SinisterBikes

Sinister throws down at the Tara Jam at Rye Airfield

Sinister Bikes company was in the house helping out spread the love and donate more funds to help Tara Llanes recover from her crash last year. The Tara Jam was Scott factory rider Kyle Ebbbet's brainchild and he brought some of his closest friends along to make it blow up! His best friends also happen to be some of the best riders in the world including Cam Macaul, Aaron Chase, George Ryan, Dave Smutok, Seth Lolli, Jeff Lenosky and others at the packed house this past Saturday at the Airfield.

And of course Sinister was there donating product and representing with most of the factory crew throwing down. Sasha, Derek and Dane were there along with a slew of other riders.
Sinister Bikes has a long history of helping out the sport and was instrumental in making the Video Contest party at Highland Moutain Bike Park go off in the early winter which also raised money for the Tara Road to Recovery Fund.
Check out some of the pics of the boys throwing down!peace
skye

dane berke   

sasha "yak attack"

  d-rawk!!!

Rob and Sasha rock Ray's Indoor!

Sinister Factory shredder Sasha Yakvoleff and the man himself Rob Westover and new bud Wilson recently road tripped it out to Ray's Indoor and had the place all to themselves!  Rob wrote a story about the trip and the crew shot some pics too! Guess it's time for everyone to check out the place eh??

robbie has his own namesake bike, The Gruitr!!      

Sasha "Yak Attack"!!

"Rays MTB, many of have heard of it and lots of been, I had been planning to go for 2 years now. Dreaming finally turned into reality in a wham bam thank you maam 2 day road trip to rays in Cleveland, OH.

Saturday Morning 12-9-07: 10:00 AM

I gave Wilson (newly transplanted local to B.F. VT) a call and said I finally had 2 days off in a row and we should think about heading to Rays. He agreed it would be some great research for a facility that he and his father hope to put in Bellows Falls in the near future. When the words “business trip” “free gas” and “free hotel” were mentioned, I knew we were going! As luck would have it Sasha (local Sinister Pro) was in town for the weekend and said he would be pumped to come along as well. So it was confirmed we were headed to Rays!! Booyaa Grandma!!

Saturday Night 12-9-07 7:30 PM

Sasha and I met Wilson in Bellows Falls and dropped our cars in the railroad station parking lot. As Wilson pulled in to pick us up,  Sasha and I realized just how small a Toyota Tacoma extended cap really was. We piled four bikes, bags, and all of our gear plus ourselves (none of us under 6’) into that tiny rig. I lost in rock, paper, and scissors to Sasha and forced myself into the tiny backseat. The back was so small that I wasn’t even able to sit forward even a bit. I ended up having to half lie half sit in the back. But whatever we were on our way.

Saturday Night 12-9-07 11:30 PM

Somewhere in East Bumf$#k NY off Highway 90 I finally get to switch seats with Sasha. Thank the fckin lord, I was already sore and we hadn’t even ridden anything yet. Luckily the only thing keeping us all sane was that Wilson had brought his new I Phone and laptop, so we took turns cruising the net on the phone and watching episodes of family guy on the computer. Life is good when you have a pal that’s techy with the gadgets.

Sunday Morning 12-10-07 6:15 AM

After 10hrs of driving we finally arrive in Cleveland OH, we try and check into our hotel put are told that we have to wait till 7am to check in or we get charged and extra day. There was a Denny’s knock-off restaurant next door so we hit that up for some grub, probably some of the worst food I have ever had. Finally able to check into our hotel we decided on 4 hours of sleep then we were hitting Rays.

