Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Zodiac Quamen Clad G8

Quamen Clad G8

Flatland is the black sheep of the BMX fraternity. Its practitioners are often loners, frequenting car parks alone for hours, perfecting their moves which Wikipedia describes ‘as a form of artistic cycling with a blend of breakdancing. Flatland as a discipline also encompasses certain aspects of Martial arts and Zen meditation.’ I concur. It’s rare to see such finesse in other forms of cycling and, like trials, flatland specific bikes don’t lend themselves to much other than, well, flatland.

With a shorter wheelbase, zero-offset forks, Gyros and freewheels that allow the cranks to remain motionless while rolling backwards, flatland bikes are a singular beast. However, it’s these features which are, from a design point of view, so appealing. Like the original Audi TT, their layout is all circles and right angles—very Bauhaus.

This is a Quamen Clad G8, with some very special add-ons by Zodiac Engineering. Based in Orange County, California, Zodiac manufacture quality cycling and firearm components. I’m not at all surprised the two should go hand in hand, the level of construction needed for both is extremely high, and caters for a market who demand high quality precision machining. Zodiac contributed the front hub, pegs, seat clamp, axle spacers and dust caps. The Quamen cranks, sprocket and stem are amazing, I’m looking at a double scoop of blueberry ice-cream here. London Bikes supplied the Queen Vic III bars, Zodiac shortened the titanium Bluesix spindle and the pedals are Stolen. Legit.

Quamen Clad G8
Quamen Clad G8
Quamen Clad G8
Quamen Clad G8
Quamen Clad G8
Quamen Clad G8
Quamen Clad G8
Quamen Clad G8