Mid Life Crisis Looms.

[keithmoonisalive]

Hi all

I need some advice please.   

Mid life crisis looms, I had to give up the Suzuki GSXR 750 a couple of years back but I'm still missing two wheels every day.

I grew up in the 1980s with BMXs and although I lacked the money for anything decent (I had a Team Murray), I loved every minute of riding. So now I'm in my 40s and I have the following:

- A need for a classic BMX
- Some cash (absolutely no more han £500)
- Local woods
- A daughter who would love to come out riding once her stabilisers are off
- Little idea about what to buy

I'd love a lightweight, classic BMX along the lines of Diamond Back, Haro, Skyway, Ammaco etc but I don't know where to look and where to go to ride some. Ideally I'd like something light but strong enough to go a little mad in the local woods.

What make and model might suit me?

What do you think to this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122467557661?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Please help me! 

Cheers
paulb

[ED209]

Hello Paul

Old school will NOT be strong enough ... save yourself the aggro and heatbreak ... been there... tried it ... broke a collar bone.

Get a nice very light and very strong new schooler for razzin in the woods ... and build yourself a nice old schooler for admiring at shows, crusing the streets, popping to the pub and going out on RAD rides with all the other lads on here 

Welcome in BTW 

[ED209]

Nick Swan has a lovely NS race PK Ripper for sale.

Pull the decals off and make it look old school if you like ... but once you have ridden something new ... you can't go back to old 

[CustardLips]

Welcome to your mid life crisis. 

[griff]

Hello Paul

Old school will NOT be strong enough ... save yourself the aggro and heatbreak ... been there... tried it ... broke a collar bone.

Get a nice very light and very strong new schooler for razzin in the woods ... and build yourself a nice old schooler for admiring at shows, crusing the streets, popping to the pub and going out on RAD rides with all the other lads on here 

Welcome in BTW 

Sage advice from Ed there - plus it would be within budget 

Welcome to 

[Spen69]

Morning mate. Back up the "I want to buy the first bmx I find" bus, park it here, put your feet up and have a chat with folks here to sort you out. The single piece of advice we would all offer from bitter first experience buying bmx is be patient

That ebay bike is junk i'm affraid and I doubt would be what you want. The forks look like Ammaco and the frame probably is although it looks like it was welded and put together by Stevie Wonder but the rest of the bike is absolute garbage and the cheapest kind at that. I'm happy to be corrected but for £500 you should find something actually from the era you want as whilst the forks and possibly frame are from the late 80's, the rest of the parts are not. As for the wheels...... 

So can you be a little more specific about what it is you want to do as riding through the woods jumping a bit and doing so regular does not sound like the best thing for an 80's bike. They tend to work out very expensivery to build and have terrible geometry and creak, rattle ad groan as well as start coming undone if you ride them regular. You might be better off with something newer and cheaper to ride for instance and then spend your time (and spare cash) collecting for an oldschool to go to a couple of pub crawl / days out kind of thing. For me having been back in this bmx hobby for about 17 years now I would spend £100 - £150 on a complete newschool secondhand off eBay to crash about on and then start researching what you want and buy carefully from forums and get a bit of advice.

Also if you're riding in woods and tracks maybe consider slightly bigger wheels although there tends to be less available on the s/h market. Rob Pickle has a SE cruiser for sale and Ed209 has my brother's original Faction with 22" wheels for sale which would both be perfect for enjoying with your kids but giving you time to research and get a feel for bmx again after all these years.

Failing that come to a ride and have a chat with people there, have a go on their bikes and see what you think feels right.

Got to dash but will post links up later.

[WINI]

Good advice all round so far.

My tuppence: Buy a second hand current BMX, there are some great deals to be had and you should be set up for jumping etc for £200.

Use the remaining cash to fund a nice old school frame and fork, and add to it over time. The fun with Old School is in the chase of parts and looking at it. They ride like a bag of old bolts for the most part, although that statement may get me lynched from some on here 

[keithmoonisalive]

Blimey, you lot are so friendly!   

Thank you, this is a HUGE help.  I almost didn't post up the ebay auction as I thought someone here might own the bike, but glad I did now.

