Scraper Bikes (2007)

added Aug 05, 2009 at 06:51PM UTC

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About

Scraper Bike is an emerging custom bike trend in the San Francisco Bay Area that typically involves tricking out ordinary bicycle spokes with candy-colored pinwheels and matching body/wheel colors, using tinfoil, re-used cardboard, candy wrappers and paint. It was first popularized by Oakland teen rappers known as “Trunk Boiz” on YouTube.

Origin

The term “scraper bike” was first coined by Tyrone Stephenson Jr., a 20 year old innovator and co-founder of the movement. According to NPR’s coverage on the phenomenon, Tyrone originally sought to imitate the flashy custom designs of “scrapers”, a local slang for old- school Buicks or Oldmobiles commonly spotted around Oakland, CA. Known as ground-zero of Hyphy music/movement, Oakland is also the hometown of Bubb Rubb and infamous whistle tips.

Trunk Boiz, An Internet Sensation


“My scraper bike go hard, I don’t need no car”


What was once a local urban fad in Northern Cali went viral in April 2007, when Tyrone and a group of Oakland teen rappers known as “Trunk Boiz” uploaded their original music video on YouTube. It features the crew riding on custom-decorated bicycles through the residential streets, repping their pride with catchy lines like “My scraper bike go hard, I don’t need no car” and “my scraper bike (x10).” The song was nominated for Top 20 Best Music Videos of 2007 on YouTube and has been viewed nearly 3 million times as of August 2009.

Sundbyøster Scraper crew in Copenhagen, Denmark (in Danish / no sub):

Scraper Bike Movement in Münster, Germany:

Kids Scrapin’ on Scraper Bikes in Austin, Texas:

Google Trends Keyword: “Scraper Bike”

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12 Comments

Jamie Dubs
Aug 05, 2009 at 07:16PM UTC , Jamie Dubs wrote:

oh snap son! there’s actually a early “Winter” version of this video that’s not as pimp as the nice & bright “summer” version

Cooper Smith
Aug 06, 2009 at 01:59AM UTC , Cooper Smith wrote:

at first i was like, “no,” but it might be…

Brad Kim
Aug 06, 2009 at 04:30AM UTC , Brad Kim wrote:

@James

lol w/ matching winter coats?

i think it’s like a niche subculture gone viral in real life. Trunk Boiz put the fad on the map through internet & youtube, people lol’d and pimped their rides.

and how often do i hear “i don’t need no car” in a rap song? not always, unfortunately.

Chris Menning
Aug 06, 2009 at 07:53PM UTC , Chris Menning wrote:

This looks ready to be confirmed to me.

Captain Blubber
Aug 06, 2009 at 08:13PM UTC , Captain Blubber wrote:

I second the statement!

Xippy Xippo
Aug 07, 2009 at 07:53AM UTC , Xippy Xippo wrote:

Bike trend=meme?

Color me confused.

A bunch of dudes in Japan tease their hair. High fashion and all. Is Japanese hair-tease a trend?

Brad Kim
Aug 07, 2009 at 04:31PM UTC , Brad Kim wrote:

@xippy, not sure if hair-tease is a meme. but this should be:

Brad Kim
Aug 07, 2009 at 11:57PM UTC , Brad Kim wrote:

on more of a serious note, i think most “interesting IRL memes popularized via web” falls within KYM’’s radar. In this case, YouTube (and subsequent media coverage) apparently served as a bridge to Europe and other states in the US.

Xippy Xippo
Aug 08, 2009 at 10:10PM UTC , Xippy Xippo wrote:

BRAD FTW

Also, on a serious note~ This site needs a meme-worthy ranking device for each entry. 5 stars=hellah meme-tastic. 1 star=San Fran bike spoke trend.

All video roads lead to youtube now. If it moves and/or makes noise, it’s represented on youtube. so I can’t feel impressed when video information is communicated via youtube.

So~ Meme-worthy ranking? Yay or nay… What say you, internets?

Xippy Xippo
Aug 08, 2009 at 10:25PM UTC , Xippy Xippo wrote:

Ninja Raccoon
Aug 10, 2009 at 09:46PM UTC , Ninja Raccoon wrote:

Cool story, bro.

iNAKO
Jan 01, 2010 at 03:18PM UTC , iNAKO wrote:

I met one of the kids who did this at a basketball game, he was trying to sell me a CD for 5 dollars.

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