EighthInch Riders

Kris Fay

Name: Kris Fay
Where you ride: Sacramento/CA
How long have you been riding fixed? 2 Years
What riding do you do? Fixed freestyle, trail riding
Any accolades ? 1st Tree City All Stars Trick Comp (Sacramento)
From Kris:
I love bikes. All bikes. I probably have too many. I grew up on wheels, two and four, so riding a fixed gear was just as much fun for me. It came as an easy transition from my roots in skateboarding, just being out on the street doing whatever, whenever. Fun stuff. Plus I can actually get to work at a decent time (if I wake up) which I�m sure my boss likes. I run the website lockedcog.com and through that host some events and make dorky videos.
Hobby or favorite thing non-cycling? Skateboarding or photos.
Personal notes: Im heavily addicted to caffeine and neon gummy worms my favorite. Camping is killer.

Chris Tavel

Name: Chris Tavel
Where you ride (city/region): I was in Athens, GA now I'm in Atlanta, GA
How long have you been riding fixed? Since 2004
What riding do you do? Polo, tricks, cyclocross, the track and the occasional road and mountain ride.
Any accolades? I've won a bunch of local alley cats and a trick comp. Done pretty well in a few polo tournaments but nothing to brag about.
From Chris:
I got into riding fixed when I went to college-it was a conversion that I was certain was the raddest bike ever. I've since moved on from that bike to a whole stable of bikes but I still have that frame. I started building wheels under the Loose Nuts name in 2008 and have been doing that since (as well as working in shops).
Hobby or favorite thing non-cycling? Motorcycles-I love them and love working on them.
Personal notes: Ride because you enjoy it-don't hate.

Travis Baker

Name: Travis Baker
Where you ride (city/region): Sedalia, Missouri
How long have you been riding fixed? Almost a year and a half
What riding do you do? I go on road rides now and then. Most of the time I ride my fixed gear for transportation and tricks.
Any accolades? Ha, nope.
From Travis:
I built up a conversion a little over a year ago to cruise around on and started goofing around and doing tricks. I found some old video of Keo on Youtube and the rest is history. I don't really belong to any special groups (besides the EighthInch team), but in my free time I manage 700cmx.com
Hobby or favorite thing non-cycling? Nissan, Datsun and Coca-Cola.
Personal notes:I'm part of irony.cc. Check it out. Don't forget to ride for fun!

Steve Bilek

Name: Steve Bilek
Where you ride (city/region): Milwaukee, Wisconsin
How long have you been riding fixed? 5 years
What riding do you do? Commuting, alley cat, track
Any accolades? 2nd Place MMI 8, main race qualifier CMWC 2009
From Steve:
After riding mtb growing up I decided I needed to go faster biking to work and built up a single speed road conversion. Instantly fell in love with riding a road bike and wanted to race but didn't want to sacrifice the joy in a single speed and started racing alley cats. That soon translated to a small stint in track racing. I'm focused solely now on alley cats I'm trying to enter more and more high profile events to test my mettle against the professionals.
Hobby or favorite thing non-cycling? Music and History
Personal notes: It doesn't matter what you ride, just get out there and do it. The more adults out there on the roads riding bikes the better we will all be, for our safety and our future. If you love doing it do it without elitism, just be humble and remember that all of us love turning that chainring and hearing the rubber hum.

Will Gibbons

Name: Will Gibbons
Where you ride (city/region): Detroit and Royal Oak during school and Holland at home
How long have you been riding fixed? 1.5 years, tricking for 7 months
What riding do you do? Fixed Freestyle
Any accolades? 1st place Midwest Mayhem B class trick comp 2010, honorable mention at RVA trick Jam 2010
From Will:
I learned about fixed on the internet, probably Youtube or something, and converted a Sears Free Spirit to a single speed the summer before starting my second year of college. I then found a Fuji Espree which was much lighter and switched out frames. I rocked that till the following summer then decided to build up and Eighthinch. I went back to Detroit for school in the fall and found out about Thursday Night Bike Fight, a facebook group for 'people who wanna do tricks on bikes', and so I showed up. That's where I met the DPH crew, who were a handful of guys and, at the time, one gal and we all met up just outside of Detroit. We met at like 9 and rode till about 3 a.m. and I loved it. I've been hooked and tricking since with the same great group of people. Thanks Shea, Chris, Tim, Jake, Jason, Kristen, Tymias, Colin, Cam and Brett for being there the first time I went.
Hobby or favorite thing non-cycling? Snowboarding, Running, Designing, Adventures, Guitar
Personal notes: Coffee, NO MEAT, Product Design Student, music, metal, electro, horror movies, Macintosh, tea, camping, brother, dog, spicy food, horticulture, painting, NO T.V., bonsai, NO Starbucks, Michigan, dumpster diver, second hand... and bikes.