You've really given me something to think about - I fell in love with the Ammaco (it's so pretty!), but looks like soldiering on might be the best bet then.

Happy to go against *all* my better judgement and get something new - yes please to posting up ad's if you don't mind.

In terms of meeting, where are people based?

Cheers again and please keep commenting...
paulb

[keithmoonisalive]

Nick Swan has a lovely NS race PK Ripper for sale.

Pull the decals off and make it look old school if you like ... but once you have ridden something new ... you can't go back to old 

Cheers - I've just PM'd Nick about the PK.

So the old school bikes are good to look at, but don't really deliver in terms of reliability, is that what you are saying?

This is terrible news!

[griff]

Depends on a few factors..

A lot depends on how much you'll punish the bike, a lot of us are quite a bit bigger and/or heavier than we used to be
Combine that with stresses of jumping/landing & you can see where that will go 

If you're talking about general riding then OS can be fine (or better) for cruising about on - higher seat posts make for more relaxed pedaling and using a one piece crank can save money and a lot of fiddling about vs an old alloy 3 piece setup.

Both Nick's PK & Rob's Floval would be good, strong, reliable bikes or you could pick up something cheap 2nd hand from eBay if you're patient & careful. eBay is a bit of a minefield simply because there are a lot of shady fookers on there who think they can cash in

[BMX1973]

  to   

[keithmoonisalive]

Depends on a few factors..

A lot depends on how much you'll punish the bike, a lot of us are quite a bit bigger and/or heavier than we used to be
Combine that with stresses of jumping/landing & you can see where that will go 

If you're talking about general riding then OS can be fine (or better) for cruising about on - higher seat posts make for more relaxed pedaling and using a one piece crank can save money and a lot of fiddling about vs an old alloy 3 piece setup.

Both Nick's PK & Rob's Floval would be good, strong, reliable bikes or you could pick up something cheap 2nd hand from eBay if you're patient & careful. eBay is a bit of a minefield simply because there are a lot of shady fookers on there who think they can cash in

Brilliant, thank you v much.

I've read up a little on the PK now and it's becoming more appealing! I'm not a big guy, but I don't want to have to keep repairing stuff and chances are there will be a *lot* of falling off!

Get ready for the most stupid question yet - can I easily fit a front brake to a bike like this?! In order to properly enjoy messing about I'd like to have complete control and for me that means front and back stoppers.

There, I said it.
 

[keithmoonisalive]

to   

Thank you - I've learnt more here in half a day than two weeks of looking at the whole of the 'net!

[Spen69]

Paul, lots of great advice on here mate so please take your time.

Two easy answers for you though - we are based all over the uk and if you look down the sections on the forum contents page you will find "members events" and "RadBMX official events" so there are rides and ramp nights from the south coast to York planned currently to get along to. Not much I the far north and Scotland  but you don't know until you ask. Also there's the big Milton Keynes event in August which will blow your mind if you've never been and think that only a hand full of people would be daft enough to like this hobby...... have a browse through the photos section and see what I mean.

Second easy answer is a modern bike only needs one brake and that usually stops you going over the handlebars so unless you're planning to be doing ends and rock-walks don't worry about one.

That Ripper of Nick's is also very nice indeed btw - I forgot to add it on my list of ideal first buys. However you could go for a cheap newschool complete off the bay local to you and pick up a United, Wethepeople, Subrossa etc for peanus to get you riding again and then take your time looking and sourcing bits for an oldschool if you really need one. I'd buy one of the ones talked about on here and spend the rest on a decent secondhand IslaBike, Frog, Hoy or Early Rider for your daughter as soon as she's ready to be rid of the stabilisers tbh as then she will really want to go bike riding! (Assuming she hasn't already got one of course)

[keithmoonisalive]

Paul, lots of great advice on here mate so please take your time.

Two easy answers for you though - we are based all over the uk and if you look down the sections on the forum contents page you will find "members events" and "RadBMX official events" so there are rides and ramp nights from the south coast to York planned currently to get along to. Not much I the far north and Scotland  but you don't know until you ask. Also there's the big Milton Keynes event in August which will blow your mind if you've never been and think that only a hand full of people would be daft enough to like this hobby...... have a browse through the photos section and see what I mean.

