One of the best things about being on the inside of Swobo is the many great people you meet that are deeply connected to the brand and its history. In many ways Swobo is a big clan or better yet, a loud, loving family. We have many distant relatives that will come back to reconnect and every time we go anywhere it’s like an impromptu family reunion. One such fine example is our pal, Darin Smedberg. One of the infamous orange jumpsuit clad Amigos, Darin is probably one of the sweetest and weirdest fellows I’ve ever met. He goes way back with Swobo and accordingly we’ve asked him to share some of his favorite stories about Swobo’s past from time to time.
But first a little bit about Darin.
Darin Smedberg is the youngest of three children from Pollock Pines, California where he spent many of his early days riding through the hills on his Mongoose BMX bike. Years later he moved to Chico for school and met Curtis Inglis and the rest of the crew at Retrotec.
While cruising the NORBA circuit with Bob Seals, Rob Sears, and a host of NORBA notables, Darin quickly became fond of single speeds, rigid forks, and general debauchery (like helping Seals organize the first single speed worlds in Big Bear).
During a rapid decline in taking racing seriously and a quick progression into making some life-long friends from San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Colorado, Darin met the forces behind Swobo [1.0]. At Interbike 1995 in Anaheim, Darin helped Swobo set up their booth and mostly ran around wearing a red cape, throwing little toy sheep at people.
“That night I think I puked and spent the night outside the hilton,” he recalls.
As for many, eventually Darin’s professional attention wandered away from bikes and he slipped into a dark hole of white collar work and world travel.
While away, Darin kept tabs on the underbelly of the bike world, via Stevil’s How to Avoid the Bummer Life blog at Swobo.
Currently Darin spends most of his time working as a Mechanical Engineer in San Francisco. During weekends you can find him on a bike, lending engineering services to those who ask, and helping spread the word about rad bicycle advocacy groups like the MeetYourMakerTour.
Volume 1 : My first visit to SWOBO world headquarters and one pair of lucky knickers
It was 1994. I think SWOBO was on 4th and Townsend in San Francisco. Back then they called it a ‘Seedy part of town’ and back then, it was. They were in the basement, and late one night I found the whole gang working (and/or drinking). Steve Smith was hanging out with J Mac (who ran garment purchasing and production), Chris Fenster ‘Books’ was at one desk while Tim Parr was at another.
We hung out for a while and before I left, one of them gave me a set of knickers. I’m a huge knicker fan so this was a big deal. I started wearing them on any ride under 80 Degrees and during winter months I used them for Telemark Skiing in the back country. I was just learning how to Tele ski back then and would often crash, splitting the crotch of the knickers not once or twice but at least 6 times.
Each time I’d take them to my mom over a holiday or a visit and she’d mend them. Eventually she got tired of doing it so I took up the task. 18 years passed, and I still wear the knickers. They are a faded grey, are filled with rips and tears, a broken zipper and a well-used crotch seam. I had a girlfriend tell me that she’d stop seeing me if I kept wearing the knickers, so we split up.
I still own the knickers and I’d love to visit the new SWOBO location some day!