What does BMX signify to you?

[Gnarlyscoots]

I have searched for a similar thread and have come up with none so sorry if it has been done before 

I have been asked recently by a few people 'why am I moving toward Mid school bikes?' so thought I would start this thread to explain what BMX means to me and find out how other members feel too.

BMX to me is all about the memories and how it makes me feel when I ride one. Just looking through the parts on other members builds and what I have on mine, brings memories of mates long gone, and sadly past, and how we used to hang out and ride back when BMX was the biggest thing to happen in our childhoods. I love my remaining old school builds and have acquired the main bike I had as a kid, replica sadly, the one I longed after for so many years, and have put together a few that have taken my fancy that I know would have back then too.

For me though, old school has reached a point where I no longer enjoy building them, for many reasons, money not being one, and these are a few of them.

I have found over the past few years of being on here and other sites that the parts availability is getting scarce due to people holding onto these parts they would have easily given up, as they knew if they needed it again, it would be easy to come by. Massive price hikes in parts, I feel, have made people hold onto to these items too, along with scarcity. I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to sell, say, an MX900 caliper that I bought 4 years ago for £10, as buying one now will cost you on average of £65 - £85. Good for the seller but not so good for the buyer.

As parts become harder to source and people want 'the best' items on their bikes, they have become nasty and even bitter towards others to get that said item, even going behind closed doors offering more money to attain it. Is this BMX, really    Too many 'live off the profits of old school BMX' people are now in the hobby. Many have seen certain members on here come and go due to this process with them being reluctant to even shift on their selling prices, to maximise profit. They would rather hold the stock   

I was recently duped by a member on here into buying something that was completely useless but he felt was perfectly fit for use. Not once has he offered to refund my money and accept the items back and still, to this day, denies doing anything wrong even though he failed to disclose the issue with the said items, that he would have known about them. As a side note in reference to this seller, look out for re-chromed Hutch headlock and Redline flights being sold as minty or NOS on Ebay guys 

So, taking all this on board, I have decided that building any 'new' old school builds is not really the avenue I want to pursue anymore. This takes me onto Mid school. A different ball game all together. There is no fighting over parts, no bitchiness as to who should have this or that and parts are still quite readily available.

Now, I'm not moving into Mid school, just putting together a frame I really liked the look off that I picked up for the grand sum of £60 shipped from the US    Like many of you, I guess, I thought Mid school was about heavy, cumbersome beasts that were built to withstand a nuclear blast but, well, they are clearly not as this Kastan is really light and beautiful to look at. I didn't want to stay in the comfort zone of 'old meets mid' like many with their Haro Bashguard builds etc, so opted for a Mid 90's build and, to be really honest with you, I am thoroughly enjoying reading, researching and learning about this era, with some great members on here willing to guide me in the right direction 

So, basically, I will continue to ride and update my Old school collection with different parts but without the hassle that goes with building a complete.

Thanks for your time reading this and please add your feelings on the subject,

Terry 

[crazycraig]

For me it's transport for kids . No more no less

[griff]

Terry if someone has burned you and it's unresolved put it in the messer's thread

I love the look of that Kastan and think it will turn into a fine bike - pity, those kastan bars I picked up at MK12 would have looked a treat on it if I hadn't swapped them already for some NS ones

[fischflo]

Traitor! 

Nah, as much as you love the building, it's probably the smartest thing you can do, especially as the bikes you're about to build will, in a way, be considered "OS", too, in future.
->http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,167111.msg1677035.html#msg1677035

[oldschoolace]

I think you are probably echoing the thoughts of many on here Terry. I for one got back into it initially for the nostalgia and feeling i used to get as a kid. The sad part of it is the more you immerse yourself in the hobby the weaker that feeling becomes as you get caught up in bidding wars, slagging matches and my personal bug bear - over restoration.

I was watching the Tom Hanks film Big the other day and he was bombing round on a bmx with his mate enjoying the first whiff of freedom as a kid. Every time they stopped the bikes were dropped unceremoniously in a heap just as we all did bitd. Sounds daft but i quite like that and its one of the reasons my decade will never get the full resto treatment. I want that feeling when i ride 

I think low end and survivors is the direction i am destined for, at least for the short term. I never saw the likes of vectors and vdc's bitd and i have no emotional connection to them. Burners, grifters and catalogue specials were all we had and thats where the memories lie   

[Gnarlyscoots]

Terry if someone has burned you and it's unresolved put it in the messer's thread

I love the look of that Kastan and think it will turn into a fine bike - pity, those kastan bars I picked up at MK12 would have looked a treat on it if I hadn't swapped them already for some NS ones

I don't want to go into that here mate, was just giving another reason why I have decided not build Old school anymore and will definately check every single item that falls through my letter box in future, straight away.

