been riding since 1995, seen every trend come and go.
big bars, small bars, cleveland bars, flangeless, flanges, white walls, gum walls, one piece seats, bear traps, plastic pegs, t-bogs, ETs, tire slides, over cranks, and now 180 switch ices are all the rage.
odyssey makes quality parts and what i prefer, but that doesn't mean there aren't lots of good companies out there. i've been riding an eastern birectional wheel for three years of hard, REALLY hard street riding and it's still solid. everyone hates on eastern but they make some good stuff, especially since they gave up on the titanium/ultra light weight weenie crap.
frame, bars, forks should always be 100% cro-mo, anything else (tri-moly, hi-ten, etc.) is a waste because you'll reach a level with riding you'll want cro-mo all around.
i like plastic pedals because they're cheap and slide good on ledges for luc-e grinds.
sealed everything, always.
don't let the trends suck you in, stick with simple and what works for you. don't get tractor tires because they're cool, they probably won't fit your forks or frame anyway.
i ride brakeless, plastic pedals, 2.25" front/rear, cassette, right side pegs, hub guards, flangeless, and with a big ol LAZ-E BOY animal pivotal.
