As the Empire Fund draws to a close, Dan’s is starting one for anyone who missed it. Dan’s will accept donations for the next 2 weeks, and every dollar donated will automatically enter you to win an Autographed 20.5″ Shitluck Magnolia frame, signed by Leland Thurman himself.
There will also be a t-shirt available early next week and all proceeds will be going to the fund. Thanks for your help.
I’ve been speaking to LeVan and he is getting better everyday.
SOLD! at 610! someone got a great deal. Thanks again DBZ.
The Infamous DBZ has decided to sell his bike also, for the benefit of Jimmy Le Van. I’m sure there will be more of these gracious gestures, and I will try to get them all posted here. Here is what DBZ had to say:
If any of you keep up with the wild and whacky world of BMX, you’ve probably already heard that Jimmy Levan had a horrible crash in New Jersey whilst filming for the next Odyssey video. He’s still in intensive care with a fractured skull, but is conscious after coming out of a medically-induced coma and seems to be doing better at this point.
I don’t really know why, but for some reason the news really affected me in a big way. I’ve only met the guy once, briefly, at the Ritz in Austin a few years back, and I think we exchanged no more than a dozen words. Besides that, I’ve been a fan of his riding ever since I first saw pictures of him in magazines in the early nineties.
He’s always been a total badass–one time, at some godawful MTV “extreme” clusterf@*k in his hometown of Louisville, he was chastised for jumping his bike right out of the competition area, clear through to the street outside. Some security meathead tried to tell him what he was and wasn’t allowed to do in the confines of the event, to which he replied, “This is my town and I’ll do what the f@*k I want!”
Over the years, he’s come to symbolize a lot of why BMX is so important to me. It gets weird, growing older with a passion for what is supposed to be a child’s pastime, and Jimmy and his company Metal Bikes have become ever more significant to me as a consequence. The same goes for the bike company Terrible One, but that’s a whole other story.
Hearing of Jimmy getting messed up like this had me pretty depressed for days, until I made some calls and found out he was doing okay. Reflecting on why, I think it’s because of basic empathy. Relating to other people is difficult in this overpopulated and socially fragmented age, so I think we choose who we bother to invest our attention in. Often it’s the people around us that we know, but just as often it’s not.
There’s something else, though. I can’t remember the exact quote, but Hunter Thompson wrote in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas about one of the great failures of the sixties counter-culture being the mistaken belief that there would be some benevolent presence at the end of the trip, ready to pick up the pieces. It’s the kind of misapprehension that I’ve never been under, having barely had the luxury of a family, and it has been brought home to me the most when I’ve woken up in a hospital for one reason or another. All I’ve had are my friends, and they’ve done as much as they can–which has always been way above and beyond what I ever would have expected.
Tom and Tina Williams have set up a fund for Jimmy’s hospital bills and expenses through their bike shop, Empire BMX. I’ve put the URL below; they are going to match any donation. A few days ago, Odyssey (a BMX company that sponsors Jimmy) announced that they will match the total sum from Empire as well, so if you give ten bucks, Jimmy gets forty.
To that end, I’ve decided to sell my T-1 Barcode bike on eBay and donate the money. I never ride the damn thing, and it bugs me to have two BMX bikes. I don’t want to be a “bike shop guy” with a bunch of cool yet unused stuff, and this just seems like the right thing to do. So, if you’re in the market for a state-of-the-art BMX bike, built by the most anal-retentive obsessive mechanic on the west coast around a custom frame fabricated in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, do a search for T-1 Barcode JTML… Jimmy The Man Levan. Or click HERE
-DBZ
The Empire/Odyssey Donation with have to go to Jimmy this weekend so I hope everyone can pull out all the stops this week, so we can give him as much help as possible.
If you hit up our online store, you will find the Electronical related shirts seen above. Just for safe measure, if you don’t know what Electronical is, click HERE.
The breakdown is as follows:
“OUTLET” (american apparel/online only for now)
Brown Tee w/ discharge and red print.
Heather Forest Tee w/ Orange and Black print.
“LIGHTS” (FOTL 50/50)
Black Tee w/ Red/White print
There is only a handful of the “Outlet” designs, so don’t hesitate if you’re into them.
The “Lights” Tee is a basic stock shirt.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!
I poached info from Metal and Dig websites today:
Even though I’ve been coughing up half a lung for the past few days thanks to a wild case of bronchitis, I managed to get out of the house yesterday to visit Jimmy Levan in the hospital.
Thankfully, he’s awake, and for the fall he managed, he looks pretty damn good. He’s recognizing people, he referred to the nurse in the room as “Baby” and he’s fighting to get out of the hospital bed every ten seconds or so.
