Goodbye Felt Bikes, hello Flatware - The Recap

I felt like I needed to do give something back. Sport Import - with Felt and now Flatware - had such a big impact on my whole life. And still will be. BIG THANKS Bodo, you are awesome!!!

      

Really, making the switch from Felt Bikes to Flatware is not such a big deal as you might think. I am still riding for the german distributor Sport Import and just switched brands internally. But I feel like most of you do not think Felt is kind of a cool brand and I must strongly disagree! I thought about this for the past few weeks and want to give you a quick rundown of all the good times I had with Felt.

Travelling (to Japan)

Travelling is always good and I'll still continue to travel. But it is even better if you are getting your travel expenses paid. I went to all kinds of countries around Europe, but also had the chance to go to Japan for the KOG Final 2007 in Tokio. This was definitely one of the craziest travelling experiences I ever had, so big thanks for that, Felt!

Signature Team Frame 

Felt always made Signature Frames for their team riders. I always liked the fact that they made a small batch just for us plus selling the rest of it. They never had the intention of making money with it. As a result, you'd get a durable frame for a reasonable price. I never destroyed one, even though I rode a Street with it... In 2011, I teamed up with World Champ homie Michael Sommer and we came up with the Darchor frame. I even beat Mathias Dandois with my protoype at the Carhartt Game of Skills in 2010 ;-)

Most hardcore sessions

This may not be related to my sponsors, but I also had an indoor spot at our own BMX Shop between 2010 and 2012. This was by far the most productive time riding hardcore Flatland. I always liked the creativity in Flatland and I am very proud of all that, especially the Halfpacker to x-footed Halfpacker switch (which also destroyed my back) and all those x-handed stuff (boomerang, yeah!)

Sorry, I had to post all three...

My favourite edit

The videos above were all about creativity and hardcore riding. But the one below is one of my favourites. Timm Wiegmann came over to my hometown to shoot for the Felt Bikes promo DVD back in 2011. I really like the result...

My part in the Felt Bikes promo DVD

In the media

This sounds like work and sometimes it was. But travelling to Mallorca, Spain for a photo shoot in the winter cannot be a bad thing. And being on the cover of FreedomBMX magazine for a massive interview, can't be either. Only 7 Flatlanders in 100 issues made it on the cover!

How do you like the paintjob?

What's next? - Back to the roots!

This all may sound a little bit like retiring but it is not. I love my new Tango frame, that thing is awesome and fits my current state of riding perfectly. I even rode it tonight! Plus - and more important - I am happy to pass the opportunity to travel to one of the younger riders. I even told Bodo (Hellwig - TM) that I would completely quit, but he'd refuse. How cool is that??? All I can say is another BIG THANKS for the past 11 Years!!!

Riding wise, I am still working hard to fix my back right now. Back then, I pushed my self to much, especially when it came to riding hardcore Flatland. When my indoor spot got torn down, I started to take things a little bit easier. Riding whatever I want whenever I want became key. But never mind, expect some shaky styles at some comps in 2014!

In the meantime, stay tuned & ride hard,

Seppl