QUIT PLAYIN! The FABRICATOR OF FUNK sent me the link to these Wood Rims by Ghisallo classic wood rims (tubular and clincher). I am sittin here TRIPPIN right now because these things are just so bomb! I have been to Bike Swaps and shows and have seen rims that look like wood, and they look good but these wood rims are the real deal! You see, awhile ago I came to the conclusion that I didn't have to design EVERY component on my bikes and because of this conclusion I have come across a whole lot of 'Specialists' all across the world who focus on one component of bicycle and leave the rest to others. 
I must say that I can most certainly imagine some luxury wood rims on some of my designs. Here are just a few of the specialists I have come across during my journey to discover THE FUNK in bicycle designs:
- CDS Components: This is the company of the man you all know as 'The Fabricator of Funk' and the one who is set to build the hottest bicycles on the planet! Sorry I can't give his name right now but a brotha like me gotta keep him under wraps for now.
- Sweet Skinz: Maker of the HOTTESSSTTT tire patterns on the planet today. DANG, the name is even hot.
- Bike Dubz: Maker of urban style spinners and rims for bicycles.
- Scraper Bikes: Simply put, bicycle wheel ARTIST who believe in and promote the individuality of each rider. They have a design called 'Peaches & Creme'...come on man....QUIT PLAYIN! Youtube video with over 2.5 million hits...they got me saying, as on the video "I'm cruising on my Scraper Bike..I'm cruising on my Scraper Bike."
- Wil Min: This is SUPER UNDERCOVER because this person has the MOST AWESOME color coordinating mind on the planet, has kicked out over 100 original tire color coordinated patterns, and does it with CRAYONS and MARKERS! You won't find anyone in the world with the gift this person has.
Monkey Lectric www.monkeylectric.com is doing big things for bikes people. I posted a few times about a company called Scaper bikes www.scraperbikes.net a few times and if you go 2 posts down from this one you can view a youtube video that was a HUGE viral marketing success from Scraper. Scraper Bikes and Monkey Lectric are 2 opposite ends of the creative spectrum. Why do I say that? Scraper Bikes is:
- Very low tech yet SUPER CREATIVE! An example of what ANYONE can do if they just FREE THEIR MINDS and use what is available to them instead of believing they have to have alot of money to launch something big.
- Monkey Lectric id VERY HIGH TECH and also SUPER CREATIVE. By the technology they are demonstrating, it had to cost A MINT to develop this concept and I am sure they are wise enough to apply for at least a Design Patent. Bicycle lights aren't a new concept by any stretch of the imagination but what they are doing is FREAKISH and original.
- Scraper is something for the average person who wants to personalize their rims while Monkey is something you got to spend some CREAM on.
- 'Scraper Bikes by Day' 'Monkey Lectric by night'.
All in all, their are huge opportunities for bike companies who are original and have a love for what they are doing. Major Taylor was a bicycle racer and VERY ORIGINAL in his day! Enjoy!
I received several pictures from a fan of this blog. The question was simple: "What do you think of these designs?" Well, not long ago, I received some backlash for a post entitled "News of the weird'. Most of the backlash came from the last picture I posted of a boy and his wood bike. I thought it was stupid and I said so. The angry emails essentially said 'Who are you to say what looks good and what doesn't?' My answer was simple, I GAVE NO ANSWERS OR REPLY! Again, the vision of this particular blog is design and the nexus I believe exists within bicycle design that isn't being addressed. Many designers are so focused on designing something they see as cutting edge that they are missing the infinite possibilities that exist within the simplicity that is design itself.
I ran across a website recently called http://www.blackvoices.com/ and the author of the article was Esther Dixon. The article was titled "Style Spotter Spots Bicycles". She posted some futuristic looking design and in 99% of the comments I read, the readers HATED these designs and one even said the bicycles looked like weed whackers! These are designs that win at the Taiwanese Design Competition every year. Admittedly this is a website by African-Americans for African-Americans, but all the same, WHO I AM is someone who loves funked out bicycle design and I will not waver from that. I recently posted and article entitled MVP! featuring the Ellsworth Design Nuvinci not to mention 'Glam Rock' by Cube, both companies launched by white folks I am sure. Yet, they were able to produce some designs so ignorant (nice) that it made me say to myself "Are you kidding me?"
This is not a racial thing yall! Nice bicycle design is nice bicycle design (all 5 of my favorite designs in the posted in my 'Funk Hall of Fame are by guess who.. white folks!) regardless of who produces it. I think 99.9% of the products Pacific Cycles produce under the various brands they have acquired are CRAPPY! By brand:
As all of you know, I am constantly searching for ‘Excitement’ in bicycle design. I am still freaked out from the last blog post I wrote about ‘The Nuvinci’. I want to present something to you all that I have briefly commented on last year sometime. The subject that I am speaking of is ‘Spinner Rims’ on bicycles. Many of you may not know this, but I am conservative by nature and Spinners and Dubs are a little over the top for my taste! Nevertheless, for anyone to grow personally they must sometimes put aside there personal hang ups to experience new things. I am not saying that any of you need to put aside your personal belief in GOD to experience things that are wrong for ‘Experience’ sake or put aside your personal belief that drugs are wrong just for ‘Experience’ of it. These things are destructive.
What I am saying is that you have to expand into new territories to experience growth in many areas of your life. I am at this very crossroads right now. It is my b
elief that the very essence of what ‘DUBS’ and ‘Spinner’ rims (pictured here) are goes against my very basic belief of ‘Elegance’ in bicycle design. DUBS and Spinners serve one function and one function only- TO SHOW OFF! There in lies my struggle. The Urban Mindset I have often spoken of is about ‘Flash’ and ‘The Show’. I have even commented on this blog that one function of my designs is for youth and kids to be on Marshall Taylor RYDZ and for my designs to be SOOO HOTTTT other kids say ‘Dang that tight!’ I am also 
aware of the very real fact that sometimes ‘More is just that, more.’ To put these types of rims on bicycles, in my final analysis crosses the line between ‘Showing off’ and ‘Frontin’. Frontin is the act of pretending to be and have more than you do and in the process, look STUPID! You know people like that I am sure. People who were Frolex Watches (Fake Rolexs) or the ever present wearers of Cubic Zirconium.
There are people who would rather have a 2 Carat ‘Cubic’ than 1\4 Carat real diamond. It is all about appearances! This is one time readers where your fearless blogger, me, doesn’t have a firm opinion. Therefore, I am reaching out to all of you. At the bottom of this column, there is an envelope. Click on it and leave me your opinions. I need all of you to set me straight. Hurry!
Visit Bike Dubz at http://www.bikedubz.com/ and check out thier version of Spinners and Dubs.
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