"NIGEL SYLVESTER ON ADVANCING BMX WITHOUT FITTING IN"

[Prodigal Son]

Isn't Edwin on a Cult now?

[peggiesmalls]

Isn't Edwin on a Cult now?

just getting hooked up,probably will be soon

[dude...]

i just find it interesting how people choose to present themselves and their image once they make it big.

in bmx i guess it seems you can get the most respectfor being good on a bike but at the same time by also being humble or at least down to earth. while trying to create a pedestal for yourself may make you more marketable outside of bmx, i think it comes across as kind of arrogant in a sport perpetuated by adolescents who generally dont have a lot of money.

i dont know who decided to run with the title advancing bmx without fitting in, but to apply that label to yourself is pretty arrogant, and pharell again, fuck that guy

[DontcallmeKenneth]

Respect doesnt pay bills if riding a bike is how you make a living.
And as far as appealing to other riders it probably isnt top prjority for him. Why wow a bunch of salty kids and old guys. That dont like him when rappers find what you do amazing?

[locomotive]

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.

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.

That video was less then 2 minutes long, an amateur can do his banger, and in all honestly besides the couple of clips the edit was nothing special. Why is he a top class rider, but blackman isn't? Desmond can do everything Nigel does, and he goes bigger, but hardly has sponsors. Obviously he has done some shady shit, but if we are talking about riding ability and the environment they grew up in, it's hard to see a difference.

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.

Really? Bam didn't do shit for skating, he took the money and ran. He may have gotten impressionable little kids to act like punks and pick up a skateboard, but I can guarantee most of them don't skate anymore. What Bam did and what Nigel is doing is bringing "fake" riders into the sport that they are going to abandon once the next cool thing pops up. Do you really want the skatepark to be filled with these people? do you really want the public to view us like that? Have you seen how this guy gets in the way of cars on purpose, just to get a kick or to show he is a "badass"?
here is a clip at 0:11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flK3zJvkhps
here is some more
http://instagram.com/p/uqycCUg_JJ/?modal=true

If that's the face of bmx, I am truly ashamed to ride a little bike. I obviously still love it and will continue to do so, but I am worried about the future of bmx. That is all.

[locomotive]

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.

ding ding ding ding ding! you win a greenbox

i just find it interesting how people choose to present themselves and their image once they make it big.

in bmx i guess it seems you can get the most respectfor being good on a bike but at the same time by also being humble or at least down to earth. while trying to create a pedestal for yourself may make you more marketable outside of bmx, i think it comes across as kind of arrogant in a sport perpetuated by adolescents who generally dont have a lot of money.

i dont know who decided to run with the title advancing bmx without fitting in, but to apply that label to yourself is pretty arrogant, and pharell again, fuck that guy

also agree with this, but pharrell is fine in my books.

[Prodigal Son]

You're making a way bigger deal out of something way smaller. If you asked 90% of kids 19 and younger what Brooklyn machine works is, I suspect you would find a very small value. This dude can hardly be held responsible for kids being dumbfucks on BMX bikes. That is the point of it. To get into trouble, do stupid shit, do wallrides on the office supply store down the street. You can be embarrassed, ashamed, and worried all you like but this isn't an upscale discipline anyone outside of BMX will look at and think of it assuming a televised contest rider could just drop out next year and not be any worse off.

[ImNick]

If that's the face of bmx, I am truly ashamed to ride a little bike. I obviously still love it and will continue to do so, but I am worried about the future of bmx. That is all.

Right now, I'm sure when most people think of BMX, I'm sure they think xgames or the mega ramp. I'm sure that accurately describes every street rider...
BMX will still be BMX. When someone sees Nigel ride down the road, I'm sure people think "oh that's terrible" when you can go watch Colt Fake have beer poured in his mouth as he tries to pull some girls bra off or Sean Burns drop his bike on some bums head. Though Nigel isn't the best rider or dress as ratty as most bmx riders, he is more of a street rider than most bmx riders that have had any mainstream recognition before.

Nigel, getting some recognition outside of BMX isn't going to change the sport because a few more kids might be at the park than usual and maybe only one of them might actually stick with it. And I hardly doubt it will give it an image worse than what it could be. Honestly, how is that any different than now? Most kids that rode around here quit after 2-3 years.

You can say Bam didn't do shit for skating because he didn't dump all his money back into the sport. But the fact that he happened, didn't change skateboarding forever. It just got idiot kids, who think doing rad, stupid shit is fun(basically the basis of bmx), to go buy an Element board. And indirectly put some money into the skateboarding industry.

[peggiesmalls]

People forgot bam was a pretty amazing bowl/mini ramp shredder Whats Nigel got though?

[Prodigal Son]

The guy is a goon, but look at some of the videos in this thread. He still rides pretty well.

[condrbkr]

If that's the face of bmx, I am truly ashamed to ride a little bike. I obviously still love it and will continue to do so, but I am worried about the future of bmx. That is all.

Right now, I'm sure when most people think of BMX, I'm sure they think xgames or the mega ramp. I'm sure that accurately describes every street rider...
BMX will still be BMX. When someone sees Nigel ride down the road, I'm sure people think "oh that's terrible" when you can go watch Colt Fake have beer poured in his mouth as he tries to pull some girls bra off or Sean Burns drop his bike on some bums head. Though Nigel isn't the best rider or dress as ratty as most bmx riders, he is more of a street rider than most bmx riders that have had any mainstream recognition before.

Nigel, getting some recognition outside of BMX isn't going to change the sport because a few more kids might be at the park than usual and maybe only one of them might actually stick with it. And I hardly doubt it will give it an image worse than what it could be. Honestly, how is that any different than now? Most kids that rode around here quit after 2-3 years.

You can say Bam didn't do shit for skating because he didn't dump all his money back into the sport. But the fact that he happened, didn't change skateboarding forever. It just got idiot kids, who think doing rad, stupid shit is fun(basically the basis of bmx), to go buy an Element board. And indirectly put some money into the skateboarding industry.

This

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KMqm0BtE8w How can you not say he's not good!?

[Cole]

Can't hate on the dude for getting his nut. He's still not as bad as Adam22.

[Finn the Human]

Gatorade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fST58M7Uwhs they really get whats going in my body

[KillSeth]

Can't hate on the dude for getting his nut. He's still not as bad as Adam22.

This.

I agree that the dude doesn't seem to be very impressive from a modern riding standpoint, but I'm not particularly bothered by his success.

[MilkyWilky]

Can't hate on the dude for getting his nut. He's still not as bad as Adam22.

Well put.
It's not fair to bunch big companies like G, Casio and Nike putting some money into BMX as 'sellout companies', nor put someone down for putting in whatever was necessary to get those deals. I'm sure the dude probably makes slightly above OK money (real world dollars, not BMX bucks), even with all the brands behind him.

I think BMX is still always going to be about acting how you want with some other freaks, sure don't see kids riding on BMW bikes. Anyways, if they want to act like Nigel or whatever, than by the very ethos of BMX, that's well within their right. Not everyone who rides can fall into the atypical BMX dude category (pissing on eachother, etc)