K2 DMC Pro

[Bowlingracecardriver]

Take yourself back to the year 2000 for a minute and think about what you were doing back then. I am sure there will be many different people who were doing very different things. I was 13 at the time and I was just gaining an interest in punk rock music from the likes of NOFX, Rancid, Lagwagon and many more, but more importantly I was lusting after a BMX.
I remember it like it was yesterday, after a particularly bad school day my brother was going to the local Mountain bike shop and asked if I wanted to come with him. I was never really into mountain biking I always prefered BMX but I agreed to go anyway as it was something to do and it meant I got a ride in his, then only 1 year old, Saxo VTR which was something I always seized the opportunity to do. As we walked into the shop we were greeted to row upon row of Marin, Trek and Cannondale mountain bikes but my attention was taken straight away by two BMX bikes in the corner. One was all black and the other was black and chrome it was love at first sight. The contrast of the chrome in my 13 year old mind reminded me of a 1950's caddilac. I had to have that bike.
I got the bike from my dad that christmas as a joint christmas and birthday present it was the most expensive present I had ever had and I vowed that I would keep it forever no matter what I think that I was the happiest person in the whole of England that year.
The bike wasn't the best BMX that money could buy at the time, it was relatively heavy and apparently not so good for tricks because of this. I was always rubbish at tricks anyway so at least the bike had given me an excuse. The thing that made it so cool to me was the black and chrome and the fact it was the signature bike of my favourite rider Dennis Mccoy who was on pretty much every VHS I had at the time and now I had his signature bike.

11 years on I still have the bike, I still love listening to punkrock music and I am still terrible at tricks. After turning 17 and getting my drivers liscence the bike got pretty neglected until around 2007 when I moved out of my parents and took the bike with me and gave it some polishing and made the chrome shine once more. I rode it for around 3 months and then parked it up again and it didn't move until 2010 when it had to be rescued from my ex-girlfriends house before she skipped it. I then took it to my parents and moved to Germany leaving the bike in England but saying I would come back for it one day.

After a year of being in Cologne, one weekend I took a 2000km round trip and picked the bike up. I had to dig it out of my dads shed and I almost cried when I got it out I had really neglected the bike over the past years and it is really looking worse for wear. The chrome forks and handle bars had surface rust, the chrome on the front wheel has all flaked off and it just looked a shed. Now that I have no cars taking up my time I am setting out on restoring the bike to its former glory ladies and gentleman I present to you my K2 DMC.



And some of the bits that brought tears to my eyes.









And a picture from 2007 when I had cleaned and polished it.



I then got rid of the surface rust using those soapy wire wool pan cleaning things and it came up a treat and looked something like this.



P2120001 by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

And so that is how it stands today. I have ordered a new (to me) front wheel on eBay so that should be here in the next few days and then I plan to strip and tidy it over the winter ready for the spring time.

Thankyou for reading sorry it was a long one and if some of it doesn't make sense that's because I have copied and pasted from another forum. Oh and I hope this is in the correct section.

Prost!

[Dodge-13]

Cool story dude
Pretty rare bike now

[Jaymz]

Great story and cool bike

[Bowlingracecardriver]

After a week of getting excited every time I saw a DHL truck my new (to me) wheel arrived yesterday. It is in mega good condition so will just get he metal polish out over the weekend and polish it up real nice!

Here is photo evidence of the new wheel.

PA120451 by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

[Bowlingracecardriver]

This is what my living room currently looks like.



My girlfriend is super impressed with our new ornament!

[Bowlingracecardriver]

It is amazing what we get rid of as kids. We (my brothers and I) had a full chrome diamond back when I was around the age of 8. We got it from a car boot sale for something stupid like a tenner! It was the first BMX I ever rode but then my brother sold it as he wanted an MTB because all the kids had MTBs in the 90's!

