Slack Randoms: Fakie Flairs, Surfing Wizards & the Ugliest Kit in Cycling History?

Oct 2, 2020
by James Smurthwaite  
Education First x Palace Skateboards' New Kit



In one of the oddest collaborations we've seen in recent years, premium road wear brand Rapha has teamed up with Palace skateboards to launch this kit for the Education First team at this year's Giro D'Italia. It features the Palace Duck, white polka dots and, inexplicably, a bearded man sniffing your arm pits. The EF press release say, "For a truly fresh perspective on the sport, we’ve teamed up with a company that is alien to cycling’s aesthetic, oblivious to its origins, and untrained in its traditions".

We hate it, now where can we buy one?

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Of course, there's a matching bike too.

Absolute proof your bell is obsolete


Alec Eklöw's Flair to Fakie


When Semenuk first fitted his freecoaster and half cabbed first big drop in the Boneyard at the Crankworx Joyride in 2016, he kickstarted a trend of riding back wheel forward in mountain biking.

Since then we've seen backwards riding become a standard part of competitions and edits and one of the main areas of progression in the sport. The latest in that line is Alec Eklöw, who has become a bit of a fakie specialist. His latest trick is to flair an open loop that's landed in fakie, which we think is a world's first. A flair is a combination of a 180° rotation and a backflip that riders normally do in quarterpipes to ensure they can ride out forwards. Alec did his flair on an open loop, which means the 180° rotation sees him ride out backwards in fakie.

Alec can also pull a 180 barspin to fakie and a 540 to fakie.

Surfing WIzards


bigquotesHow to sum up the joyously watchable Ari Browne?

Here’s a little story: This writer once saw the rubbery, towheaded Aussie compete in the McTavish Trim event at the Byron Bay surf festival. (A few dozen alt-leaning loggers riding above-10-foot gliders, longest wave wins, etc.) Browne, who also goes by Krooky, showed up late for his heat wearing a black ski mask, paddled… er… pumped his way into the lineup at Wategos on a foil board, flipped around and rode a wave into the next bay over, never to be seen again.
Surfer Mag

Maya Gabeira Rides the BIggest Wave of the Year


Speaking of surfing, here's Maya Gabeira riding the biggest ever wave by a woman and the biggest wave ridden by anyone of the 2019-2020 Winter season. She rode the wave in Nazare, Portugal and Guinness recently confirmed it bests her own previous record by five and a half feet, with a confirmed measurement of 73.5 foot (22.4 metres). The wave won her the cbdMD XXL Biggest Wave Award and the wave was later validated by the Red Bull Big Wave Award.

Levy's Finds of the Week

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Nothing to see here, just an 80mm stem on a Druid with a Roach ball pad.

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This week Cane Creek found an old broken shock from an Orange 224 that Mike Levy had sent to them 17 years ago to get fixed.

Baron Corbin Takes a Tumble


The WWE star hits the mat after a tussle with a fallen tree.

New Anti-Mechanical Doping Pizza Oven


A bit of a step up from waving an iPad around the bottom bracket.

Author Info:
jamessmurthwaite avatar

Member since Nov 14, 2018
1,770 articles

67 Comments
  • 108 12
 Palace kit kinda nice tho
  • 14 6
 so into it
  • 13 5
 Looks better than a lot of kits out there
  • 41 2
 All in for that Palace Kit, pro cycling be it road/mtb is so stuffy and conservative its nice to see something way out there.

Supreme did it with Santa Cruz but this takes it to another level. When that Rapha mtb kit gunna drop tho?!
  • 7 0
 @MrNC: Agreed. Riding and racing bikes is honestly my absolute favorite thing to do with my time. But I'm not that into the racing communities even locally.. I grew up skateboarding and think there's a lot to learn from that "sport."
  • 10 2
 This is clearly the boys at Palace playing a joke on the spandex crowd...and they didn't get it.
  • 10 0
 I'm willing to stake my reputation on you not liking it if palace brand wasnt a thing
  • 3 0
 @Svinyard: Well then they will be laughing all the way to the bank because I guarantee all of this stuff sells out almost instantly
  • 3 0
 @Paddock22: I can't wait to see it being 'rocked' by the typical roadie who wears matching team kit: the MAMIL with the splayed knees, 50rpm cadence, and 2" of stem risers.
  • 6 0
 The fact it's causing so many roadies to recoil in hate is perfect. All it needs is a Supreme collab.
  • 1 0
 Bearded man sniffing your armpit should be a compensated likeness of Wyn Masters. Don't forget the $628 après-bike parka
  • 1 0
 I don't hate it. and it's not the ugliest.
  • 2 0
 The bike is kinda cool, it’s got that late 80s vibe to it......reminds me of flipping through a tws mag and seeing Christian Hosoi pulling off a 10ft backside air with his board graphics in your face.
  • 2 0
 @nordland071285: it ain't about palace, but about rapha what makes it disgusting.
  • 2 0
 @twozerosix: aw mate that description made me laugh. That’s exactly what every Sunday morning looks like!!
  • 1 0
 @Molesdigmyjumps: 50mm of stem risers, my bad Smile
  • 27 1
 If you get “towed in” by a Non Acoustic surf board. Is it still surfing?

