How to make BMX racing big again

29 07 2011

If you spend any time at all on the BMX racing forums you’ll notice that inevitably, before long,  the subject of “How to grow BMX” will come up.  Another variation of this thread is “Why isn’t racing as popular as it was in the 80s?”

People will argue that you have to one thing or another…from doing presentations at local schools to embracing the whole Supercross track phenomenon.

The trouble is, none of things is doing much to grow the sport.  Yet time after time the same ideas keep getting trotted out.

The solution might be simpler than the collective BMX racing community thinks.

Get a friend hooked on BMX.

Wasn’t it Chris Moeller who said back in the early 90s that the way to make BMX grow was to build up a bike and give it to a friend? (Actually, I’m not 100% sure on this quote but the  research department is out on a patio somewhere right now enjoying a pint so let’s just go with it, ok?)

Matt Shelley got Malcolm hooked on BMX

Matt Shelley, from BMXActionOnline, employs a similar strategy. He chats up folks at the track, all the while with the agenda of getting them out racing.

Check out Matt’s latest success story:

 I met Malcolm at the Fresno Nationals last year. His kid races 13 challenger. We got to talking and he loves bikes, but never considered BMX until he saw us gray beards having so much fun. I dropped some science on him and figured he would do what he will with the advice.

Fast forward to the start of this season… there he is with a craigslist bike, a license, turning hot laps, and getting a ton of encouragement from his son. He admits to having a long way to go (his gates are horrid, natch), but through sheer force of early (and maximum) participation–He is currently leading the state series in 50-54 cruiser!

Nice going Matt (and Malcolm)!

Could it be that easy?

I think so.

I’ve had a few instances myself where friends and friends of friends have approaching me and inquired about getting a bike. Usually it starts with, “I see how much fun you’re having…”

So if you’re concerned about “growing the sport”…talk to your friends about BMX…and build them a bike if you have spare parts lying around.

Spread the word and get your friends out riding. Once you do that, this “growing the sport” business will take care of itself.


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Categories : goofiness, New School, Racing

Custom forks: now available from S&M

27 07 2011

After the success of their custom frame program, and more recently the introduction of custom handlebars, S&M has added another part to their custom lineup: forks.

Brake mounts, no brake mounts, different finishes, XLT and classic styles…you name it they’ve got you covered. (There’s even a 22″ version available…if you’re into that sort of thing.)

If the off-shelf options don’t work for you or if you have very specific needs or preferences…this is great news.

Check out the S&M Bikes site for more details.



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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Racing, Skatepark, Trails, Trails/Jumping

(Really) old guys who ride

22 07 2011

Spotted this on the Red Division blog: a post about the 61 & over Cruiser class!

Talk about inspiration…I’ve gotta hand it to these guys…I hope I’m still out there mixing it up and having fun on my BMX bike in my 60s.

Here’s a couple pics of the guys in the article.

Craig Page (61)

George Williams (63)

It kinda proves the old adage:

We don’t stop riding because we get old, we get old because we stop riding. 

Cheers to all the (really) old guys that ride…it’s awesome to see you guys on your bikes having fun and proving that the thrills and excitement of BMX never gets old.


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Friday flashback

15 07 2011

Back in the 80s,  freestyle-oriented 24″ bikes just weren’t available.  The only 24″ cruisers on the market were pure race machines.

Fortunately, that didn’t stop the  BMX Action test team of RL Osborn and Mike Buff from taking the race bikes they were testing, like the Robinson 24″ Pro Racer, out to the quarter-pipe to “get better idea of their handling characteristics.”

Check out this spread of Mike Buff from the November 1983 edition of BMX Action. Pure style!

It would be more than a decade after this magazine came out before freestyle/jumping oriented cruisers would make their entrance to the BMX world. Could pictures like this have played a part in planting the seed? Makes me wonder…

If you’re into this type of “back in the day” stuff, be sure to check out Ed Koenning’s excellent, When are you going to get a real bike? blog. A must read, especially if you were a typical BMX kid in the 80s and lived for the day each month when the new issues of BMX Action and BMX Plus! would hit the newstand.


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Categories : Freestyle, Old School, Racing

Tested: 2011 SE Floval Flyer

12 07 2011

By Ed Vandermolen

The SE Floval Flyer has been around, in a variety of forms, since the early days of BMX. And despite its long legacy and being produced by one of the iconic brands in the industry, it’s not resting on its laurels. The 2011 version may just be the best incarnation of this classic bike yet.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

After checking out the wide variety of race completes this year, the Floval Flyer caught my eye. It appeared that SE had really stepped things up this year with the Floval Flyer (full specs here). The classic lines were still there but it was souped up with some great updates that resulted in a lighter overall weight than previous years, upgrades in components and better handling.

