It’s doin’ my ‘ead in,as they say, looking to buy a pre-owned BMX for the youngest but he says the ones I pick out are too heavy at 28lb, for once and for all, what’s a reasonable weight for a beginner’s street BMX? I’m not spending a fortune …

Kids get fixated on what their mates tell them makes a good bmx. Round here it’s small chainrings for riding the park at the moment. Before that it was profile cranks, before that it was MacNeil seats, before that metal studs through plastic pedals…

Get the best frame you can for the money if you plan on upgrading, the best overall package if not. Weight won’t stop him being able to do stuff, don’t let him fall for ‘this part will make me a better rider’ at such a young age. He will get way more cred for being skilled on a heavy bike than average on a lightweight one. Unless it’s a fashion accessory rather than a hobby (as it was for my daughter!)

Slight hijack but im looking for BMX presents for a 9yr old who has a mongoose something or other.

Is there a CRC type store or BMX ultra brand that will make him cool on the skatepark?

Thinking some grips, pedals, hat or something.

Winstanleys bmx is pretty good. Get him a set of matching grips and pedals, the groms love that colour coordinated stuff!

Is there a CRC type store

Erm, CRC have a BMX dept 😀 (4th box along on the top)

was thinking more specialist

Ah right, although CRC do have pretty good stock. What about a pivotal seat and post? As slowrider says, Winstanleys are pretty good and do free P + P but Custom Riders and Alans are worth a look too.

pivotal seat and post – think youve just nailed this lads xmas and birthday gifts. Cheers.

Are skulls still cool?

Bloody hi-jackers …

How much are you looking at spending squirrel?

around a ton – 150 for second hand 😀

Got my Verde from source Bmx….also try radbmxshop…by the way I’m reliving my youth, by owning a Bmx…am pretty useless but its something I wanted to own before I hit 40 !

28 lbs isn’t that heavy for an entry level Bmx, the really decent bikes weight about 11kgs or so. Do the bikes have pegs, gyro and a front brake? Get rid of them and loose a couple of kg. My sons 18 inch bike is 11kg and that was the lightest I could find without spending loads.

It’s exactly what the other chap said…. It’s all about what their mates say. In Swanage if it ain’t a mongoose it’s worthless. We stock the mongoose “logo” bikes and online we the the cheapest in the uk at £180 Inc delivery. It ticks all the boxes.

Here is a link.

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=mongoose+logo+black&nomo=1&hl=en&client=safari&output=html&cid=5945780816524395728

If I told a kid I would do him a £400 gt bmx for the same price as a base mongoose… They would say “but are they any good? I want a mongoose cos they are the best”.

Brand is everything when you are ten years old.

I got a nice Felt one off the bay for 120, cro mo frame decent bits etc. Looks the part and as it’s not a famous make prolly cheaper.

eBay. I picked up some nice bikes (Haro & GT) for my kids just before last Christmas £50 each. The GT needed a little TLC. They seem heavy compared to the GT I had in the 80s though. Guess I’m just spoiled with MTB weights these days.

I think Charlie has hit the nail n the head.

Except mongoose are about as uncool as you can get for BMX……

but clearly not in Swanage, and if you grow up in Swanage that’s what counts.

Not a well known brand but definitely looks like it would be worth you checking out Mafia Bikes on facebook. They do an entry level BMX which only weighs 24.2lbs for less than £200 and a kids one at £125 coming in soon. Haven’t bought one from them but keep seeing them cropping up at the parks! Just beware that they ship them from Asia and shipping times can be longer than quoted or at least thats what all the irate facebook comments are regarding.