SETUPS: BRIAN KACHINSKY'S DK - Dig BMX Magazine

Name: Brian Kachinsky
Sponsors: DK Bicycles, Etnies, Action Village, 661, System Cycle, go211, Skull Candy
Age: 27
Height: 5’9″

Frame: DK Kachinsky Version 2 (prototype)
Fork: Odsy
Bars: DK Sigma
Grips: ODI longneck
Bar ends: plastic Proper maybe?
Stem: DK Alpha top load
Brake Lever: wait…where’d it go? (eclat when I’m running brakes)
Brake: Etnies Numbers or Etnies RVMs
Seat: DK pivitol
Seat Post: Mankind pivitol
Clamp: Built-in
Cranks: DK Social Cranks with DK titanium spindle
Sprocket: DK alpha 25 tooth
Pedals: DK alpha
Chain: DK prototype
Rear Wheel: DK alpha cassette, DK double butted spokes, Proper rim
Front Wheel: DK alpha hub, DK double butted spokes, Proper rim
Pegs: WTP toxic
Rear Tire: Maxxis Grifter 2.1
Front Tire: Maxxis DTH 2.1
Weight of bike: Lighter than an elephant, heavier than a bunny and the instincts of a cheetah. (Seriously though, it’s pretty damn light but not on purpose)

Modifications:
Cut the seatpost, excess axles and a bit off each end of the bars. Other than that everything else is pretty straight forward. I’ve tried to pour coffee in the bearings to make them faster but that doesn’t work. They don’t like caffeine I guess.

Describe your personal bike setup:
Right now it’s pretty simple yet strong and perfect for me. They front end is pretty high with my high bars, top load stem and headset spacer. I like how that feels. My new prototype frame also has a bunch of changes from the last version. Removable mounts/tabs, 75 degree headtube, short back end, smaller dropouts, different chainstays, etc. Tons of changes made and it’s now even more “manual and nose manual friendly” than my last frame but is still good for ramps, street, dirt and whatever else you’d want to ride. Overall I’m more stoked on my bike now than ever before. It feels great!

Describe the contents of your personal bike tool bag:
On a normal day I usually just bring my Random Wrench v.2 (DK) with me and don’t bring a tool bag. The wrench has just about everything I would need in any given day and doesn’t weigh me down too much. On long trips, however, i’ll bring a tool bag with some extra bolts, spokes, chain links, cable cutters, wrenches, pliers, etc. This is in case something rare goes wrong and i’m not stuck without that stuff.

What part do you wear through the quickest?
Tubes, tires, grips. Some other things I change every once in a while (forks every 8 months for example) because I don’t want to ever chance them breaking.

What part do you break most often?
Nothing in particular (other than stuff that wears out) but I have bent an axle on an uprail gone wrong. If i’m running brakes at the time I might snap cables every so often.

Do you patch flat tires or get new tubes?
Usually new tubes if I have the choice. Until recently though I had a tube that had 3 or 4 patches on it that an extremely kind Guadalajara local offered to up for me. It eventually shit the bed but it lasted at least a couple weeks! Thanks again man!

Which parts are you paranoid about breaking?
Frames, Forks, Chains, etc. Those things are always bad things to break but I’ve had awesome luck with all of them in the past few years.

Where do your parts go when you’re done with them?
If they are used but not completely used up I usually give them to friends or people who aren’t as fortunate as me. If they are prototypes I usually send them back to DK for Sherwin (DK product designer) to check out and take notes. If they are beat up and I no longer trust giving them away I might toss them in the trash (i.e. old tubes, tires, chains, etc.)

Who builds your wheels? Anything special about them?
Usually someone at System Cycle builds them for me. They do it much better and faster than I ever would. Thanks guys! I usually do a 3-cross lacing but other than that nothing really special.

Cassette or freecoaster?
Cassette. I don’t like how many problems people usually have with freecoasters so I don’t run one but they sure are fun to ride from time to time on friend’s bikes.

What’s the story with that DK prototype chain?
It’s a half-link chain that’s enclosed on 3 sides. It’s basically a refined version of other half-link chains out there and while it may look crazy, it works awesome. People seem to be really stoked on it, myself included. It’s not really meant for grinding (contrary to what some might think i guess?) but it will fair better than most chains if you do happen to accidentally hit it on something. I’m not sure when they will be approved and available to buy but so far so good on the one I have tested. It’s also not heavy like it looks. I don’t know the exact weight but it’s similar to a normal chain.

Left side drive or right side drive?
Right side.

Kevlar bead or regular bead?
Foldable tires, I love them and no longer have to carry tire levers with me so that’s nice.

Plastic pedals or metal?
I usually run plastics these days but I wore my last pair of DK ones out so I’m back to metal for the time being. I like how grippy and strong metal ones are but you can’t argue with how light, cheap and relatively strong the plastic ones are. Plus they grind better. The only downside to plastics is that they are guaranteed to break or wear out at some point though.