What do you and your bike have in common?
How about you, you close?
We are both a bit rough around the edges.
Ha close but no cigar.
And do you both support Liverpool FC?
OK, did you ever watch Quantum Leap on TV?
We do.
Yeah, every once in a while.
Talk us through how LFC have influenced your Benny L frame?
What would be worse, Quantum Leaping into an Everton supporter’s body or into the body of someone who couldn’t barspin or icepick grind?
Only in the colour and the headtube badge, the frame was influenced more by the city… It’s responsive and sleek. Is it responsive because in Liverpool you may need to dodge trouble at any given moment? Well mostly for spins and manuals but trouble in the form of cars and other situations too. Light gears for quick acceleration don’t hurt either. You’ve got your own frame now with your own specific, tailored specs, have you had to self-mod frames and bike parts in the past? Yeah, I always cut in the back end as much as possible and had to dent the tubes with a ball hammer to make space for the tyre etc. You’re a warranty nightmare! Did you go through frames a lot? Do you have to mod anything on your bike these days? No I don’t change anything on frames now, purely because I got to design my dream frame. Never really went through many frames either because I couldn’t afford new ones, had an STA custom 19 inch TT for like 6 years, that was heavily self modded.. And destroyed haha! We’ve gone way beyond the era when we started riding and modifications were not just common, but necessary. Bars cut down, filing stems for gyros, steerer tubes, drop outs, seat posts, bend brake levers, trim seats etc...Do you not even cut your bars down? Hahaha I forgot about all that sh*t, didn’t even think about it being a mod as it was so standard! Nowadays I don’t do my bars but I do grind most of the grip off my plastic pedals on the nearest curb when I put them on. I heard about that...Why? Remember when Newrick used to sand his actual grips down? Yeah I heard that too, makes sense, gets past the initial harsh grip phase that tears your hands apart. The reason I grind my pedals down is because I find grip hard to manage, I like my feet to move around and not feel tied down. That sounds insane! I mean, I know that feeling, when you happen to have new shoes and new pedals and you feel like you might loop out of a manual, it doesn’t feel like you’ll get your feet off. But equally, I case my nuts if I slip my pedals...Don’t you ever tap the boys and knock them out of the barracks? Haha, nah, I rarely slip a pedal unless jumping off massive sh*t, which again is very rare! Have you still got the un-x-up to ice and crank flip? Crank flip, yeah, but I left the un-x a while ago. Half-cab crank flips or oppy-half-cab barspins? Oppy-half-cab barspins! What’s your favourite trick right now? Ice hard way. Think the ice grind hard 3 will ever be possible? Very soon if not already done.
Definitely the person who couldn’t icepick, nightmare. In what order would you be sad to see the following get knocked down: Rowley School, Krazy House or the Brookside set? Rowley school, Brookside, Krazy house .. Haha, why that order? Love the school, don’t care about Brookside, and only go to the Krazyhouse once a year for my girlfriends birthday, she loves the place for some reason! So, I’ve also noticed your clothes have got a bit baggier lately. You getting a bit more gangster in your old age? Ha, originally it was because I wanted to start wearing kneepads after I shattered my kneecap and needed the extra space skinny jeans didn’t offer. Now I just wear real slim G30 pads and I just enjoy the comfort of a baggy tee/pant. I’m loving the XL tee look though. How are things with your knee? You’ve been quite unlucky over the last few years but seem to be shredding at the moment. Would you say you’ve re-encountered your NSF 2 form? I think I’ve surpassed that luckily, it took me nearly a year an a half after I snapped my knee to get back to the form I was at. The knee is in good condition otherwise. It was just depressing spending so much time chillin’ and going to the gym! That’s ace to hear! Your Baker’s Dozen section was pretty insane so I’d agree that maybe you’d give your NSF2 self a run for his money! hahaha. How did you pass the time off your bike? It must have been hard not to just get on it constantly? Yeah, I pretty much got on it constantly for like half a year, got real burnt out on it. Feel like I did enough partying to last me a lifetime! After that my leg was good enough to do physio and I basically stopped smoking and drinking and lived for the gym/yoga/swimming. That drive to get better and ride again kept me sane! What was your toughest yoga move? The plank takes a lot of energy to hold as do some of the warrior poses. I can’t remember the name of some but they make your thighs burn like f*ck! Also I wore a Skavenger vest and shorts so it’s not like I dropped lycra. Ha, reppin Skavenger in the yoga dojo! What about now, still doing a load of the exercises you learnt during that period to keep fit, or just pure bike riding? And do you think that forcing yourself to exercise and get strong in the gym might have helped with your improvement on a BMX? Yeah I think it did in terms of just feeling stronger and more confident. It was definitely what I needed at the time. As for the exercise regime I dropped it once I was able to ride again, but noticed a big drop in performance after a while. Recently I’ve started to do as much as I can again, between trips an shit it’s hard to fit in what I want though. Thanks Ben, I feel inspired to get fit! Good luck in America!
BEN LEWIS INTERVIEW | 28