UK vert shredder Simon Tabron has a good interview on ESPN by Brian Tunney. Simon’s been a busy man recently, upping stick and moving to America. I thought he spent a bunch of months here and a bunch in Dubai to escape our disgraceful tax system but it turns out the Dubai apartment was just a ‘nest egg’ for the future. I bet he’s glad of that now!

He talks about a bunch of thing current in his life including his recent drop from Mongoose where he says, “I would always be conscious of Mongoose, whether they would like what I was doing or not. It was kinda like having parents watch you the whole time.”

He also refers to the state of big name BMX riders without bike sponsors, something we talked to Jamie Bestiwick about in our Are You Pro? article a few issues back, to which he answered, “Why do I need a bike sponsor?”. Makes you think a little bit. In the core of BMX riding most kids view Federal, Fit, Haro, Mongoose as the must have sponsors but when you get to that level and you want to ride for a living and really be comfotable, that’s when you’ve got to look towards the companies with more disposable income. Red Bull, Monster, Gatorade, Kicker Subs all seem very American sponsors and it’s a huge reason why there are so many pro riders making a living from BMX. How many non-BMX sponsors does anyone have in England? Not many…

Check out Simon’s article on ESPN here. And also check this Vert session by him on Ride US’s website…