Josh Suhre Interview With Bike Check and Bonus Video

FatTony

• July 25 2008
• 8,849 views
• 27 comments

Josh Suhre had a banger video part in the first Shook video then had a string of injuries that kept him out of the spotlight for a while. He recently had a part in the new From Nothing video, and now he’s working at System Cycle and DK as Creative Director and Marketing Manager while trying to stay healthy on his bike. We caught up with him on the West Coast for a bit and got to see what he has going on at his job on and his bike.

Name: Josh Suhre
Age: 24
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

Sponsors: Proper Bike Co., Micreation, Bicycle Union, System Cycle

First of all, tell us why you’ve been under the radar for the last few years…
I finished up filming for my Shook part at the end of my first year of college. About six months later began a string of non-stop injuries…it was pretty brutal. First, I cracked my teeth, a month after that I broke my collarbone, which required surgery with a plate and screws. Three months later I get the go ahead from my doctor, and simply from riding, I started pulling the screws out, and bent the plate. This called for another plate and screws with a hip graft to help aid the bone to heal.

I went about a year being generally healthy, but had lost so much muscle in my chest, shoulders, and arms, it took a long time to get back to a point where I felt powerful again with bike control in general…not to mention the psychological imposition of potential re-injury. The next year I basically did the same thing with my kneecap: I broke it when we were on a Micreation trip, let it heal for three months, then popped it apart again, just hopping on a ledge to manual! This was followed by surgery, with a total of nine months off my bike (same deal as the collarbone with muscle atrophy and rehab). During the kneecap surgery I had my plate and screws taken out of my now healed collarbone. I figured if I am going under for the knee surgery, you may as well clean up shop, haha.

About a year goes by of rehab, riding, and some filming. We were filming for the From Nothing video, and I jumped a gap, then tried to thread the needle between a tree/rail and slammed into the tree, taking out my collarbone again. Totally a freak accident, and I knew it was broken right away. Since then I’ve been injury free except for a few minor things here and there.

All of these injuries and filming for From Nothing occurred over while I was in college for design school and interning on the West Coast, so that helped me get through the injuries in a way. Design was another passion to channel my energy into and consistently receive something tangible in return

How long ago did you get the job with DK / System Cycle and how did that come about?
I began working at DK/System during August of 2007. I have been friends with a lot of the System staff for a while, and I ride for a few brands they distribute. When the position opened up, I had just recently graduated from design school, and it was a perfect fit on both ends.

What do you do over there?
I am responsible for everything visual for DK and System, as well as managing System’s US marketing for the brands. Right now I am in the process of fully rebranding DK and it’s really exciting to be working with a brand that has legacy and tradition.

Some recent projects I’m working on are the naming, graphics, and packaging for the Anniversary DK complete bikes, the graphics and packaging for the new Alpha line, and any other parts we’re putting out. I am working on a new clothing line for DK right now, System catalogs, DK ads & marketing, catalogs, Interbike booth design, product photography, and finishing up the new DK website. I am designing the site and Dave Jacobs is taking care of all of the Flash and HTML—it’s going to be very user friendly and a refreshing approach to the presentation of riders and products. Everyone involved with DK is motivated and are doing their part to make some really positive & significant changes. (Check out www.dkbicycles.com soon to see the fully redesigned site.)

Give us the 411 on the new complete bikes that DK will be debuting at Interbike this year…
2009 is DK’s thirtieth anniversary, so it was perfect timing to completely reinvent the complete bike line. The bikes were simplified into three lines: Park/Trail, Street, and Race. Working closely with our Product Manager, I led the direction for aesthetics, and Sherwin (Product Manager) reengineered and redesigned the bikes, dialing in the geometry, lightening them up, and creating an amazing new line of parts that come on the bikes. I fully reworked the graphics and colors for each model, and directed the naming for the new models. The bikes will be at Interbike this year and ready to go. Our goal was to offer an entire range of riders complete bikes that are ready to go out of the box and will actually look and feel dialed. Each model was thoughtfully designed and engineered with a lot of attention to detail…even down to the naming and colors. Everything is designed with concept and function in mind. (Keep your eyes peeled for a sneak peak of the new line on this site!)