As for the bars G, I know what you're saying and immediately tried to track down some Kastan brs but, that's Old school. Everybody wants matching bars on their high end bikes when building an Old school, I done the same but, the Kastan is just about building a bike for how I want it    You will like my bar choice anyway mate 

[Jon The Bassist]

The sport of BMX (not the polishing wars/profiteering blx) is one of the main things that makes me feel like I'm really alive, as opposed to just exisiting/earning etc etc.

I'd encourage anyone who is physically able to stay involved in BMX in whatever form, riding, helping kids, whatever.

[Gnarlyscoots]

bidding wars, slagging matches and my personal bug bear - over restoration.

My feelings entirely mate. I used to enjoy just chucking bikes together but the longer you are building, the more finesse things have to be and that starts with an item not 'being up to scratch', so you have buy better, then that one is not, so even better etc etc. It just drags on until the bike you have is a minter or smothered in NOS, then you don't want to ride it for fear of marking those items and de-valuing them    Too much damned hassle. I like riding my survivor builds and was getting sucked into that 'mintiness' sit on a carpet bike build factor.

At least with this Kastan, I can build how I want for as much as I want and ride it to my hearts content 

[oldschoolace]

Here you go Terry a visual answer to your initial question 

Dicking about with mates (in abersoch) wondering if i could pull an endo in the loop of that anchor 

[markyp]

for me it signifies hot sunny days back in the early 80's when summers were summer,when you had your whole life ahead of you with no worries at all,thats what i think of straightaway when i think of my bmx days

[Julian347]

“You just can’t shake it can you?” That’s what my cousin said to me when I was telling him about the London ride I’d been on a couple of weeks before. Its true though. I raced in the 80’s and packed up but still kept my bike, which I still ride today. Felt the BMX urge in the mid 90’s and decided to race again until 1999. Kept that bike as well. Grew up (sort of), still rode occasionally, got a flat, got married, got a house, had kids and then got that BMX urge again. Old school this time. Built a TA, Hot Heart etc but I still rode a BMX. Now my kids are riding I can go out with them and its just great. Who knows, I may even get a new school cruiser one day. I can’t see BMX not being part of my life for a very long time because it makes me happy and I like riding my bike. I just can’t shake BMX, Its like a drug.

[Retrodan72]

I loved the BMX bikes back then, I love them now, that's all there is to it.

Except now, they're cool and a talking point, where as Craig said, they're just transport for kids back then.

The thing that keeps me involved most though are the rides, the loons and the banter, you can't fault it.

[Dark Diggler]

Riding

[rodriguez]

For me BMX has three aspects.

The online community side, interacting with similar minded individuals that are also interested in BMX, topics might be about BMX might be about other shit.

The practical side was and is about building a replica of mine and the brothers bike from BITD (although I have a mid school project underway as well because I liked the bike)  I like researching, sourcing the parts, building and working on BMX (but this applies to bicycles in general).

The riding side, unfortunately I am not really a BMX rider although I hope that'll be changing in the very near future as I've heard there's a pump track going to be built near me and (hopefully in the future a race track, so hopefully the next BMX I buy will be a NS race bike.

I think BMX is just in me.

[MartyC]

Sound reasons that make plenty of sense.  I have found that individuals can have a big impact on others with their opinions, especially over here in Oz where one mans fair dinkum is another mans offence.  I love old school, mid school and new school; I have examples of each in my collection and have two new school riders although neither gets ridden much at the moment!   I think I have all the old school bikes I want with the exception of the Ace Racing grail so will be finishing my builds this year and then maybe look at whether there is anything else I want and if so it will be one out before another goes in!

[snoopy72]

I rode a standard mongoose motomag BITD, my friend and I had raleigh boxers , he progressed to a grifter where as i was lucky enough to get a mongoose motomag.
The only reason I ended up with a mongoose and not a grifter was because my dad had a motorcycle shop and mongoose were looking for dealers in the UK.
He had a total of 4 mongoose's in the shop, they were not great sellers here at the time because they were expensive compared to say a burner.
He sold 2 bikes, and the other 2 stayed in the shop collecting dust for over a year, when I turned 9yrs old my dad brought one of them home with him, my cousin had the other which he snapped the frame through misuse soon after he got it.

Because I looked after mine 3 years later my dad had the nickel frame and forks chromed for me, then in December 1984 he took me to whitehawks where he let me choose some really nice parts for it (what a Christmas and birthday present rolled into one that was) , gt pro bars, pro neck II stem, pro neck chain ring, tuf neck power disc, mx hinge clamp, odi mushroom grips, tech 3's and mx1000's, hutch layback, viscount aero seat, comp III's, shimano DX pedals, araya zx with shimano dx hubs and some black california lite pads.
I remember it all coming to around £400 back then which was a lot of money.

