[Closed] BMX

Bought a Mongoose Expert a couple of years ago from Harry Halls after reading one too many issues of 'Ride' magazine.

Can't be that difficult I thought, kids do it!

First ride out, tried to bunnyhop a kerb (a very, very small kerb) outside Morrisons. Landed on the saddle with my thigh - result, one of those bruises that extend all around your thigh, from knee to tackle and a crushed finger from smacking the kerb.

It now sits in a corner of my front room, mocking me silently. I hang socks on it.

Use it occasionally to blast around on for an hour, great for quick training rides (weighs about 35 pounds).

Seriously, if anyone in the Manchester/West Yorks area would care to show a fat old gimmer how to ride one of these things properly, I'd be grateful. Too scared to go to the skate park in case anyone thinks I'm a kiddie fiddler. 🙂

Ride 20" in the winter cos I cant be arsed getting cold and wet riding mountainbikes.Not too much crossover with the mtb,other than having no suspension and only one gear.But cant really see me doing 360's and turndowns on me 29er.To be honest if you cant jump on a mtb youve got **** all chance on 20's.Its all harder not easier.

bmx rocks!
helps big time with mtbing
a 360 on a bmx is way easier than on a mtb

A 360!

I can just about manage a 36.

anyone wishing to ride bmx on here can hook up with me,bushwacked etc...

bushwacked thought he could pump a bike til he got bmx 🙂

if you want a nice pair of size 12 Duff's for £19.00 I could post them to you, I was going to take em back to the shop yesterday but never got around to it. They are going back tomorrow after work unless anyone want em?

Jedi - where do you start?

I can hop a MTB, but the BMX just seems stuck to the ground. The brakes don't seem to do anything, I'm leant so far forward I can't see and as soon as I turn the bars, they seem to want to tuck?

I've tried setting up a slalom course with cans, but don't seem to be able to trust the bike at any kind of speed.

just have to learn how to preload it to hop.

brakes are a shit to set up but hwen done they work.
mine work like a disc brake 🙂
dont turn so much ,lean

tuesdays at corby is where its at

Ok, I'll give it a pop.

Will start a new thread to show you the injuries.

Thanks for the advice.

how far from corby are you(northampton)

im shite on a bmx. better by far on mtb but getting it back slowly.
i stopped 25yrs ago

I'm in Todmorden.

Will have a ride down to Tod/Hebden skate parks at the weekend and see if I can learn owt.
Will try practicing my hops on the rigid MTB meanwhile.

Think I really need to book a skills course too - I always feel like I'm really shifting my weight about on a bike, but if anyone takes a photo I look like a sack of spuds 🙂

Never had a BMX as a kid, had one of the first Grifters!

I think the initial crash knocked my confidence a bit, so I'll go and play in the woods first to discover the ideal lean angles/how far I can push it before it tucks etc.

skateparks are great for learning how to pump around without pedaling
bowls are even better

Havent been on here much but found this thread at the top of the list.. and found "To be honest if you cant jump on a mtb youve got **** all chance on 20's.Its all harder not easier. "

piffle. utter piffle.

u know it

Always fancied having a go at a bowl.

It's the image that enters my head whenever I hear the words 'flow' and 'rhythm'.

Ta for the advice, will report back after practice.

sometimerider - hope you've learned as much as I have, sorry for highjacking your thread.
Let us know how you get on in Edinburgh.

if you ride a bowl try and pump in a figure of 8 if possible

piffle. utter piffle.

kinda but when i went back to a bmx it is tough as when hopping on mtb you can load the suspension a bit. if you learn your skills on a mtb and then go to a bmx it would seem hard

if you live near burley, go to the indoor bowl.
its lurrvelly

Found it,

www.interactpark.com

Just up the road, that's the place for me. 😀

its closing soon.
the bowl is massive and easy to ride.
there's usually a group of old boys there sundays
they;ll show you how to drop in etc..if not climb in with you bike!

sometimerider,
scotland has some awesome parks that i must get up there to ride

Aye, bmx rocks, been riding for all of about 2 months on it after being no-skills mountainbiker for years. Improving my riding no end. Been riding manchester Platt Fields as it's round the corner, brilliant place.

