Photo: Ben Austin
I’ve probably known Bink for nearly 10 years now. In that time, I’ve watched his riding style evolve from a racing influenced ramp rider who had tailwhips and girl pants on lock to the freecoasting street machine he has become today. With time, his setup has changed as well. I was talking to him the other day and we decided it would be a good time to check out his current unit that’s decked out with Tree Bicycle Co. parts and find out what’s new with him. Let’s take a look at his bike and find out what he had to say…
Name: David Seavey
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Years Riding: About fifteen
Sponsors: Tree Bicycle Co.
Frame: Tree Lil’ Buddy 20.75″ TT
Bars: Tree prototype 9.5″ rise
Fork: Odyssey Race
Stem: Mosh woodgrain top load
Grips: ODI Longnecks
Headset: Kink
Cranks: Profile GDH with Bluesix ti bolts
Pedals: Nice plastic
Sprocket: Tree OG 28 tooth
Chain: KMC 510
Seat / Seat post/ Clamp: Premium fat/Kink pivotal/built in
Front Wheel / Tire: An early version of the Tree straight pull hub with Bluesix bolts, laced to a Sun Envy using Tree spokes/Demolition Momentum
Rear Wheel / Tire: Federal freecoaster laced to a Drive rim that I bought for $10/Premium Refuse/Resist tire
Style Matters.
Pegs: Typically none, but I have some Tree Tricksticks when I want to get my grind on. I also have four of Tree’s flatland pegs, the Balsas, for some flatland fun.
Mods? I cut the bars down nearly an inch on each side, I trimmed the axles to be flush with the axle nuts, and I glued a leather badge on the head tube.
What’s the newest part on your bike? My two month old rear tire.
What’s the oldest? Probably the Odyssey forks I bought in 2006.
Do your bars have to be in a certain spot or the whole bike feels weird? Anything else that messes with you?
I like to keep the bars perpendicular to the ground, so they’re somewhere between here and Chicago. As long as my bike feels solid, doesn’t click, and the freecoaster bearings haven’t shit the bed, then I’m happy.
What do you go through the most?
Tires and freecoaster driver bearings. Tires last three months at most and driver bearings rarely survive six months. On occasion, I’ll even grind through a set of pedals in a day, which usually only happens when I’m trying to film something.
How are things going with Tree lately? Any trips or cool stuff in the works with them?
Riding for Tree is great. I enjoy representing a company whose products I believe in. As for trips, I recently missed out on a Tree shop tour and trip to the Postapocalympics because I was in the middle of moving. Hopefully I can snag on spot on the next trip, wherever and whenever that may be.
Any other sponsor news you have going on?
Nope, I don’t film nearly enough web content.
When can we expect a fresh video from you? I feel like it has been a bit since I’ve seen some fresh footage from you.
I have nearly enough footage to edit a full part, but I still have some clips I’d like to collect before putting it out. It’s tough to stockpile footage when I’m only riding with a videographer once or twice a week at most. And sometimes I just don’t want to film. I hate carrying a backpack all day, when what I most enjoy is simply cruising through the city, riding whatever I come across. Excuses aside, I’ll probably have a video by the end of the month.
What did you do all summer? Did you get on any trips or were you stuck in Minneapolis?
Nothing too exciting this summer. I rode with some friends whenever I had a chance, drank some beer, grilled some food and saw some shows. I mostly stayed around Minneapolis.
What are your plans for the winter? Any plans of getting out of the ice box for a bit?
I don’t have anything planned yet, but I’d like to get out of the awful winter weather for a little while.
You have been done with college for a while now. What are you doing for work these days? Do you miss Arizona much?
Right now I’m finishing a website for my parents’ business, but by the time this is posted, I’ll probably be unemployed. Know of any good job openings?
I miss certain aspects of life in Arizona. There was an abundance of spots–dirt, street, skateparks, pools, etc.–and there was an enormous scene, which spawned some of best BMX shops around. And obviously the weather was great other than in the summer. I do miss the desert, the mountains and the outdoor activities that came along with it. I mean, as far as I’m concerned, hiking doesn’t exist in Minnesota. I call it walking around in the woods. Most of all, though, I miss my friends in Arizona.
What I don’t miss is being harassed by the police. For the five years I lived in Arizona, I’d estimate I was pulled over while riding my bike (BMX and commuter) at least once a week. That’s nearly 260 encounters with coppers, most of which were bullshit attempts to scan for warrants. On the one occasion I was given a ticket, the officer stated, “I’m only giving you a ticket for being out of line.” How was I out of line? I simply asked him to state exactly why he was pulling me over.
Oh, and I miss the lizards crawling over buildings instead of spiders.
What have you been up to when you aren’t riding or working?
Reading, writing, or riding my mountain bike. I’m also working with my girlfriend on a comic based on a guy who lived near my old complex in Tempe, Tall Can Guy. If you’ve ever stayed at my place you may be familiar with this guy: starting each morning around 8:00, a scruffy, middle aged guy would walk through my parking lot to the liquor store and buy a single tall can of beer. He’d walk home, then about an hour later, he would come walking through the lot, finish his beer, toss it into the dumpster and repeat the process over again. This ritual would go on all afternoon, everyday, so we started coming up with Tall Can Guy’s backstory, and that has evolved into a comic. Hopefully we’ll have the first batch of strips ready to rock in a month or so.
Photo: Ben Austin
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What’s the last song you heard, movie you watched and website you visited?
I’m currently listening to Warren Zevon’s Play it All Night Long. “Grandpa pissed his pants again/he don’t give a damn…”
Unfortunately, the last movie I watched was What to Expect When You’re Expecting. My time would have been better spent watching a turd ferment, which is actually a good analogy for every Jennifer Lopez film.
Mentalfloss.com is currently open in my browser.
Do you have any shout outs or thanks?
Thanks to Tree bikes, Bluesix parts, and anyone else who has kept me rolling over the years with spare parts and a place to sleep while on road trips.
Anything else you want to say?
Aside from James Joyce’s onomatopoetic tattarrattat, detartrated is the longest palindromic word in the English language. Also, leading up to winter, bears eat plenty of bark, leaves, and twigs to supplement the fiber needed to form a tappen, natures version of a butt plug which keeps the animal from shitting the bed during winter hibernation.