I rode it until I was 17, when i started driving and dating the ladies I lost interest in bmx, one of my other cousin's kept on to me that he wanted it so I gave him the lot, sadly the bike ended up at the recycling centre in the late nineties 
I still remember the serial number CJO 341407, i know it's sad but for some reason i've never forgotten the number.

Well that bike helped me learn to do some impressively long wheelies.

After a 22yr break from bmx I decided to build a 1980 motomag with some trick bits, then before i got chance to even ride it a 1980 supergoose frame and forks came up in Chicago so I bought it, I managed to sell the motomag frame and forks for the purchase price of the supergoose (straight swap).

I built the supergoose and rode it, I can still pull those impressive wheelies even though i am now 41.
The reason I built the bike is like Terry said to take me back to my youth and great memories but i can't believe the price of the parts !! ,  £1500 for a cooks bros slant stem  ? ? Crazy

[Mat]

Pure 80's nostalgia for me.

Love a bit of 80's nostalgia

[OrgasmDonor]

Riding

absofookinlutitwattingbastardly

mid and ns bikes are where its at for full enjoyment

[john4130]

been riding bmx for 32 years now and never got tired of it, i still look forward to going to the skatepark every week to ride with mates. i,ve always loved messing with bikes from a young age too, making things fit and repairing and building. now all the young lads down the local skatepark get me to build their wheels for them or true them. i,ve already built 4 wheels this year for a couple of them when they got new hubs for xmas, and i never ask them for a penny. i just enjoy doing it and helping them out. i've never bothered about era correct parts when i build old one's either, as everything would change on my bike over the years as parts wore out or broke and get replaced with new bits, so when i build a bike there could be 10 years difference in the age of parts but as long as i like the look of it i'm happy.

[vestanpance]

This vid sums up BMX to me having a laugh with your mates.   

Not a valid vimeo URL

[Pooch]

80's nostalgia..
Loving bikes and always ridden them..
Meeting some great people on here.
Finger blasting..

[factory pilot]

THEN(80s)

excitement, awe and wonder, self esteem(my bike and tricks accomplished), lust (at other peoples cool rides or new shiny parts) daydreaming, hero worship( Bob Haro, Ron Wilkerson, Eddie Fiola, Andy and Neil Ruffell, Curb Dogs),  frustration( at not mastering tricks/not being allowed or being able to afford the parts/bikes I longed for), good mates
 

NOW

excitement, lust, the thrill of the hunt for parts, self esteem( the joy and satisfaction of completing a build ), frustration( at still not being able to do tricks! ,  not being able to find certain parts and not being able to afford others!), new friends, great banter, genuinely nice people who will to help you out of the kindness of their hearts(you all know who you are ), fantastic days out and that feeling of belonging (even though as grown men we no longer need validation or that sense of safety in numbers) 
     

[In2bmx]

Life and living it .  The last 5 years have been awesome ... I can't actually remember what I did that was any good before getting back in2BMX . 


Riders ready , pedals ready ... GO

[BADDH]

Personally for me I see the words of many a thought written into these heartfelt threads, I see the words first taste of Freedom, Nostalgia, Hobbie and see the smiles of genuine people on the meets, people like me 

I don't get over fussed about the exact right parts on my builds the truth is I never did as a kid I would go to the bike shop with a couple of quid to buy replacements and colour or big names were not in my vision, as a family we couldn't afford these luxuries, if it worked back then I was free to ride my bike anywhere and I rode from morning until Dark.

I have the fondest memories of those long summer days in the sun on a new housing estate with the grids sticking up out the I completed roads we used as jumps, a pair of shorts, my Adidas trainers and my bike with a pocket full of biscuits to eat all day and 20p for a tip top drink..

Life was simple, life was fun and my family were all around me without a care in the world..

I could go on ....

Today I enjoy cycling almost just as much as I did then and I have those Icons the spoilt kids had, the nostalgia is my enjoyment, the memories are engrained and the bikes just get better.

[solow79]

During my younger years it could've been classed as my saviour. Whilst most mates were getting drunk in parks and getting into trouble a few of us were out riding instead, saving money for the pilgrimages to custom riders to get new upgrades, videos, threads etc. I played football and scoring a goal paled into comparison to pulling a 360 or nosepick.
It was the only sport to me where your gods/heros were accessible. Ill never forget being at a nearly empty Radlands when Jamie Bestwick rolled through the door and proceeded to tear the place up...top bloke!!
Now its nostalgia and hoping my boy takes to it when he's old enough as it kept me out of trouble(but not a&e) and can be extremely rewarding.