Richie"00"Ditta

finally, after all these years i've joined this forum.....guess i haven't been on top of things....

anyway a some stuff about me..... i'm from brooklyn, n.y.c. i have been riding a bike since i'm 4 years old. i started of with one of those hard rubber wheeled bikes, then moved up to my first real 20inch a few years later. then there was the "totally rad" bmx faze. i was color matching my bmx just like everyone else. i rode various other bikes because i had so many stolen back then. then i bought my first bike, a 5 speed 20inch (a general-meerkat) and after a few years i tried messengering on it. that only lasted a few months.

i went though the mountain bike faze too....i even got one to messenger on back in '93. it was a kona hahanna. i rode this bike for a year i manhattan and made some money...then i meet squid and his brother james...they rode these fancy bikes called "trackbikes". they were cool to me and showed the in's and out's of riding in the city. i finally made my own coversion and broke everything. 2 hubs and a chainring later i had my own fixie. in 1994 i was messengering on it and almost forgot about my kona....then james broke his collar-bone. he needed a non-fixed bike so he could work, so we traded bikes for the winter. he rode my kona and i got to rock his cannondale track bike! i was riding a whole new beast! i got so much better at riding a fixie after that....and faster too! after we traded back i was hooked for real. i bought tim slack's kamikaze and it was the start of a whole new life........i continued to messenger for a while then i met rob and pete. these guys were from s.f. and they planned on riding back there on bikes. i was into this too and i wanted out of n.y.c.....this would be it for me. i packed up the kona, boxed my kamikaze and rode with those guys. we were a group of 6, we left in may '96 for the messenger championships in s.f. we got there aug. 1st.

after putting my kamikaze together, i had to figure out if i was gonna be able to ride it in this hilly city brakeless. it was scary at first....i had no clue where i was going or how big the hills were. after a few months i got the hang of it and was able to messenger in s.f. there was only a few fixed gear riders in s.f. at the time. no one i could think of was riding brakeless though...except this other guy from n.y....but he was only downtown.
i rode there for 10 years and helped start the subculture. i was color matching and riding deep-dish/high flange wheels WAYYYYYY back in the day. i still have my first set of phil's that are over 10 years old.

i am in the movie MASH SF and i feel good representin' the old school guys. i was just in japan in nov. for the premere there.

i am a mechanic, a wheel builder and i am also a frame builder too. i am on my 5th frame right now. inquire in p.m.'s for more details.

i like to help out my fellow rider's. if there is any questions i can help out with, feel free to ask...i dont bite. i have lots of technical and riding experiance.

other than bikes....i've been married for 5 years and have a little boy that just turned 2.

what's up to all the peeps i know here and what's up to all the people i have yet to meet.

rubber side down folks!
richie ditta

East Hill

Cool! Great intro Richie, I'll certainly be looking for more of your posts. I sense great entertainment value plus stuff to learn and there's not much better than learning new stuff while being entertained .

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

Siu Blue Wind

Whoa. Sounds like you are one busy fella.

Welcome to Bike Forums, Richie.

Tell us more about this movie, Mash SF.

Richie"00"Ditta

thanks for the welcome east hill and siu blue wind.

yeah i've been a busy guy....i don't get to ride as much due having my kid. i do have a kid carrier that i put on the stem of my fixie and get some riding in then.

anyway.....MASH s.f. is a movie that these guys mike and gabe made. it showcases like 13 riders- all riding trackbikes-brakeless-in san francisco. its like a skateboard/snowboard video but with trackbikes. the production is really good, music and editing came out well. it has some messengers and non-messengers in it as well. i ride the first frame i made in it too.

i was skeptical at first because it seemed a couple of years ago the scene was kinda being exploited....and i was one of those "down with hipsters!!!!" kinda guys. but after get to know mike and gabe i figured they would hook it up right-and they did. they both have skill on the bike as well as film making too, that helped me feel alot better too.

you can check out the trailer at there site mashsf.com
the dvd is for sale there too

happy rides,
richie

East Hill

Some scary footage in there. I winced when I saw riders going down California Street (at least it looked like Californa Street). It does look as if everyone was having a great time though .

I liked the photo of 'playing with your food' too. Creative use of vegetables there .

East Hill

amor fati

After seeing MASH I've been wondering what sort of gear ratios the SF guys use to deal with going up and down those hills. Also, despite the fact that I think MASH is a great film it could have used a bit more dialogue. I mean, there's got to be some great stories that begin with "I was blazing down (insert here some street with an enormously steep hill) when my chain broke...."

Richie"00"Ditta

i was riding a 48x17 in the movie, but i had all sorts of gear ratios over the years.....i think the average would be high 70's to low 80's in gear inches for most of us. its all leg strength to get up hill and cadence-timing and leg strength to get down and stop in one piece.

i think that the amount of footage they got (over 30 hours) mike and gabe thought it would be better to just get straight to it. i think i got a few words in the begining of my sequence because i was the oldschool guy.

i can fill this whole forum with stories "of that one time"....i am saving that for my blog..haha

East Hill

Well, if you don't use them for your blog, you could share a couple here .

East Hill

milehighcity

what bike were you riding in mash sf? components and all. love the color scheme and the bars.

GeoBigJon

Howdy and welcome to the forums!