Profiler: Alfie Stevens (Dartmoor Bikes).

Stats: –

// Name: Alfie John Perry Stephens // Age: 16 // Weight: 72KG // Location: The Prince Albert Pub, STROUD // Sponsors: Dartmoor UK, Slam69, Marzocchi, Keith Allen //

Question: –

1) Let’s start with some basic background information – When did you start ‘stunt’ riding? And what exactly got you started?

As a kid I grew into skateboarding, so I guess the extreme sports roots always had a presence. My skateboarding career lasted about three years; and I guess it got me interested in extreme festivals such as ‘NASS’; and events like NASS opened my eyes to a much broader range of extreme sports, looking back it was just insane – I also remember being a little kid and getting ‘Matt Hoffmans’ autograph! So from there on I guess I just fell for ‘stunt riding’ – Soon after a friend showed me ‘Pinkbike’, at this point I actually started to get into it as a rider. From this point forwards, most of my ICT lessons at school were opportunities to watch videos on the pinkbike channel, it just grew and grew from here – I guess most of my original inspiration came from the pink bike website. From what I remember, my first days as a ‘dirt jumper’ were at about the age of thirteen, this stage mainly cantered around borrowing my friends bikes to ride! Eventually I got a ‘good’ one of my own.

2) What was your first jumping bike? And how does it compare with your most recent bike?

Back in the day I bought an ‘Identiti 666s’ from some random kid on pinkbike. At the time this was the bomb and got me started fairly quickly – I now look back and all I can remember is broken hubs and wobbly wheels!!! Comparing that old thing to my new ‘Dartmoor Cody’ is purely jaw dropping! Every aspect of my current set-up is just completely dialled, it just rules!

3) Go on, run us through the specification for your Dartmoor Bike?

I’m running the ‘Cody II’ this year, paired with Marz ‘DJ1s’ – On top of this, I ride a pair of the graphite ‘Fortress rims’, which have definitely proven their worth; I’m also riding the dartmoor ‘Thorn cranks’, which are incredibly light-weight and easily strong enough. My chrome cranks match my Dartmoor ‘Revolt Pro/Xdrive hubs’! I also want to mention the ‘Boogie Bars’. The rest of my bike is made up of top-end dartmoor products. The geometry of my ride is just so user friendly! I’ve had no problem with any of it. Oh, I don’t want to forget to mention my ‘Scwable Table Top Tires’ and ‘Shimano Deore Brakes’! Thanks Slam69.

 

4) How exactly did the Dartmoor Bikes deal arise? And how has it changed your life?

My local bike course is ‘Redhill Extreme’, it’s got such a great atmosphere going on; and the locals (‘redhillians’) are all super ace! I guess the more I went there, the more I progressed – Someone must have given Graham Foot at Slam69 a nudge, because Graham/Slam69 became my main supporter; he really helped me to step up the game! I thought it was great, seeing what Graham has done, because I’d seen his business progress, right from the start, even since the days of his shed! The opportunity to join the Slam69 team arose, so naturally I accepted his offer, I was then hooked up with an ace deal through Dartmoor UK. The scene with Slam69 is forever improving – As Slam 69 has advanced, the team has advanced – Graham/Slam69 really puts all his effort and resources into looking after us. I definitely would not have reached the level I have without such dedicated support!

5) How does it feel to be the youngest member of the UK collective?

Being the youngest member works really well for me, it allows me the opportunity to go and ride with the more experienced riders – I love this aspect! On a personal level, I feel that to be entering professional competitions at the age of sixteen is a solid achievement – It also helps take the stress away from the whole ‘competitive thing’ – Mostly because the riders I’m competing against, are the ones I spent all those years being inspired by, so it’s great to actually get to chill with them! I never really expect to come out on top in dirt comps, partly because I’m much younger than the majority; but I just love throwing down all that I’ve got! It’s just good to progress!

6) At present, who is your biggest idol in the DJ/Freeride World?

 My biggest idol!? You mean besides Marcel Hunt and Ryan Nangle of course! It’s amazing keeping up with ‘RyanNangleMedia’ because it seems him and Hunt just send it daily. No doubt this is inspiring for me because they are constantly stepping up the game and for me being their team mate, this encourages me to be a part of that progression. It’s impossible to pinpoint a specific idol, because I love different aspects of loads of peoples riding styles – I particularly enjoy watching ‘Pavel Vishneviy’ and ‘Matt Macduff’s’ videos because they are so street; and then ‘Semenuk’ and ‘Soderstrom’ are just as impressive and seem to be living the life!

7) Are you currently working on any new video projects/section that you want to talk about?