Sunday Morning 12-10-07 11:30 AM to 11:00 PM

We arrive at Rays and I’m blown away at how incredibly big the place is, and how much stuff they have packed into there 97,000 square ft facility. For the first half of an hour Sasha, Wilson and I ride around aimlessly getting pretty lost in the jungle of features the place had to offer. Once we got a feel for the layout Sasha and I went out on a mission to ride every single feature no matter how big or how small. From the XC loop, foam pit, bridges, stunts, drops, pump track, park and rhythm sections small, medium and large. Probably the most fun I had would be on the medium red bull rhythm section as well as the large rhythm section that had a massive booter that took me about 5 attempts to clean. Of course riding with Sasha he was hitting everything perfect with style like he had been riding there for years. I also made some quarter ass attempts at 360’s into the foam pit, they were weak but I managed to get a few around. We rode for nearly 10.5 hours on Sunday and to say the least we were well whooped. The good news was Wilson had managed to sweet talk one of the employees to open the place up for us on Monday at 2:00 pm for a 4-hour private session. We headed back to the hotel, showered and enjoyed some cold Tecate, lost to Sasha in rock, paper, and scissors and had to sleep on the cot. The thing smelled like a cigarette, but I guess it was semi-soft.

  the  place  is huge!                              

                                          

get right up on there Robbie!

Monday 12-11-07 11:00 AM

We checked out of the hotel after about 10 hours of sleep and headed out to get some grub and kill some time before our afternoon session. After we got some breakfast at the real Denny’s, which was surprisingly good. We headed to a local mall to kill some time, checked out the fine looking ladies and commented on how we all looked like a bunch of hobo’s after an all night crack bender. Sasha had on a shirt and a pair of jeans that were so stained it looked like he had slept outside in the dirt the night before.

Monday 12-11-07 2:00 PM to 6:00 pm

Arrived at Rays for our Private session, needless to say it was SICK!!!!! 97,000 square feet of Bike Park for three people. We decided to shoot some pics with Sashas ghetto ass camera, so the pics you see here prob suck. We spent the majority of our time at the foam pit since we had the bad boy to ourselves. I tried three’s again but was so worked from the day before had trouble getting them around. My arms were so sore that my hands were blowing off the bars when I landed in the foam. I also tried one suicide no-hander and forgot to pinch my seat and nutted myself pretty good, I lay in the foam for a bit, it’s nice and soft. Wilson was working on some suicide no-handers and managed to pull a few off in the foam. Sasha was working on his tailwhips and getting his feet on finally, he also learned nothings and even pulled a few on the resi. We off course hit the whole park again by ourselves and had a blast not having to wait in line for anything. When six finally rolled around we were pooped, it was time to make the way home.

rob westober everyone

                                          

YAk ATTACK!!!

robbie clinging for dear life

Monday 12-11-07 6:00 PM

I finally won rock, paper, scissors and Sasha was the first to succumb to the torture of the tiny rear seat. So we loaded up on energy drinks and junk food for the fun drive home. We stopped at a weird retro burger joint in PE on the way home that had some sweet burgers. And Sasha got his introduction to the wonderful world of Krispy Kreme Donuts, he loved them but then again who doesn’t. I drove the second half of the trips so I didn’t have to sit in the back at all on the way back, thank god!

Tuesday 12-13-07 4:45 AM

After 10 hours of driving we pull back into Bellows Falls VT and groggy high five each other for a sweet trip and load up our cars.

Tuesday 12-13-07 9:45 AM

I’m at work.  goddamn I’m tired!!! But hey, it was Rays MTB and it was well worth it!!"

14 hours of sleeping

20 hours of driving

12 hours of riding

What a crazy 2 days.!!!!!!!!!!!!  The Sinister Way!

-Rob

 

It's all about the love!

Hey ya'll,

This blog has a couple pics in it. ..from our ripping rep in Colorado, Jesse Riel  One is to remind you to get on your bike and ride!

The other is to remind you to love your Sinister and  your lady. An early congrats to the two who will tie the knot this summer.....ahhhhhhhh...so cute!  At Sinister we're all about the love baby!

remember to check out Jesse at Zone5actionsports!

