Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)
  • bmx cruisers, racing, vets class… as a beginner?
  • gavtheoldskater
    Free Member

    thinking aloud here… my 7yr old does bmx training and the odd summer series race with the local club. great bunch of blokes (and ladies) who run it.

    in said summer series, run alternately at the 2 local tracks, they have a vets class. about 8 entrants generally ranging from a mum having a go to old time racers who fly and all in between.

    they tried to talk me into having racing last year, and now the summer series is being planned again i’m tempted.

    i have ridden bmx tracks on my jump bike (can’t jump mind you) but have never touched a 24″ cruiser.

    will i die?

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    you won’t die – but you will learn more about bike handling than you ever thought possible.

    and you’ll enjoy it immensely!

    buy one, buy one now.

    scruff
    Free Member

    I think you might die. Be fun though, wish we had a decent track locally.

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    gavtheoldskater
    Free Member

    are there any sizing considerations for a cruiser; tt length, cranks etc?

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    i’m 6’2″ – and bought a cruiser with a 22″ top-tube.

    fit’s very well.

    reggiegasket
    Free Member

    I’m an old timer and have just bought a cruiser to play around on this summer. You’ll need to learn how to jump but otherwise you’ll be fine. Get some decent kit and practice.

    See bmxtalk for some good s/hand deals on 24 inchers

    Bumhands
    Free Member

    Mike from Dialled bikes is probably the best person on here to offer advice on this.

    Although I can assure you that you won’t die.

    Bumhands
    Free Member

    And you don’t need to jump.

    Gav, if you want to give the BMX racing a go, then you can race on your jump bike first and if you catch the racing bug, then get yourself a cruiser.

    If you definitely want to take the plunge and get a cruiser (no you won’t die – but you will soon notice how much quicker and responsive BMX bikes are compared to MTBs), there are plenty of good starter complete bikes ranging from DK/SE/MCS at cheaper end of the scale to Kuwahara/Free Agent/Haro in the mid-market and Redline/Intense at the expensive end.

    If you want to build up a custom bike, a little company called Dialled Bikes sells the most popular cro-moly/853 frame on the UK race scene 😉

    Which club do you/your kids train at?

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    Are free-agent coming into the UK again?

    Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet 🙂

    I got addicted riding an Ambush-24

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    gav – you bought a cruiser yet?

    ma-maracas
    Free Member

    I’m in the same boat as Gav, my son has just started and it looks far too much fun not to get a cruiser and have a roll round!

    Keep us posted Gav.

    SprocketJockey
    Free Member

    I started racing BMX when I was your son’s age but that was about 30 years ago…. I would love to give it another go. How veteran is the vet’s class exactly?

    rhys
    Free Member

    Gav, you can have a few laps on mine (not selling) I’m at The Track every Weds, started out just watching as wel!

    ma-maracas
    Free Member

    £170 for a 2007 floval flyer, described as great condition (2 owners), sound about right?

    Big-M
    Free Member

    2009 30-39 Brits

    Classes are spilt by age,

    I raced 30 -39 cruiser a couple of years ago and now into 40+ cruiser but stopped racing, some clubs will even split a 40 – 44 cruiser & 45+

    Some guys are the kids who raced 30 years ago and have never stopped, they’re so bloody quick you wouldn’t believe it but there’s plenty of blokes who rode Raleigh Burners in the early 80’s and haven’t been on a bike since.

    It’s a really family friendly atmosphere and a great laugh, also let’s you know just how smooth you need to be on the bike and how much you can get away with when you ride an MTB!
    Try it, enjoy it, great fun

    gavtheoldskater
    Free Member

    thanks for all the positive replies and advice, and apologies for not posting back sooner but the surfs been up!

    mike… the boy rides at cornwall bmx club primarily, they do excellent training with the kids and are really good with them. we also like the track out at portreath but if i ride, and by the time i’ve paid for diesel to get over, its a bit of an expensive session.

    rhys, thanks for the offer. may well take you up on that. one of the guys from cornwall bmx also emailed me after seeing this thread so i think i’m rapidly painting myself into a corner here and will have to get something sorted in a couple of months time and give it a go.

    dialed bikes… who are they then, any good? ; )

    martinxyz
    Free Member

    Freeagent has been around. They have been selling here for years.I know someone that got a limo(2009 i think) and compared to my team issue haro it felt oddball.The bb felt quite high compared to my own bike. A few others agreed on it not feeling as good.jump on a few bikes before you buy as some look the part but might not feel the best for you.unlike mtb the angles and design of race frames/bikes could all look so similar.i would get to the track and ask for a wee blast of a few.

    acjim
    Free Member

    Sorry for the hijack… What kind of age is good for kids to start? My eldest is nearly 5 and a confident rider, but no prodigy. Do they need to be a certain size?

    I think Bath Bmx club is our nearest track

    gavtheoldskater
    Free Member

    my boy started bmx at 6, but at 5 he was riding around ‘the track’ at portreath. but i’ve seen younger kids turn up.

    best bet is to go see your local club and ask. they may even have some club bikes that they will let you try.

    acjim
    Free Member

    thanks, will do that

Viewing 21 posts - 1 through 21 (of 21 total)

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