Effraim: I was born and raised in Southsea (UK).
Effraim Catlow, www.theflatlander.com, december 1999: I started out on a Mongoose Wire Wheel, went down to Southsea Skatepark which is my local park where I work and ride today and loved the atmosphere down there, when I started there was a huge scene, at the weekends there would 50 riders down there. It was probably the best scene in England at the time. The owner of the park at the time, John Thurston, got me into freestyle, and took me to regional contests and nationals, I got a Pro-Lite Craig Campbell signature bike, Craig and Carlo Griggs rode down the park a lot so I was pretty influenced by them when I started. From there I got a Skyway Streetbeat (the first model) then I got sponsored by Hutch, and rode the Trickstar for years, then the disastrous Trickstar 2 came out and I snapped a couple of them, then Hutch finished, and I rode the Trickstar for a few years. I loved that bike. My next bike was the Homeless Soul Bro, I cracked that after a year, and moved onto a Hoffman Big Daddy which was the bike that I won the 1994 Pro Flat World Championships on, that is one of my favourite bikes of all time for sure, I bent the back end so was unable to continue using it. Shortly after the Worlds, around the time I was looking for a new bike, I got an offer from Haro Bikes, the plan was to build a signature frame, I rode the Haro Master for about 9 months, even though it was the flatland bike it was long enough to be a ramp bike in fact I think Dave Mirra used to ride one also, I got fed up with that and having to wait so long for the bike to arrive, the Ultra eventually came out but I didn't like it. Then I got on KHE, and rode the first model of the Premium Lager which was a lot lighter than the Shorty and the angles felt better for me, unfortunately it cracked at the seat stays after 2 months, I rode that for a while cracked then got the second version, bent that, a lot of shit happened with KHE and I left. I called Bart de Jong @GT Europe and got a Dyno Slammer, then a few months later they sent me the newer version like what Trevor Meyer rides, I liked that bike a lot. Then I got on Haro again, Chad Degroot had already designed the bike so I didn't have to wait around, so now I am riding a Haro Master. 15 years in a nutshell.
2nd place 13 and under expert flat @ 1987 worlds, UK.
Dorkin' in York 3
Effraim, Ride BMX UK january 2005: I first saw Dorkin' in York 3 at a UKBFA national in Weston Super Mare in 1987, at that time the only access we had to see riders from the US was Freestylin' magazine; I can remember me and Mike O'Connell looking forward to each issue coming out to see what new tricks there were, and who was in the Undergrounders section. The Dorkin' video was our chance to see the riders who we idolised from the pages of Freestylin'.
Freestyle BMX UK april 1989: Effraim Catlow (Hutch) flowed with control in the 14 Plus flat group for a good second behind Mark Atkins (GT). He's now doing loads of Whiplash variations and other forward rolling stuff. But when it came to ramps, it was a different story; Effraim missed out due to illness (which also affected his ground, despite getting second place).
Tweaked Steamroller in Farnham. Photo by Kris Noble.
4th place 15 ans expert flat @ 1990 worlds Kenn, RFA, august 1990.
4ème Effraim Catlow, redac chef du zine Totally Intense et organisateur du King of Concrete à Southsea. Il nous rentre elbow glide into forward side glide into steam roller into funky chicken into front yard... dump truck, forward rope a roni into gerator into locomotive, back packer into reverse elephant gilde...
World champion in Denmark.
Effraim Catlow cabooses on the pedal up on the tennis courts at the Backyard jam.
Effraim is the 1993 King Of Concrete.
Effraim Catlow pulled off a fluid run and beat everyone in the most stacked ground class to date.
Effraim got an offer from Haro Bikes.
The plan was to build a signature frame. I rode the Haro Master for about 9 months, even though it was the flatland bike it was long enough to be a ramp bike. I got fed up with that and having to wait so long for the bike to arrive, the Ultra eventually came out but I didn't like it.
tonestojko, www.youtube.com, april 2008: Effraim Catlow-World champion BMX freestyle flatland pro.BMX Freestyle Worlds' 1994, Köln/Cologne, Germany. Camera: Tone Stojko & Simon Stojko Falk; director: Simon Stojko Falk.
