Clifford is quite an interesting dude, he rides a bike that I don't understand the concept of and he rides it pretty damn well for that matter. Needless to say his bike and riding style match his fairly interesting personality, I've gone back and forth with Clifford through email for some weeks now and I've learned quite a lot about him. Clifford has the internet talkin' over a certain Youtube video series named Antitron, check the the latest installment of Antitron and stay interested because there's plenty more to learn about him below...

Full Name: Clifford Kim Zvengrowski

Age: 22.5

Born and raised in: Calgary, Canada

Years Riding? 7

Sponsors: None

What got you into riding?

Originally I would try to set up a long distance that you could coast (as long as a hill is possible) that you could make with no pedaling and time it. This way it would be 100% braking and maneuvering ability. Then I was doing it with my friend and he did a "stoppie." (Where you hit the front brake and come to a stop and your rear wheel lifts off the ground...) I thought this was the most amazing thing ever and it gave me a new perspective on riding. Everything takes skill but being impressed is an emotion, (awe), out of seeing a trillion different talents. I would always get the most awe from watching bike tricks, so I was naturally inclined to it. After seeing a lot of bike videos I am still impressed at skill but no longer get the emotion of awe and I see biking the same as skating or anything like that now.

Have you ever ridden BMX or did you start right off with a trials frame? What type of style would you call your riding?

I started on a touring bike, then a Canadian tire mountain bike doing street moves, (small jumps, manuals, some trials and spins), then I figured a trials bike was better for this, so I rode trials for about 2 years. But found that a pure trials bike was difficult to do manuals, spins and bunnyhops, so I switched to a BMX for half a year. After that I missed trials moves, so I switched back to a trials bike and kind of went in a pattern switching back and forth.

Eventually I found the mod trials bike (20") and it was the best of both worlds so I stuck with that. For several years I fiddled around with the mod trials bike geometry to get the right balance of control and maneuvers. I would call my most recent style "kinetic street riding" but I still do stalls. Right now I find I have more progression with the kinetic moves found more in BMX street riding, than static moves like in trials so I am working more on developing that.

Your riding is very interesting, lots of cab variations and spins for the most part... Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve like air tricks or maybe even some grinds? Any particular trickery you're working on?

Heh, no. I have an aluminum frame, I tried some grinds on it and I think my chainstay will crack if I do anymore. Jumps scare me too much and you need a good skatepark or jumps to practice them. Most the stuff I live by is just curbs and grass banks so I never really bother practicing the other stuff. I am working on nose manuals and some new spin tricks and improving the old tricks.

Would you ever consider riding a BMX bike and trying your trickery on a frame made for shreddin' of this nature?

I have ridden BMX for 2 years. I don't feel safe riding a BMX, its unnecessary weight and hurts my wrist really badly. I am a light rider and don't do many high torque moves so the strength is not necessary. I personally use whatever I think works best. I have lots of BMX parts on my bike. I compare strength, weight, material type and design and use whatever I think works best regardless of what it's designed for...

"BMX's weren't built for street riding, people just started using them for it, neither are trials bikes but now they are becoming more street adapt."

What BMX specific parts do run on your bike? What gear ratio are you currently running?

I run Profile rear hub, I guess my chain is BMX (KMC Z510-HX), my bb cups are Profile and my bb spindle are Profile. I have a 22t Tree sprocket, Edwin Animal grips and an Eastern Kurb Monkey front tire. My ratio is 22/11 so exactly 40 gear inches. My normal ratio is 36.7, I call this my ideal ratio. I don't like chain tensioners though, so whatever ratio gives me perfect chain tension I will go with as long as its close to what I want.

Do you work or go to school?

Yeah, I work full time at Wendy's as a semi-supervisor and No, I feel that I learn more out of school.

What other interests or hobbies do you have besides riding?

Art is the only other interest I have (I draw some stuff...)

Are you straight edge? Do you have any tattoos or piercings to speak of?

I would say so. I would not consider piercings or tattoos to be straight edge though. I have no piercings, tattoos, don't swear, don't drink any alcohol at all, never have or will try any drugs, virgin, never had a girlfriend, etc... etc...

I read that you were into classical music for 20 years and nothing but until you came across black metal, have you found any other type of music you enjoy? Any particular black metal bands you prefer to listen to?

I find I can enjoy anything I want to enjoy. However, everything makes you feel a certain way and I think, feeling this way is a good thing.I am sure I could enjoy drugs or something if I tried but I look at the result and don't want that so I won't do it. So I'm very, very selective about what I listen to. I only listen to one band, Graveworm. I have no interest in any other music, except Jay Sean, Voice Of An Angel.

When your banging your head out in the field or on top of that rock, are you summoning your powers to shred every cab variation? Do you plan on cutting your hair any time soon or are you growing that out for more efficient, powerful head banging?

It has to do more with the thematics of the video Whenever I watch something I just think how I react when I see it, if it coincides with the theme of the video I will try to incorporate it some how. The head banging scenes I did this year were of low quality. In one of them, I forgot my costume, next year will be much better in terms of this.

I started working on Antitron 5 half a year ago, so the non-bike scenes will be of higher quality. I plan on never cutting my hair until I am a very old man, growing things makes me happy.

You briefly described your outfit in Antitron 4 Clifford in the Youtube video description, can you describe the process you went through to make the outfit? What was the feel you were trying to get with wearing such an outfit?

Well, I am not a fashion designer, so I attempted to make something wizardy but at the same time more tattered and grim looking. I think it worked effectively but it has been called many things like a ball gown, blouse, wings, pirate shirt, etc... The main effect I was looking for is a riding effect. Its like my hair, it reacts to wind and spinning.

What do yo have to say to all the haters and trash talkers out there?

I have to say they have no reason for hating me, they have never met me or anything and only hate me because they classify me as goth or something and assume I am like some other person who is goth that they hate. Anyone who hates someone without knowing them has no meaning in anything they say, so nothing they can say would offend me. Plus, our hatred is not mutual, so why hate someone who doesn't hate you?

Describe a typical day in your life:

Right now its winter, so I wake up, run for 2 hours, work all day, run for another hour, answer my emails, eat and then draw. In summer the running is replaced with biking or if it is above -10.

Any last words or anyone you would like to thank:

I would like to thank Easy-bike.cn for building my custom frame and I would especially like to thank, Chad and Sean for helping me with Antitron. Especially Sean. Honestly, who spends their summer filming someone for free ?