Ride To Fame

When it comes to bicycle collectors, their motivations vary quite a bit. Some collectors want bikes they had as kids. Some want the bikes they couldn't afford as kids. Some just want to collect and flip and make money. But usually, a Freshour bike collector is different. Freshour frames are quite rare, as not many were made to begin with, and even fewer survived the 40-ish years since the last one was welded up in Sikeston, Missouri.

Steve Freshour has the best reason to collect them: He is the distant cousin of Jerry Freshour himself. Gathering these odd racing frames up and keeping them as family heirlooms is probably the best reason I can think of to be a collector. Steve contacted me some time ago and we talked about him designing his travels from California around a trip through St. Louis. It would be a great opportunity for me to see the old TK frame, and he wanted me to sign a few of the items for posterity's sake. Eli and I had gotten a road ride together last Sunday, putting us in a perfect place to meet Steve at Greensfelder as he made his way through St. Louis.

It was so cool to have Eli see some of the old world stuff. We were able to cruise the TK and another cool white model around the lot a bit. I was surprised they actually rode ok, thinking that new world stuff had just gotten too different. But nope, they were nice, and Steve had even built them up true to the 80's. Some parts, of course, just had to be newer, but they were legit enough to give me the warm and funny 1984 feels. The TK had the correct bars and fork, too. This was one of my earlier ones, as it also had the lower mounted seat post clamp (pain in the butt, but very unique).

I signed a few number plates and top tube pads for Steve's collection, and we bade him farewell and safe trip. I'm super happy that there are people out there who want to preserve the old stuff. The tiny Freshour Cycle company carved out a much bigger chunk of BMX history than I ever imagined.