Nothing in particular, although I have appeared in various edits with friends. This year I’m aiming to produce an all-round street, dirt, and possibly some park and four cross edit! I’ve never really had my own video, but I’m really keen on getting one done! The only problem is that I need a videographer, with some solid commitment and availability – Is anyone is up for it?

8) What goals do you have for 2012?

2012 was always going to be amazing, though it seems the start has been a bit of a wash out! The first few events were postponed, or just ruined by the weather; so the rest of the year is going to have to be of the highest calibre to make up for it! My goals at the moment are mainly based around learning some new tricks – I generally want to expand my trick bank, with some more creative variations combinations… Gonna be ace! Meanwhile, I plan to be at all of the UK dirt competitions, and I’m more than keen on travelling abroad if some other competitions arise. As well as this, I will be at the majority of the nps four cross races, having a laugh and giving the races a go on my jump bike; This proved to go quite well for me last year and was super fun!

9) What do you do when you’re not on your bike?

Well now school has almost finished I’m rarely off my bike, though I spend a lot of my time with friends, just chilling and drinking tea and Barney’s seems to be the norm. With influence from living in a pub, music is a big part of my life at the moment aswell, so throughout the year I also plan to be at a few festivals and hitting up a few gigs here and there, which should be ace! Also, I guess a lot of my time off the bike is used for sewing up old jeans, so I can use them to ride in again!

10) How do you manage to rip your jeans so often? Is it on a certain trick, or a certain part of the bike?

I think part of the reason they get ripped is because the fashion with jeans is ‘tight’ – So the littlest tear, tends to get torn bigger really easily! Everyone has been wearing these girls ‘Primark Skinnys’ for a while; They are a prime example – They are cheap and stretchy and look kinda cool, but they are pretty useless! And I’m not exactly sure how I manage to tear so many jeans – It’s not a specific trick or component that rips my jeans; it’s basically any trick that involves landing on my knees, so pretty much any trick.

I’m not in the habit of buying new jeans, so I keep repairing my old ones! I’m keeping my eyes out for a set of jeans that are comfy and robust to ride in – It would be ace to be sponsored by a clothing shop like route one, or perhaps I’ll buy a set of Urban Kreation jeans to test!

11) Whilst on the subject of products, if you could design a new contraption, what would it be?

That’s a good point, but if I really did have the most genius idea, I wouldn’t want to share my invention now would I – Although as a year seven enterprise day at school, a couple of friends and I once tried to invent a product called ‘Bluetooth Breaks’… It explains itself really, but just in case; the idea was a break that required no cable, this meant you could spin those bars all day long and still have a way of stopping!

12) Oh… One last question… What’s the deal with Keith Allen? And what’s up with  the T-shirts?

The Keith Allen deal arose one drunken night in the pub between my parents and Keith – I imagine my parents got talking to him about what a wonderful son I am and the biking I do… And what with him being a super cool guy, he got very interested in the idea of extreme sports and saw an opportunity to give me a helping hand! His help has been great and it’s allowed me to travel to various bike parks, as well as enter the competitions. As for the T-shirts; the first years T-shirt designs arose from a poster graphic of a local gig he was doing which turned out pretty cool with the gold tooth – And now I’ve just had a new collection of tees of literally every colour ever, might just have a few spare that I haven’t worn yet – If anyone wants their own limited edition Keith Allen T-shirt for a bargain!? did I mention he is the father of Lily Allen!!!

14) Any final words, Big up’s, Boot down’s, Boom-shakka-lakkas?

 Well I’m not one who is known for ‘words of wisdom’, but I’d like to big up my favourite tribute singer ‘Alex Ruther’ – You may know him from his work on ‘Sclub7’ and ‘Adele’! Check out ‘Barneys Shed’ on youtube for some home grown tunes from the Shire! And I wish James Brown the best of luck at this years London’s Paralympics! Keep an eye out for him and his tandem on the podium!

One thought on “Profiler: Alfie Stevens (Dartmoor Bikes).

  1. I Ьelieve everything wrote was vеry logical.
    But, think on this, suppose you were to creat a awesome ρost
    title? I mean, I ɗon’t wish to tell you how to rᥙn youur blog, but supрose youu added a hеadline that
    grabbed ⲣeople’s attention? I mean Profiler: Alfie Stevens (Dartmoor Bikes).

    іs kinda vanilla. You might look aat Yahoo’s hoje
    page and note how they ϲreate news titles to geet pеօple to open the links.
    Үou might add a related video or a related pic or two to grab peоple interested about what you’ve written. Just my opinion, iit might bring yoir blоg a little bit moгe interesting.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *