Sometime in 1997, Paul broke his left wrist. Not a huge deal for most BMXers, but for Paul, it was the start of a transformation. He removed his front brake since he couldn’t pull his lever. With the front brake went the four pegs, four-piece bars and clunky full face helmet. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a tiny little bike company from Austin, Texas was born called Terrible One.



Paul Buchanan was one of the first riders added to the team. And he’s probably best known from this era. Riding a royal blue Barcode, Paul Buchanan moved to Austin and went from enigmatic to legendary almost overnight. There were stories, there always were, about Paul’s time in Austin. He rode, by and large, alone, and at night. He transitioned from ramp/dirt guy to more of a street rider, and he would spend hours simply pedaling around, looking at spots. He was also light years ahead of anyone as far as ideas, techniques and riding went. From an outside perspective, it seemed to come naturally to him, and he had a less control the bike and more let’s see where this ride can take me approach. I remember him once telling me that he envisioned himself doing whatever it was he wanted to try before he actually did it.

