I’ve been working on a lot of new interviews for the site. Yesterday I posted one with Mike Mastroni, and today we have one with the infamous legendary Van Homan. Van just announced the opening of a second Two By Four location, he just got a cat and he’s embroiled in filming what will presumably be another banger for the upcoming Fit video so I figured a quick 8 question interview would be interesting. Read on…
So what made you want to start a second store out in Philly?
Obviously there are tons of riders in Philly and tons of riders who visit Philly on the regular. I felt that the city really needed a BMX shop. It’s great to give riders a place to hang out, watch a video or change a flat mid session. I think a local shop is a great thing for any scene. Also, I have some good friends down there to help run it so why not. Hopefully we will be able to do a lot of cool stuff at the Philly location. I’m really looking forward to it.
Given the whole economic downturn and the fact that mail order is so big in BMX, it seems like it might be a bad time to expand, has Two By Four not really been affected by those factors?
Well no one is getting rich over here but we are pulling it off. I figure if we can make it work now it can only get better. I’m really trying to show riders that local shops are the way to go. Mail order is so impersonal. We have an online store but its more about being able to get our stuff to people that are down for Two By Four but can’t always make it to the store. It’s for the people that come to our events and come by to hang out but just cant make the trip everytime they need something. I think starting another store really backs up the fact that we are trying to give riders something tangible. Whats the worst that can happen? If it doesn’t work it doesn’t work. I’d rather try and fail then never try at all. Hopefully it gets the support it needs to work.
Who do you expect to have working at the store on a daily basis, anyone in mind yet?
Brian Wizmerski and Gannwear (Dan Kelleher) are going to be putting in some hours for sure. We might need one other guy to help hold things down since those guys will be doing some traveling at times. I’m really excited to have good friends helping out with this thing.
How did Two By Four come to have an official cat mascot?
Haha. Well Leigh Ramsdell and I were walking home from the bar one night and I saw a cat in the middle of the road with a broken leg. We tried to figure out if it belonged to anyone but no one claimed it so my wife and I got it’s leg fixed. Now it hangs out at Two by Four most of the time so that my dog doesn’t eat it. That was a really expensive night at the bar.
How did the DVD do? It’s not a secret that all the parts were on Youtube pretty quickly, was that a concern of yours or did you just figure it was inevitable and ignore it.
I was happy with how the DVD did. Getting a Nora cup nomination and seeing guys like Nathan Williams say it was one of their favorite videos are huge compliments. I wasn’t sure how to handle the Youtube thing at first but like you said, I figured it was going to happen so I just kind of ignored it. I figure if people really like it then they will still buy it. I hate computers so I would much rather watch an entire video on my TV. Thanks to the team for kicking ass to make that thing happen.
Do you have plans for another DVD? I know you mentioned a roadtrip video a while back…
No plans for another Two By Four DVD anytime soon. My foucus is on the Fit video 100% right now and I know everyone is busy with other projects. We aren’t rushing anything. It looks like we might go on a trip to film for a Props section in the fall but thats still a little ways away. We’ll see what happens.
The Van Homan signature frame is no more right? Have you given up on having a signature frame?
Well my frame was always a little heavier then the other frames and most people are looking for something really light. I didn’t really want to have a frame that was 4lbs so it was better to just move on from having a sig frame. It works out really good with the Fit Lurch because BF, Inman and myself all ride a longer bike so we can all push that. It’s a smaller market but there are still a lot of riders out there that want a big bike built for speed.
What member of the Two By Four team would you least want to go up against in a game of B.I.K.E.?
I think Chase Dehart would be a rough one altough Wiz might be pretty hard to take down as well.
Previously: Van Homan Duo Video.| FBM East Coast Roast Jam Video| Van Homan Bike Check