Bootlegs and B-Sides

  • Boise, Idaho

  • A little bike riding and some fits of random.

    I come from a strong 20" BMX background and only in recent years did I become increasingly curious of other types of bikes.

    When I got this bike in particular, I thought it was just going to be an experimental side piece but it ended up becoming a nine month affair. Most people call this thing a "Dirt Jumper" and consider it as some form of a mountain bike, but this thing felt more like a big BMX bike to me... it’s like a fun bootleg with its own charm and appeal.

    Not that any of this nerdy semantics stuff matters, of course. At the end of the day, enjoying the ride is what counts and for me, playing around on this thing helped me re-discover and fall in love with BMX all over again. It gave it just enough of a twist to make things fresh and gave each ride a new thrill of discovery.

    - Francis

    Camera + Edit:
    Your Mom

    Special Thanks:
    Odyssey BMX
    April McCafferty
    Rob Ferret
    Jake Manlick
    Dog

    Music:
    My Little Brother by Art Brut

  • Man on a 26 dirt jumper bmx bike bunny-hopping a gap between two benches.
  • Man on a dirt jumper BMX bike jumping a gap at Rhodes Skatepark in Boise Idaho.Action Photos by Jake Manlick
  • The bike itself isn't anything fancy at all. This thing got me feelin' all sentimental though and I wanted to give it proper documentation.
  • Black and Chrome bmx street style Dirt Jumper
  • It started off as an NS Metropolis complete bike and then I tried to BMX it out as much as possible.
  • I didn't know shit about "Dirt Jumper" bikes when I built this thing, but I did know they look 10 times better to me with 2 piece bars. The Fairdale MX bar came through with the vibes I was after.
  • I work for Odyssey so naturally, I loaded it with as much Odyssey parts as I could.
  • One of the first times I rode this bike, I tried doing a 180 but landed funny. The next thing I knew, my bare ass was hanging out and my pants were getting pulled and fed through that little gap between the seat and back tire. I don't think anybody saw, but it was one of the funniest crashes ever.
  • After I filmed that last clip, my front tire went flat and my back tire was getting ready to explode through a hole I had skidded through. I think that was my bike's way of saying it was tired.
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