BMX Recommendations...

black_wizardd

I'm thinking about getting into BMX'n (street, X-Games stuff whatever its called ) and was wondering if any of you BMX'ers out there would recommend some decent makes. The only ones I've heard of are Mongoose and GT(not even sure if that's a make or something I just made up ). I dunno how much I'd be willing to spend so could ye put up a few price tags with the bikes.

Cheers.

seamus

Haro and Schwinn make some fantastic bikes. GT and Mongoose, are others.
There are loads of them in the States, Huffy, S&M, Volume, and others. Their bikes are harder to find fully built here, but if you're interested, there are plenty of shops that stock their frames. Maybe someone else knows where for sure......:)

You'll be looking at spending around €400 for something half decent.

If you want to do street, there's a few things you need to look out for:

The frame should be more 'upright' then a racing/jumping frame, it should also be slightly shorter. http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=33
is an example of a street bike.

You want a thick, strong frame. Fúck the weight, that's of no concern to you. A street bike takes a lot of beating.

You need street, or freestyle handlebars. These are usually 4 or 5 piece, and look less curvy than traditional bars. Some people also call these 'kneesavers', but nothing could be further from the truth.

Ideally, you want U-brakes, but here's where you can be caught out - decent U-brakes have 2 arms, and are fastened to bosses on the frame, one for each arm. Older style, and crap U-Brakes are just one-piece, and attached by a single bar put through a hole in the frame. These are OK, for front brake use, but useless for back.

You want thick, slick tyres, anything > 2in. Tyres with dirt grip will make your life harder, and won't last long in urban environments.

You want wheels with as many spokes as you can get your hands on. These guys will be taking the brunt of your abuse. You also want huge axles - Minimum 14mm (front) and 16mm (back). And strong rims.

You want a gyro for your rear brake to do barspins and the like.

You want thick, smooth pegs. I mean zero grip, you don't need it unless you're planning on doing some of that funky 'dancing' freestyle stuff.

You want really big, steel pedals, with huge studs sticking out of them. Hurts like f*ck when you crash, but it feels like you've superglued yourself to the bike

Eventually, you want 3-piece cranks. They're expensive though, and 1-piecers are fine for a while, until you start jumping off some extremely high stuff, or if you're a particularly big guy.

These are only guidelines though . Go into a shop, and any bikes with smooth pegs and freestyle handlebars are normally designed with street in mind, and so will suit the beginner.

I'd recommend:

The Cycle and Fitness Superstore, Tallaght

And another bike shop on parnell street - directly across the road from the ILAC. (forget it's name, but very knowledgable staff)

While most shops supply some form of BMX's many haven't a clue.

black_wizardd

Thanks man, I was'nt expecting that much info, nice one. There's a bike shop in Sligo (where I'm from) that sells Mongoose and from your description of street BMX's I'm pretty sure that's what they are.

I'm pretty sure these are the bikes I saw:

http://www.mongoose.com/mongoose/streetstyle.asp

Thanks again for all the info, much appreciated.

By the way, were the hell do you learn to do the tricks 'n' stuff ? (mates, tv, mags)

seamus

Yep, that's the kind of bike you want.

Learning tricks is all about practise. You start off easy and build up. The first thing to do is to get some basic balance skills down. Practise lifting yourself up onto one wheel, either front or back and try hold it there, to get some good balance sense. Then try moving the bike in other ways - e.g bar spin, or backhops, or fronthops. They might sound a bit simple, and you won't really impress anybody, but everyone had to start out at the smallest tricks. And don't be discouraged if you're not getting it. Just keep trying. I used to spend hours outside just jumping off kerbs and pulling the brakes to lift the wheels When you finally get a trick sorted it feels sooo good.

Try find some other people to ride with, that gives you the most inspiration and ambition.

hacktavist

one thing about mongoose is that im pretty sure the axles will be 10 mm and it wont take much of a beating.

Vladivar

Seamus where are you from I am from Knocklyon near Tallaght. If you want to going riding sometime e-mail me.
bentfork@hotmail.com

seamus

Vlad,

PM me your real name, etc etc, you probably know me, I used to live in Lansdowne Park.