New to BMXs – what do I need to know?

I’m 5’9″ and my bike has a 21″ top tube. I used to ride a different Sunday that had a 20.5″ TT and smaller bars and I didn’t get on with it at all. Too small and twitchy. Not sure if its the TT, bars or other geometry thats made my current one feel so much better though.. here’s mine, I love it 😀

Love that green tom.

chiefgrooveguru – Member
I see some BMXs only have a rear brake and then the lever is on the right – how does that feel when you’re used to UK brakes?

I rode bmx from ’82 – ’05 and always had the rear brake on the right. Took a while to get used to mtbs with their weird brakes when I started. Thought i’d made the switch successfully until a recent trip to inners when my foot slipped off on a jump and instinctively dabbed the rear brake to stop the cranks spinning. Sadly for me, i’d pulled the front brake. I crashed, herniating a couple of discs in my neck. Shouldn’t be a problem if you only have one lever though. 😆

I think I’ll swap the lever to the left – my left hand’s stronger than my right (from years of bass playing I have only one weak finger, the rest are digital ninjas 😉 ) and according to bike brake logic your dominant (only!) brake lever should be operated by the hand which you don’t use to indicate when turning across the lane of oncoming traffic.

Another big fan of the BMX here… I too am way too old to be trying to mix it with yoofs at the skate parks but I’m past caring now I have the bug. Not really ridden the Mtb for a few months now. Having a 10 year old that likes scootering is a pretty good excuse to get out on the bike. I’m currently riding his Norco bmx which is ok but I’m after something a little bigger with slightly higher bars. Always ride with a back brake and it’s fitted on the left as they should be… Lots of respect for the kids who ride brakeless and still manage to hold manuals all around the skatepark.

Somebody post a Bmx for dads on the forum,sounds great thread is awesome

I ran the rear only brake lever on the right since I broke my left hand. The two smallest digits never felt strong enough when I needed the brake on hard. I now have a dx v brake on the old bmx on the right hand side as the cable runs better to the noodle along the left side of the top tube.

I also have a Haro similar to the one questioned above. Its a team issue from 2009. the cable guides are on the left of the top tube and it came with a carbon/alloy right hand lever. You don’t really need to get used to it. You rip around a bmx track and know that there’s only one brake to scrub off speed with so there’s nothing to actually get into yer head!

The stability of the haro with the 21″ top tube is very confidence inspiring compared to the 20.5″ bike at the track.The Haro alloy frame with chainstays nearly 3 times as deep as the chromoly S&M stays feels like a rocket ship when you put the power down.Fine if you plan on doing a bit of racing or blasting around the track.
Don’t think mountainbikes re: stiff/uncomfy or flexy/more comfortable. It’s not going to come into it! Its a strength/weight/stiffness thing that will be your choice with whatever type of riding you plan to do.. and if you plan on messing about jumping all the time or never leaving a skatepark,then go with a steel frame.If you want to go fast and like the idea of a light bike,then its probably going to be an alloy race bike you’ll end up with,although many riders still race steel (and kick arse on them too)

Don’t think that the bike will always feel completely alien with 20″ wheels. It takes me around 3-4 days to get back into it at the track coming off 26″ wheels so at least give it time. To jump onto one for a few mins,you would think its near impossible.. but stick at it. Like the others have said,consider a cruiser.

So the main difference between track and park BMXs is the tt length and at 6ft I want a tt of about 21″ for a track bike. Are there other important geometry differances that I should think about?

What about tyres, should they be knobblys or have a more cut slick type tread?

Lots of respect for the kids who ride brakeless and still manage to hold manuals all around the skatepark.

This is the (ex)owner of Fit. Robbie morales would amaze you on a bike. I have seen him rider super smooth around Livi skatepark with no brakes,easily managing to manual around both bowls. Can’t stress how smooth he rides, he could probably ride skinnies and never buckle them! (20×1&3/8ths rim width)As you can see,it doesn’t matter how big you are,if you can ride well you can’t blame your weight for not being able to do it.

http://img.bnqt.com/CMS/bnqt/network/bnqt.com/media/justin-kosman/0006-4ca7ffb1-4a82864f-c014-93c032ab.jpg

Got one! 🙂

Love that green tom.

cheers 🙂 It wasn’t my first choice as the copper one looked so good, but was out of stock. The green has grown on me, and it’s a limited edition so makes me feel special 😆 The cranks will be rawed whenever I can be bothered though, since all the green paint is rubbing off and looking crap anyway.

Budha smiles when I have any of my bikes in the garden 8)

And here’s the new acquisition:

Really tempted to pick up another BMX and give it another crack… Anyone know of anywhere good to ride around Hull? Dunno if we have any tracks, and I’m more into that than park I think.

Nice, my wee boy has a Mongoose 8)

the best way to choose a BMX is by colour or brand/rider allegiance

Colour: Orange like my Soul and the hoody I’m wearing right now. Tick!
Brand: Mongoose – sponsors of Chris Akrigg, my favourite rider. Tick!

I’m guessing the previous owner was an adult who didn’t take to it because there is almost zero wear on the tyres, not even the rear tyre skidz by kidz evidence. Bearings all feel brand new. And it has two brakes – happy non-tricksy MTBer. Tried pumping some figure of eights on the rooftop carpark here – I’m so rubbish… But I will get better!

