Happenings
Woodward Old School Jam
Eddie Fiola Riding his 22" Zeitgeist Bike.
Eddie Fiola took his 22” Zeitgeist bike along to the Woodward Old School Reunion Jam in California March 17th.
This was the first official gathering of all the 80’s freestyle legends in 20 years and it was a dream come true for us to think Eddie was taking along his 22” Zeitgeist for everyone to try out.
Todd Anderson had got in touch a few days earlier asking about our bikes, as years ago when Todd was just starting out experimenting with ramps he had first learnt the airs on his brothers 24” cruiser. Todd said the feeling of stability that larger wheels have in the air makes everything more predictable and it’s a great feeling "I wondered if the 22” would still have that feeling and still combine the agility of smaller wheels".We suggested Todd ask Eddie for a go on his as Eddie was planning to take his 22” bike to the Woodward Jam. Here’s Todd’s account of the day.
I took along both my 20" and 24" bikes to the Old School Jam, Eddie was there with his 20" and 22". I only got a few goes on the 22" as everyone wanted to ride it.
It felt great for doing airs especially on the bigger transition ramps.
I loved it, definitely a big air bike.
Todd and Eddie are renowned for their stylish riding and are two of my all time favourite riders, to think that these guys have ridden our bikes and have been so positive about them is pretty mind blowing for us. Thanks guys.
Faction on TV.
| UK TV 'the gadget show' |bmx vs 4x-MTB
The Faction Zeitgeist's first '15 minutes of fame' came soon after its release, when it was tested on Channel 5's technology & lifestyle show. The Zeitgeist came out top in their unique set of tests to compare hybrid freestyle/race bikes. Check out the show online >See the Program clip here
(FFWd past the first 2 mins of ads on this video link).
First race-meet on a 22"
22" VS 24" Race Test = Shock Results.
Regionals Event, Bullwell track, Nottingham
Mat's race
In his first race riding a 22" bike, 16 year old Mat Johnson achieved a 2nd place finish racing in the 16 to 29 year old 24" Cruiser class.The race was won by an older sponsored rider who is ranked #1 for the Region, riding a state-of-the-art 24" race bike (Mat's bike was a cromo frame 22" Zeitgeist bike which is light, but not intended as a race model).
This result was repeated again in the Final that day and again Mat (who was the youngest rider in his race) beat 6 older racers who were all on 24" bikes.Keith's race
Also that day Keith Easom (in his first race in 23 years) raced on an all mild steel early prototype 22" bike to a 3rd place finish in the 40+ 24" Cruiser class.
The 22" bike was second to the first turn and was a bike length behind the leader (National #1 ranked sponsored rider) crossing the finish line. A last minute burst of speed from another sponsored rider (National #2 ranked) saw the 22" bike over-taken from behind on the line by half a front wheel.The mild steel 22" and cromo Zeitgeist bike raced against thirteen 24" bikes that day and the 22" bikes beat 10 of them. The three feather weight, state of the art 24" bikes they didn't beat were being ridden by Nationally ranked sponsored riders on their local track.
In both races the 22" bikes were contesting the lead position in their race's right up to the finish line and were only narrowly beaten by the smallest of margins (one bike length).
Race Test report Part 2. First 22" bike VS 20" bike race, ever.
Derby Midland Champs.So we could complete our experiment of test racing our 22" bike against first, the 24" bikes (at Bullwell) then 20" bikes (here at Derby) we had to sneak our 22" bike onto the start gate and hope no-one spotted what we were doing. The reason is, the racing rules state that 'bikes with wheels larger than 20" are forbidden to race in the 20" classes as they are deemed an unfair advantage'.
The all mild steel 22" bike was again being ridden by Keith (who had not raced since the Bullwell event) and finished 4th in the final. This result sounds better than it is as only 5 other riders turned up to race in the 30+ 20" Class yet 50 riders entered the 30+ 24" classes. (This 10 to 1 ratio seen at Derby is implies that more older racers choose to race on bigger looking and more stable bikes).
The 22" bike was beaten that day by the National #1 ranked rider and a former National #3 (who later got in touch and asked to help with further race testing). We also returned a few weeks later to race the mild steel bike again at Bullwell this time getting another 4th in the 20" class final. The results show the 22" bike has consistently performed above average in the 20" class and performed even better in the 24" class.
the Great Wall of Wolverhampton
Chris W. Smith and i waited for the May Bank Holiday to ride the Great Wall of Wolverhampton, our plan worked, the place was deserted.
The Civic is a truly epic street spot and is either a total security bust or just way too busy with pedestrians milling about, the only time to hit this place would be on a Bank Holiday.I had ridden here a few times before over the years on 20" bikes and i wanted to try out the Great Wall spot on the 22" to see if it fared better. The bank is super bumpy and is only worth hitting at full speed, on my 20" bike each bump just seemed to sap all the speed and send you off track. The 22" just flowed right over it all and i got higher this time than before, it was the most fun ive ever had there.
Creation Old School Jam.
Creation Skatepark Birmingham' |Forum meet
We got an e-mail from Joe who was organising an Old school night at Creation indoor skatepark in Birmingham on May 16/09.
Joe asked us to bring along some of our bikes for people to try out. As we walked through the door a rider who noticed our bikes commented ‘now that’s what I call a blokes BMX’. There were about 40 riders riding the park, most of them tried out the 22” bikes and one guy put in an order for an Amero bike. It was a great opportunity to talk with some of the riders there who had never seen a 22” bike before.
Everyone there was really cool and friendly, Jason Ellis tried out the Amero prototype and said it felt really good on the vert ramp and that it tail whipped easily.
We asked Jason Davies to bring along his 20” bike as well as I wanted everyone to see that Jase did exactly the same stuff on both bikes. Jase tried out my bike with pegs, running through his peg trick variations including tyre tap to ice pick on the midi section, topside 50/50 grinds, feeble grinds, tooth picks and footjam nosepicks. Jase commented that you forget your on a 22” bike after a while.
Well done Joe for organising the Jam and inviting us and Creation for their excellent skatepark (not happy about the thumb scan to get in though). See you at the next one. Cheers Keith.
Jason Lunn - 22" bike test
Jason Lunn's first go the Zeitgeist
Rider: Jason Lunn.
Location: Bristol skatepark.
Bike: 22" Wheel Zeitgeist rrp £349.99
The bike was straight out of the box, unridden.This was the first time Jason had ridden a 22" bike. Jason has been a top UK vert rider since the early 80's and has been sponsored by several big time bike companies over his career. Jason also carved himself a well earned reputation as a top UK Vert skateboarder and his natural ability also shines in his other interests of Freestyle MX riding and Surfing.
First impressions: I showed Jason the bike and he then rode it in a circle in the carpark: 'feels good, it looks like a bigger version of a BMX but not like a 24" as they look more like an MTB'. I pointed out the spec how it was a full cromo frame and fork etc and Jason said 'that's really unusual for a £350.00 bike'.
On the phone earlier Jason had said 'the wheels better be tough as i get through a lot of wheels' so i explained how our 22" wheels we designed are double walled with welded rim joins rather than pinned as found on most 20" bikes under £500.00.
With them being 48 spoke as well, i said they may well be the strongest wheels of any production bike today.Jase did a couple of 180's on the flat to roll backs then we started to walk to the outdoor park. Jason rode the bike along the path from the car park to the skatepark, bunny hopped over a two foot rail then pedalled off ahead of me at top speed and pulled a huge back flip out of the bowl without any warning.
The park was like an ice rink totally soaked and slippy at that time of the morning and understandably completely empty. I was amazed to see someone do a flip that high on a bike they had only just sat on for the first time a moment earlier. The fact that the park was so slippy as well and how he hadn't bothered to check the bowl first was just nuts.
I nabbed another 9 flips on film, numerous toboggan jumps, turn downs, over x ups, no-foot step thu's and a few 360 jump variations, each a good 6 foot up out of the bowl. A guy on an MTB turned up, tried to follow Jason's line, slid out and crashed on his first go. We helped him out of the bowl and he said 'that's never happened to me here before' and he rode off bleeding and swearing.
Jason then carried on sessioning the park undeterred. We had hoped to film at the outdoor vert ramp in Bath as vert riding is what Jason is most famous for (apart from his vert skating). We had a look at a 2nd park afterwards but again it was deserted as everyone thought better than to try and ride it when wet.
I asked Jason for his verdict on the bike and he said 'he thought it handled great, it was about time someone made a man size BMX'. 'It looks and rides exactly like a 20" yet it looks a bit bigger so no-one will say that's a kids bike'.
'Cruisers were supposed to be the adults BMX but they don't deliver on that as you cant ride em like a BMX, these bikes should have been invented years ago'.'I felt instantly comfortable with it, wish i had more time to try it out at some bigger jumps or bigger transition vert ramp.' 'It feels like it could really shine on the bigger stuff, it's just got that feeling of predictability as it's a tad more stable in the air.
I felt you could really let rip with it if you wanted to -it's really fast'.We only had the morning to ride as Jason was getting ready to leave for a 6 month surf trip to Bali. The bike held up with no damage, no buckled rims or anything even after the many huge flips onto a flat landing. My poor photography skills screwed up most of the shots and Jason was even saying I'll hold this next one longer in the air so you get it this time and talking to me mid jump.
I'm glad i've seen for myself what punishment the Zeitgeist bike can take and how huge it can go in the hands of a rider of Jason's ability. Amazingly consistent riding considering the conditions, great stuff Jason and thanks.
