Brian Tunney Archives – Page 10 of 13

Rest In Peace, Paul Buchanan

May 17, 2018

BMX has lost another legend… Rest In Peace, Paul Buchanan…

Cover Photo: Ed Doherty / DIG

I wrote a tribute for Paul over @digbmx. What I didn’t say in that is that I’m no stranger to the grips of depression and battle with it often. If anyone out there is in the same boat, I’m always here to talk, offer bad jokes and probably send an offensive text photo. Rip #paulbuchanan
A post shared by Brian Tunney (@briantunney) on May 17, 2018 at 2:10pm PDT

It’s always a bummer to hear about a rider passing away, especially one as influential and legendary as Paul Buchanan. Today we caught wind that Paul had passed away earlier this week. It’s not quite clear exactly what happened, but Brian Tunney‘s Instagram post offers some insight. You can check out his full write up on the DIG website — In Memory: Paul Buchanan.

Although we haven’t seen anything from Paul for quite some time, he was one of those riders who people still talked about frequently and his riding influenced a lot of riders and pushed BMX into new directions during his time riding for different brands, including Terrible One. Below you can find an old Prop’s bio with Joe Rich that has a Terrible One commercial featuring Paul that still to this day is downright amazing. We’ve embedded it to start at about the 9:20 mark where the commercial starts. You can also find the Terrible One “You Get What You Get” video that features riding from Paul at the bottom. After the Props commercial, we’ve embedded Taj Mihelich‘s Instagram post with some words about Paul…

Rest In Peace, Paul. You left your mark on BMX and will never be forgotten.

We lost a great one. Paul Buchanan was one of the first riders T1 sponsored. To me his riding was genius. His creativity, technical ability and all around burliness made him something really special. We (Joe and I at T1) wanted to support him. We knew he was never going to be a big contest rider (though he did ride X-games), he seemed to be happiest riding late at night, often alone, making up his own stuff without the influence of anyone else. And he did make up a lot of stuff. He was a huge influence on riders. He was quiet about it, probably no one filmed or shot photos but he brought new things to BMX all the time. – I’m strangely stuck on this memory I have of him standing out on the T1 ramp all alone with my dog Roscoe. He used to spend time back there with the dog and teach him weird tricks. He would never speak out loud while doing it. He’d just point and Roscoe would figure out what he wanted. He taught Roscoe to run up the big vert wall extension on the T1 ramp to retrieve things. That vert wall was amazingly high! That’s the image I have… Roscoe grabbing some ball off the top of that wall while Paul stands calmly at the bottom of the ramp pointing. – I found this bio I wrote about him back in 2001: “Paul seems really disjointed from a lot of the riding scene to me, but I think that’s a great thing. He is always testing and trying new things and I think that type of creativity is so often lost on a lot of today’s pro riders. Keeping his distance is a good way for him to maintain his own originality and his own direction. He’s able to take riding to new places that no one has ever thought of and that’s invaluable to the BMX world. In any event, I don’t think Paul is aware of any of that. I don’t think he has any idea how influential he is. The boundaries he has pushed and new directions he opens up have trickled down via the few people who spend time riding with him, to the rest of BMX. There are lot of trends and tricks in riding right now that start back with Paul, but I’d be willing to bet that not even he realizes it." Vid from @t1stagram and @stew1201. Not sure about the riding photo… @t1ers or @sandy_carson i think. From my old t1 files.
A post shared by Taj Mihelich (@tajlucas) on May 17, 2018 at 12:30pm PDT

Saddened to hear of one of the greats of bmx paul buchanan has gone, so elusive, with barely a photo or a video clip seen, and yet every time something did appear it was a total treat and memorable something perhaps today’s insta clip generation doesn’t get… a massive influence on many, actions speak louder than words perhaps. Section from @seventiesdistro from love to hate 2001, #terribleone t/shirt bought by me while in austin 2001 #rippaulbuchanan #bmx
A post shared by Gav Cope (@modebmx) on May 17, 2018 at 2:06pm PDT

Brian Tunney – Holy Trend

March 12, 2018

Brian Tunney coming through with some fresh flatland clips…

We’re always stoked on seeing some fresh Brian Tunney clips. Here’s his latest compilation of clips he has collected over the past few months of sessions he has been getting in at his go to parking garage spot and a few other places down in Texas. As always, Brian produces some great riding, and he picked out a proper soundtrack to go with it! Hit play and enjoy!

“This is a collection of random footage from mid-November through very early March, encapsulating everything from my last bad crash to curb fufanus to way too many smith decades. I had way more clips but decided that self editing was a safe bet, so instead of 4 and a half minutes, it’s shorter and scored to an old Self Defense Family song from a 4-way split EP. The song is called “Holy Trend” and I’m fairly certain that Patrick would be cool with me using it. I think I have to dedicate this one to the memory of my old friend Kevin Robinson, who passed away in December. I was pretty lost that first week after hearing the news and didn’t know what else to do and of course, ended up getting some clips along the way….” – Brian Tunney

The Impact of Kevin Robinson

December 11, 2017

X Games have released a really great feature remembering Kevin Robinson…

Photo: Mark Losey / Red Bull Content Pool

Over the weekend, the BMX world found out that we had lost Kevin Robinson to a stroke. Since then pro riders, friends, family and fans from around the world have been reminding all of us how much influence and impact Kevin had and the amount of good he did for so many people on and off his bike. There’s a feature over on the X Games website that Brian Tunney put together about Kevin and the things he did from their time meeting in the 90’s on through now that had such an impact on a lot of people. It’s a great read, so we highly suggest you check it out. Rest In Peace, Kevin! The BMX world will never forget you.