Perpetually Sinister Bike Tours

Are you all ready to rip some trails with the Sinister crew??  This summer Sinister in conjunction with PerpetualMocean; will be offering guided tours of freeride, downhill and aggressive trails throughout New England. Ride alongside your favorite Sinister pro's while learning and being pushed to new levels in your riding.
Leave the food, shuttles and post ride entertainment to us. Demo bikes will be available to use(depending on demand) as well, so it will be a great opportunity to ride some sick bikes as well.
Locales, pricing and availablity TBA but get your requests in soon as these trips will fill up quick!

Jimmie Wilson in Action!

Everyone knows about Mike Wilson, the freeride ripper from Utah right?! well, his little bro Jimmie is a ripper in his own right! check out these pics taken by their dad, Doug Wilson who is an amazing photographer as well!
Jimmie, keep shreddin!  He is on a DNA by the way and there is a new batch of those at paint at the moment.
Check out your local Sinister dealer to get an order in or if you don't have one call us direct!

Jesse Riel Report

here's some notes from our Colorado rep, Jesse Riel.

(Thursday) I blew off working and went riding instead!  The sun came out and all the snow we got the other day vansihed.  I went dirt jumping for the first time in like 6 years.  Figure today was just as good as visiting shops, just working my way into the circle again so I can effectively promote Sinister.  I rocked out in the t-shirt, hoody and camo hat.  The track and jumps were sweet, packed tight and slightly tacky.  First I hit the local bmx track to get some rythm and flow back for about an hr then I packed it up to hit some dirt jumps across town.  I knew two of the guy's  out jumping and shoveling so they didn't take it easy on me.  Which was good.  It just forced me to buck up!  Well, I ate sh*t hard twice, cased it a few times and finally about the 8th time It was coming back.  I wasn't able to hang on the super dupers but there was a line where I was able to get two good hits and held my own.

Great to see all of this happening and in a legite way in Colorado. here's some pics of the setup. if anyone has any questions or wants to begin carrying Sinister out in that neck of the woods, Give Jesse a shout via e-mail@[email protected] or call 970-420-6444

sasha&roband wes ripping the 603

so lucky to have so much riding and talent around. Sinister production guru, Rob Westover
has a habit of taking out the local groms so they can shred the crap out of the local stuff and this night was no exception. along for the ride was Sinister intern, Wes 
Clements shooting pics of the session. Sasha Yakovleff was the grom shredder of the night, tearing the local up and taking no prisoners. check out the pics from the sesh! check out the photo gallery for more shots from wes clements!

rob                                 
                         wes

sasha 360    

                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                     

Lilias Ide field report

 I finally got to see the faces that go with the voices at Sinister Bikes. And just in case anyone reading this hasn’t been there, I’d like to describe the scene. 

Skye picked me up at the airport in his home on wheels. I don’t know if anyone knows this, but Skye has always been a van man. You know, back in the 80’s he was “that guy;” a mullet wearing, Journey blaring, Miller drinking, tinted window, shag interior “van man!” But by now, he as evolved into a “van man” of the 2000’s which is a more refined version in a Dodge Sprinter housing mostly bikes, surfboards, longboards and other extreme sports paraphernalia. Aaah, thanks goodness for evolution. But I am digressing, so I’ll get back to the story.

After driving over hill and dale, through quaint villages of steeples and town halls with views of trees, trees and more trees, past the John Deere dealership and the Massey Ferguson dealership (I heard they’re making a comeback,) we turn on the a dirt road and there we are at the factory. 

We go in and there is Frank- and what do you know, he’s welding! But he stops and shakes my hand, shoots the shit and gives me some breath mints. I try not to be offended, he gave some to the other guy there too and he says he gives them to everybody (just in case?) Anyhow, it was nice of him and I like him a lot. I heard he likes Stouts so if you get the chance and you want to thank him for dedicating his life to building amazing bikes, buy him one, I bet he’d like it.

