Intro/interview EC, photos provided by Abe.
If you have seen “Same thing daily” you will know this name, Abe Hamilton, previously I had never heard of this guy, and he delivers one of the best sections I’ve seen in a while, unique whiplash body varial tricks with savvy style the section was short and left me wanting to see more.
Without further a due, lets get started with this interview.
I don't know much about you Abe so first few questions will be obvious ones. I guess onto first question. Introduce yourself , where are you from? How long have you been riding?
Well... My name's Abe, I'm from the beautiful and industrious city know as Hamilton, Ontario. and I've probably been riding the better part of a decade?
How did you get into flatland?
Flatland in specific, I guess cause I used to walk home from school with this guy who had some crappy twin top tube haro, I thought it was cool, and when we got to his house he'd show off by doing endo's and catwalks, then double ride me home. After a while I figured I should just get my own real bike and learn cool stuff too. Then shortly after I ran into the Pergentiles, and they were already pro. It just kind of rolled from there.
What's your bike set up?
Comfortable. It's Fly Campillo (sp)? with what ever the cheapest offset forks with a brake hole the bike store had, I think they're old Mcneil forks, and slam bars. Other than that, big seat, big gear, normal stem, classic powerbites, and a front calliper stolen from a garbaged bike.
Stolen from a garbage can haha nice, how did you hook up with Dane Beardsley for a part on his dvd?
I knew him for a bit before the videos, from Jams and stuff. He used to come up and hang out and whatnot for a few days before each HamJam. Then one day he asked to film a whiplash combo for Video name. Then a year or so later, after a Jam he asked if I wanted to film a part or few clips or whatever I wanted for his new video.
Hows the riding scene in Hamilton? Many riders? Good spots?
It's a good little street city, it had a lot of flatland riders, but people grow up and get real lives and stuff, you know. There's always spots around, but I've pretty much rode in the same spot ( Bethel ) for how ever long i've been riding, and they just built a skate park down the street from it, so I'm set.
Were you stoked with the reaction to your section on Same thing daily, no one knew who you were, and boom, one of the best sections?
Reaction? boom? best? haha wow, I don't know'bout that, but thank you. I was content because I had a few tricks that took me years to pull and that I thought were cool in it. I just tried to film stuff and a part that wasn't boring or full of filler, to me. I think it's pretty cool if some people thought it was alright.
Any new videoparts in the works Abe?
That's classified, but maybe, no promises.
The body varial whiplashes are insane, how did you get into that stuff? What inspired you?
Drugs, space, flow regimes, fibonacci. No, I don't know man. After learning all the whiplashes I got hung up on learning the basics, switches and everything without holding my seat cause I thought holding your arm out and holding your seat looked really silly and lame. I dunno, some stuff just feels right when you're learning it, and that kind of stuff did/does to me, dunno. No real inspiration really. It just ended up that way. I like simplistic stuff that flows and is right to the point, no whacky direction changes, no filler.
Do you see yourself ending up doing all that stuff brakeless, like your bike set up is ultra basic, doing that stuff brakeless would be the logical step? Simplify everything..
Haha, it pretty much is brakeless. The "fake-brake" is a piece of crap, it seriously doesn't work at all. I just have so I can pull my barrel adjuster all the way out and have some feathering in case traffic's bad when I bomb down the mountain road access, .. and to cut my thumb all up. Sometimes when I'm trying stuff, having my hand on a lever or squeezing one tricks my brain into thinking that i wont eat shit. It helps, but has no real function.
True undergrounders are very rare in this world of the internet, but you truly could be regarded as one, do you keep up to ate with whats going on in flatland world, or not of a concern to you?
Oh now, I don't want to be regarded as "underground" or anything, That's always got some weird "reclusive hermit" like stigma attached to it. I just ride a bike and have no desire to make enough effort to care about being out there. Some might call that, Aloof or uninterested, or maybe just lazy.
Up to date or no concern?
Honestly? No, no concern, no real super interest, not really. I like good flatland, and the people I've met from it and sometimes I'll search youtube for videos or browse the blogs and stuff. but yeah...I'm not fanatic about it.
What riders if any do you look to?
Anyone who just rides for fun i guess, no one who takes it serious.
Any shoutouts?
They know who they are.
Thanks for your time Abe.
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