Bikecheck: Michel Plonka's Partymaster

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Over the last few years, Michel Plonka pretty much kept the exact same setup on all his bikes. Aside from changing frame sponsors a few times, it seemed that he would keep his parts for as long as possible. One time, his stem bolts happened to strip as he was putting his bike together on a trip in Austria. Luckily, a friend had some old BMX stem laying around and 10 euros later, his bike was good to go. Nobody could tell what brand it was, it didn`t look particularly good, but he still bought it and rode it for the next 5 years. He's just that type of person that finds a working formula, and sticks to it.

About a year ago, he made the switch to suspension forks after riding a rigid for almost 10 years. Here are some words about his recent changes and his current setup.

"I got to a point where riding was getting boring, you know? I pretty much rode the same bike for so long and I felt like I needed some change in order to make it fun again. I figured I would either put on some brakes and start messing with the brake tricks, or put on a suspension fork and see how that goes. I also noticed I was starting to enjoy riding fast and I was riding more jumps, so I figured the suspension fork could be a good choice as it gives you a better headtube angle for that kind of riding. There's also something way too fun about going fast without brakes, so I decided to try the suspension fork and it's been great so far.

Right now, I'm riding a The Rise Partymaster frame that I've been testing for a while, and I`m stoked! I mean, we designed this frame with the boys to make it exactly as we wanted, and I couldn't be happier with how it came out. I ride a LHD hub to do grinds and stalls, but it's getting old and It's pretty much impossible to find nowadays so hopefully mine will still last for a while. Ive also had people telling me I was retarded for riding dirt jumps with those slick tires, but honestly they've been doing great! "

Check out some more pictures of Michel's setup and all the specs below. If you would like more information about a particular part, simply click on it and you will be taken to an online store that sells it. Feel free to Follow @plonka on Instagram to stay up to date with what he's up to.