What kind of traveling have you done with your job so far?
I have been over to China and Taiwan a few times since I began at DK. The first time was for checking samples and a trade show, and the second time to check sample graphics of the complete bikes, parts, and photograph the final models. I pay a visit to the West Coast time to time for a lot of good reasons!

Now that you have a full time job, you are healthy enough to ride full strength… How has the job affected riding? And how do past injuries affect your riding now?
I am finally healthy and riding full strength as of just recently. For a full time job, this is as good as it gets for rider—we even just built a ridiculous skatepark in our warehouse! But there is a lot of responsibility and a lot weighing on my shoulders during and after work. My design work is really important to me, and I never want to produce work without purpose. I would never throw something out there just because it “looks cool.” Good design communicates something significant: it informs, inspires, and should increase peoples’ quality of living: socially, environmentally, physically…even aesthetically.

My past injuries definitely affect me now. Anyone that has done damage to their knees and shoulders knows how hard it makes riding and slamming, or even the thought of reinjury. I am finally reaching a point where I’m starting to feel good bike control again, and motivation to push myself really hard to progress. I’m seriously so pumped about riding right now…it just simply feels fluid again, committed rehab from injuries is paying off, and the psychological burdens of past injuries are finally are fading away.

Are you currently working on filming for anything specific? What was the last project you filmed for?
The last thing I really filmed for was From Nothing. Right now I’m just getting started filming for a Micreation video spot, and collecting footage for sponsors. I’m so pumped to film right now; it makes riding so much fun because you document your progression and hopefully bring something new to BMX. Everyone I ride and film with is really chill, but knows how to get the job done.

What’s it like working for a company and getting to see and test parts before they are available to the public?
It’s been very educational seeing and testing parts before they go into production. Working with our Product Manager and learning about how imperative the consideration of principle physics and materials is…something which is surprisingly often overlooked in the BMX industry. You definitely see things from a totally different perspective than solely being a rider.

Give us the run down on your current bike setup and tell us which parts are prototypes, new, etc…

Frame: Proper TTL, 20.8″ in Transparent Brown
Fork: Proper Proclaimer
Bars: Proper, 8″
Stem: We The People Supreme
Grips: Eclat
Barends: Proper
Detangler: none
Headset: FSA Impact
Clamp: integrated on the TTL frame
Seatpost: FIT
Seat: Bicycle Union slim
Cranks: DK Social with Ti spindle
Sprocket: Macneil guard, 25t
Chain: KMC
Brakes: Fly
Cable: Proper linear
Brake Lever: Dia Tech
Front Tire: Shadow Undertone, 2.1″
Front Wheel: DK Alpha hub, 36h Proper rim, DK spokes
Rear Tire: Shadow Undertone 1.95
Rear Wheel: Proper Magnalite cassette 9t, 36h Shadow rim, DK spokes
Chain Tensioner: none
Hub Guard: Proper prototype
Pegs: I’m trying out some Tree aluminums
Pedals: Odyssey Twisted Plastic

Modifications/Other/Extras:
I grind my dropouts in so the back end of the frame is 13.75″, and shape the bottom of the dropouts so nothing crazy is sticking out. My bars are cut down 0.5″ on each side, and the seat post is cut down a bit as well.

Talk about any parts on there that you want to share more info on…
The newest version of the Proper TTL frame has some nice elements like removable brake mounts, an integrated seatpost clamp, and some new trans colors.

The rear Proper hub is their newest version with a bearingless design. It has been working out really well, and runs with a lot less play than other hubs I’ve had.

The grips are new from Eclat, which have a great design to keep them from twisting on your bars. Their whole line of products will be available in the US at the end of summer through System.

The Proper barends are a new version, which are extremely minimal and lightweight. Their diameter is perfect so you don’t feel them on the edges of your grip; you don’t even notice them.

Check out Josh’s part from the Shook’s Scared To Look here…
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