He still has a long way to go, but I’m really happy to report that Jimmy is awake and fighting. It’s going to be some time before he gets to leave the hospital, but he’s a got a huge case of determination on his side to speed the process along. And if you know Jimmy, once he puts his mind to something, he does it.
The Jimmy Levan fund is still open. If you’d like to donate, please give what you can. Jimmy has insurance, but there are still going to be additional costs during his recovery that aren’t covered by his insurance.
-Brian Tunney
I spent the whole day with Jimmy today, he is doing a lot better but is very confused and cannot recall a lot of the last year. His insurance will not cover the rehabilitation he needs, he is going to need to go to a rehabilitation center for serious brain injuries. I was talking with his mum today and we are going to see if we can get him into a center in jfk edison under some sort of charity or low earning fund, but this will cost $70,000(for one month). $40,000 before and the rest after.
He needs to be there soon, so if you can pass it along to anyone
raising funds etc that his family need the money by the first of
December, so he can be in rehab for the month and get back to be his good old self again.
-Tom Hooper
Thanks for everyone who already bid on my bike. I was surprised to see it that high in less than one day. I goes to show what we all can do for one another, and how much Jimmy effects us all.
-Jim Bauer
www.empirebmx.com
www.digbmx.com
www.metalbikesbmx.com
Jim Bauer Bike auction
Well it could be you…. I am putting up my bike for auction to help the Jimmy Le Van fund.
Anyone here should be pretty familiar with it, but here is a run down. I had to remove SOME prototype stuff, but I replaced it with good stuff. I mean all I really have to say is….PLEGS!
frame– Metal Rebel Contender, 21′ custom made/brakeless
fork– Director Fork
bars– Sunday Triumph
stem– Elementary V2 w/o tabs
headset– FSA sealed
levers– N/A
saddle-senior saddle (brand new)
seatpost– 25.4 Intac
clamp– integrated
rims– GSport Ribcage
hubs– Vandero 2 (f). Odyssey Cassette 3/ 10 t driver LHD (r) (brand new)
spokes-Odyssey Aftermarket spokes. (brand new, front and back)
sprocket– 30T Vermont
cranks– Odyssey Wombolt cranks(175) LHD
chain– 510
pedals– CLEAR twisted pc. (SAMPLE, brand new)
tires– Odyssey Aitken 2.25 Plyte (F) 2.1 Path (R)
pegs-GSport PLEGS (pre-production SAMPLE, brand new)
grips-Aaron Ross (pre-production SAMPLE)
barends-Par ends
BID NOW!
The Flyer says it all. Come out and ride this weekend. I will.
As you know, Jimmy Le Van went down hard in New Jersey a few weeks ago.
Until now he had been in a drug induced coma, for healing purposes. Early this morning Jimmy is officially awake, but not too coherent. All the tubes have been removed except for one IV. He asked his sister earlier if she knew Chris Moeller,”the bad ass flatlander” haha. This is great news on the road to recovery. Thanks to everyone for their outpouring of support.
Bad news is this hospital stay and recovery is going to be EXTREMELY expensive. Empire stepped up to the plate right away with the Help Jimmy Fund. Much props to Empire BMX to being so quick to help out. Empire will match whatever you donate, and Odyssey will match what you AND Empire donate. Basically whatever you can do will be quadrupled, so give what you can. We appreciate it and more so, Jimmy will appreciate it.
To donate go here
Thanks!
Black, Gold and Polished Trail Mix SEALED BEARING pedals available now.
JIM CIELENCKI TRAILMIX PEDAL SPECS:
– Same shape, materials and spindles as the original JC pedal.
– Slimmed-down bridge sections and longer gripping pins.
– Knurl-free contact surface to prevent dirt from getting clogged.
– 20 ounces (sealed aluminum – pair).
– All new 17mm wrench-flat spindle ends (w/ 6mm allen key slots).
– Black, Gold, High-Polished, Limited.
– Replacement pins included.
This was the scene last night at Odyssey.
The majority of the team has been in California for the last week wrapping up last minute filming for Electronical.
In the pics you will spot Adam Banton, Chase Hawk, Jim Cielincki, Mike Aitken, Gary Young, Aaron Ross, Matt beringer, Brad Simms*, John Povah*, Justin Kosman* and Cameron Wood*.
*we can hang out with non odyssey riders can’t we?
Click below for more pics!
Over the last month and a half, we have shipped IMG in the UK a few small shipments from our USA stock, as they have not received their first major container from overseas. This has allowed us to get at least some stock availability into the UK market. Until said major container arrives, please be patient as stock will be limited.
