I’d barely arrived at the Malverns Classic when we were rolling through the camping field and spotted the kind of freak bike collection that no self-respecting bike nerd can walk past. Plus a 100% rusted car. It was too much to resist after the drive south, so we kicked back and got the details on what the what was going on.
First up, BMXer, dirt jumper (and builder) ‘Dig’, showed us his beast of a bike.
It’s a Keewee Cromozone, 2004 according to the eBay listing I bought it from. Fully steel 4130 chromoly. Well all the way through except for the linkage. New Zealand made. It’s not something you can find easily for sale.
I imagine it costs quite a lot to post one from New Zealand so, not many here!
I think people imported them back in the day. It was kind of a niche thing. I bought this from a fella in Wales. That’s why they’re hard to find – not many people were buying them back then – but I think it’s one of them companies people were like, ‘that’s cool, I want it’.
It does weigh like a small moon, doesn’t it?
It’s fine though. It’s for going down a hill!
I have overheard you saying that you have ridden this a number of miles?
60 plus!
Let’s start with what you’ve got going on on the seat post and the saddle because that’s what enabled you to ride 60 miles and do dirt jumps, basically.
Yes the Aenomaly! The angle changing ma-jigga. It allows you to do both, so I can have the angle to ride long miles – because I need the angle for gooch reasons! But then I can drop it backwards and hit jumps or ride tracks. Coming from BMX. I just seem to want to seat gone, I want it out the way. So just being able to slam the seat, and of course I cut and shut the frame.
So what did you do to the frame?
I think I’ve cut like two inches off the seat tube. So I can get the seat low enough for my little legs.
What size frame was it?
I don’t know… too big for me! Also, it’s on 24s (wheels) now instead of 26s is to drop it even lower. I think it’s a big huck machine, so it’s meant to have a really high BB and do big drops. But I’ve dropped it all so I get my little legs on it and just ride normal stuff.
So the 24 inch wheels that’s just for for sizing for you rather than a performance feature?
Yes, I’m a BMXer and say I haven’t stepped above 26s is. I have a 26 in the car. But this whole 27.5/29 movement – it’s not for people that are 5 foot 7!
Okay, and and then tell us about the shock?
I can tell you what the last owner told me! So TF tuned have modified this shock for a lighter rider. They’ve done something to a valve inside here. I’ve not seen any of those shocks about – I’ve seen one today, a Fifth Element but not that specific model, just that actual brand. But that’s actually been modified for a lighter rider. But that’s from the guy. I bought it off, I found that out.
What travel is it?
8 inches here [rear] 9 inches there [front].
It’s got not a flip chip, it’s got flip bolts!
Yeah, it will do 9 inches of travel there (rear). I feel eight is enough for what I do.
And what have we got up front?
A big old Marzocchi Bomber, I can’t remember the year, it might be 2006. This is how the bike basically came except I put different bars and stem, and pedals.
And what are those pedals, I don’t recognise them?
That is a UK company. They’re amazing. And these are the best pedals in the world!
Are you sponsored by them? Do you make them? Do you work for them?!
They are my friends. If they sponsored me I would ride for them, and if they hired me I would work for them! But they’re really cool, Surrey Hill based
Root Designs – for those reading – Root Designs.
They do good sprockets. They do really good pedals. Good socks. Good hoodies.
You’re fully branded! You don’t need sponsoring!
They are bloody good pedals, adjustable height pins. Really wide, really flat, really amazing Yeah, they’ve come from the dirt jump BMX trail side and they’re trying to do really original products that need to be made. Not just another pedal, not just another sprocket. It’s something that they feel like they can make better. And yes, if one thing comes out of this I want to promote those guys. People are jumping on it. They’re cool! They’re good shit!
Well, is there anything else before we move on to the other bike that we should we should talk about on here? Any stories?
Stories, I don’t know I just ride it! It did have a front brake – it seized – the back brake is seizing, the pads are knackered. She goes and yes, I’ve pedaled it 60 miles from Bristol to Salisbury Plain, in a day, for a laugh. With a backpack that weighed as much as a small human. This seat was not the right seat. This seat hurt me for eight hours straight.
So how many weeks off the bike did you have afterwards?!
I don’t think I could sit on this for a good couple of weeks! I rode another bike for a while.
And you do have quite a collection here. Are these all yours?
[Gestures to various bikes that belong to different people]
Oh, so the the Wonder Woman bike is not yours. It is actually Wonder Woman’s! Okay, so I’m gonna come over here and talk to Wonder Woman. So your name is…?
It’s Louise.
So tell us about the Wonder Woman bike.
Well, I love Wonder Woman! He had the idea of getting a custom-made bike and previously I had a STA and it was his old bike and I sprayed it myself to be a Wonder Woman bike, so that was my first Wonder Woman bike. And then Dig just came up with this idea of let’s get some custom-made bikes so that you can have your own Wonder Woman bike and have it sprayed up by someone professional.
Okay, so who made the frame in the first place?
So it was Limit Fabrications up in Norwich, Pat his name is. He made both two bikes at the same time. So Dig had his own custom-made and I had this one. I’m not really much of a connoisseur of bikes, but I liked parts of the bikes that I’d ridden that were previously his, so I just basically put them together to create this one. And Limit Fabrications has this friend, Airworks Sprays, he sprayed it up for me. I chose the colours and the nice surprise was he put the little badge on the front which I didn’t expect. But they did come back to me to say which logo would you like? And this is the 1960s/1970s logo where we had Linda Carter playing Wonder Woman, which is what I used to watch when I was a little girl.
Yeah, so, can you spin this round in a phone booth? That is where she gets changed, isn’t it? Have I remembered that right?!
That’s Superman that goes into a phone booth! She just spins round, she just starts off and spins and spins and spins and ‘whoosh’ she turns into Wonder Woman.
Oh I’ve conflated the two but yeah, you need to perfect the spin!
Yes, I used to spin and spin and spin when I was a little girl, but I never turned into Wonder Woman!
Oh, but you have! You are Wonder Woman, don’t do yourself down! You made a saddle as well?
Dig actually did the saddle for me, but it’s an old T-shirt It’s probably one of my first Wonder Woman t-shirts that I bought so it was a bit small and I decided to turn it into the saddle rather than have it on display with the rest of my memorabilia of Wonder Woman.
Oh, oh, so this is like a part of a whole thing.
Yeah!
Very good. Well, I like it very much I hope you enjoy the Malverns.
Oh, it’s great!
Don’t do yourself down, you definitely are Wonder Woman!
