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How Steve Crandall Built an Entire World Out of a BMX Bike

Steve Crandall

Steve Crandall has built an entire world out of a BMX bike — jumps, ramps, scenes, and eventually FBM Bike Co., a company that started as an inside joke and an art project. No college, no formal art training. Just the need to make something every day.

We get into building your own communities instead of waiting to be picked, why staying close to the thing is how you stay stoked, and how a good life has nothing to do with being rich, famous, or the most talented person in the room.

  • The BMX instinct to build your own jumps, ramps, and scenes
  • How FBM went from an inside joke and art project to a bike company
  • RadShare, and giving back through the thing you love
  • Why one real event beats a web edit you'll forget in three days
  • Making a good life without being rich, famous, or the most talented
  • Staying close to the fire — how proximity keeps you stoked

“Within its DNA as BMXers, that's exactly what we're doing. We're building our own jumps, building our own ramps, looking for places to ride, by default building our own little communities and our own scenes. No one was gonna pamper us like rock stars, so let's just make our own fun.”

“You can make a good life for yourself without being rich or famous or the most talented person in the world. You just have to be motivated and brave enough to give it a shot.”

“Every little bit of positive creative self-expression makes the world a little bit better of a place. And it's contagious. You end up becoming attracted to people and situations that are doing cool stuff, and that energy just perpetuates itself.”

“Staying close to it is like staying close to the fire. It's where you stay warm, you stay stoked.”

“FBM was an inside joke and an art project that became a bike company. I didn't go to college, I don't have any formal art training. I just need to be doing something creative and productive to make my days feel good.”

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Creative at the intersection of design, technology, and the outdoors.