FBM BMX biz closes after 18 years

BMX frame and parts maker FBM will close its doors, owner Steve Crandall has announced on the firm’s Instagram.

Revered in the 20-inch market as one of the first independently and rider-owned BMX businesses, Crandall and his team rose to fame with DVD releases of road trips, including perhaps most famously Albert Street.

Since 2001 the firm has manufactured BMX frames out of New York, achieving worldwide distribution, including its UK partnership with 4Down Distribution. As well as 20-inch goods, the firm toyed with larger wheeled pub bikes in its later years.

Crandall wrote of the closure of his “Fat Bald Men” label:

FBM started out as a crew.

Just some friends stoked on bikes. Through our curiosity and bike riding fueled smiles, we ended up as a full fledged bike company.

Unfortunately, we have closed the machine shop and FBM will no longer manufacture bikes.

This has been an unbelievably tough decision and we explored multiple options to maintain business as usual but we simply aren’t able to keep moving forward under existing model. That being said, we can’t thank everyone enough for being a part of FBM and helping us get this far in the world. The FBM Machine Shop opened in 2001 and built some of the best parts in BMX for 18 amazing years. You helped us build fun and share the message of community, positivity and DIY good times and we appreciate the support more than I even know how to express.

And since we started as a a crew, some day we will finish as a crew.

At it’s core FBM is built around friendship, and the spirit of FBM will live on forever, in our hearts, as a lifestyle and as an idea.

The heart of FBM is the people and that will never change. But FBM isn’t just for the people, it IS the people.

What we’ve all done collectively has been pretty powerful and inspiring.

The Road Goes on forever and the party never ends… (We jam econo!)

With the utmost gratitude. – Steve Crandall

The BMX market has shown signs of strain as it, like wider retail, rides out a difficult trading period where customers are either shopping online, or waiting for sales before committing cash.