Second easy answer is a modern bike only needs one brake and that usually stops you going over the handlebars so unless you're planning to be doing ends and rock-walks don't worry about one.

That Ripper of Nick's is also very nice indeed btw - I forgot to add it on my list of ideal first buys. However you could go for a cheap newschool complete off the bay local to you and pick up a United, Wethepeople, Subrossa etc for peanus to get you riding again and then take your time looking and sourcing bits for an oldschool if you really need one. I'd buy one of the ones talked about on here and spend the rest on a decent secondhand IslaBike, Frog, Hoy or Early Rider for your daughter as soon as she's ready to be rid of the stabilisers tbh as then she will really want to go bike riding! (Assuming she hasn't already got one of course)

Cracking, thanks. My plan is get something of decent quality first time around, so I don't have to replace it later. Which is why all this advice so far has been great. Avoiding something crappy on eBay will be so much better in the long term and means I concentrate on the important stuff, which is riding.

In terms of my daughter, funnily enough I looked up IslaBike's just before you suggested, wow they are a lot of cash!  Great to think long term though. I'm hoping to start her riding this weekend.

I hear what you are saying about the brake, so will try it out first and see how I get on.

Exciting stuff!

[Spen69]

In terms of my daughter, funnily enough I looked up IslaBike's just before you suggested, wow they are a lot of cash!

Haha, don't get me started on this particular soap-box as I was on it a few years back when my kids needed new bikes..... Trust me, they are worth every penny and designed to teach your kids how to ride as quickly as possible and get them into bikes

Secondhand on ebay is your best bet, then sell it again for a bit less a year later and buy the next model up. My youngest went from a 12" Early Rider Alley Runner balance bike to a 14" Isla CNOC14 pedal and is now on the hand-me-down 16" Early Rider Belter. He is desperately trying to get onto his 20" Redline Micro-race but not quite big enough yet

It's not just BMX on here you know...... here's what I found from the search function

http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,184957.msg1855493.html#msg1855493
http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,167288.msg1673723.html#msg1673723
http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,164382.msg1643245.html#msg1643245
http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,164382.msg1643245.html#msg1643245

[keithmoonisalive]

They look the nuts!

[Andyboy77]

This site is a real treasure of knowledge, advice and help. Enjoy the good vibes and  to    Paul

[keithmoonisalive]

Cheers very much! 

[Spen69]

They look the nuts!

The 16" Belter will be for sale in the next few months if you're interested, he just needs to grow a bit

Here's the 22" wheeled bike I was on about - Ed bought it off my brother last year in the box new. Get him to change the purple bits back to black and you're sorted

As a first step it will get you rolling for peanuts and you can start thinking about an oldschool 20" to look at

http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,190275.0.html

[Bigfrawg]

BEWARE !! You are being groomed by grown ass men who play with kids bikes . Apart from Sven 69 who although has hair on his balls ( ed told me ) has not fully grown and stands at a statuesque 4' 9 3/4 .

Welcome to the site , hello fun , goodbye money 

[Spen69]

I haven't groomed anyone on here for ages Mike...... I think you were the last and from memory, you told me it didn't hurt as soon as you relaxed and started enjoying it   

How's that beard of yours going ya loon - still got a few days supply of food in it

[keithmoonisalive]

Thanks again for all this info. Lots of great advice.

Could anyone add a couple of model ideas for me? So it sounds like you rate Wethepeople, United, Subrossa, PK Ripper and GT, but which models would suit some off roading and last me for as many years as my legs can handle?

Budget of £400, don't mind something well used as long as it's well made (and ideally light weight).

Thanks all!

 

[insectbones]

Some great advice and pointers given so far.

You'll want a full 4130 frame and forks, all the above mentioned companies make them, but they all also make frames that are only part 4130 and Hi Ten steel tubes.

Best bet, find a bike you like and do some research on the model 

Keep asking questions here too.

[insectbones]

Another thing to consider is top tube length, depending how tall you are.

I'm 5 foot 6 and like a 20.5 inch top tube.