I first met Rick Moliterno in 1985. I started a small freestyle
sanction (with a grand name)–the World Freestyle Organization, or WFO–
which promoted some of the first contests in the Midwest.Rick gave us a place to hold one of our first contests in the parking lot of Bike & Hike, where he was the manager. Of course, I knew him as a fast racer who was a few years older than me, before that, from indoor races at the Rock Island Armory.
In July of 85, I went to work at BMX Plus! and we moved the WFO out west, where we did contests for a few more years. Not long into my time in SoCal, Rick became a factory Freestyle star with Hutch, then with Haro, touring with the top dawgs in the sport.
I made my exit in 1988, and Rick kept going, starting Standard Industries (later Standard Byke Company) a few years later, in 1991.
When I got back into BMX in 2008, Rick was one of the first guys I
saw when I went to my first race back–the NBL Speedway Nationals in East
Moline, IL…right in his backyard. He remembered me, and it was cool
that we were able to pick right back up where we left things 20-some
years earlier. He is not only one of the stalwarts of the BMX Industry, who has done something few other founders have done–stay in business, and retain control of his company in the process.
In 2013, I visited the SBC headquarters in Davenport, IA, and we did a factory tour and Podcast on how he and his “plus two” crew do all they do (links to those pieces below).
Over the weekend, the “Props BMX” YouTube channel posted this four-part video interview, which was originally done for the ESPN website. It gives a great up-close-and-personal look at Standard, and Rick’s unshakeable commitment to riding, and to building bikes, his way.
