Klunkerz

Anybody who has even the remotest interest in Mountain biking owes it to themselves to watch this film!

I finally saw this film last night years after it was released and it's now one of my favourite cycling films ever!
Despite riding all kinds of bikes throughout my lifetime and having fun on all of them, it was the Mountain bike which stole my heart and gave me a reason to want to keep cycling at a time when i was becoming a little fed up of riding countless miles of road on most summer days with my family.
Don't get me wrong, i feel privileged to have been raised in a cycling environment and will always love my parents for that, but i was needing something more to keep me interested.
Enter the Mountain bike...i finally got my first one in 1986, still the early days by UK standards, and for the next 20 years or so i was hooked.

But back to the film...
Klunkerz is like the most fun history lesson you've ever had. It traces the mountain bike right back to the years before they were named Mountain bikes...it shows why and how they came to be and finally gives credit to all the people who truly deserve it.
There is no denying the fact that the Mountain bike has had a bigger effect on the cycle industry than any other bike.
From advances in materials used, to improvements in braking and shifting, ergonomics, etc...the speed with which the Mountain bike progressed has forced improvements on most types of bicycle.

Klunkerz shows more than any film i've seen before exactly why Mountain biking was so much fun...it was the bouncing around, the crashing, the feeling of riding over terrain that you'd never ridden on before, in places you'd never been able to ride before...the feeling of being able to cut loose and come home filthy and tired...messing about with friends on bikes in a way that seemed so much more relaxed.

In my opinion the guys and girls in Klunkerz did something which i sincerely doubt will ever happen again...they reinvented cycling for a lot of people...without even intending to.
Many of those involved went on to start some of the best known mountain bike companies in history...many remain some of the finest but little known craftsmen ever...many are simply forgotten legends who deserve more credit than they ever got.
Mountain biking is now a multi million pound industry and it has these guys to thank for it.
Sorry for waffling on again but This film reminded me of some of my happiest cycling memories and has given me a huge burst of inspiration to make more effort to re-live those feelings again.

If you manage to see it i hope you enjoy the film as much as i did.

I haven't watched this for years, I have a copy on VHS somewhere in my parents loft, must root it out.

I'm sure it's a good film and I'd like to see it but the claim inventing mountain biking gets on my tits a bit.

I don't buy DVDs so checked lovefilm.com but they dint have it for hire.

One of the few times I have failed to find something.

I'm sure it's a good film and I'd like to see it but the claim inventing mountain biking gets on my tits a bit.

They give praise to all those who rode their bikes in the mountain's before them...but like it or not, the guys in this film did build the bikes which later became known as Mountain bikes and Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly did coin the term too.
If you watch the film you'll see that everyone in it is honest about how things went down.

My dad tells me stories of him riding racing bike and touring bikes with fatty tyres over the local heaths.

Haven't seen the movie before but I know the rough history.

I don't buy DVDs so checked lovefilm.com but they dint have it for hire.

One of the few times I have failed to find something.

Order it from Amazon, watch it and then send it back claiming it didn't work. They'll send you another, but send that one back too. Then they'll credit you.

Order it from Amazon, watch it and then send it back claiming it didn't work. They'll send you another, but send that one back too. Then they'll credit you.

And you can be a dishonest at the same time!!!!![sic] ... Nice one mate great advice. Try to get something for free when you honestly bought something for an agreed price ....... WAC

Has it got subtitle?

its all califorrrnneeeeyans Ed, my copy hasnt got them on.
other good doco is 'joe kid on a sting ray' bmx,
then the best one 'dog town and z boys, skateboarding, anyway could go on wont bore ya's
try this for a laugh:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGlqkVirSI8

^

Props for including hugo from branksome ... Where is Frazier Freeze? and It ain't in Branksome no more.

Anyway I will never go to another CM ... It is a political statement ... which has nothing to do with riding bikes for the fun of it.

Hey All,

Thanks for the kind words. I'm so glad some of you enjoyed the film. It's an incomplete history, but it's got some major bits. The story is too huge, so I had to concentrate on one geographic area and time period, northern California in the 1960s and 1970s. I grew up there, so that's really the reason I made the film. That, and it was about time somebody tried to do it. When I finally got to Gary he told me that 5 other companies had interviewed him and were making similar films. I read about some of these other projects. They were months and years ahead of me, but I don't believe any one of them completed their projects.

It was a total blast to make the film, and a really fun way to blow through a lot of cash. If you rip off the film, you're ripping me off, not some bike company. It's an INDEPENDENT film:). That's the only way any of the truth could be told. Every company that would sponsor such a film would want to rewrite history. Shimano helped me build the website so they get to have a little spot on the back of the box...and I had a bunch of beer sponsors.

