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It’s that time of the year again for the annual Frostbike show at QBP up in Bloomington, Minnesota. We made our way up the icy, bumpy highway that was covered from the snow storm earlier last week to take a closer look at what was going on in the QBMX section.
Cruising right along! Next up, we hit up Ronnie Bonner to see what was up with The Shadow Conspiracy these days. They had a bunch of fresh items on display as expected and it’s all looking dialed, so let’s get into this!
Over the last couple of years, forks have changed a fair amount. Heat-treating started becoming more and more popular, drop out sizes became smaller in size while allowing plenty of peg clearance for improved grinding, steeper offsets have become increasingly popular thanks to nose manuals, hang fives and more front end tricks getting popular, legs have been tapered and butted, made wider to fit fat 20×2.35″ tires and plenty of other small changes to make them better.
One fork in particular has been standing out to me for a little over a year now, and that’s the Captive fork from The Shadow Conspiracy that not only features a lot of those things I listed above, but a one of a kind enclosed drop out with inserts allowing for multiple offsets being the biggest thing that makes this one stand out.
This design has really been on my check list for quite a while of things to find out about, so I decided it was time I get ahold of Ronnie Bonner to find out just what this fork is all about, what went into the design and how they got it done! Take a look at the full interview below!
Ronnie B and the whole Sparky’s crew are the real deal. In this part of the BTS series, the team talks about Mr. Bonner’s insane around the clock work ethic and the sense of family amongst the team riders.
Oh hell yeah. This is something I’ve always wanted to do but it looks like Aaron Nardi and ESPN BMX beat me to it! They’re going to start doing a series called Behind the Scenes where they give you an in-depth look at different things around the BMX industry. They kicked things off with a look at The Shadow Conspiracy and where they came from. This is a must see for sure!
Make your way over to Collateral for an interview with Ronnie Bonner about all sorts of things from how Shadow and Sparky’s got started and what they are working on, to opening up Rock Steady Trading Company in Taiwan. It’s a super interesting read and even includes an interview with Steven Liu.
Intro by Kurt Hohberger – Interview by Dave Paterson
Over the years, there have been a handful of products that really stood out and have become “that product” that everyone knows as the perfect example that was eventually reproduced by a handful of other brands with minor tweaks and branding changes. For example, we could look at products like S&M’s Slam Bars, Odyssey’s Twisted PC pedals and Profile’s cranks. There’s one product that I think fits into this category that you without a doubt have either ran on your bike, or know a few people who do. That would be the Shadow Conspiracy‘s Interlock half-link chain. Since its release, it has been duplicated and replicated fairly unsuccessfully by a handful of brands and Shadow have stayed on top with making beneficial tweaks to make it stronger and better than before. Dave figured it was time to catch up with owner Ronnie Bonner to find out more about what exactly makes this chain one of the legendary products of BMX. So let’s take a look and what he had to say…
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BMX definitely lost a great one…
“After a long hard fight Mr. B lost his battle with cancer yesterday evening. Some of you may not know but Mr. B was Ronnie B’s father and a main part in many brands from UGP, to The Shadow Conspiracy and of course Subrosa. UGP was created in Mr. B’s garage, and since then he has worked full-time with Ronnie. He was such an important role in creating all the brands and Sparkys Distribution. Words can’t describe what a great man he was and how important he has been for me, Subrosa would not be here today without his support. Thank you Mr.B Rest in Peace.” – Ryan Sher
It’s finally here…
“Trey Jones, Ben Hucke, Ryan Sher, and Seth Kimbrough took the road less traveled when they headed out to Moscow, Russia for 14 days. Add in owner Ronnie B., photographer Ryan Fudger, and myself, and it made for one of the most memorable trips we’ve ever had. Check it out!
Huge thanks to Evgeny and Sasha at Hellride Distribution for making this one possible!
Filmed and Edited by Ryan Chadwick
Additional Filming by Ben Hucke
Music –
The Animals – It’s My Life
Peter, Bjorn, and John – (Don’t Let Them)Cool Off”
