Comments on: Keep it radical, good chap!

Keep it radical, good chap!

loquacious — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:58:13 -0800

We've had quite a few lovely posts over the years about people on bikes and skateboards and all these fine new sports that those crazy kids are in to these days, whether it's charging it, huckin' or riding in all its myriad of forms. New, yeah? Here's your great-great-granddad showing you what for with some barspins and suchlike novelties on a heavy old fixie. Stick around for the full-pipe attempt at the end. Directed and filmed by Thomas Edison.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:12:05 -0800

First I find that my generation didn't invent sex, and now this!

By: netbros

netbros — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:18:07 -0800

Silly old men. Don't they know Trix are for kids?

By: dirty lies

dirty lies — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:20:58 -0800

As evidenced by this video, Thomas Edison's fixie tricks are the only thing to overshadow his time machine.

By: leotrotsky

leotrotsky — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:21:37 -0800

You think that's something, you should see Tesla's stuff on the half-pipe. Those Serbians are CRAZY, bra!

By: Caduceus

Caduceus — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:27:05 -0800

This is easily the greatest slyt to ever go up on Metafilter.

By: Science!

Science! — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:29:59 -0800

Awesome? You want awesome? You need to turn to BikerFox. His site, bikerfox.com, has been linked on the blue, but you don't want to go there, and if you do you really don't want to watch the videos he has posted.

By: You Should See the Other Guy

You Should See the Other Guy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:34:12 -0800

Hahaha. Great link. Who'da thought Deep Vs were so old an invention.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:40:52 -0800

This site says the cyclist is some guy named Neibert.

Although the rider is not actually Thomas Edison, this video was filmed by Edison in 1899. The rider, named "Neibert", was aoparently famous and had a circus background. The footage was shot on a stage with a painted "city" background.

By: ErWenn

ErWenn — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:42:08 -0800

My favorite trick here (though it's hard to see what he's doing in the video (he's off frame a lot)) is when he starts pedaling the bike with his ass.

By: Mr. Anthropomorphism

Mr. Anthropomorphism — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:46:39 -0800

How far we've come. Saw it on Waxy. Won't post a SLYT.

By: suckerpunch

suckerpunch — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:51:05 -0800

Not Neibert, maudlin. It's Eugene A. Neidert. Apparently, he was second billing to W.S. Maltby, who showed "the experiences of a dude learning to ride the bicycle, to much amusement". (NYT PDF, LOL)

By: jimmythefish

jimmythefish — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:51:14 -0800

I'll dig out my footage of Abraham Lincoln wakeboarding but it's on 8mm and I can't be bothered.

By: Science!

Science! — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:54:06 -0800

Mr. Anthropomorphism: "How far we've come. Saw it on Waxy. Won't post a SLYT." Well, another person did and it turned into a pretty cool thread.

By: You Should See the Other Guy

You Should See the Other Guy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:54:09 -0800

A/S/L/Gear Ratio?

By: twoleftfeet

twoleftfeet — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:54:18 -0800

Right at the beginning it says BICYCLE TRICK RIDING, No. 2. Wouldn't No. 1 be the "First bike trick EVER"?

By: maudlin

maudlin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:55:42 -0800

Ah, thanks, suckerpunch. No wonder my Googling couldn't pull up more.

By: dirigibleman

dirigibleman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:57:26 -0800

Fucking fixies.

By: suckerpunch

suckerpunch — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:04:19 -0800

I can't seem to find any other old videos of trick riding, even though they seem to have existed at one time. They might be lost.

By: suckerpunch

suckerpunch — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:07:11 -0800

All right. We're getting even more hipster now. Bike polo, bitches. (NYT PDF again)

By: chinston

chinston — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:09:52 -0800

Man, by 1899 the scene was totally played out. You should have been around in 1896.

By: dammitjim

dammitjim — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:10:02 -0800

Found in the related videos: Simon O'Brien doing crazy BMX stuff, set to a hip hop song I liked a lot. How far we've come, indeed.

