SETUPS: Erik Elstran's 2020 Sunday Nightshift

New pedals, new baby...

1 Apr 2020

Words and photos by Rob Dolecki.

Just prior to the Coronavirus pandemic gripping the U.S. (and most of the planet at this point) Sunday took a team trip to Las Vegas, Nevada early March for ten days. This was possibly the last company BMX team trip to happen since then. While news that SXSW had been cancelled and many more events soon to follow, Vegas was still business as usual during that time. A few days after the trip ended, most cities (including Vegas) went into lock down mode, and social distancing became the norm. Just before everyone flew home, we caught up with a few dudes on the team and dove into all the specs of their personal rides. We start with creative tech guru Erik Elstran's Nightshift setup.

Keep an eye out for more from the trip; the upcoming edit filmed and edited by Zach Krejmas is going to be a good one, and possibly one of the very few trip vids shot during 2020 that you're going to see for a while.

NAME: Erik Elstran

Sponsors: Sunday, Madera

Age: 28

Height: About 6 ft

Frame: Sunday Nightshift, 21” TT

Fork: Sunday Nightshift

Bars: Sunday Nightshift

Grips: ODI longnecks

Bar ends: Odyssey Par Ends

Stem: Madera Mast, 45mm reach

Seat: Sunday Elstran

Seat Post: Sunday Pivotal

Clamp: Sunday

Cranks: Madera Bantam 22mm, 170mm

Sprocket: Madera Signet Guard, 25T

Pedals: Odyssey Twisted Pro PC

Chain: Odyssey Bluebird

Rear Wheel: Odyssey Clutch with G Sport Ribcage

Front Wheel: Madera Pilot with G Sport Ribcage

Pegs: Sunday Seeley Plastic with one Odyssey metal.

Hub guards: Madera C4 plastic in the front; in the rear built-in plastic one that comes with the Clutch hub; G Sport universal one.

Tires: Odyssey Path Pro, 2.4

Weight of bike: I don’t know; under 25 lbs?

Modifications:

I usually don’t cut my bars, but I cut these bars down to 29” and removed headset spacers, one side of the pedals are grinded down from grinds. I’m not that picky about bike setup, geometry and specs. kind of a believer that you can get used to different things just by riding it.

Describe your personal bike setup.

Four pegs, freecoaster, which is pretty standard now. Bigger tires; I run about 65 PSI, sometimes more if I ride a bowl. It inevitably gets down to 45 before I do something about it.

Why one metal peg?

I’ve been going back and forth with metal and plastics for years. I’ve been running plastics for a while and carry a few metal pegs. I have the front left side for over tooth’s; it sticks better for stalling.

Describe the contents of your personal bike tool bag.

I have an Odyssey Multi tool, spoke wrench, tire lever, patch kit, and hand pump, sometimes a tube. I hate being stranded and not being able to fix my bike, or relying on someone else. Sometimes another peg, and spare hub guard.

What parts do you wear through quickest?

Probably grips, tires and plastic pegs.

Do you patch flat tires or get new tubes?

It’s definitely easier to use a new tub, but it’s more eco-friendly and efficient to patch. Sometimes if you are in the middle of trying something, I don’t have time to patch.

Where do your parts go when you’re done with them?

I just give them away to friends. I’ve given them away at jams, raffles. I never sell anything, since I get them for free. If someone else can benefit from an old part I have, then I’m totally down to help them out.

Oldest part?

Probably the cranks. I got a whole new bike other than that a few months ago. I don’t have any sentimental parts on my bike.

Cassette or freecoaster?

I like freecoaster because you have more options for certain things. There are some tricks that are easier with pedal pressure. I’ve ran a freecoaser with minimal slack for a while, so I can use pedal pressure on certain things. I don’t see myself ever riding a cassette again, because I feel like I’d lose a lot of fakie tricks.

You were in Sacramento recently.

We had a premiere for the new Madera DVD “ABD” in Long Beach; that started the trip. We had the whole pro team and Am, family. There were so many people, and everyone is filming; you ride one or two spots a day max. It was super fun to hang out with everyone.

How did your section come out?

Pretty good. I ended up with a lot of footage. It’s like two songs. I filmed a lot of it in Minneapolis.Mike Hinkens and Grant Castelluzzo came out and basically just filmed me for five days or so. I had a plan every day; it was really satisfying doing all those things. Like half of my footage was from that time; I don’t really have a person to film with. We had been filming for two years. There’s footage from California, D.C., Detroit, New York City.

Plans for 2020?

I’m having a baby, due in May. I haven’t really announced anything yet. I’m going to be moving back to the neighboring town of where I grew up. I’m going to try and do a self-filmed edit, just around hometown spots. Just finished my X Games Real BMX part too, which drops in August.