The Street > The Lounge
"NIGEL SYLVESTER ON ADVANCING BMX WITHOUT FITTING IN"
ImNick:
--- Quote from: condrbkr on January 04, 2015, 02:06:26 PM ---
If he wants to market what he's good at to get something out of it other than bumming on people's couches and inevitably needing to find a different career path at the age of 30, is that really not understandable? The standard BMX lifestyle is great but it's not for everyone and that doesn't make him less of rider because of so.
--- End quote ---
Exactly what I was thinking.
Even if he gets more eyes on street riding, as I'm sure most of the mainstream is only familiar with xgames and similar stuff, how could that ultimately hurt the sport? Who cares if he's not Edwin/the most legendary street rider ever. I'm sure every Thrasher reading skate rat was butt hurt when Ryan Sheckler had his TV show on MTV years ago, but I'm sure that put quite a bit of more money into the skate industry even if it was from people trying to look "cool."
If anything, it could get more money into the sport. Who cares if there would be kids that use a bmx as a fashion item, it happens with skateboards all the time. Overall, it could improve the bmx industry.
Everything becomes a fashion show.
locomotive:
--- Quote from: condrbkr on January 04, 2015, 02:06:26 PM ---
--- Quote from: LeonLikesToRock on January 04, 2015, 02:49:33 AM ---The thing I don't get is that he is saying that he isn't a typical BMXer? I don't quite get that. Does he mean he doesn't look like the vert riders that pushed the sport into the main stream (Hoffman and Mirra) or that he doesn't look like a typical street rider? I get it if he is going for the latter but I'm pretty sure 'dude from the East Coast with pegs and no brakes' is the image of a street rider and has been for years.
--- End quote ---
I think what he means by that is that he doesn't fit the typical career path of a BMX biker. He's not putting out web edits quad-annually for his sponsors, he's not doing trip videos outside of Nike, but that's Nike..., he's not climbing up the standard BMX industry ladder and more power to him.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, he wouldn't be able to! Thats the whole thing, he is nothing special on a bike and he is getting more recognition than people that would shit on him any day. The thing is really good at convincing non-riders that he is. That puts money in his pocket, but it obviously wouldn't sit well with people that truly love riding, and have been doing it for 10+ years.
Allah:
For some reason I find this topic really interesting, I suppose because in my ideal world BMX would be perceived as cool by the wider public (or at least as cool/appealing as skateboarding, with a similar level of cultural influence).
When I was a teenager I assumed this wasn't far from the truth (well the coolness bit, not the cultural influence) and (in retrospect rather cringingly) was keen to make sure people knew that I rode, and was probably constantly rabbiting on about positive aspects of BMX. I remember showing this clip to some non-riding friends and being astounded that they weren't blown away by the riding and quality of the jumps (lol). I now realise that most people don't care and can't relate in any way so usually keep quiet about it.
Let's imagine an unlikely scenario where Nigel or another street-oriented pro were successful in building a big mainstram fanbase, perhaps comparable with Mirra/Hoffman in the early 2000s or even larger given teh internetz (maybe Danny Mac is a good comparison?). What next? A video game? Animal clothes being bought by Harry Styles? Most of you old salts would probably hate this but the implications would be interesting. Who would be the most suitable ambassador?
condrbkr:
--- Quote from: locomotive on January 04, 2015, 03:50:52 PM ---Yeah, he wouldn't be able to! Thats the whole thing, he is nothing special on a bike and he is getting more recognition than people that would shit on him any day. The thing is really good at convincing non-riders that he is. That puts money in his pocket, but it obviously wouldn't sit well with people that truly love riding, and have been doing it for 10+ years.
--- End quote ---
He's not the same type of rider as Garrett Reynolds, Dennis Enarson, and Kriss Kyle. It'd be unfair to judge him as such. To say Nigel is 'nothing special' or couldn't hang in the standard BMX route is so untrue.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ4iFlvfRj4 <-proof
He's a top class rider, but people are mad cause they expect only the best to have that type of recognition. You don't get to that level of riding without being passionate about it and whose business is it for how someone gets money. Its cooler to have Nigel making G-Shock money than some guy who kept it 'real' and does retail at some department store in the weekend.
I think someone that parallels Nigel would be Bam Margera. Bam was a good(not spectacular) skater who became the face of the community for a while. He made a killing, sold out to many purists, got hated on by his community, was well known for his projects outside of skating and all. A lot of kids picked up a skateboard cause of him though and thats not a bad thing.
Narcoleptic Insomniac:
I don't get why some people are hell bent on trying to make BMX accepted by the mainstream, advancing the sport or whatever the fuck.
The appealing thing about bmx as a community was that it provided a space for kids to be as weird as they pleased and not give a fuck. At least that's how I perceived when I was 16.
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