Basics

Name: Sakis Doumas
Age: 24
Sex: male
Location: Athens, Greece
Website: www.myspace.com/sakisflat

Riding

When have you started riding ?

I started riding around October of 1997, after I saw some crazy combos from “Chase Gouin ded” video by accident on greek tv.

How often do you ride ?

I try to ride every day the last 2-3 years for 2-4 hours. If I am tired maybe 5-6 times a week.

Where do you ride ? What kind of spots do you have ?

I ride in basketball courts mostly and in spots with marble ground sometimes.

Do you ride contests ? Your biggest success ?

I didn’t have the opportunity to enter many contests. I have entered 3 international contests though. The first one was level vibes 4 and I had a great time even if I went alone. After that I joined the greek army that it is composary and I lost 1.5 year of riding!
The second one was Flatground 4 and I was stoked to see so many goods riders at one place.i got 13 place in master class. 2 months after that, I broke a ligament in my knee and didn’t rode for 6 months.
The third one was Lord of Balance 2 in 2005 that one of my best friends Alejandro organized in his hometown Thessaloniki. He organized everything alone and he brought some of the best riders from Finland, Germany, Spain, Austria, France. Iit was a great contest.

Can you tell us a bit about the riding scene in your town ?

The riding scene in Athens and generally in Greece is very small now if you compare it with the season I was starting flatland.
There are not many new flatlanders and most of the flatlanders are those who started around 96-98, I will have some videos on myspace in the next months if some people wanna see the riders from Greece. Ii think the level in Greece is very good now. There might be 60-70 flatlanders all over Greece and about 20-30 that ride on a daily basis.

Imagine you could make a flatland world tour, which 5 places would you like to visit for riding and why ?

1. Japan, I would love to go to Japan as I know there are flatlanders everywhere and I wanna see the way of life and how the practice like crazy.
2. Worlds in Cologne. I might never go because I always work that time every year but I ll continue dreaming about it.
3. Canada for the very good level of riding.
4. Paris, to ride the opera spot with all the crazy flatlanders.
5. Brazil, I want to check the women!

Is there a goal you would like to reach concerning your riding ?

1st thing for me is having fun when you ride, so I usually ride with friends when I am in Athens and when I am alone I can be more focused and practise new tricks.
2nd is style and originality, so I usually don’t learn tricks that most of the people are doing lately. I am trying to be individual and build combos with my way lately.

Which trick/combo do you work on at the moment ?

I am learning backwheel tricks mostly the last 2-3 years. I think I am trying turbine stuff more than anything else.

What’s the climate at your place like ? Are you able to ride outside most of the time ?

The climate in Greece is very good generally. You can ride outside at least 8-9 months of the year, except July/August when the temperature is here 35-40 degrees celcium and your hands getting sweety very fast, the winter is not very cold here around 5 degrees or less some times but personally I don’t care about cold so I ride all the months outside, it doesn’t rain very often and if it does there are some indoor spots that you can practise just to get the feeling..

General stuff

What kind of music do you like ?

Hip Hop.

3 things you like and 3 things you hate ?

I hate hypocrites, wars and exploitation of humans.
I like summer,travelling and experience new things.

What’s your job ?

I work in a hotel for 6 years now.

What are your hobbies besides flatland and do they influence your way of riding ?

Lately I have been focused on flatland,when I don’t ride I might do some swimming or some gym, listen some music, watch a movie or go for a drink.

How does a typical day in your life look like ?

I am eating a big breakfast, go to work, come back ride my bike and at night time I might go out or chill at home.

Bikecheck

Frame: PGB Psychonnecta 04
Fork: St Martin
Handlebar: Fly Gomez Handlebar (first model)
Crank: Odyssey Phat Widow
Pegs: Sequence 1,5’’
Pedals: just put a pair of some old haro plastic pedals on the axles of ares plastic pedals cause they broke. I'll buy Ares again sometime I think they are perfect mix of weight and strength.
Stem: I think its no name, (maybe fusion) I put this when the bolds from my old stem stripped. This one has 35 mm reach and the handlebar is on the top 0.5 inch of the stem so it makes your handlebar taller, I got used to it after 2-3 sessions and I kept it.
Seat: Macneil Combo
Seatpost: Macneil
Front Wheel: Supra B 48 with mount hub (like the old hoffman)
Rear Wheel: Nankai 48 on Supra B rims. I use it for 6 years now without problems and I tight the spokes maybe 1 time every 4-5 months
Sprocket: Quamen 24 t

Last words

Bring back the long back ends and the strong parts, I have cracked everything on my bike except the old parts like crank, handlebar and wheels.
How can you use some parts for 6 years without problems and then you are breaking all the new parts in 5-6 months?
Props to alex,panto,giannis,kiko,dontsios,rampo,manos,lampros,nikos all the flatlanders in greece and dimitris from adio for the support. Also thanks global-flat for the interview and for providing the latest news in the flatland world. Peace!

Video and Photos

Video: Sakis Doumas (6 minutes)
Photos: 8 photos