By: sexyrobot

sexyrobot — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:10:19 -0800

my favorite trick here is when the guy rides around in a circle and then eats pavement. twice.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:17:59 -0800

I can't seem to find any other old videos of trick riding, even though they seem to have existed at one time. They might be lost. That's one of the things I'm wondering. This rider has progressed to the point that he's doing peg stands, wheel walks and even one move that looks a bit like a tailwhip. I think there's a big chunk of bicycle history we're missing. Weren't they considered to be something of an unfashionable, infernal machine at first? Stunt riding may have been terribly declasse sideshow stuff. Not at little unlike some people think of *cough* extreme sports today.

By: Stonestock Relentless

Stonestock Relentless — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:27:44 -0800

These are a lot more fun than the later films where Edison electrocutes fixie riders.

By: unSane

unSane — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:57:58 -0800

These are a lot more fun than the later films where Edison electrocutes fixie riders. No, I really enjoyed those.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:23:36 -0800

hell yeah

By: squalor

squalor — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:55:52 -0800

Okay- when the guy on the bike is jumping rope, at first I didn't figure out that there was a rope. I thought he was just bouncing up and down on his bike while the two men on either side were making synchronous & exaggerated gestures of encouragement.

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:28:23 -0800

I didn't figure out that there was a rope. I thought he was just bouncing up and down on his bike while the two men on either side were making synchronous & exaggerated gestures of encouragement. Wow. Same here. Thanks for the heads-up. Y'all sure that's a fixie? At 0:28 it looks like he coasts.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:34:54 -0800

James H. White was probably the camera operator, not Thomas Edison himself.

By: contraption

contraption — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:54:53 -0800

I liked the shameless ass-pedaling around 2:10.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:06:51 -0800

20 years before this they were fancy riding penny farthings.

By: darkstar

darkstar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:04:44 -0800

Ill-bred urchins and their damnable penny farthings! These gallivanting reprobates ought to be horse-whipped for their effrontery in the public square! *Prepares a Bromo to quell the dyspepsia*

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:57:15 -0800

I got your trick riding right here.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:25:53 -0800

contraption: I liked the shameless ass-pedaling around 2:10. Don't you mean crack-pedaling?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:26:16 -0800

I am so ashamed of myself

By: aeschenkarnos

aeschenkarnos — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:06:22 -0800

By: gman

gman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:12:16 -0800

Freeride Mountain Bike Stunts

By: Popular Ethics

Popular Ethics — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:29:43 -0800

aeschenkarnos: Has your guy done a loop-de-loop? 'Cause if not, Edison's man wins. (that was the highlight of the film for me. It was like watching Evil Knievel in a bowler and tails)

By: Popular Ethics

Popular Ethics — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:37:21 -0800

me: in the old days blah blah loop! gman: *posts modern video including a loop stunt* me: *scowls and mutters something about kids having too much money these days*

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:23:58 -0800

On the one hand, this is cool. On the other hand, kids in the bike/skate park I drive past occasionally are better than this guy by a significant margin. It makes me wonder what skills amaze us here and now, that in a hundred years will be commonplace. posted by aeschenkarnos at 7:06 AM on April 21 I agree, but isn't some of the modern trickery due simply to much better technology? A BMX bike of today is incomparably lighter and stronger than a turn of the century bike. Hell today's bikes make my BMX racer of just 25 years ago look positively ancient. Team Murray forever! (I couldn't afford a Mongoose, but I could afford a Mongoose sticker, which was on the back of my notebook).

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:33:55 -0800

That's awesome! That dude invented flatland riding!

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:50:25 -0800

On the other hand, kids in the bike/skate park I drive past occasionally are better than this guy by a significant margin. Technological advances aside, I still like this comment. That is some pretty standard flatlanding, and with a few mistakes to boot. That's why I found this recent post much more amazing. Those guys cranked. I couldn't understand the "meh" in that thread compared to the lack of "meh" in this one. Is FIXIE the magic Metafilter word that makes everyone not want to rock the boat? Or, as someone said in the dancing thread, maybe you need to see the original Run DMC / Jason Nevins filmclip to get a full understanding for that added bit of win?

By: Nelson

Nelson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:59:26 -0800

You all think this is a recently made video, right?

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:00:12 -0800

You all think this is a recently made video, right? Any font nerds out there? I thought the credits looks suspiciously sharp and modern.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:32:14 -0800

I assumed this wasn't real. Am I wrong here?

