Home of the Monster T - Inside the Eastern European Vintage Freeride Scene

We have come a long way. Not in terms of just bikes; in terms of the Anthropocene itself. The chance of life appearing on a planet is rather slim; the chance of life thriving and sustaining itself is slimmer. What we see around us is a fraction of a world that has been changing long before we were here, and it will continue to change long after we are gone. The human lifespan is too short to be able to see it all, and there is no time machine: imagine how much of what happened was never recorded or documented. What is lost is probably forever gone.

I mean, even by looking at bikes we see how much they evolved over the last century; how much was left in the past or re-invented; or just forgotten, proved to be useless in the long run. Bikes, after all, are just reflections of who we are, like everything else. We learned to go faster, send it bigger, land it smoother. Bikes, being the tools, evolved with us. Let this article remind you how much the bikes have actually changed, and how much the world around us has changed. With this mountain-biking history article I would like to welcome you to 2021.




My personal story really took off after [the now legendary and closed] stolen bike thread. After 4 years and around 600 replies... my Karpiel Apocalypse returned. Russian and Ukrainian forums have a tradition of creating personal stories threads; after 600 replies I could not leave the mates hanging... so I did write my story that contained dozens of pictures of cool bikes, descriptions, thoughts... as the time went by, I would revisit it, again and again. At some point I decided to rewrite everything from scratch.

It was when I realized: there is a much bigger story that needs to be told. What you probably don't know is that Ukraine and Russia, at some point, developed a sophisticated biking community with its biking portals (as old as Pinkbike) that had its own Freeride Brotherhood, where Bender-style would dwell. A religious old-school biking cult. As we grew older we realized that all things, even cults, eventually come to an end; and all this time we were staring at the slowly setting sun... and the sun has set.




A few words about me: name is Yegor, also known as Nemesis_999. I come from Kiev, I am an environmentalist, a freerider, I love bikes, and I have been using a Super Monster for nearly a decade; I have no intention for swapping it for anything else in the foreseeable future (though it doesn't mean I cannot appreciate modern bikes and modern parts, I actually do. I make a conscious choice!); as a [remnant] follower of the Russian and Ukrainian Urban Freeride Cult I came here to tell you a story.

A story about Prophets, Prophecies, and the Sacred: the Karpiels, Banshee Screams, Duncon's, the beautiful Italian Super Monsters, Seismic Industries Hubs, the sexy Doubletracks and the double Doublewides... yeah, isn't it strange to talk about these things, considering 2021? I know, yes, I know: yet the more I look around, the more I see people going totally crazy about that bikes. We, the [now silent] Streetetz Clan, are shrugging shoulders and smiling. We knew. We knew long time ago.




I invested countless hours interviewing people, finding pictures, asking people to send me pictures. I read more than a thousand pages of all sorts of threads to select the posts, comments, and translate them as accurately as was possible (and so that they actually mean something, taken out of the context); all to insure that you get the content you deserve. Consider me a messenger: what you make of the message is only up to you, but don't take it too seriously. Because we didn't, and that was the whole point.

The aim is to give you, to the extent possible, an unbiased overview of the unique culture we developed [and lost] over the decades. Not your cup of tea? Totally fine, I get it. There are two types of people: people that feel something when they see bikes like these, and people that don't. There is no right or wrong. Perhaps it is stupid to use 24 inch wheels in 2021, but you know what? The true believers will. Regardless, feel free to ask me anything in the comments, I will try my best to respond. Happy trails!






































Так вот меня волнует какой вопрос если человек купил газики 3.0 или Дабл Вайды на него надо кричать всей толпой что он стритцер,даже доходит до таких выражений как "ты в душе стрицер" (с) Санёк,есть общее мнение что Газики 3.0,ДНМ Волкано,Дабл Вайды,ДС Кок это стритцевые комплетующие ... отчасти да истиные стрицеры покупают их НО если человек покупает их для катания а не для показухи он тоже считается стритцером ??!!























































































Once, during the afternoon tea sometime in 2018, we started discussing the Streetetz phenomenon. We agreed, as strange as it may sound, that was has happened in the Eastern Europe was indeed a quite bizarre occurence. Being a globalization externality, Streetetz turned into a thing of its own. Originating from movies like JIB, Down, Double-Down, and New World Disorders, it was inspired by the culture to us inaccessible, yet so appealing; so close, yet so far away. You inspired, we borrowed; and created something new. Isn't that what the globalization is about? About the exchange of energy?

Perhaps, you were riding Streetetz and were part of the Phenomenon, not knowing that whatever it is you're doing has a name somewhere on the planet. You might think it is weird; and you will be damn right, all of this is weird, and I invested more time thinking about it than what would probably be considered to be a healthy amount, not going to lie. I guess partially because, as I kept reading the forums and the old threads, I realized: Streetetz was some good trolling. The Streetetz Bible, The Streetsefer, The holy Gazzaloddi... whatever it was, it was pure, and it was self-ironic. It was honest.




Streetetz movement was Carlos Castaneda`s conscious stupidity. The true Streetetz can only be your own. Streetetz is not a riding style; it is the way of life. You discover your own Streetetz through living; you explore things. You try new. You are what you make of yourself, and your imagination is your only limit. As it was already said, it's not about the dual-crowns; it's not about the 3.0's, and it's not about the hardtails: it is about who you are and who you are becoming. Life is competing; but competing for the purpose of fun, the way it was meant to be, to contemplate.

It never had to make any sense, paradoxically. In a world so complicated and so [despite all the technologies we have; despite the internet] disconnected it is easy to forget what really matters. We often spend our lives running, not knowing where we're actually running; or even where we came from. Especially in times like these, when it might seem like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, we have to allow ourselves to breathe out; to remind ourselves of what's truly important; but... sometimes the only thing we can do is surrender to the unknown.




The parts are now rarer. They are getting more and more expensive. We all know that Streetetz is no more: the part that were once sold for peanuts now cost more and more; as more time goes by, more and more people start hunting for parts. A lot of people are suddenly going crazy again; and we can't blame them, we had our own obsessions. There is just one thing that saddens me: people stopped riding these bikes, actually riding. I know the bikes hide somewhere in the dark.

Looking at the younger generations shredding, going bigger than most of us ever did, I wonder: what will the mountain-biking look like in 20 years from now on? Should the 2020 be the middle point, what are we going to ride in 2040? Given how quickly things change today it's practically impossible to say, but I have a question: if you were to comeback to 2000 and would someone ask you the same questions about 2020, what would you say? Is this the 2020 you expected?




I wish you a Happy New Year. Thank you very much for spending your time and reading my article. I wish you luck in 2021! I hope miracles keep happening, they should.

Stay safe, stay cool, enjoy that brief moment between the endless past and endless future that is called life. I know it's hard, I myself struggle, but there is nobody else that can do that for you.

Posted In:
Stories Bike Checks Throwback Thursday DH Bikes