Photo: Adam Perez
Solid’s Zac Costa spent some time in Panama last year; read on for details from his stay, plus his new King Cobra signature frame, and check out issue #81 for a full feature on all things Panama:
Name: Zacharia Costa
Sponsors: Solid Bikes, Voice, Franchise, Shitluck
Age: 25
Height: 6’1”
Photo: Adam Perez
Frame: Solid King Cobra
Fork: Primo Kamikazee
Bars: Solid
Grips: Solid
Bar ends: Solid
Stem: Solid
Seat: Primo
Seat Post: Custom Integral made by Eric Cupier
Cranks: Solid
Sprocket: Voice
Pedals: Primo
Chain: KMC
Rear Wheel: Primo 48 casette with Primo Hula Hoop
Front Wheel: Primo N4 Wheel
Pegs: 3 Animal pegs and 1 Solid
Rear Tire: Animal GLH
Front Tire: Primo Wall
Weight of bike: 26 lbs
Modifications: Cut 1” each side of the bars, running a plastic Voice hub guard prototype.
Describe your personal bike setup.
Strong and fast.
Describe the contents of your personal bike tool bag.
Ratchet with a 17 and 15, 6mm and 1/4” allen. Tire lever and patches.
Photo: Adam Perez
What’s up with your signature frame?
I’m super psyched on it; a bunch of Solid homies have been beating the shit out of them and they are holding up great. Originally it was going to be a split Kurtis Elwell/Costa frame, hence the K.C., but now it’s that same smooth malt just trimmed down a bit with smaller diameter tubing for the seat/chain stays with a small stash spot.
When will it be available?
First batch is out now. Go buy one.
What part do you wear through the quickest?
Grips and tires.
What part do you break most often?
Chains and spokes.
Do you patch flat tires or get new tubes?
If I can patch it it will get patched.
Which parts are you paranoid about breaking?
Forks and pedals.
Where do your parts go when you’re done with them?
They are usually worthless after I’m done, but if not I give them away.
Who builds your wheels? anything special about them?
My friend Alieef built my back wheel; he laced it 4-cross and it’s the strongest wheel I’ve ever had.
How well does tropical weather treat bikes?
It makes them rust and feel like shit. Chrome peels away pretty fast, not to mention the flats from all of the glass and tropical thorns.
Cassette or free-coaster?
I like to go fast and I dont do many fakie tricks, so cassette for right now.
Left side drive or right side drive?
Right side.
Kevlar bead or regular bead?
I rock the Kevlar when they’re free, but they usually wear out fast and I get a lot of flat tires with them, so I try to stick to the regular bead. The Animal GLH R I’ve been rockin is the best kevlar I’ve ridden so far.
Plastic pedals or metal?
Metal always; I dont trust plastic and that shit is way too slick.
Photo: Rob Dolecki
How long were you in Panama?
6 1/2 months.
What brought you down there?
Working on a research project in order to complete my master’s degree. I basically grew tadpoles in tanks and fed them to predators.
Did you get to ride much?
Not as much as I would have liked because I was working all of the time and there was a lot of rain, but I got to ride a decent amount and I definitely got to ride some wild spots.
How much did it rain?
Well this year there was epic flooding so I don’t know if its a good year to compare to others, but pretty much from late July through December it rained a bunch. The first 2 weeks of December they got more rain than ever recorded for the entire month of December.
How is the BMX scene there?
Awesome; there is a good mix of older and younger riders and a ton of untouched street to ride. Everyone helped me out a lot and was really nice. I can’t wait to go back.
How did you like it overall in Panama?
Awesome; I would move back there in a second if I could.
Where are you now?
Richmond, Virginia, trying to finish school and get my master’s degree.
Two years ago you went on a trip to Costa Rica (see issue #70 for an article on it), stayed longer than everyone else, and took alternate forms of transportation back to the U.S. How did that go? Any wild stories?
A lot of wild stuff went down but everything went really smooth. One of the things I remember the most was one night in Guatemala I was hanging out with some questionable Guatemalan Indian locals driving around in their boat on Lake Atitlan. The lakeside party we were at got raided by the police so we had to hop in this guys boat to get away. We were all in the boat when the police ran up while one of the guys was literally pushing the boat off of the shore. He jumped on the boat right before a cop tried to tackle him. The cops were pissed and started throwing rocks at us from the shore as we hauled ass out of there laughing. The Guatemalans were laughing hysterically and thats when they told me they were all on acid, and who knows what else. But we made a clean getaway to the other side of the lake and it was all good. Dude stashed the boat and we hit the bar. Good times!
How long are you planning on staying in Richmond for?
At least until June, not sure after that.
Any plans for going to any new exotic destinations?
We’ll see how my finances are going, but I want to go back to Panama and into South America some point within the next year. Who’s down?