A test drive was in order. Or maybe a full-on test?

Yes, that was the ticket. So with high hopes, I contacted SE with my plan. Thankfully they were onside. With the assistance of Todd Lyons and Brett Downs I was able to get a hold of a Floval Flyer to test.

Rocks out of the box

Pulling the bike out of the box, the first thing you notice is the attention to detail. The white parts really pop against the new-for-2011 plutonium frame color. It comes complete with double-walled Alex rims paired with sealed hubs. The hollow axles and flush axle bolts are a nice touch too. Cro-mo 180mm 3-piece cranks, Landing Gear forks and nice front load stem round out the package. After assembling it and taking it for a quick spin around the block, I was already liking this bike…it handled great.
Track testing

However, the best place to test a bike like this was “in the field” at a BMX track. With the first Ontario ABA Provincial Qualifier just a week away, it was the perfect opportunity to see if the Floval Flyer had “the stuff”.  (Full disclosure: I did switch out the bars for a pair that was taller and wider, along with a slightly longer reach stem…I’m pretty tall and would probably do that with any new race bike…the rest of the bike was bone stock.)

When I parked the bike in the pits, people started stopping almost immediately to check it out. Most were stoked on the look of this bike. A number of impromptu test rides ensued, and almost every rider–many accustomed to big name race bikes like Intense and Redline–all dug the bike and how it handled.

Seconds away from transferring to the main aboard the Floval Flyer (pic by Nicky Pearson)

The bike rides bigger than you might think based on the 21.25″ top tube. I grabbed a friend’s  Redline Flight 24 with a 21.7″ top tube for a comparision sake and the rider area felt very similar. The Floval Flyer has a slightly steeper seat angle than other bikes in its class, so when you’re out of the seat it feels similar.

Out on the track is where it really…uh…flys.

People were commenting throughout the day how smooth I looked on the bike. It felt great. Everything stayed straight and true, it was confidence inspiring.

As mentioned earlier, the Floval Flyer has dropped some weight this year–and it was noticeable–it’s not that far off from pricier race bikes with carbon forks. In addition to the light weight, the bike comes complete with 1.75 Tioga Powerblock tires (front and back)..a further indication that this is a serious race machine. I usually run a slightly wider tire in the front for stability but the way the Powerblocks hugged the corner I’m not so sure anymore…their low rolling resistance also made them feel extra speedy.

SE really did a great job on this bike. If you’re taller guy, you’ll probably want to go with taller/wider bars (and perhaps a slightly longer reach stem) but that’s about the extent of the changes you would need to make. If you’re a weight weenie, a couple of easy upgrades can take this already light bike to an even higher level of light-weight race readiness. In terms of race-ready completes, this bike is hard to beat…all you need to get out on the race track is a number plate. And wouldn’t you know it, SE has thought of this too, and included one with the bike.


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Categories : New products, New School, Old School, Racing

Skyway 24″ Tuff Wheels are back

23 06 2011

After  25 years, Skyway is once again rolling out 24″ Tuff Wheels from their Redding, California factory.

The catch is that it’s a limited run of just 100 sets.

They will be available in black, white, red and blue (25 sets of each color) and feature original NOS alloy flange hubs that have been locked away at Skyway for 25 years.

Personally, I find the black mag/skinwall tire look totally badass. If I had the room in my stable for an old school 24″ cruiser, I’d be all over these.  Take a look at this vintage BMX Action pic of Richie Anderson battling Greg Hill…those wheels just look mean.

For more details on these wheels and information on how to order them, contact planetbmx.com.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, Old School, Racing, Trails, Trails/Jumping

Father knows best

17 06 2011

As a kid working on my bike I leaned heavy on the know-how of my Dad.

At the time, I didn’t think much about the lessons I was learning as he showed me how to fix my bike but they went far beyond simply tuning up my bike.

The stickers tell the story: Dad's bike wrenching goes way back

Thinking back I took away a lot from those times. Here’s some of the things I learned:

Take it easy, don’t force it: Impatience and hasty actions can leave you sorry in the end–be it with a cross-threaded bolt, a stripped axle or  a strained friendship. Think before you do things.

Show some respect: Dad had everything in its place, so he could find it when he needed it. Throwing a wrench in the wrong drawer would not only make him mad but also inevitably be the wrench I needed the next time I was in the workshop (and one I couldn’t find because I was so careless  before).

