Before we all had websites and blogs, hand made zines were a popular creative outlet. One of the most influential BMX ‘zines of all time, Aggro Rag, came from a group of riders known as the Plywood Hoods from York, Pennsylvania. Mike Daily was the Aggro Rag ringleader. The Plywoods Hoods, with riders like Kevin Jones and Mark Eaton, ultimately changed BMX Freestyle, specifically flatland, dramatically. Daily went on to edit Go: The Riders Manual and later BMX Plus, and the “Dorkin in York” series became the most important BMX video series of all time. While Mat Hoffman ushered in a new era of ramp riding, and the Plywood Hoods were doing the same for flatland and video.

Daily has since written two books, and currently lives in Oregon. He recently restored a 1985 CW California Freestyle, and brought it by my studio to get some photos before he took it out to the streets. We got to talking about an Aggro Rag book he’s working on compiling, as well as his bike build, which I turned into an interview for ESPN. You can and should read that here. There are some additional photos of the CW after the jump, but be sure to check out the interview. And don’t forget to pick up a copy of the Aggro Rag book later this year. I also sort of blame Mike for inspiring my recent purchase of a 1985 Haro Master frame and fork. Seeing the CW gave me the vintage bug.

Don’t forget to read the ESPN interview here!

Last night I noticed a sticker on the side of my toolbox (which I’ve had since the ’80s)… Rockville BMX. If you rode BMX in the 80s, Rockville was THE bike/mailorder shop, and its catalog was your bible. Twice a year I’d await the latest Rockville catalog to arrive in the mail, much as I would the latest Freestylin’ or BMX Action Magazine.

Rockville was the ultimate shop. Every summer the big companies like Haro, Hutch and GT would send out touring Freestyle teams, and I remember seeing photos from the demos at Rockville with seas of people. Just about every Pro rider backed Rockville, and couldn’t wait to do a show there. The DC suburb of Rockville, Maryland was like Mecca for BMX kids around the globe. The scene surrounding the shop bred eventual legends like the Alder Brothers and a scrawny kid working behind the counter who would ultimately take over Hollywood, Spike Jonze.

Staff moved on, more mailorders and local shops sprung up, and today, 817 Hugerford Drive, is home to a computer shop, a far cry from the thousands of screaming kids who’d crowd its parking lot every summer. Today there are a whole host of reputable endemic mailorders like Goods, Empire, Staff, Albe’s. Just about every large BMX scene has a decent shop, some of them rider owned and operated.

Fortunately, I held onto a Rockville catalog from 1984, the only one still in my collection. Later used moved onto color printing, but ’84 was black and white in all its glory. I’ve included some photos…