Yesterday I took the wheel to my local BMX shop to get trued. The shop is really cool and is inside of an indoor skate park, the guy who runs it is also super cool and said he can sort my wheel and that I have threaded one side right and one side wrong. He was also well impressed that I am still riding a Mid-School bike and also that I had female hubs not the usual males! Anyway I left the wheel with him and said I will collect next Saturday and on asking how much it will cost he just said "if you want to pay call i 10 euro"! Once home I decided to take off my rear wheel for a polish up and then noticed a bit of surface rust on the frame where the chain has been catching and taken the paint of so that will have to be addressed soon!

Thanks for reading here is a video of DMC riding in 2014 to prove that old dudes can ride!

[Bowlingracecardriver]

So a wee update.

As I work as a mechanic in Germany this time of year is super busy what with people needing to switch over to winter tyres so that means I have to work 13 hours a day every day so I have had no time to collect my wheel! But today I have the afternoon free so I drove over to the coolest BMX shop in the world (Crow BMX Store Cologne) and picked up my wheel. The guy didn't want to charge me his words being "just buy me a drink if you ever see me in a bar" but he has done an amazing job of trueing my wheel so I gave him 10 euros for it.





Whilst I was at the BMX store yesterday I picked up a Subrosa Warhead lock as I would be absolutely heartbroken if my bike got stolen.

Also this morning I took so slightly arty photos so here they are.



Crime prevention



Scratch prevention







This is all copied from another forum so sorry if it reads  bit wierd. I have been using the bike as daily transport and getting out and trying to do some proper riding at every chance I get. There is a really cool mini park not so far from my flat so I have been learning the various ramps and trying out stuff I probably should have learned years ago. I am a terrible rider but the main thing is I have loads of fun and I am really loving my bike now it is all looking new(ish)

Thanks for reading

Prost!

[Gary72]

 

[Bowlingracecardriver]

I have owned this bike for half of my life today! Went out for a celebratory ride which was awesome but mega freezing cold!

[Lenny-Lentini]

Yes Brother

Xmas Day rides are Rad as Fck.

Keep the Faith. L

[Bowlingracecardriver]

For sure! Going to get out as much s possible over the next few days because I am not at work and the city is empty. Got to invest in some gloves or something though!

[20to26]

 

[Bowlingracecardriver]

Done a few bits to the bike over the last few weeks. I was in England for 3 weeks doing a bit of this.



The week before the wedding when I should probably have been writing a speech or doing something else wedding related I went to Alans BMX in Wigan and bought a new cable for the rear brake.

As soon as we got back to Cologne I fitted it, removed the front brake for a clean up and got straight out on it in the snow!

C010768-R1-17-19A by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

C010768-R1-16-20A by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

C010768-R1-14-22A by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

C010768-R1-12-24A by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

C010768-R1-11-25A by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

C010768-R1-07-29A by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

C010768-R1-05-31A by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr


Then on Thursday I was given a day off work because I have too many over hours so took a ride to my new favorite place in the world Crow BMX Cologne and got myself some new grips. They are ODI Old School and I totally love them!

P2060561 by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

P2060565 by Bowling Racecar Driver, on Flickr

The dude who owns the shop who is a true nice guy asked if he could have a go on my bike and took it for a few rounds on the indoor park  which was amazing. It was great to see my bike being used properly by someone who actually knows what they are doing!


Prost!
Rob

[Christhejob]

Is it janosch you've been talking to at crow? I work with him at the masters/worlds every year. Lovely chap.
Mind your back on that k2!!

[Bowlingracecardriver]

You know what I don't actually know the guys name! That is super rude but I have never asked his name. It's the guy with the rad Chevy pickup truck.

[Christhejob]

Yeah that's janosch. Black hair, bad teeth, drinks a lot 

[Bowlingracecardriver]

Haha! Yeah thats the dude! Are you also in Cologne then? Or do you just come over for the BMX?

[Christhejob]

Na, I just come over and work at the comp, judging, scoring and all that. Mostly drinking..