We’re getting into some serious territory now.
Into the 30’s we go!
40 – DJ Mull
Nickname: n/a
Years Active: 2009 – 2012
Region: Southern California
Social Media: @d.j.mull
For some reason, I feel like DJ Mull has fallen through the cracks in our history a bit more than I’m comfortable with. At some point around 2010, DJ was right up there with all the peak FGFS household names we all know and love today (Matt Spencer, Congo, Gus, Boothby, Santos, etc). With a BMX background, DJ brought an approach to fixed gear bikes that wasn’t popularized yet. An early adopter of stalls, pedal feebles, footplant tricks, and most importantly, his nose manuals (mostly doing it all strapless too). I think it’s safe to say he was the first person to hit legitimate nose manuals on fixed gear. After making a splash in the scene with his Revoked section, DJ became part of the prestigious SE Bikes fixed team and was important in the development and designing of the famous Showtime frame.
39 – Satoshi Hashimoto
Nickname: 84Kick
Years Active: 2008 – Present
Region: Japan
Social Media: @84kick
If you ride fixed gear now, you likely already know of Satoshi, aka 84Kick. As such a massive presence in the scene, it would probably be harder to not know who he is at this point. As one of the longest standing riders on this list starting in 2008, Satoshi was right there towards the beginning of it all and was immersed in the culture early. Taking heavy inspiration from the late great Keo Curry and being personal close friends with him, Satoshi is the next best thing we have to Keo’s flow, tricks, and innovation. After taking a hiatus from the sport, he found his way back in 2022 and has become one of the media titans in the scene, heavily documenting Japanese and global scenes, hosting Japanese events, and showing off his own weekly progression on the bike. Although Satoshi doesn’t possess the standard BMX influence bike control of a modern FGFS rider, what he makes up for is his finesse and flow on a Trick Track setup all while innovating new ideas and experimenting with what is possible on these bikes.
38 – Kenny Arimoto
Nickname: Deadwood
Years Active: 2010 – Present
Region: Southern California
Social Media: @fishxchip
One of the most exciting people to ever watch ride these bikes, NorCal’s Kenny Arimoto consistently put his body on the line with massive sends. Roof drops, cavemans, big rails, all of the dangerous stunts were Kenny’s bread and butter with no off switch. His early days with the Peninsula Fixed Gear crew set the tone for the rest of his riding career with huge bails and rails, which quickly turned him into one of the most respected names in the sport. His involvement with the likes Wheel Talk, iMiNUSD, Chrome, Macaframa, and more made for memorable clips and heavy, heavy tricks.
37 – Ryosuke Kiyohara
Nickname: RSK
Years Active: 2012 – Present
Region: Japan
Social Media: @ryosuke_kkk
Another heavy hitter in the scene, RSK came into FGFS and quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with. He has a huge bag of tricks, rides fast, and most importantly, is a MACHINE on handrails and hubbas. Even before Ed Wonka passed away, I was saying that RSK was the second coming of Ed with the rails and tooth hangers he was doing. The real magic though, in my opinion, was when RSK started to develop his technical skills on top of the rail game. So not only can RSK hit the biggest rail or hubba you ever did see, he can do the comlex grind combos and barspin tricks. I feel that RSK’s riding gets overlooked mostly because his peak was during what I call the FGFS dark ages (2014-2018), but if you look back at some of the riding he was doing during that time, it’s truly at a caliber that we still don’t see people doing today.
36 – Jonathan Davis
Nickname: JD / Jonny Dirt
Years Active: 2010 – 2024
Region: Southern California
Social Media: @jonnydirt
Sorry if you needed to catch a break from heavy hitters, we’ve got a 3rd one in a row with one of the OG big rail bois Jonathan Davis aka JD aka JONNY DIRT. During a time of peak hipster-ism and fixed gear being a fashion choice, JD brought a rough and rugged energy with some grimey Riverside swag. Big roof drops, big rails, and technical grind tricks characterized JD’s riding along with the early popularization of some tricks like crank arm grinds, luc-e grinds, and fakie grinds. Content that he’s been a part of has been nothing short of iconic: Stay Strapped, all 3 Can’t Fool The Youth DVD’s, the Half-Assed series, Altar Tribe, all of his web edits, and even made a resurgence in the recent Ruff Real Potatoes video which brought him out of retirement. Along with his riding accolades, he was one of the minds behind the short lived, but impactful, brand Altar Tribe.
