Ever thought about saving your old bikes? Well, Anthony Napolitan did and he’s built up an awesome collection. He has been saving all his builds since 2007, give or take a few. These bikes are more than just his personal collection, These bikes are a glimpse into BMX history. From the “ugliest” to the “most winning”, Let Anthony tell you all about them below…
First/obvious question, why (and when) did you start saving your bikes?
It was some time in 2007. I was hanging out in TJ Lavin’s recording studio. He had a bunch of his contest medals throughout the room. He told me that the one thing he regretted was not saving any of his bikes throughout his career. So, from that point on I started saving bikes.
Logistically, it seems pretty daunting to save this many bikes. Where have you been storing them and how big of a hassle has it been?
I’ve stored my bikes in a number of different places. At some point they were in my condo in State College Pennsylvania and then I had some stored in my mom’s basement at her house in Ohio. At one point I had half of them in Ohio, and half of them in California until I had to ship everything I had in California to my mom‘s house. I even had one of the bikes hanging in a friend’s bar in downtown Youngstown. they haven’t really been a hassle at all. They hang upside down in the rafters inside of 90-gallon garbage bags in my mom’s basement so they don’t get covered in dust.
Photos: Shaun Jordan
I know there’s a lot to unpack, but can you give a brief rundown of all the bikes in the collection?
The collection spans from 2007 to current. I believe I’m missing four bikes from what’s pictured. The majority of these bikes are custom powder coated With matching profile racing accents. In the group photo, I have the bike set up left to right from oldest to youngest. The bike that’s in the very middle is my current bike with my profile signature color way galaxy rust.
2007 pink Hoffman w/purple profile parts
2007 trans teal Hoffman (not pictured)
2008 trans red Hoffman w/purple profile parts
2009 yellow/white Hoffman w/white profile parts
2010 blue/ Orange Hoffman w/blue profile parts
2011 plum Haro w/ matte purple profile parts
2012 red bull wrapped haro w/ red profile parts
2012 black haro w/ teal profile parts
2013 matte green haro (not pictured)
2014 trans blue t-1 barcode w/black profile parts
2015 raw t-1 barcode w/camo profile parts
2016 black colony blue profile parts
2017 Metallica red colony w/ gold profile parts
2018 bronze colony w/ swell profile parts
2019 raw colony (not pictured)
2020 raw colony (not pictured)
2021 & 2022 purple colony with galaxy rust
What happened with those four missing bikes?
The 2007 teal bike was a wedding gift for my buddy. He never stopped talking about how much he loved that bike. So, I finally gave in. The matte green haro was traded to another BMX rider in Vegas. The trade was he got the bike and I got my car wrapped. The two raw colony bikes went to Justin McLintock and Jared Tipton. Both these dudes used to put a crazy amount of work in at the trails and at some point, their bikes were really bad.
Were there ever any issues with sponsors about wanting to switch/hold on to entire bikes?
No, there was never any issues with sponsors regarding any of that. Once bikes and products were sent out, sponsors would never ask for anything back. I do have one Red Bull Hydro dipped bike in my collection. There were actually two of these bikes, and the other one was scripted into a contest for someone to win. I believe someone in Ontario Canada won that bike.
Which bike is the oldest?
The pink bike is the oldest, and then the trans red Hoffman is second oldest. Both of those bikes were ridden in 2007/2008. Back when the Dew Tour had a heavy schedule throughout the year, I would generally build two bikes per year just to be safe.
Which is the “one” that you’d keep above all the rest?
That’s a really tough question! If I only had to keep one bike, because the reasoning would be that it was the only bike that I could ever ride for the rest of my life I would either choose one of the terrible ones or the current bike that I’m on. (Purple w/ galaxy rust colorway)
Which is your favorite? (if that’s different)
That’s also a hard question! I’ve always had a thing for the all-pink bike. I did my first front flip whip on that bike (which was also my last). Hahaha!
Which one has the most wins?
The yellow and white Hoffman for sure has the most wins. That bike was a remake of my 2006 yellow bike where I won the dew tour overall and got my first X games medal. Anyways, I won numerous best trick contests that year, I won dirt at the worlds, some dew tour podiums and I did the first ever double front flip on that bike.
Which is the ugliest? Like, “what the hell was I thinking with this one?”
Okay, not that it was ugly, but my least favorite is the first colony that is trans black with blue profile parts. It’s just a stock-colored bike and I’ve never been into black bikes.
What’s the plan going forward? Is the idea to keep adding to the collection?
Absolutely! Maybe I took TJ Lavin‘s advice too literal but I really enjoy saving all of my bikes. I don’t really know of anyone else that saves their bikes like I do. So, I’m going to keep doing it for as long as I can.
Any thanks?
The biggest thanks to my mom! She says I’m the biggest pain in her ass because of all the bikes in her basement hahaha! Big thank you to all the brands that have supported me or are still supporting over the years. I’m going on 19 years of profile racing and 18 years of Maxxis tires! And of course, all of my current BMX sponsors. Maxxis, Adidas Five Ten, Yoshimura cycling, ODI Grips, Profile Racing, Just Live, DYEDBRO, Ethika and Colony.
Want to catch up with Anthony? Make sure to check him out on our recent episode of The Unclcicked Podcast:
