News / Taj Mihelich

Tokyo to Nagoya: MX 35 EventsI won’t spend a ton of time going over the events but they are certainly worth mentioning. 35 years is a pretty big milestone for any business and it was quite an honor to be invited over for the celebration. MX brought over people from all the brands they distribute. I got to catch up […]

Tokyo to Nagoya: Day 4Strava map day 4 part 1, day 4 part 2 Along the ride there was a lot of small road construction zones. There was always a flagger directing traffic and often helping me find where the bike path might pick up again. The flagger guys were always stoked and waving their flag like crazy. Today […]

Tokyo to Nagoya: Day 3Strava map day 3. My morning ride put me right into the middle of the school run. I rode with packs of kids pedaling to school. It was fun and a few of them wanted to race me. We rode together for probably 4 miles before they turned off towards their school. I gotta say […]

Tokyo to Nagoya: Day 2Strava map day 2. I checked my map and saw that there was a castle near my hotel. Out pedaling by 6am I rode up to the Odawara castle. It was really amazing. Not like a stone castle you’d find in Europe, but a big beautiful and ornate temple looking place. Huge walls and gates […]

Tokyo to Nagoya: Day 1Stava map Day 1 Part 1 , Day 1 Part 2 Wide awake at 4am I spent a while stretching and catching up on emails on my tablet. At 7am breakfast started and I was first in line. I started with the “Traditional Western” buffet and had a completely non-traditional western breakfast consisting of french fries, […]

Tokyo to Nagoya: Day 0It had been a busy month leading up to this trip. Fairdale displayed it’s 2015 bikes at the Interbike Tradeshow just days before I left on my Japan trip. I had been so busy getting ready for and working at the tradeshow that I had done almost no riding to prepare myself. I hadn’t even […]

Fairdale R+DFairdale Bikes presents a little insight into its highly advanced R&D department. Aerodynamic 2×4 bikes and Fender Bass Bicycle are all put to the test.

Bike Biz editorial: the roots of Fairdale Bike Biz asked me to write a little piece on how I transitioned from hardcore BMX dude into bikes with bigger wheels. I got slightly off subject and ended up writing more about how I managed to stay in love with bikes all these years. The whole mag is pretty awesome (aimed at the bicycle […]

Taj about Taj on RideA quick interview with Taj about his new bike on Ride BMX. Click HERE to learn more about it.

New Bike: TAJThe big bicycle tradeshow, Interbike, is coming up September 18-20th in Las Vegas. Aside from the “industry” party with George Thorogood we hope that one of the highlights will be our new models we’ll be showing off. I’m pretty excited about this one in particular so I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek.

What Fairdale is to me (today)Fifteen years ago I was a BMX pro riding around Austin with a single minded focus on BMX. I’d spend all day on my bike searching the city for the next street riding spot but hardly even notice I was on a bike, thinking more about the potential of the spots I’d find than enjoying […]

Quick DrawA few months ago I was waiting around at home for the cable guy trying to figure out what to draw. Rather then waste time planning it something out I just started going. Stumbled upon the old drawings today and dropped them into this little flipbook. -Taj

fairdalebikes

Getaway (if only for a little while) onboard the R

Getaway (if only for a little while) onboard the Rockitship.

The Rockitship is here. Available as a complete bi

The Rockitship is here. Available as a complete bike or frame in Black or Blood Orange. Reynolds 725 steel frame, ENVE fork, Ritchey and Shimano components, UDH, Continental Terra Adventure tires all wrapped together with Fairdale’s Keepin-it-simple-keeps-it-fun design sensibilities.

Available now to take you on adventures to anywhere.

Our Rockitship will officially launch on Friday. B

Our Rockitship will officially launch on Friday. Bike shops are getting their orders in starting today.

Pre-orders starting soon for bike shops to bring i

Pre-orders starting soon for bike shops to bring in our all new Rockitship. Hit up @fullfactory. Complete bikes will begin shipping soon after. Frames will be available too. Check in Monday for all the details!

Rider (Taj) says he’s not high enough, and photo

Rider (Taj) says he’s not high enough, and photographer (Josh Root @evilphotoeye ) says he should have used a flash to make things pop, but we like seeing our Hareraiser DJ in action.

