wicked wrenching customs

My riding history began with BMX. I was an impressionable kid growing up, and in my neighbourhood you either skated, surfed or rode a BMX. I was terrible on a skateboard, but was really good on rollerblades. I could jump several stairs on my blades but they still weren't considered as cool as a proper skateboard, so I gave it up and went back to riding my bike. I would purchase BMX movies on VHS like Eddie Roman's Ride On, and watch it over and over until the tape finally gave out (I had to buy a few copies of Ride On over the years, until I finally digitised my copy!) One of the riders I liked watching the most was Mat Hoffman, his style was the best by far.

I started saving up for my first Hoffman bike. I really wanted the Condor, which was the top level bike that Mat himself rode, but all I could afford was a mid level model called the Sugar Baby. Still it was a genuine US made Hoffman, and I rode halfpipe and skate parks on that bike until it was stolen sometime in 1998. 

 

I had stopped riding halfpipe around that time, and with the insurance money bought a race bike instead. I was still riding skateparks, but had got back into a bit of track racing and dirt jumps, and some street riding as well. In 2003 I wandered into a shop called Watch For Bikes in Chatswood looking for a job, while I was handing over my resume I spotted a stunning Hoffman frame and fork hanging on one of the walls. I asked the owner about it, and he said it came with the stock when he purchased the shop recently and did not know much about it. It was a Limited Edition frameset in tribute to Evil Knievel. I had to have it and put down a deposit the same day.

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I did not have a Hoffman catalog to reference to, and there was little info on the internet at the time. So I just built it up as I liked it as opposed to catalog correct. The matching EK1 saddle and bars were used, but the rest of the parts are Primo components and the wheels were ones I built up using Hoffman rims and hubs. It was a very heavy bike in the end, and while that was perfect for halfpipe and ramps, It was terrible for street and park use. I kept it for a couple years before selling it at auction when eBay first appeared in Australia. There were not very many bikes on it at that time, so the EK1 auction went very well. I was getting back into riding mountain bikes again, so the cash went straight back into the next custom build.