've bought up in the past as well as multiple times (translation: this is the part where i'm hella serious). fixed gear specific tricks need to come to the forefront again. most of these edits and tricks that i see are very BMX style tricks. if i didn't know any better, i probably wouldn't be able to tell- i'd probably think most edits out there are shitty, slower, and sloppier big wheel bmx edits. aside from the fact that you're pedal checking and bouncing up and down after 180's, some of these edits out there never showcase the fixed drivetrain. in all honestly, it kind of perpetuates that "fixie" stigma BMX riders give to our little group as if we're trying to "be BMX" with an ancient idea of cycling drivetrains. i think showcasing the drivetrain in ways that other aspects of cycling (like BMX and dirt jumping and whatever) can't really emulate really captures people's attention and separates FGFS as a unique (non copycat) sector of action sports cycling (or whatever you call it).



i'm pretty sure i got everything out of my system and i'm pretty sure some of you are gonna be like "well i don't see you doing any of this shit yourself jmik, why don't you come out with an edit you pussy!" i suck at riding and i know it. i only do wheelies, ride fast, and jump shit. i'm about as entertaining to watch as a broken lightbulb. but these are things that i've noticed over my years of blogging, and no i honestly don't think FGFS is boring. again, i said i'm not stupid. i'm not going to bite the hand that feeds me. i just said that to see if you actually read.

jmik