Don’t be afraid to get a  little help when you need it: As a scrawny kid I sometimes had a tough time budging tight allen bolts. To help me out my dad went to work and got a pipe made up that would neatly fit over an allen key to give me more leverage. He called it “The persuader”. If I had tough bolt to loosen, I called in the persuader.

Sometimes you have to improvise: Grabbing something from the junk drawer to make a shim or creating a make-shift solution out of some old parts was something that Dad was always ready to do. Figuring it out was half the fun, “Wait a minute, this might work…”

It’s not about the bike: All that time we spent in that workshop was about a lot more than just patching tubes or replacing broken parts. We weren’t just building bikes, we were building a shared experience that meant more than I think we both realized at the time. A lot of good times and good memories.

Thanks Dad, for showing me the way.

(For more on my Dad, check out The best coach/mechanic I could ask for)


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KOS Kruiser makes a comeback

9 06 2011

It appears that Mongoose is taking a page out of the SE bikes marketing handbook.

Not only are they offering bikes for the modern-day rider  like the new 24 we featured earlier but also bikes that are more retro-style, befitting its long heritage in BMX, like the updated KOS Kruiser.

You might remember the new 24″ Mongoose has in the pipeline. Trent Brocker and Moody have been seen putting that bike through its paces so you know it’s going to hold up to modern-day riding.

Now to capture that end of the market that remembers the origins of the sport, they’re reintroducing the KOS Kruiser.

Named after Jeff Kosmala, the dominant cruiser rider of the late 70s/early 80s, it was a bike that was piloted to many a championship win.

Kosmala taking care of business (vintage BMX Action shot)

And while it retains its classic retro looks (hello looptail!) it’s been updated to take advantage of the improvements that have happened over the decades since its original release. Think sealed everything, v-brakes and an integrated headtube. They even go so far as to put on an aftermarket ACS freewheel–a nice touch given the tendency of generic freewheels to give up the ghost without warning (and often at the most inopportune time).  The motomag sprocket is pretty sweet too.

Sure it wouldn’t be what you would want to thrash the streets with–it wasn’t meant for that. This bike is for cruising in the truest sense of the word.

Think of it as bike that’s in the same class as the Macneil retro style cruisers. Mongoose’s advantage though is the retro-cool factor of its look combined with Mongoose’s deep legacy in the sport and Jeff Kosmala’s iconic standing as one of the dominant cruiser riders of his era.

For more pics of the updated KOS Kruiser, check out this Flickr photostream.


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Categories : New products, Old School, Racing, street

Dee Snider just wanted to ride

7 06 2011

After rock stardom with Twisted Sister in the early 80s, Dee Snider had to find his kicks in other ways.

One of those ways was BMX.

Snider was a local at Coral Springs BMX in Florida in the early 90s and could be found there, week in and week out, getting his race on.

Dee Snider getting his race on

At the time, Dee was riding a Hutch cruiser but when Chris Moeller at S&M got wind of the rocker’s involvement in BMX, the two ended up collaborating on a signature frame called the Widowmaker (that I posted on recently).

Kind of crazy when you think about it.

Imagine getting up on the gate…and Dee F’n Snider (!) is lined up next to you?

Madness.

(Photo credit: Planet BMX/Color Tuffs Facebook page)


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Craig Kundig: part of 24″ BMX history

20 05 2011

When I think back to the early days of BMX cruisers, one of the first people that comes to mind is Scot “The OM” Breithaupt.

But others played a role too.

Craig Kundig, for one.

Craig helped lead the way towards making 24″ bikes “the standard” for BMX cruisers, replacing the 26″ versions that were more prevalent at the time.

Craig Kundig: part of 24" BMX history

Check out this excerpt from the ABA, when he was a 2004 ABA Hall of Fame nominee:

In a way, all cruiser racers have Craig Kundig to thank for the creation of the class they race. For it was Kundig, as owner of RRS (Riverside Redlands Schwinn), who put one of his fastest amateur team members on a 24 inch bike that quickly put the 26 inch beach-cruisers to bed and created the industry standard of 24 inch wheels on a cruiser. (Of course, it helped when that rider — Joe Claveau, went on to become ABA National No.1 Cruiser rider.) That year was 1981. Around that same time, Craig Kundig was also running the infamous Corona BMX track–still talked about today as THEE gnarliest track in all of BMX.

Craig also had some pretty innovative ideas (for the time) when it came to frame design which he incorporated into his own RRS frames. Just check out this ad:

Today, Craig is still going strong in the bike industry, running the Cyclery USA bike shop.

(Above pic from the Press-Enterprise)


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