Catching Up With Ron Wilkerson - 25 Years Of 2hip
FatTony
- September 15 2008
- 5,424 views
- 18 comments
Ron Wilkerson recently drove all the way down from Santa Cruz to our office in Tustin, California to show off his new Groovetech patent pending stem/bar/fork combo. He also brought by a limited edition 2hip Pork complete with a 9-tooth cassette graphite mag wheel, and shared a bunch of wild stories. It seemed like a perfect time to share the info with our readers, so after he left we emailed him a few questions.
This year 2hip is celebrating 25 years in business…how are things after all these years?
Fricking AWESOME, I’m loving it. We’re still struggling, and ALWAYS on the edge…of NOTHING…(White Zombie sample)…but that’s how I like it. I’m constantly challenged, and constantly using every bit of everything I got to pull this shit off.
Let’s jump right into the new stuff…tell us all about your new patent pending stem/bar/fork combo.
Your bars will never move again, in ANY direction. Your bar/stem/fork will be LIGHTER, and there’ll never be stripping-out or over tightening of stems. Splined handlebars, splined stem, notched fork, notched stem…
Funny, I was at the Dew Tour last weekend, standing there next to Mike Dominguez watching Park, and a rider fell then got up and kicked his bars because they had turned. And I said to Mike, “That will never happen again…that will never happen again.” Ha.
I know you brought over one of the very first samples to show us, which looked like a great idea. However, it was really bulky and heavy looking. Where will the product design go from here?
Actually, it’s NOT heavy at ALL. I took a typical 6061 stem, 4130 bar and fork, and the weight of the Groovetech Steering System was .087 lb LIGHTER! And yes, of course that was our second sample that you shot, but refinements will get it even MORE light… And it does look a bit bulky, but it’s just “different.” Many BMXers aren’t really able to handle things (or people) different, but there are many riders that LIKE different things, and when more and more people start using the Groovetech Steering System, then it won’t be “different” anymore and they’ll see how much better it is… And one thing making it look DIFFERENT is the “clamp-bar.” We had to make it a bigger diameter to allow for more selections of bar placement. Everyone likes their bars positioned exactly where they want them, and we certainly didn’t want any limitations.
You were mentioning trying to license the patent to other companies eventually, can you tell us more about that?
Yeah, this is a product that should be on ALL bikes! It’s not officially a “2hip product” as it’s my personal invention that I’ve been working on for more than 1.5 YEARS. I have gone through the whole patent process and all that, so I want to get it out there… I’m definitely going to license it to 2hip Bikes and OTHERS, and I’m in the process right now of talking with different companies about the possibilities as this design should be made available for all!
You also brought a pink Pork complete; what’s the scoop on that bad boy?
Oh, THE 2HIP PORK 25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BIKE… First made right during the “overbuilt, heavy as f**k” bike days, the 6061 Pork frame was light before “light” was cool. The original frame before the new refinements was 5lb. 3oz, and the PORK25 will be lighter than that… Only 150 made, with a revised 6061 Pork frame including mid bottom bracket and integrated headset, available in black or Pork Pink. We wanted to make a mixture between new and old schools, as well as all real awesome parts. I got Skyway to make us graphite Tuffs with a 9t cassette hub! “Modern day” riders don’t really know (yet) how good graphites are… Regular Tuffs are cool, but graphites are incomparably stiffer and a better ride. Each bike will be numbered with an individual plate on the seat mast above the bottom bracket, and the complete bike weight with the Tuffs is just over 27lbs. You could ride it, of course, but this shit should be FRAMED—it’s a piece of art. We’ll have the first 60 in October and the rest in the Spring…
How’d you get Skyway to do graphite wheels for the bike and how’d you come up with a 9-tooth cassette hub for the mags?
Well Skyway was one of the very first sponsors for the 2hip team (25 YEARS AGO!!!), and when I had this idea I contacted them and the SAME GUY I dealt with 25 years ago was still working there! We worked out a price (Ouch—these things were 300 bucks back in the day!), were in development for a while to get the hub to fit in the molds, and now it’s spot-on!!!
In keeping the theme of new products, what’s new with Jarrod Allan’s signature frame that we shot photos of?
The new “A frame” is Jarrod’s first signature bike, and he’s stoked on it. After a couple samples, he got the geometry exactly how he likes with the bb height, short rear end, and 20.75tt with butted tubing and all, weighing in right around 5lbs. Jarrod is one of those guys with just an amazing natural style, which I saw strait away seeing him ride yeeears ago. And I’m psyched to have 2hip BIKES come out with the first “Jarrod” signature frame!
I know the 2hip Meet The Streets contest is coming up. How long has it been since you’ve done one of these contests and how will the one in October compare to the old ones?
Dude, KEEP IT REAL. We did three years of annual jams in Golden Gate Park, ending with the final one in ‘03, which was just too big—they wouldn’t let us back! But now we got a new location on TREASURE ISLAND in the middle of the SF Bay! Next to a big parking lot, our location has a siiiick brick-walled building that we’re gonna put ramps up to, which has what looks to be about a 4-inch ledge about 10-feet up in the wall, so I can imagine some ridiculous things going down on/off that ledge and back in. Then the OTHER side of the parking lot is the BAY, with boats and all that, so it’s gonna look amazing in photos and video…
And as far as being DIFFERENT—huh? The “old ones” were some of the best BMX jams that have ever taken place. All RIDERS there shredding, no stupid rules, no waiting for the cameras to get ready, just PURE BMX. Man, if you talk to anyone who has been to a MEET THE STREET, they’ll be psyched about them—they’re about as real as it gets. We’re gonna have a car, wallrides up to a REAL wall, maybe a shopping cart or two, and all the other misc. ramps about.
