Rick Moliterno, Krt Schmidt, and Bill Nitschke started Standard Byke Company in 1991.
rick spearheaded the the birth of standard byke company after efforts to become haro team manager and redesign they're bikes after 6 years riding for them failed. so along with krt and bill they set about inventing bikes that could cope with the new riding styles. street and skatepark were killing the old school frame far too quickly so a change was needed.
november 91 was when it all kicked off. the spelling of byke was a deliberate mistake with the idea of saying to people that this is something different in a period of bmx where the industry was shrinking and frame design was becoming stagnant. prototypes were tested straight away and the first run of production frames arrived around late 92. they were made by a machine shop in davenport but all were refused as they were made wrong. those frames that were made wrong became 'basic bikes'. at some point soon after manufatcuring was moved to waterford precision cycle engineering.
the first frame to be sold under standard byke company were the lengthy and shorty. with tubing beefed up, much thicker dropouts, these frames are stronger than any other frame on the market.
bill nitschke left standard in the december and according to rick "he was a mistake. just wanting a fat paycheck off the company with no effort involved".
standard adopted the number '63'. its ricks lucky number and sees it appearing everywhere
in 1993 standard launched the S.T.A (stonger than all) as its jumping weapon. beefy tubing and no platform gave a sleek yet super stong frame and its deserving title. though designed for jumping the S.T.A pretty much became the 'best all round frame ever produced'.
also at this time all the frames were now coming with a lifetime warranty.
in 1994 saw probably the biggest evolution in bmx when standard paved the way of the future again by designing the fork and
stem combo using the 1"1/8' aheadset.
the bicycle motocross was introduced to the world as standard's race frameset, to be sold as a frame fork and stem combo.
the other frames were availaible as 1" or 1" 1/8'.
by 1996 bmx was back in full swing, the standards of frames had acheived new peaks and trends were setting in. with this in mind the TAO (paul osicka) flatland frame was released. it had a new headtube gusset design, no platform, and raised chainstays for better clearence
in 1997 came the standard 'trailboss' (robbie morales signature model). Robbie Morales, Ride BMX US june 1997 : 'The Trail Boss was basically my idea. I worked together with Rick Moliterno on it. It's basically an STA front end, super beefy, super strong, with the rear end of a Motocross with straight gauge tubing and thicker dropouts, if you want to run a peg. The whole idea was for once to specifically build a bike just for the trails. It's lighter than an STA, and a little heavier than a Motocross. It's just right for dirt jumping. It'll come with a 20" top tube and a 21" top tube, so for short people it'll fit them'.
also in 1997 krt schmidt left standard
in 1998 saw the development of the 'shamen' (bobby fisher signature model). it was designed for the flatland/street rider and also made a fantastic mini ramp frame, using the same headtube configuration as the TAO with a more STA back end it was
super stong and and really whippy.
in 1999 saw the re-release of the legendary lengthy frame, the platform had gone, was very similar to an STA of the time but sported stepped dropouts. 6mm with 8mm around where the wheelnut goes on.
in 2000 a few companies dabbled with kids frames and to order standard devloped the starship destoyer 50. basically a mini
STA that took a 16" wheel. also the use of ox platinum air hardened tubing was put into the production S.T.A's, 125, and trls 250
in 2001 a 'more affordable' frame was launched under the signature of john (luc-e) engelbert, and was given the name 'cashius'. had open dropouts instead of the distinctive capping and only came in yellow and black.
in 2002 rick moliterno designed his own signature frame for 'the refined rider' and being the mad ford mustang fan that he is was given the name 'bullitt' and was available in mustang green and black.
in 2003 a more street/park orientated version of the trls 250 was available as the 250s.
in 2004 with the beefed up 250S already around, a new lighter frame version was available as the 250L weighing in at a remarkable 4lb 11oz.
in 2007 SBC took the decision to bring manufacturing in-house at standards home town of davenport iowa. with the idea of
improving quality control, customer services, its 'custom options' and prototyping could be achieved much quicker. and with what we have seen so far in 2008 with etched tubing and pictorial cut dropouts anything is possible.
