Name: Kevin T. Porter
Age: 26
Location: Ukrainian Village, Chicago, Illinois
Sponsors: Fly Bikes, Orchid Footwear, UGP, Empire BMX
Frame: Fly Tierra
Fork: Fly Tierra
Bars: Fly Tierra Grande (Out soon.)
Stem: Fly
Grips: Fly Fino (New!)
Barends: Fly Plastic
Headset: Fly with a flat cap
Seatpost: Fly
Seat: Fly Fino
Cranks: Fly 2.5pc
Sprocket: Fly, 29t with a built in spacer
Chain: KMC mid
Brakes: Fly, seatstay
Cable: Nokon
Brake Lever: First-ever Fly prototype—over three years old!
Front Tire: Fly Ruben, 2.25″
Front Wheel: New Fly front rim with Fly hub
Rear Tire: 20″ x 1.95″ new Fly Ruben Ligera
Rear Wheel: New Fly rim with a custom hub from Profile
Chain Tensioner: Built-in
Pedals: Fly Ruben
Modifications/Other/Extras:
I have a hub I lathed down, to give it a nice clean look.
Which parts do you go through the most?
Tires and grips.
Describe your bike setup and how you like your bike to feel…
I like it to be solid, like if you picked it up and dropped it. If it makes noise it is not solid. I also like the tires to be soft because it is easy on the wrist and ankles. I designed my frame to have a tight back end and a nice low top tube to make tailwhips and spinning tricks easier. I like to run my bars “Chicago Style” for two reasons: 1) Lil Jon… 2) I have to represent the city I was raised in…
Do you remember your first “real” BMX bike?
It was called a CC racer. It had Arya rims with Boss three-piece cranks. Both where anodized blue. It had Boss bars and was all chromed out.
What’s it like getting to work with Fly on parts designs and testing out prototype stuff?
It’s amazing, I guess you can call it a dream come true. Ever since I first learned about Fly, I felt I wanted to be a part of the company. After meeting David, it was clear to me that he is passionate about design. To him it is a form of art, which I feel the same. It’s about defining each part to make it the most efficient design and make it appear to be the simplest product. Ever since I was young I have had the bug of making things that are already good even better. I feel right at home at Fly. I wouldn’t change that for a million dollars. Everyone on the team is the same. We all have that same passion. As for prototyping parts, I love the feeling of putting something on my bike that has gone through months, even years, of thought for the first official test. It is also like a dream come true.
Your bike showed up a day late to Estonia for Simpel Session, have you ever had a bike completely lost by an airline and never got it back?
No, I have never gotten my bags completely lost. The deal is the airlines have 24 hours to retrieve your bags. If they surpass 24 hours you are granted a full check for the amount your bags are worth. In the four or five times that I have lost them they always show up by like the 23rd hour. It is a conspiracy! Although, one year at the X Games my team manager at the time Dwayne Taylor got $2,000 from the airlines for my bike. It showed up right after the check showed up. Double bonus!
I heard you mention a new bike coming in soon, what’s that like and will you keep a similar setup?
My new Tierra V2 should be at my house in a week or so. I can’t wait—I have to give it a good test before I can clear it for production. It should be the same setup except I am going to test out the Ruban bash guard on it. I really can’t wait because bash guards need to come back. FYI, we have not confirmed that the bash setup will come on the frame. This is going to be the first test with it…