OH, and did I say that this was the jam celebrating the 25 year anniversary of 2HIP????
OH, and did I mention yet that next year we’re working on making a MEET THE STREET series all around USA??? (And the world?)
And aside from the BMX world, what else do you have going on?
Dude, BESIDES all the 2hip shit, contests, bikes, team, etc., and riding my BMX more than I have in 10 years (the new San Jose park nearby has VERT!), my girl and I are opening up SAMBA ROCK BRASILIAN CAFÉ in downtown Santa Cruuuuz. It’s gonna be sooo dope, with a full menu of the amazing Brasilian acai bowls, Yerba Matte mixtures, and plenty of gourmet drugs like espresso, coffee, etc., for all the achievers like Jeff Z. The space was designed by my man, BMX’r/designer/big daddy Rich Hansen, and will be featured in an upcoming ‘Dwell’ magazine, which is the hot mag in the architecture world these days… and besides the café goodies, after we get going we’re gonna be having monthly DJ parties there, as I have a lot of world-class DJ friends in nearby SF.
PHEW. I gotta get back to WORK! Peace out, thanks to EVERYONE for the support and love—thanks to the 2hip team riders for shredding, thanks to Jarrod for his art, thanks to all my girls -Vanessa, Tiffany, and Erica for being rad, thanks to all the riders for liking COLOURS again, thanks to Spike, Lou, Andy, and Oz for making Freestylin,’ thanks to Jeff Z. for his rad photos in RIDE, thanks to the bankers that have loaned us money, and then just pure thanks that I have another day…
Finishing this up, I just landed in NYC for the 2hip Mega Tour trip—see you at the MEET THE STREET jam!!!!
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September 15th, 2008 at 6:51 am
The thing with the stem/bar combo is that the bars will possibly bend instead of slipping so instead of “kicking the bars” and then ride again right away he (the rider in dew tour) could possibly have bend his bars and have to replace them! That’s the way I see it! Prove me wrong!
September 15th, 2008 at 9:44 am
photo six makes it look like the prototype stem wouldn`t sit
flush with the headset due to the curve - its a steep angle to
fit around that huge tube. Common Ron, put one one your bike and show us the vid.
September 15th, 2008 at 9:47 am
This is a good idea but never going to really go anywhere. Unless it gets looking a lot better. And is there no compression cap? It looks like it wouldn’t even sit flush?
September 15th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Meet the Street…man, those contests were RAD! I think it should have an old man class…Craig Grasso, Vic Murphy, Pete Augustin, Ron, Brian Blyther, Matt Hoffman, Lord Voelker…we should even let RL Osborne ride.
September 15th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
2-hip is stuck in the 90s
September 15th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
umm you guys are already beat. ron said you “super tech i know more the then designers” kids are gonna hate on it. get over yourselves, all you mfr’s hated the elementary stem and freecoasters when they came out now all you guys are running them………dont hate
September 15th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
HAHHAHA Ron you psyched on my paintjob?!
September 15th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
The A should be for Alejandro Caro. You can’t keep riders by selling shit product and by having self induced mental retardation. As gay as all of the new school kids look, you can’t deny the shit that goes down at the nations local neighborhood parks. People only ride ugly fat things after no success at the bar and it’s countdown to last call.
September 16th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Speed: The ironic thing about that is that moving before breaking is part of bike design.
A typical stem + fork combo? That could be anything. .087lb? Wow!
Somehow I think it’s going to be heavier than Directors etc. w/ Elementaries etc., while being less functional. I’d be happy to be proven wrong however.
September 16th, 2008 at 4:39 am
nice design, should definitly make 8.5 rise and other rises as well, and im suprised no one came up with the spacer on bar end trick to make ur bars wider. hard to explain but it would be sick to see as well, could make a standard width of maybe like 26 or 27 then u could cut em down or add spacers that match the bar to make it wider.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Wow. I’m really surprised that Ron has completely ignored the fact that instead of your bars or stem slipping they will now either bend or break. I’m actually more surprised that Ride is covering this like it’s some huge innovation that is going to revolutionize BMX. It’s a horrible horrible idea. The fact that Ron actually thinks that other companies will want to license out his “innovation” is absolutely insane. For anyone saying that this is comparable to the Elementary or even freecoasters (what?), give it six months and you’ll be looking back remembering this and wondering why you ever thought it would catch on.
September 16th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I puked once the photos of the pork came up…..and again just remembering the photo…haha grossss
September 16th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
had a pork in 2001 , light but broke on first day , sucked. these should be put on display only. todays stem design was shown in 1978 (cook bros) but not used till hoffman in 95ish. So this tem thing could catch on (20 years from now) but needs a major looks over haul first
September 17th, 2008 at 3:35 am
Clamp on stems and threadless headsets were progress though.
September 17th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Eh, Alejandro Caro rides for wethepeople? i thought?
September 17th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
So many still hatin’. It’s just a prototype. I am sure it will be cleaned up for production. Plus it’s more of a concept so once it is licensed to individual companies it will be up to them to put their own personal touch on it.
I don’t agree with the idea that this will cause everyone’s handle bars to break.
If you buy super light weight thin wall bars and then do a roof gap, you are going to bend your bars regardless of the stem. That is more on the bar design at that point.
Put yourself in the same roof gap with a typical stem. If you land a bit front heavy and the bars go forward and you smack your face on the stem will that be a built in safety feature that the bars moved?
Look at your crank arms. They are a similar design and nobody expects for them to move, break or bend. You simply slide it on, bolt it down and you’re done. You never have to worry about it again. Simple routine check and maintenance is all that is required.
I would laugh if the MTB comunity ebraced this and it trickled down to BMX. I guess that would be Irony?
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