I admit that I’d never heard of Jeff Kosmala till I started researching the white Kos Kruiser 26” BMX that caught my eye in the flood of Bacn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacn) that hits my in-box some days. The fact that my bike shop had reduced the price by $400 made me notice it first. Then I looked into it.
Kos was a champion BMX racer in the 80’s and the bike is homage to the style of Mongoose machine he operated – use your Ph.D. in Google if you don’t know the story. It's all there. Famous as.
Until now I’d assumed that anything BMX was just going to be too small for a 6’5” guy like me and the genre had flown pretty much under my radar, apart from being amazed at the skill of the kids who do what they do.
But then, the more I looked into it, the more it seemed that this was the next logical step in returning to fitness from the fat lump I had become. A 26” BMX – I didn’t really know they existed. Very interesting.
I started pedalling off the pounds with a beach cruiser, then as I got progressively fitter I converted my mountain bike to an urban comfort bike (thanks for the inspiration RRB) and started enjoying riding daily and replacing errands that once I would have done on my motorcycle - with pedal power.
I’m still not fit, but I’m getting there, and I don’t see myself being a skate park hero either, way too old and brittle, but I do like gutter hopping and chasing small air and the Kos seemed to be well specified for the type of punishment my 260lb (currently) payload will dish out.
It’s only a homage – not a faithful reproduction of the 80’s units. This 2013 model has full Chromoly frame, forks and bars, pro class hubs with sealed bearings, heavy-duty crank, double wall rims, 14g stainless spokes and no ‘baggage’ – making it what I hoped would be the perfect addition to my fleet. I guess it was price reduced so much because it’s a niche bike in a world that seems to have gone carbon-and-full-suspension-mountain-bike crazy.
A 29er would have probably been a more logical choice for a man my size too. But maybe I’m just an old-school fool because it turns out I like it even more than I hoped.
My butt and calves are killing me now because I’ve had it three days and can’t keep off it. It’s currently parked in my office and I may or may not have been doing late night laps in the house on it (depending if my wife is reading this while she is overseas).
It will need a little bit of tweaking for a really good fit. I already had a lay-back seat post in stock – and some white spray enamel, and I have some 2” taller and 2” wider white BMX bars in the mail.
I’m also going to replace the Carlisle Aggressor knobby tyres with some more urban-oriented Maxxis Hookworm rubber – they should be here next week too – like the new bars and brake cables - and then it will be ‘job done’ – and look out anything I can jump it off.
The Carlisles are pretty good on pavement, but they do slide on the edge knobs when cranked over hard – quite predictably, but the Hookworms are designed for the type of riding I want to chase - and for big hits.
As for general riding I really enjoy the bike’s quickness of steering and direct feel, yet it’s not twitchy and is very stable, particularly when performing tight turns when standing.
The 40 tooth motomag chainwheel is geared just right too. It surprised me just how well. A single speed freewheeler probably isn’t what you want to ride clear across town, but it’s great off-road and across the paddocks and it deals with moderate inclines remarkably well. Ergonomics that work standing up while pedalling help a lot.
Overall, it’s a bike that suits a reasonably specific application, and one that I wouldn’t choose as my ‘only’ bike, but for doing the job it’s designed for, I think it’s turning out to be a rare white gem. An excellent addition to my existing RRB's.
Ahh – enough typing - I might just go for a ride and chuck a few wheelies right now
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