35 – Andy Sparks
Nickname: n/a
Years Active: 2011 – Present
Region: Northern California
Social Media: @lolandysparks
One of the most iconic figures in our scene, Andy Sparks has almost created a whole new subgenre of riding. It’s not quite Trick Track, not quite FGFS, but a hybrid of the two mixed in with dominating back wheel control and iconic sliders. Although people were doing chainstay sliders before, Andy took it and ran with it, popularizing the trick throughout the entire sport. A true student of the game, Andy has an in depth history and context of the scene and plays a large role in archiving the sport. His tutorial content has inspired and educated newer generations of fixed gear riders and has become some of the most popular how-to content the scene has been blessed with.
34 – Valentin Racho
Nickname: Vracho
Years Active: 2012 – 2023
Region: Northern California
Social Media: @vracho
The original barspin boss of the sport, Valentin Racho came in hot as a San Jose grom who stood out from the pack of his FBZ408 crew with incredible pop, barspin variations, and effortless style. Valentin came in doing unpopular / never been done barspin variations like tire tap barspins, x-up barspins, and became one of the first people to become extremely comfortable with truck drivers both on flat and off drops. If there was a barspin that could be squeezed into a trick, Valentin would find the gap. His tricks were big scale, progressive, and unlike anything the sport had seen at that point. He set the precedent for future riders like Hoang Tom, 855, Ky Issawat, and more barspin killers.
33 – Jakub Bruch
Nickname: Fixie Transformer
Years Active: 2018 – Present
Region: France
Social Media: @bb_demolisher
At the point when Jakub came into the sport (2018), it’s hard to come in and actually change the landscape of things. Jakub came in and did just that while not compromising the way he wanted to do it. 700c, pegless, big ass frame, and still manages to ride the bike like a BMX. Jakubs got all of the baseline tricks dialed: spins, barspins, fish n chips, etc, but where Jakub has broken out and shined through is with his pegless grind innovation. He’s finding new ways to touch his cranks and bottom bracket on rails and ledges consistently and has really created a signature style of his own. He’s also made the effort to contribute to the sport aside from his own riding with the formation of the French Fixed Federation, providing coverage on local French riders and even hosting annual trick-centric events.
32 – Chase Davis
Nickname: SKRT Reynolds
Years Active: 2013 – Present
Region: Salt Lake City, UT
Social Media: @skrtreynolds
Who once was the FOAD Gang grom with loads of potential, is now the big hoss of Salt lake City and a veteran of the scene. Chase Davis first made a name for himself with a section in FOAD’s first full length, Gang Signs, showing off barspins, grinds, hang 5 control, but most importantly, STYLE. I’ve said this before: sometimes you can’t teach style. It comes natural and Chase is dripping wet with it. Along with great style, Chase has been on the forefront of progressive tricks with early adoptions of difficult tricks like wheelie 180 bars, ice 180’s, truck drivers, feeble 180 bars, 540s, 180 smiths, and so many more. Chase’s mastery of footing is something to truly look out for whenever he rides too. There are a lot of nuanced feet setups and tricks he does that can only be done through years of dialing in. Pay attention next time you see a clip of him, you’ll rarely see a skip hop and you’ll see him doing different tricks with different feet.
31 – Sam Miller
Nickname: n/a
Years Active: 2008 – 2009
Region: Albuquerque, NM
Social Media: @sammillermusic
Rounding out this batch of riders is one of the big hosses of the early scene, Sam Miller. The owner of one of the first “viral” fixed trick videos on the internet in 2008, Sam brought an entire new energy to the fixed gear bike with BMX levels of bike control right out the gate. The first proper flat 360 (in my opinion), 180’s down big stair sets, and a loose-ness that made the bikes just look fun. While I wouldn’t say Sam invented any tricks, he was one of the first to do Prolly spins with the outside foot forward, prompting people to start calling it the “Miller spin”. Also, the curved wall heard around the world. That clip was so ahead of its time that I don’t think people could comprehend it properly. Some riders are so ahead of their time that they don’t relate to the average rider, and I feel like Sam was one of those. While the broader scene was doing wheelies and learning keo spins, Sam Miller was doing god damn CURVED WALLRIDES on a full blown track bike. The two years he was properly involved in the scene (crazy it was only two years) still have a seismic impact on the scene to this day. I’ve even heard there are whispers of him coming back…
Insane lineup… how do we go up from here?
Suck My Cog 