Bet you'd like to be the owner of the world's most expensive freestyle bike,right? Well,unless you're Woody Itson,you're not it's owner.
Sure,we know that a lot of you haver high-digit,top-of-the-line wonder bikes,biy Woody's Trick Star leaves 'em all in the dust. It's worth a mind-doggling (gulp) $3200. That's right,$3200. It's completely 24-karat gold plated.
Why, Because Richard Hutchins,owner and top dog of Hutch,wanted to build a bike that would be a real dazzler,and he also wanted to give Woody an ultra-cool Christmas present for being such a loyal factory rider.
WHAT'S IT LIKE?
Unbelievable rad,that's what. It's far easier to enumerate the parts that haven't been given

the Midas touch on this dream machine than to run through the whole list of what's been plated. The chain,hubs,rotor,brake levers,grips and tires are the major components that didn't receive the treatment. The reasons for not plating the grips and tires are obvious. The only reason this bike isn't worth more is because som, parts are made of unplated steel,which wouldn't have survived the acid dip necessary in the plating procces.
« What's like owning the world's most expensive freestyler? » we had to ask Woody.
« It's bad. It's pretty cool because people freak out when they see it. They look at it first and say,'Eh,that ain't real gold.' They know it is,'cause you can fell the difference between real and fake gold. They just look at it and say,'Where'd you get that?'
« Natutally people ask how much it's worth,and I tell 'em $3200. There jaws just hang open. Then they ask,'Where'd you get it?' I tell 'em it was a Christmas present from my sponsor,Hutch,for riding for him for so long.
« People just kind of freak out wherever I go,looking at it,and they don't want to believe it's real,but it is. »
Where does Woody keep it when he's not riding it? « Brinks. Nah,I've got the next best thing. I've got it locked inside my bedroom. I also have an insurance policy on it. »

HEY,WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE?
If you're sharp-eyed,you've no doubt noticed the unusual front brake arrangement. It's a new Hutch bracking system that makes use of special SunTour cilipers that are more commonly found on moutain bikes. These brakes offer some serious performance standarts that are going to be tough to match with current crop of BMX calipers.
One of the major advantages of these brakes is the cable routing. The caliper actuating system is build into the center stem of the fork,and the cable is very short,straight run to navigate down the center of the head tube. No kinks or bends in the cable means excellent feel and response to the slightest lever input. We were impressed with the concept and performance.

As far as we know,this brake/fork set-up (it only works on Hutch forks,unless other manufactures start building their own versions) should be available by the time you read this.
WHERE DO WE SIGN UP FOR ONE?
Hutch says he'd be happy to build another one like this--for the right price,of cource. But with its over-three-grand price tag,we expect that the only riders to buy a replica od Woody's gold Trick Star will come from the Middle East and be sons of Arab oil ministers.
Think of it,slightly over three-hundred-thousand  pennies is all that separates you from owning one exactly like it. Let's see . . . If we started saving those pennies right now . . .