This thing is awesome: Feels (and looks) like my Cotic Soul and Brompton had a baby!

Ok, I’m in my 40s and am considering getting a BMX to ride a bit, mainly to improve my bike handling skills on the mountain bike. There is one of those concrete skate/bike parks near me which would probably be my main riding place; no dirt jumps or pump track in the area. I have no illusions about doing stunts or anything!

Would something like this Intense BMX suit my needs? No illusions that its XTR quality or anything…

Edit – no issues with the brake lever being on the right here. I’m American, and that’s what I’m used to. I’m not saying that its better or anything; some in the US switch them around and run them moto style.

You’d probably be better off getting a bike more suited for park riding, the intense looks like a race bike so not sure how good it’d be for what you’re after.

i started back up in BMX last October at the great age of 31 (packed in riding when I was 19) never looked back, I ride with guys of my age so no problems with look like a sex pest, we tent to ride trails and i’m luck that I have two fantastic private wood stops within 10 mins of my house. I purchased a complete FIT Brian foster signature (last years model as it was £475 instead of £720), i love every time I ride and we are all off down south for a week in August to ride BMX every day :-).

my little girl chilling on mine 🙂

this is the last one in our 12 pack

Had some fun on my local jumps – v small air was had. I’d forgotten how bumpy BMXs are offroad though – that and having to stand up all the time will add some physical challenge to my commute! Have requested a copy of Pro BMX Skills for my birthday in the hope of avoiding injury through poor technique…

Tom – thanks. I really don’t know anything about BMX, and don’t want to do the equivalent of buying an XC full suspension bike when I need a downhill bike!

Other than the presence or absence of pegs, how do you tell a park bike from a race bike?

That’s quite a big jump… We have some similar man size jumps here and they are so far beyond my skill level it’s like a learner driver considering an F1 race!

Joe, from what I’ve gathered geometry doesn’t vary more than about 0.5″ or 1 degree in most directions – nothing like the vast difference between an XC and DH bike. Posh race bikes are v light. My little Mongoose cost £85 secondhand (feels and looks like new bar the odd scratch) and weighs ~26lbs. I think it’s more a beginner BMX than a proper park or race version, which suits me fine!

Anyone know what the mechanical trail on a standard BMX is? Seems a Brompton is 24mm. Wonder what my Soul is…

21.25″ TT, spot on for my 5’10” with long arms.
Top tube length makes a big difference. 21″ would be fine for me for street/park, 20.5″ feels tiny.

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ANYBODY post me a photo or info on some nice bmx cruisers please,ive got to get 1,like the look of the se big ripper

It looks alrite, get your seat put down though. I used to have an Orange one

Ive got a chance of a haro f1 at £70, how do I measure the tt? Is it likely to be much use to me at 6’2 ish
what else should I check for?

Take a look at http://www.sourcebmx.com

We the People are a popular brand with cred. Fit Verde and United (British) are also up there. All the top bikes (£400 plus) should be full cromoly ie light…personally im 38, ive got a Verde that was on a deal that my early midlife crisin ie didnt have a bmx in the 80’s had a grifter instead..meant i had to buy…

i would like to get a bmx for riding to the shops,messing around on (i have non existent bike skills though/am 37 😳
i did have a hoffman 900 back in 2005 that i liked (sold it unfortunately).
this time i plan on buying a more “racy” bmx (as i cannot do tricks/get air e.t.c)
although i do like those flatland bmx’s (they are awesome looking bikes 😀

raceface 90 43 here same here,let me no what you buy,had a go on a 20inch being 6ft i felt a right tit on it

have just looked at the mongoose site.man i love the look of this beauty 😀
as the shop i go to stocks mongoose (i think they do we the people also).
i just love the colour of it (reminds me of my old raleigh elan road bike from back in the day)
will only be using it as a runaround/for messing about on.maybe if i feel brave,to try out some of the small jumps at the skatepark near to the shop (as long as no one is there 😳
anyhoo it’s a new bike what’s not to like 😀

SourceBMX were a client of mine in my corporate days – their shop and indoor bike park is amazing! I would say the best thing in Hastings but that rather undersells it…

The BMX saddle height thing – is it put it all the way down because it’s always too low for pedalling and gets in the way when higher? Part of me thinks I should leave it up so I don’t come to hate my MTB saddle being in the way when jumping…

i just have bike lust (for a bmx 😳 after seeing this on wethepeople site 😀
by the gods i would love to be able to afford one of those bad boys (but i would be too embarrassed to ride it (as i really do not have any bike skills to do it justice).
i’ll shut up now 😉

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bmx[/url] by mk_dorsoduro[/url], on Flickr

Here’s my 20″ race bike. I’m 6ft, it has a 21″ top tube and is plenty big enough for me!

Here is my flatland bike

Stripped it down for a lick of paint. It’s a heavy old thing though, I’d like a lighter one and some 3 piece cranks.

there all to small for me, looks like a brompton

The BMX saddle height thing – is it put it all the way down because it’s always too low for pedalling and gets in the way when higher?

Pretty much. There’s no point in sitting down to pedal on a bmx so get it out of the way. And a high seat looks shit. I do hate my mtb saddle being in the way even when its at its lowest now though, takes ages to get used to.

I’m taller than you.

I have a Fly Pantera with a 21.4 inch top tube. Perfect for me and Im over 6’2″.

Its currently unused and is covered in rust, want to buy it?