Rich Bartlett’s Block Racing Frame #040

BMX Legend Rich Bartlett posted some photos of a new frame on his Instagram today….or so we thought 🙂 The frame he posted was actually one of his classic Block Racing Frames, number 40 to be exact.

He’s planning on building it up after 26 years. The bike looks sick and we can’t wait to see it built up. Maybe he’ll send some photos of it for a future Bike Of The Day entry..stay tuned!

 

This project really needs to be completed. In 1990 I was on a clinic tour on the east coast riding for Free Agent. I met the Martino’s and we talked about building a custom frame at their factory. That lead into building the first Block frame, riding for Cycle Craft, and moving into their home in Tennessee. I don’t know if they knew what they were in for! We drew up a design and @mitchmartino built it. That was the beginning of Block Racing! We stamped Block23 in the dropout of the prototype and I rode it for nearly 3 years before the bottom bracket shell cracked. This is #040 and has been stashed away, never built for some 26 years now. The bars were Fred’z customs with a lowered cross bar and welded bar ends. The idea was Block bars but it never materialized. Forks are elusive as the double dropout Fred’z Legs with the Bottema extensions at the bottom that we called Block forks didn’t last long at all. Not for the way we were riding back then. I ended up using Landing Gear for the majority of the time I rode that bike. Hopefully this will motivate me to get this thing out together and get it off the garage floor!!! #bmx bmxracing, #bmxrace #bmxracer #blockracing #cyclecraft #kingsport #tennessee #bmxhistory #blockbikes

A post shared by Rich Bartlett (@richbartlett23) on Feb 14, 2017 at 5:27am PST