AK is what you might call a unique type of rider, and he is very specific about what kind of parts he’s running on his whip. We caught up with him during our recent bronzing tour in Arizona to find out which parts he holds sacred above them all, including his signature AK Pedal which you’ll be happy to hear will be available worldwide in less than 2 weeks time…
Mercury Stem
“I love the Mercury stem. It holds super well and has a really unique shape to it.”
AK rides our cold forged Mercury stem. Using cold forging rather than CNC machining, we were able to make an incredibly strong and unique looking high-rise top load stem that costs significantly less than a traditional CNC’d stem.
The Mercury features a tall 33mm rise and a shorter 50mm reach. The diagonal centre bore hole keeps the weight down, and our unique offset rear slot improves the clamping over a regular stem.
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AK Pedal
“Since riding them they’ve taken a lot of abuse, they just feel strong, and thats a great feeling to have.”
The AK pedal uses a full-bushing system, which allowed us to take up the space where a loose ball bearing would sit, and just enlarge the axle, making it almost indestructible. The AK pedal uses a fully replaceable Nylon/Fibreglass pedal body with a larger platform than most to give your foot ample room to feel comfortable, no matter where your foot lands.
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What makes the AK pedal so special is that the replaceable body is universal and fits left or right side, so if after time you have grinded down one side of your pedal; simply switch it for the other pedal and you’re good to go again. We offer affordable replacement pedal bodies separately, so if you’re off on a trip, simply throw a spare body in your bag. Much like a plastic peg sleeve, you can be riding on a fresh pedal in a matter of seconds for the fraction of a cost of a regular pair of plastic pedals.
Maverick Crank
“Smooth, super strong, no welds, works for me.”
If you’re looking for a set of cranks built to last a lifetime, then you might have just found them. Like many of the team, AK swears by our innovative Maverick cranks. Cold forged out of 7075-T6 alloy, as anyone who’s ever snapped a pair of cranks will know; it’s usually at the welding where things let go. This is where alloy really comes into its own, being able to forge in a 3D shape means you can avoid the welding, and therefore the weak spot.
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What’s totally unique about the Mavericks is their use of a regular 48 spline. Until now alloy cranks were only available with a mountain bike style square spindle and a pinch bolt on the arm. We wanted to raise the bar and clean up the looks, and thanks to a heat treated crmo insert into the alloy its all been made possible. The Mavericks are available now in Black, Polished or Blood Red in both 170mm and 175mm options.
Cortex Freecoaster
“The Cortex Freecoaster is solid and dependable, the Nylon hub guards slide so good too.”
One of the original “New School” Freecoaster pioneers, AK really has pushed the fakie game in a huge way since he first put one on some 6 years ago. AK now rides our NEW Cortex Freecoaster hub paired up with the Gong Nylon driver guard and a Cortex Nylon guard on the non-drive side to keep things slick and fast whilst grinding.
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The Cortex hub came about when the team asked for a simple, durable freecoaster hub with a larger slack setting than most. Instead of taking a pre-existing hub, we got to work on developing something totally new that took the tried and tested clutch style internals, and addressed ALL of the problems that those hubs had infamously suffered from. The Cortex freecoaster uses a new type of friction system we’ve called IOS (Internal O-Ring System), which is incredibly durable and also more stable than other clutch style freecoasters typical ball and spring type of internals. Clutch style freecoasters always generated “play” over time, but we solved this issue by using a special “stopper ring” which sits freely behind the bearing, preventing the clutch from passing a certain point and putting load on the bearing and destroying it. This special part really gives the Cortex a huge advantage over other hubs, and enables you to give it as much side impact as possible, without the hub generating play.
The Cortex is available now in RSD or LSD either as a hub or as a complete wheel laced up to our NEW Trippin XL or Bondi XL rims.
All of AK’s parts are available now from your local BMX shop. Look out for his signature AK pedal hitting shops in the next 2 weeks, and his signature AK guard later this Summer.
Follow us on Instagram @eclatbmxbrand and look out for AK’s #EclatSalvation part dropping on Ride BMX in the near future…
