Taj bike history

[reay900tap]

stumbled across this, makes a god read

http://taj.transworld.net/2008/12/15/to-all-the-bikes-ive-loved-before/





deffo the best quote..
                                   'S&M Holmes again. I was on these frames for years. In fact most of the time I was on Standard, Hoffman, and Family I was just riding Holmes. '

[SaMAlex]

Thats brilliant!!!

So many great riding photos 

[GINGERHOLMES]

that is one of the best interviews i have read 

[ron burgundy]

That's a great read, and some fantastic bikes

[chromeOrange]

Brilliant! Great rider and some great bikes...

Mark.

[darkersomeday]

great interview,
my favourite ever rider.
right up there with hoffman and haro,

mint to see the early bikes too, never realised he rode so many holmes with other sponsors stickers on!

but fook me,

that first t1 progression!!  how much do i want a t1 progression?



T1 titanium barcode, i remeber talking to taj about it when he first got it made up!

i'm going to e-mail joe and see if he'll sell it to me!

[bmxmatt1974]

great read that 

[SaMAlex]

I love this whole interview/story. It really shows that for years everyone just rode whatever they could get, and most bikes were pretty crap. It also shows that even tho it broke, the Holmes really was an icon back then. Nothing else was close 

When Taj and Joe left Standard they called up S&M and both got Holmes frames. Moeller said that Taj had been getting given Holmes frames for years, it was only chance that when he "blew up" he was on a Standard. I couldnt help but think that maybe S&M should have pushed him more as a high profile rider, and also made more of a big deal about he and Joe coming back for a S&M frame. Im sure there was loads more to it all, but it was a shame most people didnt know how many riders were on S&Ms, wirh or without other peoples stickers on there.

When Rooftop left S&M for Family bikes (did they ever make a frame?), he got a Family bikes T-shirt, and had to pay for the dirtbikes that he'd been getting given before. A strange move, that one.

[dialledbikes]

Interesting read.  I'm a big Taj fan.

I'm surprised that Standard and Hoffman let Taj ride a Holmes with their stickers on though.  I wouldn't want someone on my team if they wanted to ride somebody else's frame.  Just doesn't seem right.

[condor96]

im getting an error 404 when i click on the link

[SaMAlex]

I wouldn't want someone on my team if they wanted to ride somebody else's frame.  Just doesn't seem right.

Yeah but Mike, you have got frames to give your riders. Standard didnt have many frames at the start (and they were heavy and short) and when on Hoffman Taj probably rode a Holmes while he was waiting for his frame. Its not like he'd ride a condor on dirt!

[reay900tap]

'Its not like he'd ride a condor on dirt!'

lets be honest, you would struggle to ride a condor on anything other than vert!

I've always wondered how much it 'could' hold you back by running just one or two brands of parts through sponsership?
me myself, I'm very very picky on what and not whos parts I run, I think it would be a nightmare to be told 'heres your frame it maybe a bit long/short, with a horrible back end but please just make do'..
loving your bike, the way it feels & looks is 1/2 the battle to having fun on your bike!

so I say its his call,  with or without permission I can see his reasons, only thing I can't see is why'o'why S&M

[condor96]

taj rode some dirt on a condor in madd matt......
 they are actually really good to go dirt jumping,park,street riding........and of coarse vert. just dont try and flatland a condor.diemention wise a taj is very similar to a condor.  i havent touched a dor to a vert ramp in 11 years....

[teamsano]

'Its not like he'd ride a condor on dirt!'

lets be honest, you would struggle to ride a condor on anything other than vert!

not quite, butcher rode a condor when he first rode for hoffman, and he could boss his way thru posh with the best of them.

[teamsano]

.diemention wise a taj is very similar to a condor. 

wrong. nothing is very similar to a condor, apart from a bully or something like that, it has a ridiculous seat tube angle.

[condor96]

.diemention wise a taj is very similar to a condor. 

wrong. nothing is very similar to a condor, apart from a bully or something like that, it has a ridiculous seat tube angle.

thats about the only main diff

[teamsano]

yes, but note that the relaxed seat angle and a similar toptube length makes the condor a LOT  shorter in real life terms. over 1/2inch in the wheelbase as you can see.

also the condor had ridiculous o/d sized seatstays, and a frame design nothing like the taj.

[bmxbert]

lads is this not getting all a bit to technical....fact is all the bikes mentioned in this debate are great in one way or another...
want to debate go debate with new/old school boys. im pretty sure the 90s was the peak in bmx. anyone disagree with that?

[condor96]

im just saying they ride kinda similar. (ive owned both a condor and taj at the same time) they can be ajusted to the same wheelbase in the dropouts and with the lax seat tube it just gives more room up top with the same tt length.

the condor had 3/4ths(the taj was bigger at 7/8ths) stays until 99/00 then they went way bigger after that in 2001
granted yes the frame design is different in the back but the front ends are nearly identical.(tubing and gusset and whatnot) and the general size of each other is close

[condor96]

im pretty sure the 90s was the peak in bmx. anyone disagree with that?

as far as best time in the sport,yes. as far as its popularity,no.  personally it was the best era,it was as pure as it could get and itll never be like that again 

[bmxbert]

best era. and to be most popular soon for sure.... just not yet...
every time i show a rider from the 90s my bikes they instantly want to get into the builds... i just bought an old freind i used to ride with a taj frame for his birthday...
you can expect to see him on here by jan for sure...
there was so much trial and error and so much quality involved in all aspects....90s is defo where it was refined into the sport it is today.

then again what do i know im pissed as a fart

[nomad]

what a great read that was, always loved watching Taj.

On the subject of condors, my mate had one which I once managed to pull a decade on. It was like being in space! I wa riding a Catweasle at the time, so it was a mighty acheivement imho!

[condor96]

nomad,its definatly an acheivement doing a decade on a dor. they feel weird on them, it feels like your 20 feet in the air 

i cant read the blog. it says the page doesnt exist.
and this seems perfect for this thread...

[Miko]

I'm pretty sure I rode with Taj, at the track, right around the time that Revcore picture was taken.  That would be the reason for the helmet with mouthguard, long sleeves, gloves and frame pad.  The track and NBL rules were always loose for Taj. 

I also remembering him riding a tan Holmes, too.  I remember thinking his bikes always looked so slapped together.  Always had mismatched shit on his bikes.  But it showed everyone that having an expensive ass shiny Kastan with half a fork won't make you better at riding. 

I would just watch him as a kid.  He just sailed.  I looked up to him, Ed Bauer, and Geoff Ssengoba.  Taj got big-time after I pretty much walked away from the sport, due to a bad leg injury.  It was awesome to walk into Albe's once a year and see his signature goods.  Like a hometown hero. 

Albe's still has an original Hoffman Taj frame and fork.  NOS and 1" threaded.  I'm sure it means a lot to Todd. 

[TwoBobRob]

In amongst all of that I see that the Taj had a 75 degree head angle?   Blimey, never knew that...  Any other mid bikes with a steeper headtube?