What are the basics? Are there any?

[Bushwacked]

Being a newbie to this I'm wondering what the basics are to BMX'ing? I want to progress at a good pace but also want to make sure I've got a solid foundation.

I'm from a Mountain bike background (as some of you know) and I'm feeling like progression-wise things are slowing down which I know I should expect from time to time.

The main reason for this I think is that I don't feel as in-control of my BMX as I do my MTB, not sure if it is the set up for me (bars too short for my height for example) or just the general difference from my usual bike. Certain things I can do on my MTB I find really challenging on my BMX - step ups and jumps for starters.

Anyway, where I am going with this is I'm wondering what you lot would consider the basics being? What one or two skills will help me to feel more comfortable on my bike and help me to progress.

Cheers 

[spesh]

i think you need to experiment with your set up
have your bars forward,have your seatpost high whatever feels comfortable to you and f#ck the trends of low seat and angle back bars
i tried my bars back a few degree past vertical and i kept flipping the bike off jumps and when i turned standing up the bars and front wheel "tucked" under so i had to run the bars a few degrees forward of vertical just to make the thing ridable
i know my haro shredders old but its physically big enough for me to ride which to me is the most important thing

[jedi]

barnaby,there's nothing wrong with your bike.
just man up!   

[Bushwacked]

Yeah - I just need to MTFU!!! 


But still what would you say are the core skills??? - bunny hops, manuals, endos, 180s, fakies.... etc etc etc...

[jedi]

FACT

 

[Bushwacked]

Goddamn - that's made me laugh for some reason!!!!

[jedi]

 

[TwoBobRob]

Just go riding. That's all for now. Soon enough you'll start feeling it a bit and picking stuff to learn. If you want an actual list to follow, then I always say there are just three tricks to learn that will guarantee a good session at any skatepark;

Grinds/stalls
Tyretaps
Manuals

With these three you can ride anywhere. Jumping will come along naturally, as will flow. Airs are best learnt on a vert ramp or bloody big quarterpipe. You're just making work for yourself trying to learn airs on miniramps   

Disasters are nice and easy for a starter trick, little fakie airs are fun too.   

[Trev]

i have to admit B, I don't know how far you are with your riding.
I am assuming you are more advanced than a proper beginner.

as a full on beginner, i would truly recommend endos (or curb endos as i know you've taken off your front brake), bunny hops, 180 bunny hops, back hops etc. a lot of people just seem to bypass the basics and i think they are losing some very important basic balance skills in doing so.

as you are obviously riding parks quite regularly i would think you may have skipped the very basics.
i would then say, things like practising jumping out of mini ramps without putting your feet down, riding in, 180's on ramps, rollbacks etc. the more you ride and the more you do these basics, the more are ease you will feel with your bike. assuming you ride fairly regularly eventually the bike will start feeling a part of you, then stuff will automatically start feeling a lot easier.
getting riding hours on the clock is the most important thing you can do for now.
keep at it and it will eventually come to you. that's what i'm hoping anyway. 

[perry]

ive noticed that mates who use their mtbs more ( we always had both , no hang up on wheel size for us ) was they would feel cramped and put too much force in

as you know a mtb is a much larger bike to wield and they would use the over exagerated movements they were used to and get squirely easily

go for flow , its better to do something simple smooth than something harder and look stiff

get a feel for the smaller bike , ride around the streets and reallllly get to know the bike

without learning to hop your doing flatland , nothing wrong with that but without a hop it could easily hold you back from a lot of fun

skids and wheelies 

learn to take a fall , im sure you can already bail out of a fast off on a mtb but a lot of bmx stuff is slower where you will slip and hit the deck with a thud , so knowing how to just throw the bike away could mean the difference from falling on a peg to landing on your feet and stepping away

flow flow flow . learn to carve a ramp long before you try and air it , learn how the subtle shifts of body movement get the most from the surface ( like going full tilt on a mtb ) stiff muscles will cause a fall . being supple on the bike will show more skill and make you more confident . you wont ever need to think about triple tailwhips if you can fly through the air with total relaxed control . ive got a mate whos been riding 15 years and couldnt care less about tricks , he hadnt done so much as a no footer but was super smooth over a set of trails , his only "trick" was a xup 

but the best thing to learn is how to smile , watch the fids section alex posted elsewhere , lots of falls but always comes out laughing with a smile . its something ive noticed a lack of since the 90s and thats how to just have a larf , people seem so strick now , its like the end of the world to a lot of people if they dont pull what theyve been trying for the past 5mins that they have seen in the latest vid . theres a great community hidden behind all the b@//ox

[macky]

Live on your bike!!

ride it constantly... till walking instead of riding feels strange!!

when your bike feels like an extension of you... you can learn/ do anything!!  

[perry]

firstly someone else on at 2am 

"ride it constantly... till walking instead of riding feels strange!!"

totally agree , i once forgot how to walk  honest truth , i had to go to a shop and i couldnt leave my bike hanging around outside for the length of time i had to be in there so i walked , it was a massive undertaking remebering how to step up kerbs and the left / right motion was strange compared to the rotation i was used to 

it took absolutely ages too  and my muscles wernt used to the change of use

[macky]

 

I totally know what you mean!!

 

[Bushwacked]

Cheers guys - this is exactly what I was after. I know it'll take time and concentrating on some of the bits Trev mentioned I think will help - My manualling is coming on nicely but I think my heavy handedness from over exagerating things on my MTB are what's making me feel slightly more tentative - its like all or nothing when I'm trying something and I need to find that middle ground.

Thanks again