Then there’s Rob and he’s really cool too! He’s the other guy who makes the frames come together. From what I hear, the place would have trouble running without him and he is an awesome rider.

Paul is the master machinist and he’s really smart. He is the guy who figures out exactly and I mean EXACTLY what size each part needs to be and how to tell the machines to make it. If you’ve ever though about tolerances and how important they are, you will know that each piece needs to fit together in a very precise manner. This guy makes it happen. The fact that Paul is right there making sure that every piece is machined to perfection, instills trust in me. I think it is a sign of high quality control. He even speaks English (as his native language.)

Skye, well he’s the rally man. I’ve never met anyone with a more positive energy and it’s all aimed towards Sinister. He keeps the ideas flowing and the word out on the streets and in the mountains.

And then there’s the steady flow of riders that stop in and hang out. Because Frank, Rob and Skye ride too and everyone knows how important that is. They put their heart and soul in to the company and then they walk the walk (or ride the ride,) they don’t just talk the talk.

By this time, it is pouring down rain and it has become obvious that our ride is not going to happen. But, never a dull moment, Skye and I retire to his office and I am given the honored task of cutting a stencil out of cardboard with a dull matte knife. Although the ride would have been fun, could it have been that much fun? Probably not.

Although I could go on and on about the fun times I had, my point is that this is why I ride with Sinister; because they make ass kicking bikes, they don’t compromise quality and they’re super nice guys.

Cheers
Lilias

rep land

We got to finally all meet Lilias Ide, our pacific northwest rep in person when she came out to the northeast last week. we got rained out on the ride so we just put her to work! anyone out in that neck of the woods(oregon, wash, BC etc) who needs a demo or advice should look her up. here she is jumping on her beloved DNA.
  and she builds some mean trails too......

     I've been hurt for almost 2 weeks and decided enough was enough!

I got out at the Bolton Valley freeride weekend(we're a sponsor) and the arm felt ok. the next day hit attitash in 100 degree weather and then got a few fun runs in at Killington with the man, Vin Q. and his bro, Eben. I love Vermont man, the vibe is sooo good!  We met up with Mark from Highland and his beautiful wife and daughter and hung at his winter crib for a while and then hit the Outlook for some eats. great to get to know  Mark and Lauren more and hear the story of how Highland was created. They are super motivated and I know Highland will be more amazing as time goes on.
here's Mark testing out my r-9 earlier in the season during a work weekend up on the hill.

Here's his business partner Will shredding on my old MXS

what's it is.

I'm off to Bolton Valley, round 2 of the freeride weekend
for the month of july. we are a sponsor this year and
will be supporting 2 of our dealers there, Ski Rack
and North Haverhill Bike Shop. should be killer.
hopefully highlands on Friday if this damn infection in my elbow
ever heals.
Shane Wode just won the Queensland,AuS championships
aboard the R-9 and he will be competing in the Winter
X-games on a Splinter or maybe a FTW special?!
Big kudos to everyone who came out to Claremont and
helped those boys put on a good down home event!
anyone that wants, they ride there every thursday PM
and it is only 20 minutes from the shop. Still cannot
believe Jamie and his mad skills!
Coming up, we are still looking for a final head count
on Pedrosfest. So far we have the four superstars for
the jump jam...derek stevens, sasha, clint and Dane
plus Mickey, Jamie, FTW, Chris Casey, Wes,
Doug(claremont race organizer)JD, and me and my
chiquita. anyone else needs to speak up! derek and his
crew have been down there building and the stuff looks
off the hook.
Also August 5th we will be at another Jump Jam at
Whaleback training center with the four bro-pros
throwing down.
Next Sinister Goodwill Mission is to help the West
Hill Bike Shop in Putney VT buff out their jumps and
get ready for a big demo there.
Good to see us blow into a area, help the locals, rip
some trails and move onto the next
mission..superheroes!
Onward!
skye
peace
skye