Author: Prashant Gopal

25 Apr

Posted at 20:27h in archive by

At the core of most scenes is something central that acts as a hub for its riders. It could be a shop, spot, park, or BMX house. In the case of the Niagara Falls area BMXFU contingent, it is the confines of Chris Orbell’s garage, otherwise known as Orb’s Garage. Here Chris seems to work on everyones bikes with a deep supply of tools and paint, ready to fix anything that might come his way, or customize someone’s bike in whatever way imaginable. I was curious to know more about the space, so we contacted Chris to get the scoop. Brad Hill posed some questions to him, snapped some photos of the garage, and gathered some insight from others on what makes Orb’s Garage so great.

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14 Apr

Posted at 05:06h in archive by


Hip Whip. Photo by Chris Chitaroni.

If you have been riding long enough, chances are high that you have sustained some sort of injury that kept you off your bike for a while. Now what if something kept you off your bike for close to two years, and doctors couldn’t figure out the problem? That was the case for a young Tommy Hains who started to experience seizures suddenly in 2009, which kept him from doing everything that he loved. As a straight A student and gifted young rider, with a number respectable contest placings at amateur contests at the local and national level, he was forced to quit everything in his life as doctors worked to try and explain the seizures he was having and find a way to help him.

Tommy underwent surgery in May of 2010 and has only now been given the OK from doctors to get back in to riding, and from what it seems, it’s as if he never left. I asked Tommy some questions about the ordeal he went through, surgery, how to cope with going stir crazy when you have to give up everything you enjoy doing, and how his life is now. Take a few minutes and keep reading the Tommy Hains interview and check out an edit of his riding that Chris Chitaroni put together.

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21 Mar

Posted at 12:18h in archive by

Wearing helmets and pads is always a personal preference. Some swear by them, some couldn’t care less. Jorden Guth is one person that swears by his pads, and I can’t think of a time that I saw him riding seriously without some gear on. When someone is strong in conviction over something, it’s usually with good reason, and he’s woken up on the flat bottom of a ramp on more than one occasion. I wanted to hear from him why he specifically runs the gear that he does. Click to read more from Joden Guth and his safety gear check.

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09 Mar

Posted at 11:11h in archive by

Brad Hill filming Jim Cielencki while on a Sunday trip last summer. Photo by Scott Barker.

I’ve always had a fascination in the particular equipment filmers and photographer use. They are the ones who lug around a bag with different cameras, different lenses, and often different lights from one another. Being the dedicated person for either role used to result in heavy investment in equipment, not to mention weight on your back during a day out riding. If you are someone who dabbles in both, then an overweight bag and misaligned vertebrae are something you might be familiar with. With the advancement of DSLR cameras to capture high definition video, we are witnessing more and more people switching and using them as a primary means of filming. As people are seeing an ease of carrying their cameras, capturing clips, and switching between the role of filmer and photographer, I wanted to profile a few different people, and get some insight about the choice of equipment they use.

Brad Hill is always filming or shooting photos with the BMXFU crew, and more recently I’ve seen his name attached to work from a few different companies. I asked Brad what he carries around in his camera bag, and for his input on filming, taking photos, cameras, and more. Click below to check it out and see more of Brad’s work.

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07 Mar

Posted at 00:14h in archive by

The Toronto International Bike Show has evolved over the years. Like many riders these days, I’ve been going since the La Revolution contest days, seen it transformed to the enormous Metro Jam series, in to the Ricoh Coliseum, and now in to it’s present state as the Toronto BMX Jam. From mega-pros traveling from Europe, Japan, and South America to attend, to Canadian and American riders trekking across the country to get squeezed in to the pro and amateur slots, the event has had it all. I’m not trying to say any specific time period or incarnation of the contest was better than another. They all have had their ups and downs. What does keep me coming back to the show for the first weekend of March every year is the people. After a long winter, the bike show is often the first chance most people have to see each other in a long time, catch up with old friends, make new ones, put faces to names you’ve heard, and for some getting drunk in the stands. I’m not going to try and bore you with a run down of who did what trick, who qualified in what place, or who smashed bottles at the Dance Cave. Those things can likely be found on a number of other sites already (with the exception of the Dance Cave part – those actions go undisclosed). Instead, here’s an offering of photos of some of the people that make attending the Toronto BMX Jam every year what it is.

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