By: joelf

joelf — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:35:59 -0800

I thought it was a recently made film made to look old. Till you show me the movie on archive.org, or in an Edison catalogue. I'll not think othewise, my good sir!

By: joelf

joelf — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:39:30 -0800

well here it is. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/varstg:@field(NUMBER(0836))

By: ericbop

ericbop — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:51:45 -0800

Thanks for that proof of authenticity, joelf. I, too, just assumed it was some viral advert for Mountain Dew classic or something of that nature. But who knows? Maybe the marketing geniuses at PepsiCo managed to pull off the hoax of the century!

By: lekvar

lekvar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:55:50 -0800

well here it is. posted by joelf at 10:39 AM on April 21 [+] [!] Well I'll be damned. I had dismissed it as some faux-retro-modern steampunk nostalgia thing, mainly because the frame-rate seemed too steady. That'll teach me to keep my cynicism in check. Maybe.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:00:29 -0800

Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2 is an Edison Labs film, an kinetograph actuality shot in part at the Black Maria studio in 1899. The original titles have apparently been lost, here a different newly-produced title card is in use also. I'm not a font nerd; I'm a cinema nerd. Is it directed or starring Edison, or really the first bike trick ever? No, but that doesn't make it a fake.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:02:27 -0800

Um also it's 50' long and is run at 18 fps.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:09:10 -0800

I'll be damned as well. My "evidence" for a forgery was that the bike looked too modern. Clearly I was wrong, despite being Some Guy On The Internet. Thanks for the citations and info!

By: jimmythefish

jimmythefish — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:36:25 -0800

Is FIXIE the magic Metafilter word that makes everyone not want to rock the boat? It's because fixie = radical dreadlocked hippie bike courier who can name every member of the UN Security Council, controls the delivery if information, hates you, probably has a molotov cocktail armed and ready to go in that bag of his and, if you piss him off in the slightest, he will, in turn, hate you, and secretly you don't like the idea of that because in some fucked up way you kinda wanna have the guts to give up that desk job, smoke pot, rock climb on the weekends and have an open relationship with an ultimate-frisbee-playing girl named Hibiscus.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:39:35 -0800

So, this is a hoax, right?

By: tehloki

tehloki — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:39:49 -0800

And this whole thread is just tongue-in-cheek?

By: tehloki

tehloki — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:40:03 -0800

Because I am fucking confused right about now.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:55:28 -0800

The video is not a hoax, it's a real film from a 110 years ago.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:57:20 -0800

Um, this would be a really stupid hoax.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:43:25 -0800

You've heard of Edison? You know about him and movies? You do understand that bikes were the highest state-of-the-art technology in 1900 or so? Why wouldn't he shoot a movie of a trick rider, which was a popular form of entertainment then?

By: mecran01

mecran01 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:43:16 -0800

I thought it was real at first, then I noticed that the rider has the exact same glasses as Mathowie.

By: dirty lies

dirty lies — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:48:23 -0800

I was skeptical too, the bike looked too modern to me. Ambrosia made me see the light, then I found (tiny) mpegs of all of Edison Motion Picture productions here, Bicycle Trick Riding 2 is there, but BTR 1 is missing. Then I started looking at bike frames from the period, they look surprisingly modern. This is a link to a blog post about the first freewheel bike, patented in 1895. Change the handlebar and the saddle and you have a hipster bike. This 'article' on the evolution of the BMX Bike of the future is funny. Anyways... Edison would be proud of the PirateBay. In 1902, agents of Thomas Edison bribed a theater owner in London for a copy of A Trip to the Moon by Georges Méliès. Edison then made hundreds of copies and showed them in New York City. Méliès received no compensation. He was counting on taking the film to US and recapture the huge cost of it by showing it throughout the US when he realized it has already been showing in the US by Edison. This bankrupted Méliès.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:53:10 -0800

thanks dirty lies, for actually setting my mind at ease instead of making me feel dumb.

By: dirty lies

dirty lies — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:57:04 -0800

Dudes, tehloki bought it! Good job!

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:12:00 -0800

Has this thread been orchestrated entirely to troll me aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa