Marcus Tooker Bike Check

FatTony

• July 30 2008
• 4,512 views
• 5 comments

Marcus has been killing at the Dew Tours this year and showed up in Cleveland with this new zebra-print Specialized so we got the rundown on his new setup.

Name: Marcus Tooker
Age: 22
Location: Greenville, North Carolina
Sponsors: Specialized Bicycles, Osiris Shoes

Frame: Specialized Fuse IV
Fork: Eastern Ultra Slim
Bars: Mirraco
Stem: Demolition F-1
Grips: Fly Bikes Ruben
Barends: Kink Lightest
Detangler: Odyssey GTX
Headset: Aheadset
Clamp: Demolition
Seatpost: MacNeil Pivotal
Seat: MacNeil Imperial
Cranks: Specialized SuperLight 2 Piece
Sprocket: Specialized SuperLight
Chain: KMC
Brakes: Demolition Vulcan
Cable: SST Oryg
Brake Lever: Odyssey Monolever
Front Tire: KHE Street
Front Wheel: Demolition Bulimia Hub with Alienation Rim
Rear Tire: Demolition Zeppelin
Rear Wheel: Odyssey Cassette with Alienation Rim
Chain Tensioner: Specialized Internal
Pegs: Colony OneWay
Pedals: Eastern Plastic

Modifications/Other/Extras:
Not much really, I run a piece of tire on my spindle that rubs on my sprocket to keep my pedals flat when I kick a tailwhip.

Which parts do you go through the most?
Grips for sure. If I ride everyday, a pair of grips lasts about 3 weeks.

Describe your bike setup and how you like your bike to feel…
My bike set up hasn’t changed in a real long time. Three pegs, back brakes and a fist full of seat post. Every once in a while I’ll throw some front brakes on to change it up and learn some new stuff.

Do you remember your first “real” BMX bike?
I got a Chrome Mongoose Villain on Christmas in 1998. I learned no-footers at the Greenport Skatepark on Long Island that winter. I’ve been hooked ever since.

If memory serves me correct, you scored a spot on the Haro team for a year through an Internet contest… Now that the Haro deal is up you are on Specialized; how did that come about?
Yeah, I did a year on Haro, which was pretty cool. But when that was up Specialized offered me a spot on their team and I was more than psyched to join. It’s a real small program so I have some input into designs and graphics, which is a lot of fun for me.

This is the first we’ve seen of a Specialized with this zebra paint job; will all the bikes come like that?
Some of them come like that. There’s also a cool rising sun design they’re doing with different colors like eggplant and teal. I’ve also heard mention of a polka-dot frame coming out soon, too.

What’s up with those wild looking chain tensioners and droputs?
It’s definitely different from other frames. The seatstays and chainstays come into the dropout straight on so the weld is stronger. I’ve always liked running chain tensioners, but they have always got in the way with grinds. With this frame’s inverted chain tensioners, my wheel stays in its spot and I don’t get hung up on an icepick grind.