Rodeo Peanut – Lost VHS Footage (2000 – 2002)

November 27, 2017

Check out 6 minutes of gems from the original Rodeo Peanut crew…

Now this is rad! Jared Washington just uploaded a whole bunch of old VHS footage he had from 2000 – 2002 that was filmed during skatepark and street sessions out in New Jersey. This features the original Rodeo Peanut crew and it has so many dialed clips in this. If you’re a fan of Mid School, you need to see this.

“Jared Washington, Chris Reyes, Brian Tunney, Jeremy Barcick bmxyoung rodeo peanut”

Brian Tunney – Summer 2017 Clips

October 4, 2017

It has been a while since Brian Tunney has put out a full edit, but we were stoked to see this new one pop up from some of his flatland sessions over the course of the past few months. The video has a pretty laid back vibe to it, but there’s plenty of great riding to keep your attention from start to finish no problem, and the song selection is on point, too. Plus, Brian even managed to get us pretty good with the description, haha. Hit play and enjoy!

“This is a collection of random clips from June to September of 2017, filmed between the garage, the same garage, the church and the school, which makes me sound like an upstanding citizen on paper, but I can assure you, that’s sometimes the case. As evidenced in the video, I have been a little obsessed with smith decades lately but I’m slowly working past that. Basically, I can write anything in here and any BMX sites will just copy and paste what I’m saying. The song is unknowingly provided by Mark Kozelek and Desertshore, but I met him in an airport once in 2012 and we talked about snowmobiles and I could tell he would approve of me using this song” – Brian Tunney

Brian Tunney – Austin, Texas 2016

November 26, 2016

We’re always pumped when some fresh Brian Tunney footage surfaces online. Here’s a look at what Brian has been getting into during his flatland sessions in Austin, Texas. As always, some great riding, plus he had some real quality help in the film department to make it look even better. Take a look!

“In January of 2015, I moved to Austin, Texas from Redondo Beach, California and decided that I should eventually get around to filming a new video. My dear friend Stew Johnson volunteered his time and effort and skills, and together, slowly but surely, we amassed enough footage to put together something I was happy with. I then DM’d Patrick Kindlon of Self Defense Family to see if we could make sweet, beautiful love together (I.E. use their song) and he said 100% use it. With help from a clip filmed by Robin Fenlon in Newport Beach, we spent the day after Thanksgiving 2016 sitting in Stew’s office and came up with the following. I owe dear thanks to so many people for pushing me to keep going on this bizarre BMX journey for over 30 years now, and this is dedicated to each and every one of them. Thanks for watching a 42-year-old no one…

Buy the Self Defense Family album ‘Heaven is Earth’ here: https://deathwishinc.com/collections/self-defense-family”

Brian Tunney “Dave Mirra Made Lasting Impression”

February 5, 2016

There’s a story on the ABC News website by Brian Tunney telling of Brian’s first encounters and early memories, all the way through the success of Dave leading up to his untimely death that shook the world yesterday. It’s an incredible read, that you can check out right here.

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Sneak Peek: United Bike Co. – Mike Escamilla Frame with Bash Guard

January 7, 2016

The other day we caught a quick glimpse of this frame and for one reason or another thought it was just a random one off frame somebody had S&M or somebody else make. Then today we noticed a blog Brian Tunney wrote about the frame and we realized this is actually a prototype signature frame that United Bike Co. is working on with Mike Escamilla that will be available sooner than later. We’ve seen the bash guard make appearances multiple times over BMX’s short history, between frames that came with them and some after market ones like the guard Fly Bikes and Ruben Alcantara worked on, to that BMX Grind Bottom Bracket Guard we haven’t heard anything about or seen anyone riding. A lot of older guys talk about how BMX trends tend to go in circles… Things that were popular fade out, then years later come back stronger than before. Maybe this will be the revival of the integrated bash guard? We’ll just have to wait and see how things go when this frame comes out. Expect more details once it’s closer to release! It sounds like there is a nylon bash plate that is attached to the tubing that goes around the bottom bracket, so you’ll be sliding smooth.

“SNEAK PEAK! United and I have been working on a signature frame for the past 8 months. Here’s the prototype frame without the nylon bashplate. Although lately you have been seeing a few one off bashguard bikes this will be full production and available soon. With all the riders running no pegs I can’t wait to see who drops in and delivers original new grinds and ideas! Stayed tuned for more info and pics!” – @MikeEscamilla

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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