shorty/lengthy
gen 1 shorty
gen2 shorty
gen3 lengthy
3 main generation of the shorty and lengthy, gen 1 revolutionised bmx with beefy tubing, large platform, 6mm dropouts, and super strong construction, gen 2 saw the backend tidied up with the stays being straightned out instead of toeing in toward the rear and the dropout ends were capped and became a distinctive mark on sbc frames, gen 3 in 1996 saw two new gussets at the front end, as well as the distinctive wraparound gusset, two plates were added on upper and lower of tubing to give better strength. sadly after this the legendary frame was retired for several years but in 1999 saw the rebirth of the lengthy. completely redesigned with thick sections of dropout, beefy tubing, this was probably arguably standards heaviest and strongest frame built. yeilded the best slogan on the frame 'through the flames the image of an old beast appeared in a new world' and its own sticker of the mythical phoenix
revised lengthy
S.T.A. stronger than all
96 STA
02 OX platinum STA
started off life as the strongest jump frame in the world, and ended life as the strongest all round frame in the world. first version had the usual standard marks and looked like a lengthy without the platform, in 1996 two gussett plates were added to the front end to aid strength, backend went from 6/8ths stays to 7/8ths stays for better backend strength. about 98/99 saw the dropouts slightly redesigned to help in protecting the chain. in 2000 the S.T.A was host to the new development of OX PLATINUM air hardened tubing used in the frame to give better balance to the frame with a lighter front end and the plate gussets at the front were discontinued. the easiest way to check an OX platinum frame is to sit the frameon its B/B and dropouts. if the front end drops its 4130. if the front end stays raised its OX platinum
bicycle motocross/125/125r
125
08 125r
standards all out race frameset made from 100% chromoly tubing. super sleek looks is what this frame has always been
renowned for with good reason. a few angle and length changes over the years and in 2000 was given air hardened ox platinum tubing to increase strength and bring the weight down to a healthy 4lb 2ozs. the 125r was the first frame to roll off the production line in the new in-house manufacturing plant in davenport in 2008 and has had a small number of tweaks, especially the dropouts with the all new picture cut dropouts showing off engineering prowess.
TAO (paul osicka signature model)
the character itself translates as "way," "path," or "route," and pronounced as 'dao'
a complete new frame from standard for flatland with low seatstays and raised chainstays for better clearence whilst scuffing, a whole new front end configuration and gusset to give better clearence and a short front end to make it more whippy.
shaman (bobby fisher signature model)
this frame was designed for flatland/street riding. had pretty much an STA backend, the same headtube configuration as the TAO but a longer front end
cashius (luc-e signature frame)
for all things street! was standards 'cheaper' frame with uncapped dropouts and built for thrashing around on. pretty much a
beefed up trls250. only available in yellow (luc-e's trademark colour) and black (for the cool kids)
trailboss/trls250/250S/250L
trls250
250s
250L
the original trailboss was robbie morales idea. together with rick developed a frame specifically for the trails. single big jumps in the woods were a thing of the past and rythmn sections were in full flow so the sleeky race look but stonger was what people were looking for. basically an STA front end with a slightly beefed up motocross rear end was gen1. after robbo leaving standard to join up with the T1 crew one the progression, the trailboss was given a new identity for a couple of reasons and was given the name trls250. then in the new millenium got the use of the ox platinum air hardened tubing to balance things better and give a weight of 5lb 2ozs, late generations were realeased as the 250s, a beefed up version to better cope with the demands of riding street/park and then later a lightened version the 250L for 'non peg users' was released and weighed in at a remarkable 4lb 11ozs. subtle changes have happened along the way but still carries that original trail boss DNA.
the bullitt (rick moliterno signature model)
designed for the 'refined rider', arguably this is the frame that gave birth to 'new school' with its angles and lengths whilst maintaing that 'mid school look. using ox platinum dubble butted air hardened tubing this frame weighs in at 5lb 2ozs, had its own unique dropouts (sleeker than the STA). the brake lugs were moved from the chainstays to underneath the seat stays to cater for the ever decreasing sprocket sizes. no headtube wraparound gusset, and a low standover height for a more compact frame
the man behind it all - rick moliterno
