The SMC 100 | 70-61 | Suck My Cog

Day five of the SMC 100 is here: ranks 70-61. Almost halfway!

Click into post for the reveal!

70 – Ted James

Nickname: Superted

Years Active: 2007 – 2013

Region: London, UK

Social Media: @tjdbikes

Built like a brick shit house, UK’s own Ted James aka Superted was a huge player in the overall landscape of the fixed gear scene in the early stages of its inception. From partaking in huge video projects like Bootleg Sessions, to ground breaking firsts like the bunny hop barspin, then to bike design with the formation of 14 Bike Co, Ted helped shaped what would eventually become FGFS in so many ways. His antics in the scene became well known and his riding itself was fast and loose in similar fashion.

69 – Zach Babinski

Nickname: n/a

Years Active: 2010 – Present

Region: Southern California

Social Media: @babinskizach

Long time SoCal shredder Zach Babinski has been flying under the radar of the scene for years. Personally, I think he deserves more attention for the difficulty of tricks he’s doing. Since 2010, Zach has never put down the FGFS bike and makes it a point to always get out, progress, and film by any means necessary. His wild style and ability to send himself down whatever he feels has defined his riding over the last 10 years, and there are no signs of slowing down. A master at both directions of barspins too, Zach is throwing switch barspins off things that people would think twice about throwing normal barspins on. Releasing some of his first videos in 2010, Zach continues to pump out killer web edits to this day.

68 – Joel Weston

Nickname: n/a

Years Active: 2008 – 2011

Region: Northern California

Social Media: @joelrogerweston

Early bay area pioneer Joel Weston may not be a household name to the modern day FGFS rider, but his effects on the scene still reverberate through us all. How you may ask? Ever heard of the fakie wheelie? Joel Weston was the first to do it on a track bike before most of you even knew what a fixed gear bike was in 2009. It was so out of this world that people thought the video was fake when it first released. People demanded more footage to see if it was real, and sure enough he silenced everybody. Alongside that groundbreaking feat, Joel boasted a buttery smooth Trick Track style that was super easy on the eyes and continued to impress the scene with more fakie wheelies.

67 – AJ Austin

Nickname: n/a

Years Active: 2009 – 2012

Region: Texas

Social Media: n/a

At one point, I almost purely associated Texas with AJ Austin. Sticking to his guns with 29er pegless riding amidst the mass 26″ movement, AJ pushed the development of the sport in his own ways. His antics and personality alongside his riding turned him into a micro celebrity in the scene, leaving us all yearning for more on camera content from him. AJ made his presence known in the scene with so many touch points in various content within the scene like Sweathogs and PiNP web edits, Death Pedal 2 and CFTY DVDs, Wolf Drawn and WRAHW content, and more. In 2012, AJ became the first to do a lawn mower on a fixed gear bike, a maneuver that still hasn’t been touched by too many in the scene. TEXAS BOI!

66 – Daniel Torres

Nickname: Danimal

Years Active: 2009 – 2014

Region: Northern California

Social Media: @xdanimalx

Speaking of 29er legends, bay area’s Daniel Torres aka Danimal also stuck to his guns and kept it 29er during the height of 26″. Daniel was put on the map early on with the Peninsula Fixed Gear videos alongside Kenny Arimoto and Taylor Dwight. From the early Trick Track style to full blown 29er FGFS, Daniel has always hung with the best and made an impact onto the scene in one way or another. His aggressive style, pegless tech, and go fast mentality curated a fun style to watch any time he touched a bike.

65 – Ricardo Lino

Nickname: Linolife

Years Active: 2010 – Present

Region: Lisbon, Portugal

Social Media: @ricardolino

Professional blader turned pro FGFS rider (then turned back again) Ricardo Lino took his blading experience and made him an absolute animal when it came to rails and grinds. Lino pushed the limits on handrails: hitting them both switch and regular (which people still aren’t doing), hitting variations on big obstacles like crooks, x-up grinds, ice picks, and more, and hitting the biggest + steepest rails he could find in Portugal. Lino was not afraid to get hurt with high risk high reward tricks. He turned heads with his web edits and features in Grime videos like Shredwell 2, but when he made the promo for his signature frame with Destroy, that’s truly when I decided that this man is one of the greats (linked below). After a 10 year hiatus from the bike, Lino picked it up again like he never left and has been sporadically back on the bike for fun.

64 – Youri Slikker

Nickname: Godslayer

Years Active: 2019 – Present

Region: Netherlands

Social Media: @no_strapsss

The true strapless wonder, the godslayer, the high flying circus act, Youri Slikker has been changing our perception of what’s possible on a fixed gear bike. Youri makes his bike look like it weighs 10 pounds and is easily the most comfortable person to ever touch transition on fixed, even beating out the likes of Joe Mckeag in my opinion. Don’t get it twisted though, Youri has it in the streets too, frequently showing off his tech skills and spot usage. He’s quickly become one of my favorite riders out of the new school wave of the 2020’s with his web edits, consistent IG clips, and contest results.

63 – Koichi Higo

Nickname: Forkone

Years Active: 2021 – Present

Region: Japan

Social Media: @forkone_

I think Forkone might be one of the most impressive people I’ve seen touch these kind of bikes in years. He’s taken his flatland BMX background and mastery of the fixed drivetrain and has just opened up an entire world of what we thought was possible. He’s created an entire style of his own that has yet to be recreated, then does it with complete finesse on both flat ground and spots. Full disclosure, I’m not actually sure when he started riding a fixed gear bike. The first content I could find of him was in 2021, but that doesn’t always paint the full story. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started before that, cause he moves like a veteran in the scene.

62 – Kris Fay

Nickname: Locked Cog

Years Active: 2008 – 2024

Region: Northern California

Social Media: @lockedcog

Kris Fay walked so Youri could run. The original strapless god Kris Fay came onto the scene early on with controlled, stylish strapless shred. He became a staple in the bay area, doing important documentation of the local and surrounding scenes and grew to become a worldwide name in fixed gear through his riding and platform, Locked Cog. In the rising blog era, Kris hopped on board and grew to become one of the fixed gear scene’s biggest platforms, often creating original content through videos, photos, reviews, and all the things that blogs used to be known for. Kris always maintained a fun level of creativity, buttery smooth lines, and spot usage.

61 – Marwin Ou

Nickname: Wizard

Years Active: 2008 – 2025

Region: Southern California

Social Media: @marwzrd

To round this batch out is another late 2000’s legend, Marwin Ou aka Wizard. Marwin was an early pioneer of the Long Beach scene and set the blueprint for flat ground combos and lines that we still see today. Wizard was oozing with steez and created a style very unique to him. You just never knew when his flat combinations were going to wrap up! Even though his main success was found in Trick Track flat riding, he was also able to adapt to the 26″ era and continued his riding into modern times.