1996 KOC. Photo by Mark Noble
1st place pro flat @ 1997 King Of Concrete.
Mark Noble, Ride BMX UK october 1997: Effraim however did have a dialled run on his orange KHE Premium Lagger. He's been working on riding speed recently and definitely rode faster than before, switching and so forth. I've seen some of his latest practice links on videos, end they last a LONG time. Effraim remained calm and collected at the KOC, and looked pretty confident to me -his run included whole new links, and on this day he was definitely the most solid rider on the rink. Justified first place. Flatland did indeed rule the day's events, but it wasn't over yet - pro bowls was up next.
Effraim Catlow gliding one of his scuffs, while James White rolls past in the backgroud at the 1997 KOC.
13th place pro flat @ 1998 X GAMES.
7th place pro flatland @ 1998 worlds, Portimao, Portugal, september 1998.
Effraim Catlow is now on Team Haro.
3rd place pro flat @ BS #1, Louisville, KY, april 1999.
Effraim Catlow fait une routine sans pied.
Effraim Catlow, www.theflatlander.com, december 1999: I was trying to qualify for the X Games, that was my priority, I stayed with the Eastern guys in between Louisville and Richmond, I thought if I go to both contests I would have a chance of qualifying (there were three spots available in both contests). I remember getting to the semi finals in Louisville, and I had to go against Chad Degroot, Alex Jumelin, and Jason Brown I think. So I thought because Jason and Chad were in that group , 'oh well here goes nothing'. I thought I would try all my hard stuff, all or nothing you know. In the semis I rode really good, I think I touched once but I pulled a lot of complete links so I was really happy. Then the Hoffman guys announced that I made it to the X Games plus I was in the final, by the final I was really tired, in the finals I was so happy to have made it that far that I was just smiling all the time, then when I ended up in third I couldn't believe it.
7th place pro flat @ BS #2, Richmond, VA, may 1999.
7th place pro flat @ X GAMES, San Francisco, CA, july 1999.
1st place pro flat @ Level Vibes, UK, november 1999.
Interview: www.theflatlander.com december 1999.
Effraim Catlow's rider section is next giving you an insight in to his new lines for 2000, filmed in Effraim's under ground carpark on christmas eve, Effraim busts out to some kickin' hiphop, with killer stuff like; swfoot blender 180 barflip to one handed blender, an xfoot hitchicker juggler, and a load of lard whips and rear wheel madness.
12th place pro flat @ BS #1, Lake Havasu, AZ, march 2000.
6th place pro flat @ BS #2, Louisville, KY, april 2000.
3rd place pro flat @ AFL round 2, Roswell, GA, may 2000.
Effraim Catlow did some big tricks including some really hard hitchhiker links to score 3rd place honors.
5th place pro flat @ BS #3, St Petersburg, FL, may 2000.
17th place pro flat @ BS #2, Louisville, KY, april 2001.
11th place pro flat @ BS #3, Grand Prairie, TX, may 2001.
1st place pro flat @ Backyard jam #1, Telford, UK, march 2002.
1st place pro flat @ Backyard jam #2, Hastings, UK, july 2002.
10th place pro flat @ 2002 X GAMES, Philadelphia, Penn., august 2002.
Armin Batoumeni, www.agoride.com: Effraim Catlow qui s'est qualifié in extremis à Barcelone arrive encore a être dans les dix prouvant une fois de plus que c'est un rider toujours en place: cross-footed coasting dump trucks plein de tricks sur la roue arrière en tournant vers l'intérieur, et des stubles duck lard yards pour clôturer le link.
1st place pro flat @ Backyard jam #3, Derby, UK, october 2002.
20 questions to Effraim Catlow in Ride BMX UK november 2002.
FLATMATTERS ONLINE.
Flatmatters Online is a blog started up by U.K. flatlander Effraim Catlow. After contributing flatland news to magazines for over ten years, Catlow made the move to the Internet in November of 2008.