Interview: Zak Earley 80

Zak Earley (REEB Cycles) may fly under a lot of BMX followers radar. Actually I guess it would be more accurate to say he flys over it! The chill, unassuming rider from New England absolutely kills it at the trails and anywhere big flowy lines can be found. We were stoked to hear that he recently signed with REEB Cycles as his new frame sponsor. After hanging out with Zak in ColoRADo recently during Outlaws of Dirt we caught up with him and knocked out this quick interview….and make sure to follow him on instagram: @zakaryearley …

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How did you get started riding?

I grew up watching motocross all the time with my dad, and I never had a dirtbike, but I always just built dirt jumps and pretended my bike was a dirtbike. Then I just started doing little tricks, and it kinda just kept going from there. I found Rye Airfiled right when it was opening which is a local indoor skatepark and I started going there almost everyday. That’s when bmx really took off for me.

What keeps you motivated to ride?

It changes from day to day on what gets me amped to ride at that moment. But really the base of it is I just love the feeling of going fast and ripping a bowl corner and just flowing. Every time I drop in it just feels so good. I love it.

What’s Your Preference? Street, Park, Dirt, DH, Vert, Flat?

Dirt, or a big cement park.

Which do you wish you were better at? I don’t really wish I rode different, I like the way I ride and that’s why I ride that way. I appreciate and respect what other people do, like crazy street stuff. But I just dont find the stoke in doing that stuff personally.

Whats your favorite trick?

I guess its not really a trick but I love hitting something at what I feel like is the max it can be hit at. Pushing that limit of just out of control but in control is the best. When your ripping a bowl corner and you feel your tires on the edge of giving out, but still holding just enough. Thats the best to me.

Where’s your favorite place to ride?

It used to be my trails, but they got plowed. Now just anywhere with good cement. Oregon is pretty amazing. Whats your favorite event? I don’t end up at too many events, but Texas Toast is always an absolute blast and Redbull Dreamline is some of the best contest dirt jumps I have ever ridden.

Whats been your best moment with your bike so far?

Recently the best moments have been because all of the people I grew up looking up to locally and riding with have been getting back into bmx so the local sessions have just been all about pure fun and joy and forgetting about everyone’s real world responsibilities. But I geuss on a personal level the best feeling I have ever had on my bike was riding the Dreamline course last year in New Mexico. I have never felt my bike move that fast before and it was just so much fun. I finally felt like I had found the outlet to ride the way I had always imagined it. I really feel like those jumps were close to the max of what BMX bikes are capable of doing just because of maxing out the gyroscopes and everything.

What’s your favorite story from a road trip?

My go to story is when I was 17 I drove down to the last baco jam in Florida by myself in my jetta. I barely had enough money to make the trip work. Then my jetta broke down. I had to sleep at my mechanics house in Jacksonville because he wouldn’t let me sleep in my car at the garage. I tipped him with a case of redbull I had gotten the weekend before at a jam. I missed finals by one spot at the contest and since I didn’t make any money I had to sell all of my clothing out of my trunk to have enough money to pay for my gas home. I was legit selling t shirts that I wore the day before for like 3 dollars. Then When I left to drive home the master cylinder of my brakes went out. So I just drove the whole way from Florida to Maine with no brakes. I just feathered the E-brake when I had to slow down. I made it though.

What type of music do you ride to?

I hate riding with headphones, I always crash. But if there’s speakers around hopefully some kind of rock n roll is coming out of them.

What do you when you are not riding?

I work at a surf shop called summer sessions in new hampshire. that place is family so if I’m not riding im probably there.working and surfing. Or i’m at the motocross track with my dad spinning laps.

What’s your day job?

I teach surf lessons. its not really a job.

What are your riding plans for the future?

To keep riding. What’s the best advice you have ever received? my dad always told me as I grew up, “if your good enough, you won’t have to brag, the other people will do it for you.” he taught me to be humble and to not force anything. That is a virtue I still hold very high on the important scale. My dad also taught me the saying “A wise man once said… OOPS.” I really like that one too.

How did you get connected with your new bike sponsor REEB Bikes?

I got linked up with Reeb Cycles because they are the hosting location of the next Redbull Dreamline event. We got introduced through a mutual friend and then we just started talking about stoke and living out of vans and pursuing fun and just kind of hit it off. We talked about possibly working together and then the pieces of the puzzle kind of just fell into place. I’m stoked to be working with them and Oskar Blues so closely.

Whats the process been like for designing your own frame?

The process of designing Reeb’s first ever bmx bike has been really rad. I have never been that involved before. Usually I just got asked like 1 or 2 questions about what I liked and then just was asked what size top tube I wanted. This was literally completely from scratch and Reeb just let me build exactly what I wanted. I’m still researching and figuring out what different tweeks will do. Its a pretty amazing process. I got to actually go to Reeb, sit down with the welder and designer chris and we looked at my bike, drew lines from it and took some notes and then just started cutting tubes the same day. It was a really cool experience.

Any last words, thoughts or shout outs?

Shred, Have fun, and don’t stress anything. If its meant to be, then it will be. Also I just want to thank everyone that helps me and allows me to pursue all of my stokes, windowlessvan.com, bell helmets, reeb cycles, oskar blues, easternboarder. von zipper, and of course my mom and dad for always just supporting me whole heartedly. Party on!

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Zak has a video series called Windowless Van which you should follow! He and Brandon Means who shot and cut this one are out filming a new episode now. But right check out the last episode…