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The Internet's Official BMX Magazine. |
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The NeXt
Big Thing?
New ideas come and go all the time. Action sports enthusiasts never rest content with what's available; some have a constant desire to seek out new mediums toward attaining the glorious adrenalin high. When Jake Burton first took early prototypes of his snowboards to the ski slopes, he was thought to be crazy. Even when his dream became a reality, it took years for snowboarding to gain acceptance. Not a whole lot later, snowboarding would grow from being something tolerable to utterly dominant.
But the dream had only begun to materialize. After designing and redesigning about 8 models (changing wheelbase, materials, wheel size, handlebar height, deck length, etc.), Rob finally came to the design he was looking for, and his dream became reality.
Diggler offers a few different models: the Cement Mixxer, the OMS, and the OMS Pro. Retailing for just under $400, the Cement Mixxer is the street devil of the Diggler line. Combining the true essence of bike stunt and skateboarding, any urban assaulter can do some really hardcore shredding. Complete with foot pegs for flatland tricks and grinding, and a Jib Plate for "skateboard style board slides, rock-n-rolls, and just plain smacking it on any obstacles that get in your way." It also has a detangler for bar spins.
Diggler is consistently gaining its deserved acceptance. Ski resorts such as Mammoth Mountain and Vale are looking to it to help supplement their summer activities. In fact, Diggler rentals out performed mountain bike rentals recently at Brian Mountain, UT. Retail outlets such as FAO Schwarz, The Sharper Image, and Modell's plan on stocking Diggler scooters in the near future, and Maxxis tires and Sobe beverages may join in as major co-sponsors. So what does all this mean for the action sports arena? Quite simply, another fun and competitive thing to do. But more importantly, since it's such a great crossover sport for many different types of athletes, it will help prevent the inevitable burnout that comes from doing the same thing over and over again. You utilize similar skills and strengths, but it's a different way to get the rush we all love so much. For more information on Digger mountain scooters, visit their web site at www.diggler.com Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. |
Diggler founder
and inventor, Rob Fruechtenicht, never forgot his childhood dream
of designing something that could incorporate all the sports that he loved.
He grew up an avid BMXer, skateboarder (used it for what is now called
street lugeing), skier, snowboarder, and mountain biker. The idea of the
mountain scooter came to him and he knew it was a good idea, so he gave
it his all. One day after graduating college, short on cash, Rob decided
rather than to do something impractical like renew his car registration,
that he'd pull into a local bike shop and buy a scooter. He took it home,
cut it in half, stretched it out using a skateboard on top and a plastic
ski on the bottom: "Pretty Homer Simpson style." The first Diggler prototype
was born. And it was pretty shady.
Peter
Berridge, a former pro mountain biker and the world's first pro mountain
scooter, was very skeptical of the whole Diggler concept when he was introduced
to it. The early designs were admittedly ghetto, but once it was refined,
"It blew my mind," Berridge exclaims. One ride down the mountain on it
and he was sold. In fact, he wanted to see just how good it would be on
the downhill trails against the more mainstream mountain bikes, which
have the added benefit of more ground clearance, a drive train, and shocks
with more travel. So Peter entered a downhill race at Aspen's Snow Mass
at the Aspen Bike & Brew Fest. None of the mountain bikers, decked out
in full body armor and uniforms, took Berridge, who wore nothing but shorts,
a t-shirt and a helmet, very seriously. In fact, no one thought he would
even make it down the mountain. But when he crossed the finish line with
a faster time than half the competitive mountain bikers, attitudes changed.