Absolute balls of steel required to do anything big on a bmx, and tons of skill. Six foot drop on an mtb? Easy. On a bmx - nerve shredding. Going from one to the other does take a little period of adjustment. Personally I think it transfers to mtbing massively as it teaches/demands fluidity and good technique. Totally different type of fitness required too.

Seeing just how many of the best mtb pros in the world have come from a bmx background makes a convincing case for their usefulness.

Most of us were brought up on BMX surely? OK we might not have been down the local sckate park or bowl all the time but most will have spent half of their childhood on one wheel or jumping whatever you could find to lie in the middle of the road. Coke cans, planks of wood, mates...

And that was on Raliegh Burners. I figure it must be loads easier on a lightweight decent BMX.

i first got a bmx in 1979 🙂

Surfr,

Yep, playing in the woods on road bikes with cowhorns, then three or four years failing to destroy a Raleigh Grifter. Flattened my balls on the toptubes a few times though - Damn you Sturmey Archer!

Never had a BMX though - by the time they were big round our way I'd "Grown Up" (ha!) and moved on to road bikes.

You never forget how to ride a bike, but I'm a very different size now, and what kids do instinctively with no sense of fear or danger doesn't come naturally to a fat 40 year old.

I like playing around on the MTB, but don't seem to be able to transfer my meagre skills.

Looking forward to trying to learn though. 😀

Sometimerider - sign up for some lessons and see how you like it. I was lucky to have some pointers on what to do otherwise I would have struggled and given up. Looking back on it now - its the best thing I've done.

When I first went I wanted to see what it was all about and expected to be laughed out of the skatepark - but found that most of the people down there were my age and the youngsters were really welcoming and helpful.

The beauty of BMX is that everyone starts at somepoint and there is a lot of support for those people who are learning. Everyone who rides has had to learn at some point so they know what you go through mentally as you tackle something new.

In terms of crossover to MTB - Somethings I can do on a BMX I can't do on a MTB but I think this is just time on the bike and practice (Rusty Spanner - keep riding BMX and over time you'll get used to how it handles). However for a few months now I've been aware on the BMX that when the bike does something unexpected I sort it out without even thinking about it. I've not spent as much time on the MTB due to the weather recently but I was hooning down a technical run the other day and I just felt so much more in control of the bike - it was like I was correcting the path of the bike without even thinking almost like it was a smooth surface. Great feeling!!!

Jumping as well - I feel so much more in control of the bike in the air, but I do find the larger wheels are cumbersome and so much less manuveroable than 20". Haven't figured out what the fuss is about on 29" wheels as I just don't understand why other than to make it more difficult to ride. (Sorry to all those 29" fans out there)

see you at corby bushwacked 🙂

Yeah - expecting to be there for 2pm.

Gonna focus on my Airs today and I have a date with peg stalls!

But thinking might end up sessioning the Spine mini if those pesky skaters aren't all over it like flies on sh1t

im airing the vert,5taps and icepicks

Rock on!

Not really been riding mine enough to learn anything useful on it, not helped by the fact that my local park is quite notorious and ghetto as f--k. The locals can ride it every which way, beginners like me generally cruise around slowly before getting a wheel stuck between some of the decaying concrete slabs and falling off. It's fun to ride a BMX at the pump track though.

Where's that park Mr A?

I can't hid my ignorance any longer. What *is* a 'pump track' ?

Pump track is a track consisting of bumps that you can pump your bike round.

The aim is to get round and go as fast as possible WITHOUT pedalling.

Here are a few pics I've stolen from the internet of a pump track

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

Bushwacked, Dean Lane, AKA "the Deaner". Some of the locals here, they are pretty handy. The skatepark stuff starts at about 1:30. I have to admit that I generally shuffle away in shame when they get going.

Is that Bristol??? Looks proper ghetto!

[img] ?v=0[/img]

We're planning a roadtrip down that way soon - hook up with us if you like and we'll show you a few bits to get you progressing.

That's the one! The good guys can do stuff with that park that's nothing short of astounding - [url= ]check out this ridiculous table[/url] - but for someone who justs wants to learn to ride a quarter it's a bit rubbish.

There's loads of BMX tracks, skateparks and street spots down Bristol way and I'd be happy to show you chaps round. 🙂