MEET ELLIE CHEW

For Ellie Chew, her introduction to bicycles happened when she was only 4 years old. Her first bike was uplifted from the rubbish dump, and after her dad gave it a fresh coat of spray paint she thought it was the best present ever. Since that day she's been hooked on riding anything that has wheels on it!

Photos and interview by Wide Open Distributors. Wide Open Distributors: How did you first get into riding?

Ellie Chew: I started to get into BMX freestyle riding when I was about 14-15. I used to go to the BMX track everyday after school and learnt to do a few tricks over all the table tops, then I started going to the skate park, and rode until dark every day after school, before school, and the weekends! The enjoyment of riding a bike has never stopped, and now entering into the world of MTB a whole new level of excitement and challenges are ahead.

WO: What was your transition like from a BMX background to riding mountain bikes?

EC: The Transition from BMX to MTB has been quite easy, but there’s definitely a few things I’ve had to adapt to. Cornering on a MTB is very different to a BMX. When riding at the skate park I tend to pump around the corners, and rip back on the bars, to put all the force into my back wheel and gain speed, but when I try to do the same on the MTB the front wheel just wants to wash out, so I had to learn to be more even with my weight distribution around the corners.

WO: What do you think about your tubeless setup?

EC: I love the tubeless set up, I’ve never had tubeless wheels before, so I have found it pretty fascinating. I also love my Purple Stan’s NoTubes stickers on my rims. :)