And will the new $20k E-Surf boards get constant, an i mean constant reviews in regularly surfing publications?
  • 1 0
 You mean acoustic surfing publications?
  • 3 0
 Depends on the e-surf boards advertising budget i guess
  • 1 0
 Yes and I hope not
  • 4 2
 If you rode a non acoustic lift to the top is it still mountain biking?
  • 26 0
 Is the trail chicken compatible with high anti-squack suspension layouts?
  • 19 0
 Choking the chicken while you ride is effective at alarming other trail users.
  • 19 0
 That's why the Brodie 8 Ball sucks, it didn't get it's fresh Cane Creek shock.
  • 15 0
 I need more info on this shock Cane Creek had for 17 years.
  • 4 0
 Bike check!!
  • 3 0
 The shock says on it, Double Barrel. Which came out in 2005 I believe.

Math is a little off, but not a lot. Crazy to believe the DB is ~15 years old!
  • 3 0
 It had the OG black outer damper tube so that thing is super old. Back when they laser etched the lizard on the side... Still had 4-way adjustment... 15 years ago...
  • 11 1
 standard turn around time I hear
  • 2 0
 Shock was so bomber but so confusing the techs forgot how to service it and just figured it out now
  • 1 0
 @JudyYellow:ball black, with grey and copper adjusters. I wish I had kept mine.
  • 12 1
 The EF Palace stuff may not be everyone’s cup of tea but at least it’s unique. I’d take it over our played out neon racing pajamas we’ve got in MTB.
  • 2 0
 Whoa that slack channel is some weird mix of Stab Mag, Pinkbike, and hypebeast....

If anyone thinks bike prices are crazy now, watch how much those Palace/Rapha pieces go for on the secondhand market...
  • 3 0
 Slap a Supreme logo on it and mark up 400%
  • 1 0
 @sjma: well, it is 400% more edgy
  • 4 0
 Came for a flare out of fakie, got fakie out of flare (was it really?) and chicken bell. Still not disappointed.
  • 12 0
 Yep there is definitely a difference between fakie flair and flair to fakie
  • 5 0
 How bad was the hold-down on that wave after the video ended?
  • 2 0
 Surprised it counts if you don't ride it out...
  • 3 1
 Palace Skateboards?? They have 96 non-skate clothing items and other randoms, and one skateboard (with a marketing tagline of "covid best not anus pump my holiday"). They must be buying those Cannondales retail.
  • 1 1
 & the deck isn't even in the Web Shop USA, which has many more items. Don't go to Japan or you'll be stuck until clearing browser history. Who buys this stuff? --"100%. Pop a wick in it. And be a spiritual bell end. If you don't skate"
  • 2 0
 tbf they sell their decks (and yes there are more than one) at a classic British affordable price of £40, when most other US brands sell for £60+ over here. They also opened an indoor skatepark in south london for a year with free entry, and do have some sick riders. They basically milk the trendy cash cow and feed it back into UK skating so despite appearances not all bad.
  • 2 0
 @hambobet: their branding is excellent and it looks like they pay writers. I just need to know if I can pair my Velaxation Joggers with my Chapping Arms Top--'Roll through like a sheep'--and still be cool. Palace could have been the costumers for Sexy Beast and The Krays, if middle-aged gangsters skated....
  • 3 0
 Perhaps DSD could sell us a cartridge that optimizes the compression characteristics of our chickens?
  • 2 0
 Roach ❤! I'm rocking a similar vintage core rat pad still doing it's thing - m.pinkbike.com/photo/19500846
  • 4 0
 I still wear a Roach jersey from the early 2000s. Indestructible.
  • 4 0
 Justine got robbed
  • 1 0
 Couple questions...
1) Why would anyone ever try and surf a 70 foot wave! WTF!!!!
2) Why on earth would you try and surf a 70 foot wave without a couple GoPros! WTF!!!!
  • 4 0
 Have you even see Point Break, bruh?

(And GTFO with that reboot crap)
  • 2 0
 I would build a museum just to house that Cannondale beauty. What a contrast to the incredibly drab off-the-shelf ones...
  • 1 0
 A flair to fakie is just a backflip 180. Flair literally means flip-air, so if it’s not an air it’s not a flair. Why is that so hard to get?
  • 1 0
 Palace kit hits different than all the other roadie kits. So sick to see cycling involved with a brand like palace
  • 1 0
 i'm actually looking for a roach stem pad for my Mac-Ride!!! look through your bike bins and DM me if you have one!
  • 2 0
 Let my Ibis do all the work...
  • 2 0
 Is that chicken Kashima or extra tasty crispy?
  • 2 0
 I’d wear that kit and wave ridiculously at every roadie I see.
  • 2 0
 Came here for comments on the roach ball pad
  • 2 0
 I'm buying a rubber chicken ASAP.
  • 1 0
 Never saw the palace roadie collaboration coming
  • 2 0
 that kits is so RAD!!
  • 1 0
 Super happy not to be the ugliest Kit now
  • 1 0
 Title misleading. Not a fakie flair but flair to fakie.
  • 1 0
 Nukeproof is making road bikes?
  • 1 0
 This post was ADD and I love it.
  • 1 0
 yeahh biggest waves in the world: portugal
  • 2 2
 All to mulch... Do any of these actually even count?
  • 1 0
 Fugly kit, yikes







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