BMX – Anyone ever fancied trying it?

As the title says – anyone ever fancied trying their hand at BMX?

If so, what’s stopped you doing it?

its for kids?

🙂

Used to ride 20+ years ago. Tryed my 7 year old sons bmx round Yeadon track the other week thinking no probs been here done this before. Oh how wrong I was it all felt a bit sketchy and not comfortable. Think I will leve it up to him in future.

I can never understand this so I have to ask: why is it just for kids?

Surely its riding bikes in a similar way as riding technical or downhill tracks – Loads of fun and excitment!

Yes – smoothed out my riding no end. You start to look at the trails differently. In fact I might drag it out the shed this afternoon…

Techsmechs – FACT! I’ve started carving up banks and pumping the trails no end since starting riding BMX – its brought my riding on leaps and bounds – much more than anything else I’ve done.

This is the reason for posting really – there is so much we as MTBers can gain but people have a serious reluctance doing it and if anything BMX is no more risky than “All mountain” (to coin a phrase) MTBing.

BMX is a cruel, savage and wanton mistress, she lures you to her bosom and then hurls you to the hard concrete floor laughing whilst all the time whispering “you can do it big boy” in your ear!

get behind me satan!! 😆

I stopped riding MTB’s shortly after the third Malvern Hills Classic, the one where someone ended up getting stabbed (to death, I can’t remember). I rode street, park and flatland BMX. My biggest discovery was that it is unbelievably hard. Most BMX takes huge amounts of guts, the ability to take pain on a regular basis and practice practice practice.

Riding trails (not singletrack, those huuuuge jumps dug out in sets) is amazing and possibly the safest, practice small and work your way up. Again guts are required as those doubles have no middle. 🙂

Street riding is probably the most accessible and will teach you loads of good tecnique for that technical singletrack. I can bunnyhop a flat pedal MTB after years (I was a slow learner) of street riding. It is a bit harsh on bikes but all bikes are a lot better now and parts are über cheap compared to MTB’s. If you live in a city it’s something you MUST do.

Skatepark riding is what most people do as well as the above, as it’s generally indoors so an all year round thing. Good place to learn and there WILL be someone worse than you there. Learn the etiquette of skateparks first and you’ll be fine. There are some free outdoor skateparks around, certainly more than when I started.

Flatland is fun to mess around with and all the top riders have some flatland skills. However it is by far and away the hardest discipline you can do. And I’m comparing it with ANY form of cycling. Top pro flatlanders have ridden nothing else for 10+ years, 6/7 hours a day. It really is that hard but the kick from pulling stuff is amazing, I know.

Racing is good too, but not as fun and you can always ride most tracks anyway.

As far as a bike goes, spending £300 on a new one is the best idea. Second hand ones may have all sorts of stuff on them which isn’t suitable for you, could have easily led a hard life and may also put you off in the end. Stick with one of the big brands, get 3 piece cranks and 14mm axles and a cromo frame and you can’t go too wrong. It’s the same as us telling someone to buy a £400 specialized.

Email me if you want any other ideas.

Phew! (typed on phone!!)

Yep – totally second the fact that it is really hard to do and takes loads of guts – I dropped in on an 8ft quarter for the first time last Sunday and rolling up to the edge and seeing about 2 foot of vertical drop before the transistion takes hold puts a big mental block on you.

I’ve found that Park riding is more strenous than my MTB riding and regularly gets my HR up to my Max which is something MTB doesn’t do as often.

Pulling tricks you have been practicing for a while give you the best feeling ever…

Nice one Rob.

I’ve been thinking about trying to get a BMX on the ride to work scheme at our place. It’d be ideal for riding to work on (on the pavement in other words).

it’ll end in tears!

i tried it a couple of mths ago on my mates sons bikes (at a track) and thought i had not lost it … quick 180 bunny hop with spin out flattered me into believing this to still be the case… bombed at the whoops (do the kids still call them this) landed it but sh@t my pants quite good fun though but wont be getting one anytime soon. Quite a few crashes and the tracks are not very forgiving landings (my mates son now thinks i am highly skillful and nuts )
Quarter pipe drop ins I rememebr I used to be able to grab some serious air (well what counted as that back in the day ) from one but hell not going near one now except to look.

I’m not planning to get airborne on mine. I might jump over the odd kerb or old granny though.

Is this more from the fear of injury though?

I never had a BMX as a kid (yes, pity me), and now riding one feels far too sketchy and unstable, but have just traded my cotic in for a flatland/street/jump bike but with proper size wheels. Similar to many, i’m hoping this will help with bike handling skill, and maybe its the most pointless/fun discipline of our sport, not meaning that in a derogatory way. On a cross country ride, you’re going somewhere, covering distance etc. Flatland/street, is just for the enjoyment, (and probably kudos for the young ‘uns). Seems quite pure to me, more the reasons we all used to ride when growing up, with no boundaries. Or am i reading to much into it?

i love it.
how many 40yr olds are learning invert 3’s? 🙂
there’s a growing bunch of us old/mid schoolers and total 1st timers.
plus we have the genius of atkins to encourage us on and on

kids bikes…………..nah.its the source of off road biking for me

I had one as a kid but I find that my angles are getting slacker as I get older 😆

i have never really riden one properly. i just feel a bit lost when riding a tiny bike!

it took me a few days on a bmx to be able to feel it in the air.i was so used to my mtb’s
now theres no difference and i can ride the 2 on the same day without them feeling strange

I think the thrills you get are amazing. However the reason I stopped BMX was that I didn’t have hours of time to practice new stuff and I was finding it harder and harder. I simply wasn’t having fun anymore as I didn’t progress as my friends were. I wish I had started as a youngster.

