Bike Check: Ian Brockman

When Ian is done wrenching at The Bikesmiths for the day, he likes to relax with a frosty La Croix and one of the 20", 24" 26", or 700c bikes he has at home. Here is one of those bikes.

Tyler: Thanks for taking the time today to show off your ride. So tell me about it? How did you get it and how long have you had it?

Ian: This is a friend’s bike, but it’s by far the most fun of what I have right now. I had some work to do with it, so it ended up at my place after my last ride. I figured it’s worth a feature and I’d use this as another opportunity to take it out! It’s a 26” blkmrkt dirt jumper frame with some proper upgrades. John Altmann ( @altmann617 on instagram) built it for his son, Rocket, for when he gets tall enough to properly rip it. I’m pretty jealous.

Tyler: It's for sure a great looking bike, what is your favorite part of the bike?

Ian: The balance and weight of the bike, anyone can hop on and ride confidently. It has the maneuverability of a BMX bike, you can throw it around super easily, but with the capability of riding downhill trails as comfortably as a lot of hard-tail mountain bikes.

... continued below...

Tyler: What is the newest addition to the bike? What would the next addition be?

Ian: I haven’t made any additions to the bike while I’ve had it, but I haven’t ever felt the need to. I’d consider myself relatively picky and I pretty frequently swap parts on other bikes to see if I happen to like something more, but this one is dialed. For the next upgrade m aybe some more street-oriented tires for the park now that the weather’s cooling off.

Tyler: What is your favorite memory of the bike

Ian: The first time wall riding it was rad, with my friend Liam. There’s a spot on UW Milwaukee’s campus with a nice 15-ish degree angled wall and a bike rack in front of it. You have to carry some good speed to stay high enough on the wall over and around the rack. I only went over the bars once when I got a little too ambitious, but it was a great time. The campus police watch for us there and will consistently kick us out now, we’ll be back soon though.

Tyler: What was your worst crash?

Ian: I think the most painful was breaking my collarbone, but it was lame so I’ll skip that. The next fun one was my at elementary school, they had taken out a fence and left open a jump from the playground to the parking lot that I had been eyeing for years. I’d still probably not send this jump currently, but at the time, I knew I’d only get this chance during the construction that summer. I got as much speed as possible, hopped and tucked as high as I could, and still managed to send my rear wheel into the hole where the fence used to be. My bike slammed down and bounced, I got thrown, and I looked up to see my bike 8 to 10 feet in the air somersaulting away from me. Spot your landings!

Tyler: Any new projects that you have been focusing on other than cycling?

Ian: Nothing new but I have a few older BMW’s to work on, a ‘68 1600-2 and an ‘89 325i. If I’m not biking or working on bikes, I’m probably driving or working on cars. I should probably get into motorcycles while I can still pretend I have free time.

Tyler: What’s your hidden talent?

Ian: I’m not very talented and I don’t hide it.

Tyler: Top 3 things you’re watching on YouTube?

Ian:

Up to Speed
50 to 01
Hoonigan

PARTS LIST

• Frame: 26” blkmrkt
• Fork: Rock Shox Argyle
• Headset: FSA Impact
• Bars: Truvativ Stylo
• Brakes: Avid Elixir R Front and rear hydro’s w/ 160mm
• Hubs: Atomlab 26” rims with Pimplite
• Tires: Bontrager G1 Exp 26x 2.25
• Pedals: Crankbrothers 5050
• Seat: Overture Semenuk
• Crankset: Profile Racing