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1996 Basic Bikes Small Town Hick

These are pictures from when a friend owned this after I did. I got this right before basic folded up for good.

I see there isn't much on Basic any more on the web as of Oct. 2007. I don't know much about them, only that I met the owners (I can't remember their names), Jason brown, Steve Roy and such at a few BS contests. All really nice people.
I don't remember exactly when all this went down so I won't guess right now.
I was working for a bike shop and looked into carrying Basic stuff. Andrew Faris was on a pink STH at the time and blowing up for frame of reference. I talked to them a few times and they sounded easy to work with. The check was sent for a few parts and a white small town hick to start. I was told a few weeks for the check to clear and the parts to get to us.
A month went by, nothing showed. I called. no answer. I called some more, finally getting the guy I had dealt with originally. He told me he wasn't handling that part any more and put me on to another number to someone in Washington.
I called the other number a few times. finally I got someone and the told me that guy I had been dealing with was getting out of it and moving to Saskatoon I think with his girlfriend. I would be dealing with them and and that they had the stuff and would ship it out right away. A few weeks went by. I went on vacation for a week. got back still no stuff from basic. so I called. they ignored me for a few days. then I sat at work for hours redialing the number because I would get busy signals every so often when I dialed at random times. I knew they were there and they were making me look like an idiot for suggesting getting involved with them to the owner of the shop.
Finally someone picked up. They knew who I was and what I wanted, how strange. they asured me that it would get taken care of. I told them I'd believe it when I saw it after some choice words on my end.
3 days later a small town hick showed. No parts, just the frame. The owner gave me the frame because he thought what was the point of selling one frame from a one off company in his shop and also because of the work I put in trying to make good with his money. I went to put it together, and what we noticed made us laugh hystericaly.
I ordered an 1 1/8 headtube. the industry was pretty much converted over by then from 1 inch but there were a few companies with back stock I guess. After I went though the whole order with the guy in the last conversation, he specifically repeated back to me 1 1/8 head tube. well... we got 1 inch. It was a lovely way to cap off our business transaction.
I lucked out though. We had been noticing that head tubes back then were really over built and the difference of I.D. for the 1 1/8 cups wasn't very much and that when we pulled a standard shorty with 1 1/8 off the wall and put a micrometer on it and then measured an old 1 inch shorty they were the same O.D. The shop had a reaming tool for head tubes on road frames that was like a big drill bit. 20 minutes later I had a perfect fit for 1 1/8 cups. Unbelievable. I rode it for a long time. It was a good flatland frame. I liked the lower seat stays. I traded it to a friend, the one that took the pics, then he sold it to someone else and who knows where it at now. I could probably track it down but, haven't felt the need to figure out who ended up with it.

jdavis · 2007-10-12 7:47am

Incredible story! Great looking bike.

bikerman11 · 2007-10-12 8:42am

http://www.23mag.com/com/basic/basic.htm
Here's some info on BasicBikes.

Iwas at the one guys house for a yard sale a couple years back. He didn't have anything Basic left. Although he did have a huge Basic Bikes Banner hanging in his garage. One Shop here had a bunch of Pegs and such. But they closed a while back. I'm still trying to contact the owner to se what he has left.

I'm hunting a STH but they are few and far between.

bmxdave · 2007-10-15 5:27am

i love basic bykes frames , any one gota picture of a sluggo frame ? its basics street/ramp frame

revcore · 2007-10-15 5:04pm

Thats absolutely brilliant......One of the best flatland bikes ever built!!!

deathryd84 · 2008-04-28 6:26pm

i can't believe you have one of these. i forgot all about basic until i saw your bike!

basic · 2008-05-13 2:51pm

Nice!

I have a black STH with a matching seat post, handle bars and small leaf sprocket that I bought new (not for sale) and am hunting a full set of silencer pegs, a black fork, and a big maple leaf sprocket. I have an extra set of NOS whammy bars to trade for basic parts only...
One day when I pull it out of the box again I'll post some pics...

muffe · 2008-06-06 9:39pm

Whammy bars, Silencer pegs. Basic made some good stuff.

Last edited by muffe (2008-06-06 9:39pm)

cecman71 · 2008-06-24 11:42pm

.....well, I have to say i'm glad to hear the frames/parts are/were appreciated in their time, although unfortunate about the orig purchase...I have to admit, that the person on the other end of the phone at sometime, might have be myself ?!!...if I was, 1st off I apoligize, it sounds like your purchase was right at the unfortunate end of Basic Bikes, which involved alot of trying, hard pressed times...how do I know?...'cause I was one of the owners of Basic.

Basic's original owners were myself, Cec Milligan and my friend, Darcy Saccuci, we started in his mom's basement and grew it into probably something neither of us realized nor could appreciate and understand. don't get me wrong it, wasn't S&M or anything like that at all, but in Canada, Basic at least meant two things, quality and commitment...

Darc and I moved to Coquitlam,BC and a few years after went to a BS contest in which Darcy stole a cop car, long story short, his gma & gpa bailed him out of jail and he owed them a few $$, so off to work as a chef he went to pay them back and soon he wasn't able to contribute to Basic 100%, so he moved away after alot of unfortunate bitterness...I was trying to do my best to run Basic, run Bigwheel Promotions, which was the show team and balance my own riding/personal life...then an silent investor came along, Greg Eaton from WA...he wanted everything made in Taiwan and picked out of a catalog with a Basic sticker put on it...I did not...after only a few years of that, I moved back to Saskatoon,SK and got married, proud to say only a handful (4) of trade show protoype frames were ever made in Taiwan along with 5000 Basic Silencers and Aluminum Silencers and a few other small parts. The marriage didn't last and neither did my bike company, almost completely out of stock and in an almost year long legal battle with Greg, I conceded and sold the company to him and he promptly ran it into the ground... and I went back to school.

Bottom line, as a young, foolish kid that wanted more to ride and hang out with his friends and design a few "make sense" parts along the way, than to really, actually run & manage a bike company, which is unfortunate to have wasted that opportunity, because now as a 37yr old father of 2...only now realize what could have been.

Anyway, I have most all the original protypes for all the products, and a few of each of the production...I just took my last Sluggo frame apart after my buddy Leigh sent me one of his signature "Night Prowler" frames...I am moving back to Vancouver in Sept. and my 10 yr old son, wants me to start making bikes again...it just might happen

later

Stdshorty · 2008-07-11 12:32pm

My two friends each have a basic bike.

FU · 2008-07-11 10:10pm

History lesson. thanks to all for sharing.

BasicRastaRoyer · 2008-08-12 2:23pm

I have always wanted a Basic Aura ever since I started riding back in '97. I'm restoring a basic frame right now, and I'm looking for the one missing silencer peg. Anyone selling?

adamdawson · 2009-02-22 6:58pm

a vey sweet bike built nicely very cool story. i remember hearing about the one guy from canada that hopped into a cop car on a night out at club where most of the riders went after a bs comp in 94

2Fresh · 2009-06-18 12:44pm

Awesome story, thanks! I was once [-this-] close buying the STH but bought Morales instead. You can't have a Small Town Hick thread without a single picture of ANDREW FARIS with his pink Small Town Hick!

1996 was a great year in late-mid-school flatland, there was so much happening and quite a few cool (heavy) and functional bikes. I miss those days.

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