Frank Schnütgen

He got to know the heroes of the scene at the Domplatte: Andreas Tittmann, Uli Heidkamp, Hans-Willi Zims and Marco Ribau. They rode mud races together in the Nüssenberger Busch. Although he became more and more enthusiastic about "trick riding", he started his first real BMX race in the late summer of 1981 on the "Golden Mile", the Schauff factory track in Remagen.

There he met the boss of the Troisdorf bike dealer Radsport Lange, who was completely amazed at the finish line and could hardly believe that you could be so fast on such a bike. He offered to provide him with a decent bike for the upcoming first round of the West German Championships in Darmstadt. Equipped with this bike, Frank won the race against the then almost unbeatable Ivi Vidakovic and secured a CW sponsorship through Radsport Lange. He continued to cultivate his preference for freestyle on a National Pro, which he bought alongside his CW racing bike, but mainly raced, very successfully until the 1984 Autumn Cup, where he came fourth.

But BMX racing (and above all the organising association BDR) and Frank Schnütgen were not a good combination: at a race in Rödermark, a smart-mouthed Willi Krug stood right next to Frank at the start and acknowledged his request for some distance and calm with a huge tirade about his supposed importance as an official. After Frank threatened him with a beating, he was disqualified during the race. In Remscheid, things came to a head when Frank was reprimanded for an alleged "show jump", which was nothing more than slipping off the pedal. The incident was tragic, Frank crashed through a wobbly fence into the spectators standing close to the edge of the track, knocking a pregnant woman to the ground, but the BDR was not interested in criticising spectator spots and fences: Frank was reprimanded, disqualified and subsequently turned his back on BMX racing.

He turned to his real passion, freestyle, and began to take part in the first competitions organised by the GFA and the Cologne Youth Park. He had a certain head start and success soon followed. As we had had quarterpipes available since 1983, Frank won the quarterpipe classes and had fights with Stephan Prantl. He rode briefly for Schauff, but then Michael Müllmann took notice of him and he became part of the German GT Freestyle Team. At the same time, he discovered his love for hip hop and began to rap his first tracks and try his hand at scratching.

In 1987, he then became world champion on the quarterpipe at the first real world championship in BMX freestyle. He was delighted with his success, even though he was of course aware that the riders Mat Hoffman and Carlo Griggs, who started one class below him, would hardly have given him a chance. He was then passed around as world champion and appeared on television for the first time. In 1988, he recorded the first "Äi Tiem" album with his mate Ralph Dammers, which was unfortunately not released until two years later due to a lack of money. The track "20 Zoll Mann" on the album appeared on the Beware video and polarised the freestyle community, but one thing was clear: everyone knew Äi Tiem after that.

Frank's activities in the following years could easily fill books: He founded his own show team, which later merged into SMO with Titus Dittman. He rode shows at Phantasialand as a secret replacement for the actual stars. He wrote books, designed bicycles, founded a mail order company which later also became a label and distributor. He renovated a moated castle outside Cologne where he still lives and works today. He rapped in German and Klingon, in Äi-Tiem and as Hans Solo and started his own electro project with Endo Monk. He opened the DOM-Sports Halle in 1998, giving the Cologne freestyle scene a home for many years. He still makes music today, designs clothing, paints pictures, experiments with old analogue sound machines and synthesizers, looks after the technology of a club in Cologne and runs a successful YouTube channel, which features his music as well as many wild climbing tours, wakeboarding and various curiosities.

Frank Schnütgen celebrated success in the very early days of BMX, both in racing and freestyle. He was an early supporter of the scene and laid the foundations for the BMX track and later the skate park in his home town of Porz. With his show team, he promoted the popularity of BMX sport and with the Dom Sports Halle, he gave the scattered BMX scene in Cologne a new home. He brought hip hop culture into BMX freestyle and combined free spirit, music, art and BMX. For his personal achievements and commitment, he was inducted into the German BMX Hall Of Fame in 2025.