Dan Banks: Wethepeople Seat

Dan brings personality to BMX without forcing it. His riding, artwork and general approach all feel like they belong to the same person, which is exactly what a signature product should capture. It is a lot more interesting than sticking a rider's name on a stock colour. BMX moves quickly and has never been especially good at sitting still, but that does not mean every old idea needs replacing. Some riders leave a mark because the riding, the bike setup or the way they carried themselves became part of how BMX looked for everyone after them. That sort of influence is hard to measure with a contest result. It shows up years later in the bars people choose, the lines they try and the clips they still go back to watch. Keeping those names and products around is not about pretending nothing has changed. It is about recognising where the good stuff came from and why riders still care about it now. The good thing about Dan Banks is that the riding never feels like it was designed by a marketing meeting. It looks like somebody spending years working out what they enjoy, what suits them and how they want the bike to move. That is normally where the most memorable BMX comes from.

Wethepeople Dan Banks Seat. It is basically a mash-up of Dan's brain turned into a seat. A seat is rarely the part making the clip, but it still affects how the bike looks and feels. Shape, padding, cover material and whether it is pivotal or railed can matter depending on how the rider moves around the bike. Some riders want something slim and out of the way. Others actually use the seat in tricks or want enough padding that catching it is not miserable. Signature seats also give riders room to put some personality into the bike without pretending the graphic changes performance. Check the post system, choose the shape you like and treat the artwork as the good extra bit rather than the whole decision. There is plenty of marketing rubbish around bike parts, so the useful question is simple: does the product solve something for the rider? Here, it does. The shape, size or construction connects back to the riding. That is a much better reason for a signature part than a fresh logo and a loud launch post. That balance is why this feature belongs in the Bloggery. We can talk about the product and still keep the rider at the centre of it. BMX is full of good parts. The riders who give those parts a story are what make anybody care about them in the first place. Watch: Dan Banks - Primary Stunts Hero photo: DIG BMX / Wes McGrath.