S&M x Alans BMX: 40 Years

To celebrate 40 years in business Alans BMX has teamed up with the most respected brand in the industry - S&M - to produce a limited edition run of parts, all made in Southern California, the birthplace of BMX. 

The following items will be produced, available exclusively through alansbmx.com:

Shafted Redneck stem
Engraved Alans 40 front plate. Gold, Black, Red or Green. 
Limited edition of 40 units. 

Enduro V2 stem
Black or Polished and in 49 or 52mm reach. 
Limited edition of 40. 

Credence V-bars
A classic V-bar version of the Credence bar in Chrome or Trans gold. 
Roll stamped. 
Limited edition of 40.

Layback seatpost
Roll stamped. 
22.2 and 25.4mm versions.

Frames
The following frames will come in a unique Trans Teal/Trans Gold/Trans Teal colour way. Just 40 frames in total will be produced across the models, each individually numbered #1 to #40.
Steel Panther 20"
Steel Panther 24"
ATF 20" 
ATF 22"
Dagger 

We also badgered S&M into making us a small batch of Original Pitchforks!

About Alans BMX

Founded by Alan Woods in 1981. Alan started racing motocross aged 11 in 1976 and was all-in with BMX when in arrived in the UK in 1980. At age 16 a trip to California resulted in Alan becoming the UK importer for Robinson, Torker, Haro, Premier helmets, A’ME grips and more and he went on to become the first UK BMX champion in the 16-year age group in it’s inaugural year, 1981. 

Managing Robinson and Torker teams throughout the 70’s and well as having a shop presence in his hometown of Wigan and distributing those brands across Europe, Alans BMX, saw BMX go through the roof and down into the basement all in that first decade. 

From ’87 to the into 90’s BMX went through a sort of dark ages, but Alans stuck at it, moving shop a few times, opening a record shop and a starting a punk record label. It was great to see the sport rebuilding itself at the end of 80’s with all the new rider owned brands and, of course, S&M set the template for this. 

After racing Vintage motocross for a few years Alan could see the potential in the Old School BMX market and ran the first first Old School event in the UK in Warrington 2001. 

Moving into current premises in a central position in Wigan in 2007, things went from strength to strength, dabbling in distribution again and now focusing more online with alansbmx.com but still with a retail presence. Alan’s eldest son Toby joined the business along with Tom Garcia from New Zealand and between them and a dedicated team are focused not on being the biggest, but the best. This article’s in Dig sums things up nicely:

https://digbmx.com/dig-this/alans-bmx-uk-shop-interview

Alans BMX is the oldest BMX shop in the UK. 

About S&M Bikes 

Founded mid 1987 by friends Greg “Scott” Swingrover and Chris “Mad Dog” Moeller, S&M Bikes was created to craft BMX bikes that could handle the use and abuse the founders and their friends were dishing out.

In early 1987, a then 16-year-old “Mad Dog,” was causing a ruckus in the race scene and working as a test-rider for BMX Action Magazine. In other words, coming across plenty of products that left a lot to be desired. Swingrover, 19, was racing and dirt jumping while working at South Coast Bike Shop in Santa Ana, California. By the summer of 1987 the two decided to go into business with their own frame and fork – the K-9 D-Zine.

According to Moeller, their first offering was a mishmash of his three favuorite frames at the time: “We worked from a Profile, my custom team-issued Privateer and a Robinson. It added up to a frame that could be raced well and ridden hard at the trails or on the street without falling apart. We just designed a cool bike for ourselves, gathered money and made two framesets. Our friends wanted them too, so we had 25 framesets made.”

By the fall of 1987, S&M  had replaced the K-9 D-Zine with Moeller’s signature Mad Dog frame. In 1988 they went on to release the now legendary Slam Bar, and in 1989 the Dirtbike! Throughout 1989 and early 1990 as The Shield gathered a following in the BMX scene, Greg and Chris found it increasingly difficult to balance the books with their steady diet of BMX hedonism.

By the summer of 1990, Swingrover had taken a job at GT to help support his young family, and choosing to concentrate on his new career path, left S&M in Moeller’s hands. In a van loaded with guys like Dave Clymer and John Paul Rogers, Chris zig-zagged across the country living the “BMX Lifestyle” a.k.a. sleeping on people couches, drinking their beer and riding as much as possible.

For more than two decadent decades since, Moeller has steered the S&M ship through hell and high water. Crazy nights, ideas and antics aside, the goal at S&M has always been the same: to make good bikes and run things their way. With American flags and middle fingers waving in the wind, S&M will continue to sail the seas of BMX cheese until other companies make bikes as good as theirs or it’s not fun anymore. Neither of which looks likely to happen soon.

It is interesting to note that completely independently one person was a mentor to both, Chuck Robinson (RIP).