New shirts have arrived! The first shirt I drew (O

New shirts have arrived! The first shirt I drew (Out of Step) has a clear message. It leans into Minor Threat’s famous words of wisdom, ‘Bow your head in submission to your phone like the rest of us.’ …Or, something like that.

The second shirt (Iron Fairdale) also has a clear message. I drew the word “Fairdale.”

Enjoy some new torso covers!

Summer Bike Launch: the Weekender Archer in new Le

Summer Bike Launch: the Weekender Archer in new Lemon Grass. The Weekender’s chromoly steel frame can be adapted in so many ways. Here it is set up for a little bit of everything in its base model form. Ride some trails, urban commute, long haul rides… yes to all. Add bags, bottles, racks, fenders, and/or our Skatetack. On sale now via your favorite bike shop.

Summer Bike Launch continues with the Lookfar mode

Summer Bike Launch continues with the Lookfar model in Matte Coral Red. This color is now available in a full size run from XS-L and in a step-thru version (which fits in our line as a S/M size). $649

“Look true, and look far, but don’t forget where you are.”

Summer Launch’s new Taj bike. A special one to m

Summer Launch’s new Taj bike. A special one to me, not just because it has my name on it. I first started making ‘zine’s back in the late 80s. Later I even had a ‘zine store where I would collect assorted ‘zines from around the world. Eventually, I graduated to helping make real magazines, and books with the help of computers, but the high-contrast art of ‘zine making holds such an important place in my memory.

I love the feeling of being able to tell my own stories and see them in print. You’ll hear people say ‘zines were a way to communicate ideas before the internet… home made magazines at a time when everything topical came from real magazines. That’s true I suppose, but I fell in love with the making of them. The trips to Kinko’s at 3:30 am. The stoned guy who worked there would let me make copies for free if I fixed his bike. A sea of Xerox machines to play around on. At least one of them probably had good toner in it. Creating different techniques and cool looking effects with nothing but copy machines was a lot of fun.

For this bike’s graphics I went back to those old techniques. Copying art, crumpling it up and recopying, tearing it and copying again, dragging it along the path of the copy head to stretch the art, and bunch of other trial and error tricks I was pleased to remember. I eventually had to get this art into the computer so it could end up as decals on the bike, but I did make it all in the old school way.

As far as the bike itself goes, the Taj is chromoly 27.5” BMX bike that looks a lot like the “BMX cruiser” my buddy at Kinko’s rode to work. You can jump it and have BMX thrills on it, but its real purpose is to be a fun, timeless, and tough bike that you can “just pedal around on”. That might sound like we are downplaying the bike, but “just pedaling around” is what it’s all about! And, a simple bike that keeps working is often the most enjoyable one to ride.

Check out the new Taj in Xerox White along with the rest of our Summer Launch Bikes via your modem on the www.

Summer Bike Launch continues with the Dark Metalli

Summer Bike Launch continues with the Dark Metallic Silver Weekender Nomad. We are extra pleased with how this color came out–it has a soft glow to it without being too loud. We all know the color of a bike doesn’t technically matter, but we also know that the bike that looks the coolest is the one you’ll want to ride. This Nomad model dresses our versatile Weekender frame with crispy 1x11 mechanical shifting, 700c wheels, and shallow drop bars.

Check out our whole Summer Bike Launch on the ‘net.

Summer Bike Launch continues with new Hareraisers!

Summer Bike Launch continues with new Hareraisers! The Classic White Hareraiser with a rigid fork is shown at the bottom. The steel fork gives the bike a more BMX feel thanks to its non-squishy-ness, and a slightly shorter axle to crown (which steepens the head angle of the bike). Odyssey lever and a mechanical brake without a liquid inside the cable will also make sense to a BMX brain.

The Hareraiser FX (top), uses the same frame and comes with upgraded cranks, a hydraulic brake, and a tough Manitou DJ fork.

Check them out and the rest of our summer launch out there on the internet.

Summer Bike Launch. New Ridgemont in Cool Mint.

Summer Bike Launch. New Ridgemont in Cool Mint.

You won’t find any wind tunnel tested electronics here, just a simple and practical bike. 8 speeds, MTB tires, and a comfy/ casual riding position that will put a smile on your face. Ride a Ridgemont through the city and out to some bike trails.