At the very least, IMG have been able to get their hands on some brand new product, as well as other basic stock items to supply dealers.
Pictured above are the new Odyssey Trail Mix pedals, which are in the UK right now. For more stock info, click HERE.
Didn’t have enough of the red and black lumberjack (with hat to match)? Also known as gingham, the Lumberjack JR saddle is finally in. Gold contrast stitching and gold logo. Now you can complete the trifecta, Seat/Pads/Shirt. How did you ever leave the house not matching your bike? Its crazy.
Lumberjack Jr saddle available now.
Some of you have heard by now that Jimmy Le Van got hurt this weekend in New jersey. Chad Shackelford fill us in.
November 3rd, we all flew into Newark for the Red Bull Down and Dirty contest in Asbury Park. The contest was on Sunday and went well. The next day Jimmy Levan, Aaron Ross, Chase Hawk, Wade Young, Jim Cielencki and myself went back up to Newark to start our 5 day east coast trip ahead. Our next stop was Wades friend, Tommy’s house to drop off his car and start our trip. Our plan was to head into the city for the day to shoot some lifestyle and ride the Banks. While we were loading up at Tommy’s, Jimmy and Chase were goofing off on the skateboard that Chase bought the previous weekend.
In front of Tommy’s is a pretty serious hill, that’s basically one giant S curve. The road is rough, covered in gravel and potholes. Jimmy walked up to the top as we were loading stuff up and started cruising down the hill. He bombed the whole thing first try, it was sick. We thought it would be rad to get a shot of him bombing it again. So, after we pulled the camera out and Jimmy got back to the top of the hill, we were ready to shoot. I need to stress how bad of a road this was. It was long, steep, and rough. Not too mention, Jimmy went about a 100 ft. higher up, than the first time.
I yelled out “Action!!!” and Jimmy started cruising down, he gave a little ollie, then a power-slide that sent him straight to a pretty rough tuck and roll. As usual, Jimmy got up laughing, knowing that he just got a hilarious clip. He grabbed the board and jogged back up to the top of the hill. Now ready to get the clip, he took off again. He gave another ollie and a couple of successful power-slides. At this time he was about to where we were standing, which was half way down the hill, He gave a “Shaka Bra” and started to pick up mad speed as he hit the steepest part of the hill. He was going about 20 mph and almost at the bottom of the hill. As he neared closer to the bottom, he got speed wobbles bad and that’s when it all turned horrific. In the blink of an eye, Jimmy caught a bad wobble and the board shot out from under him, sending him directly to the back of his head, at again, about 20 mph. He immediately went limp. Chase, Wade and Jim C ran down to check on him, thinking that he just knocked himself out and he’d be up in a minute with a slight headache. I continued to stay up top shooting. Instantly, they realized what happened and flagged me down.
I ran as quickly as possible to the scene. When I got there, Jimmy was snoring. At this point it had been about 1.5 min, we started to worry. We tried to let him come up on his own, but then we realized he has bleeding and panicked. Wade was already on the phone with 911. He was out for around 3 mins and we started to really worry. The operator said the EMT’s were on there way and they would be there soon, just hold tight and we’ll be there. By this time Jimmy started to come to, completely disoriented. With no clue where he was, what day it was, what had happened, he tried to stand up and walk around. When he did this, we really saw how bad the exterior gash was.
We immediately tried to wrap his head in towels, but he was reluctant and kept taking them off. He made no sense, babbling about not being drunk and wanting to go back to the girls house, where were we at? I held him by the arm and walked him up to the house as he staggered alongside me. I got him to the top of the hill and sat him in a chair in front of Tommy’s to wait for the Ambulance. Again, we kept pressure on his head, but he needed an ambulance. The police arrived and after, the EMT’s arrived. They immediately started wrapping the exterior wound, which was about 2-3 inches long on the back of his head. They pulled out the stretcher and a neck brace, laid him on the stretcher and started to put on the neck brace. He immediately wasn’t having it and resisted leaving the scene at all.
After sedating Jimmy, and an eventful trip to the hospital Jimmy got to the hospital and is getting the help he needs. He has a bruised brain and a fractured skull. Because of his injuries and history of being aggrevated when he comes out of anesthesia, He still remains in a drug induced coma, The doctors are confident that he will recover soon, but he will surely be in the hospital for at least a week.
Jimmy’s sister and mom are with him in the hospital now.
We are hoping that Jimmy will be awake and coherent by the time we get back to jersey on Saturday evening. The most we all can do is stay positive and hope for the best.
Jimmy is one tough guy, who’s been through a lot. He will definitely pull out of this and continue on his legacy.
Get well soon friend, were all pulling for you.
-Chad Shackelford
