Hello!...and I need a bike!!

[Gal Dove]

Hi folks! I've been meaning to get 'round to this for years - and now is the time, damn it!

Ok, so I'm now nearing 47(!) and used to run around on (1st) a Raleigh Burner and (2nd) self-build GT that I bought bit by bit. This was during my mid to late teens - so '84 to '88ish. Was more in to freestyle than racing really but did once compete in a race down in Newton Abbot(!). Seem to remember getting to the semi's...

I've been wanting to get back in to this for years - but life has been getting in the way. The Holy Grail for me and the lads was always a PK Ripper. Never quite got there, though. To keep it brief for now - can you guys point me in the right direction so that I can start my search for one of these bikes? (I see that there are quite a few owners on this 'site who seem to have the sort of thing that I'm looking for - do these things often change hands via 'sites like this one?).

I have a rough idea of the sort of spec that I'm looking for - silver or light blue colour, Landing Gears (of course), maybe black or blue Skyways, Redline cranks with four arm 'spider' chain ring, would also love a pair of CW bars if poss as I used to have a pair on my old GT. Obviously, I'm more than prepared for having to be flexible with my list of 'wants' though...!

Ok, thanks for reading this and please forgive my references to the spec & tech of my build - I'm obviously way out of touch with such things. I should also point out that if I do manage to get my hands on one of these - it will be ridden!

Any help, suggestions or pointers would be very very welcome! 

[deeman]

keep an eye out on here in the For Sale section and on ebay and Bmxmuseum.com you should turn up a Ripper pretty quick. 

[laidback]

Welcome to RAD! it's a great place to be, and all the Radsters are friendly bunch, if not a little odd

As for the bike, i hope you have a reasonable budget.  To give you an idea, things like alloy hubbed Tuff 2's will set you back £120 upwards for a tidy set.  Redline flight cranks come in a variety of styles (very minor differences) but original "single pinch" ones in nice condition are pricy.  You could have course opt for the current issue ones, that look similar but are far more reasonably priced.  Especially if it will be ridden!

The bike you build really depends on how much you want to spend, and how anal you are about era correct parts.  you could build a nice looking rider, with some repop parts for far less than one built with original parts.  The other option is to buy one complete, but most people tend to split their bikes when they sell, to recover as much cash as they can.

If you subscribe to the site, then you can post wanted ads, and sell stuff.  Well worth the money. Lots of parts change hands on the bmx pages on facebook too.

I'm not too knowledgeable about Rippers, but i'm sure some of the guys on here will be along to advise shortly....

Cheers, Paul.

[oldscool]

  to rad you will find a ripper ok, just dont jump at the first thing that comes along. A guy that lives by me bought the the first one he came across thinking they were super rare and now has to look at an over polished piece of crap. 

[In2bmx]

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I have a white PK ripper i was thinking of parting with 

[griff]

welcome to RAD Gal

[Gal Dove]

Thanks for the replies (so far) everyone!

Paul, thanks for your thoughts on this. As you say, I'm going to use this bike so I don't think that I necessarily need or want NOS or original spec on the bike. I've had a look around and have still got a pretty open mind about what I looking for here.

I notice that Alan's are going to be selling the (very) new Mike Buff Ripper at £800 soon...  Any thoughts on this..? Seems like big money to for something that might not hold it's money to me...

In2BMX; do you have any more info on your white Ripper? Not sure if you want to PM me or post here...? (I don't seem to be getting email alerts when someone replies to this post - is this normal or can I set this function up? Thanks.)

If I could get hold of a reasonably priced loop tail frame with some Landing Gears I'd be tempted to go for my own build but I'd probably end up buying a mixture of new and secondhand spec for the bike anyway - e.g. it looks like I might be able to get hold of new (or relatively new) Redline cranks, etc. Can anyone suggest the best place to look for this sort of thing? A pair of Beartraps would also be my pedal of choice. It looks like Alan's used to sell a new version of these (Hutch) pedals but they're currently out of stock. I haven't got 'round to calling Alan's but does anyone know whether they're still in production - and if they're as good as the 'originals' ?

Thanks again.

Gal. 

[griff]

I can tell you that you'll struggle to find a nicer ripper than Carl's, was NOS up until he built it & came with a very rare undrilled landing gear fork. Will also mean that it won't be cheap though.

Depending on what you're looking to use it for Wini had a nice rider condition ripper for sale too, not sure if it's gone

Keep your eyes peeled though & try and be patient, stuff does come up eventually & while you're waiting you can always do your research and figure out exactly what you want - always better to buy once

[BMX1973]

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[griff]

If you want Ripper looks and modern reliability then have a look at this beauty 

http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,188806.0.html

[adenough]

Hi dude, @ 47, a Ripper probably isn't the best choice of frame as you're gonna ride it.
They are probably one of the weakest frames from the old school crop. To look at, amazing, but.......

Get summat Cro-Moly