CHUNK 666 was a tall bike, chopper, trike and other self-powered hacked together wheeled vehicle club out of Portland and New York that put out this ‘zine in 1999 prior to Y2k regrettably not sending us back to the iron-age. Recycled bike collectives were in their infancy, steel frames of the ‘80s and ‘90s were plentiful, and urban bike culture across the country was brewing with an energy that would yield the bike-ped infrastructure of today. Few saw it coming in the day, but it is truly a culturally direct line from tall bike jousting to separated bike lane.
The final look at the Dirt Rag shop, where countless ideas have been explored, arguments had, wrenches turned, and beers downed. I first entered the shop as a wide-eyed 14-year-old sometime in late 1995, right about the same time that Jerry’s handprint went up, and could have never dreamed about what would play out between that moment and standing in the basement back in 2020 mourning the end of an era.
Chris Bishop builds out of his shop in Baltimore, and is a perennial favorite to see at shows as his bikes always have the details that make you stop and marvel at the finesse involved. Reformed courier and master craftsman, Chris blends classical bicycle forms and breaking the rules into remarkable final bikes. Take note of the Columbus fluted tubes, 3Rensho finned lugs, and plate seatstay bridge on this particularly memorable track build from the 2016 Philly Bike Expo.