I'll never live to pay it off, but at least I made some contribution to the preservation of the story by encouraging some of these people to scour their archives, before it was too late and the images fell victim to the dust of time. I licensed (paid$$$) for the photos and footage, and when I returned the camera originals, I gave them all masters of their color-corrected materials in various digital formats. It cost me, but I sleep well knowing that these materials will be around for many years to come.

I know there were many contributions to the discipline by all kinds of people from the U.K. and beyond, but that's a BIG story. I do recommend looking into the VCCP in France, the Italian infantry of WW1, The Buffalo Soldiers of 1896, and, of course, the Rough Stuff Fellowship. There's tons of info out there, but fitting it in a single film would be giving all these legendary figures short shrift.

Ride on,
Billy Savage
writer/producer/director
KLUNKERZ
www.klunkerz.com
www.facebook.com/klunkerz
www.myspace.com/klunkerz

P.S. Oh yeah...Andy, I don't believe the film was released in the U.K. until 2008. Also, I never released the film on VHS. Guess you got a bootleg:).

Torrent sites, ripping and burning, and all the rest of that crap isn't just against the law...it's bad Karma. Don't do it.

Nice to see someone who's involved in the documentary, it doesn't have subtitle does it?

I'd guarantee that it would sell very well here in England.

Hey All,

P.S. Oh yeah...Andy, I don't believe the film was released in the U.K. until 2008. Also, I never released the film on VHS. Guess you got a bootleg:).

Torrent sites, ripping and burning, and all the rest of that crap isn't just against the law...it's bad Karma. Don't do it.

Yes - Sorry.

Hey Billy...great to see you on here!
You've made an amazing film...it must have been one hell of a job to gather together so many of the original guys and girls, not to mention putting together all the old footage and stills.
I smiled all the way through it and it brought back so many good memories.
It must have been a great time.
Thanks for putting so much passion into completing the film.

my earlier post was way too casual.
Massive Massive respect to you Klunkerbill.
it is a seminal bikie film, of great interest to me as a lifelong rider.
now who is going to make the definitive story of N.Y bike messengers and the evolution of a worldwide fixed gear scene?......

It was definitely the most fun I've ever had in a work-related venture, though there was some tragedy associated with the film, too. There was the usual Black Widow bites, car crashes and the occasional endo. Both my parents died during the production and one of the cast members (J.F. Scott) was murdered. I dedicated the film to his memory. You can see some of the short film for Prof. Scott's induction into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in '08 here...
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHWo_h1nBx4

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jas0ZgyyKGQ&feature=related

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjMUDjS_c9A&feature=related

The folks in the film are all wonderful people with fascinating lives, even outside of cycling. I not only made a film, but I managed to make a few friends along the way.
M.F., I had already developed that idea and started to budget a project about the birth of the bike messenger in the U.S., but I simply can't afford to do something like this again. For the film I was going to concentrate on the San Francisco scene not N.Y, since I'm from there, and that's where the 20th century fixie scene really started. I was going to do a bit about the 1800s, but the messenger scene really started after WWII in San Francisco. Some of the those guys from the 1940s and 1950s are still around and I had a few leads on some of the guys. It's a wonderful story and someone should do it. I simply don't have an extra $200,000.00 and 3 years to do it. I do hope someone does it...I'll buy a copy of that one, for sure. I did enjoy Pedal, but I'd love to see something with a historical perspective.

Really sorry to hear about the loss of your parents, it's a shame they never got to see what a great job you did.
Terrible news about John too...he seemed like a really inspirational guy who truly loved bikes.
Good luck in whatever you're doing at the moment Bill.

I too saw this film for the first time last week, courtesy of my house mate. Bill, I thank you, the film really captures what, for me, is the essence of why mountain biking is so much fun. It made me miss living in the countryside so damned much. Next time I move it will have to be somewhere with mountains.

For the time and effort that you put into making Klunkerz, for the money that you will never get back, for the work that must have gone into tracking down some of the people and finally for providing a history of something which has provided so many of us such happy memories over the years, I salute you.

For anyone with even a vague interest in mountain biking or memories of days spent flying down trails, returning home shattered and bloodied. Buy a copy of this film. It's amazing.

Klunkerz [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Billy Savage: DVD

Does it have option for subtitle or doesn't at all?

I have no idea - I posted that so I could order it. You know how to use google don't you?

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/6433441/Klunkerz/Product.html cheaper off play.com, but they don't currently have it in stock.

You know how to use google don't you?

they never advertised whether a DVD have subtitle, that why I always buy from the shop, there's always a couple of bad eggs.

From what I can see searching on Google, there are no Subs.

I type up a transcript for £50.