Just for kids? Are you joking? Watch Joe Kid on a Stingray (it will amaze you, it nearly got me back into BMX) and say that again! If you start at, say 14 I reckon by 18-21 you’ll be pretty good if you try hard. Better to start young i think but don’t let that put you off, especially if it’s trails or street you want to do.

Commuting on a BMX? That’s like doing it on a downhill bike, pointless, harder, a waste of a bike, and you’ll look like a dork.
Plus while we might respect you for having a BMX, you will never live it down when your workmates see you.

yep , my BMX was delivered last week , haven’t taken it out for a big session but a quick blast around the black made me realize its a world apart from my XC MTB.

I can see mucho fun and a few A&E visits in my future 🙂

bowls and quarters for me 🙂

this year i will be mostly leraning ice/tooth picks

I reckon those guys riding BMX are phenomenal. Wish I could do it.

I tried a couple of years back and found it too much effort for too little gain

Stabbed to death

At a race ?!?

It’s become one of my favorite parts of my riding and don’t get me wrong I still love a 6 hour day out in the Peaks as well. But it is purely just messing around on a bike which makes you feel really good.

Those of you who are keen to try it or have bought a bike and want to try it out – there is an underground of non-teenagers riding round the country who would more than likely be happy to hook up and ride / show you the basics.

Yeah at a race. 🙁
Anyone else here remember the Malverns Classic?
Third one I went to had a lot of locals there, beer tent got WAY out of control and serious trouble ensued. The Sunday was cancelled and I didn’t ride my MTB for a long time after that. It was very sad. I think it was about 1993/4.

I competed in the XC and dual slalom. I was only a handful of people using flat BMX pedals on my Kilauea, with magura hydrostops (which cost me £280 for a full set!!!!!!!)

Anyone can have a go at BMX racing. Just come along to some races on your mountain bikes if you don’t have a BMX and race in the 16-29, 30-39 or 40+ cruiser classes.

Commuting on a BMX? That’s like doing it on a downhill bike, pointless, harder, a waste of a bike, and you’ll look like a dork.
Plus while we might respect you for having a BMX, you will never live it down when your workmates see you.

Who cares?? I may have a few years ago but once you’re past 50 and Alzheimers kicks in you forget to worry about what folks think 😉 and when the skatepark is on your route home it’s even better 😀

One thing I’ve learnt from riding a BMX is that I no longer care what people think.

Its their problem not mine if they’ve got an issue with it!

Yeah I see that, I just think another type of bike would be better, just a bit of a waste if you weren’t going to use it as intended. But if there is a skatepark on the way home thats another matter!! Why not on the way TO work as well?

this is an interesting subject to me.
I started out riding mtb when i was 14ish and by the time is was 17 i switched from jumping mtb to bmx, riding at skateparks etc (i still did the odd bit of mtb)

I have quit now after breaking the same arm 3 times (and surgery twice for a metal plate and screws) because i cant really afford to break my arm again. However it makes me wonder why more mtb’s dont ride BMX, it i alot harder and teaches you alot of skills very rapidly.

The amount of mountain bikers that try and learn to jump, seem to have so little control of the bike in the air. I would advise everyone to get a bmx and build their own jumps (however small). I went from riding 1 foot lips with 3 foot gaps, to riding 8 foot take off’s with 20+ foot gaps in about 3-4years. Once you master the control of the bike in the air its just balls doing the bigger stuff, but will help so much for mtb’s.

It is in my mind quite possibly the most fun type of bike riding (there is nothing like flowing through a set of trails, its feels like flying). The only downside is the injury………..

oh and for those people who think they feel too small, its probebly because you have never ridden a proper bmx. Size is done by bar height and top tube, childens bmx’s have tiny top tubes and feel really cramped

my lad is shit hot on the bmx
i went to the works in leeds with him, and i hired a cruiser type bmx.
it is all made of wood and ply.

but god it dunt half hurt when you fall.

Why not on the way TO work as well?

Ha, I’d never get there then. 😉

i love the simplicity of riidng bmx in bowls.its effortless

I used to race in the mid 80’s at Birmingham wheels and spent every bit of free time riding – recently got a BMX again (although I am now a nearly middle aged Mum )- can’t believe how harsh it is to ride – have got too old and used to a full-suss mtb I think. Have had a go at the local skate bowl when I go the park with the kids and despite a lack of big air its great fun. Haven;t used it for the school run yet.
Agree about the skills bit – if you can do them on a bmx its easier on a mountain bike.

I tried it again, it hurt!

Don’t listen to Jedi, hes a big kid that will break you, the fecker ain’t bad on any sort of bike though.

Every time I see him it always costs me in one way or another, his enthusiasm is infectious.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

😉

lol heh heh heh

its all about the bikes dude 🙂

like kirstie once said

u only grow old when u stop 🙂