New York’s enigmatic Brooklyn Machine Works was founded from a larger-than-life punk aesthetic. Established in 1997 by Joe Avedisian and Chris ‘Doc’ Bourdreaux, their frames confused a lot of riders by being built from steel in an aluminum age — even their 67lb Super Trucker downhill bike. The dual-wheel-sized Park Bike is another prime example of BMW’s gargantuan innovation.
Dave Nissani is, like his beloved Park Bike, a larger-than-life character — a big-hearted big kid with a streetwise head and an immeasurable level of knowledge about old school culture, especially the MTB world. He recently finished assembling his Doc-built BMW, in time for it to be featured as the Centrefold for the latest issue of Treadlie Magazine.
Hiding underneath the wallaby pelt is a NOS Azonic DH Loveseat, reupholstered by Busyman Bicycles. Dave maintained a US-built theme: only the tires and tubes were made in China. The high standard of manufacturing continues with a Thomson seatpost, Chris King headset and 14 year-old NOS Profile cruiser bars. The hubs, stem, bottom bracket and cranks are also made by Profile.
Dave had been holding on to a set of original Profile stickers for this application, a sure sign of his fastidiousness. Japan’s W-Base shop helped him source a set of NOS decals for the down and head tubes. All the bolts have been upgraded to titanium pieces, including the crank bolts and those connecting the 203mm Hope V4 Stealth vented rotor to the caliper and frame.
Brooklyn Machine Works’s proprietary Vegi Burger pedals (with cutouts and lighter than their Shin Burger pedals) top it off. Have you noticed anything odd about the wheel sizes? BMW were one of the first to experiment with dual diameters, but the Park Bike, named after their technical riding through Central Park, is set up with a 22″ Revenge Industries rear and 24″ Odyssey Hazard front wheel. Pretty tight.
Dave would like to thank Mick Peel at Busyman Bicycles for the upholstery, Tom at Hell On Wheels for the wheel building, Hugh at City Bike Depot for the assembly, Moto at W-Base and Peter at Star Enamel for the gradient blend. For the full set of photos, head to the The Spoken flickr set.
