5 Most Influential/Important BMX Companies

[dialledbikes]

Was thinking about this earlier and who, for me, were the most influential BMX companies to shape or improve BMX (either bikes, the industry or the sport in general).  There's obviously way more than 5 companies that can be named, but here's my 5 and why.   What's yours:

1.  SE Racing.  I imagine this will be number 1 on most people's list.  Scot Breithaupt is one of the founding fathers, if not the godfather of BMX racing.  Always loved the look of the bikes, the graphics, the uniforms and the riders.  The SE logo and colours still look fresh today, almost 30 years after they were first designed.  I know Todd Lyons is working hard to live up to the SE heritage but for me the original SE Racing will never be surpassed because for me it is the epitome of what a BMX company should be.

2.  GT Bikes.  Took quality to a new levels.  Stuck with it through the lean years and still had killer teams and made quality products.  Also took professionalism in the sport to new levels - the "most factory" factory team.  Have more champs ridden GT than any other bike?  Probably.  Also owned/ran lots of other brands such as Powerlite, Robinson, Auburn, Dyno, etc.

3.  S&M.  The opposite of GT in terms of being grungy/anti-factory.  The start of the rider owned movement as we know it.  One of the biggest influences on mid/new school.  Always had riders who I loved watching (Butler, Bennett, LeVan, Barspinner Ryan, Fids, Ian Morris, Clymer, even Pistol Pete!).  Only ever made cro-mo frames (no alloy).  Great image.

4.  Skyway.  For me, the most iconic item of BMX equipment ever.  If I had to have a tattoo that summed up BMX, it would be a tat of a Skyway Tuff wheel.  The TA frame is also an icon.   Those white uniforms and red/blue logos have also stood the test of time and still look minty fresh 25/30 years later.

5.  Standard Industries/Bykes.  For similar reasons as I have put S&M.  Standard certainly raised the bar in terms of quality and did things their way.  Others have caught up in terms of quality now, but Standard led the way for quite some time.

As I say, probably loads of others (I was torn between Mongoose, GT and Redline - and if I was more a freestyler than a racer boy, then Haro would have to be in there too), but for me, those have been the most important/influential BMX companies over the years.

[Lazarou]

I totally agree with those! My top 5 too! 

[pickle]

1. Haro
2. Skyway
3. Mongoose
4. GT
5 Raleigh (without the burner i would not have been able to get into BMX)

[harris]

i have got to agree with top post too.

[munners]

Spot on mate. I would put Redline up there too, simply because of flights. The redline flight crank is probably in the top 5 iconic components on an old skool bmx.

[Lazarou]

Spot on mate. I would put Redline up there too, simply because of flights. The redline flight crank is probably in the top 5 iconic components on an old skool bmx.

thats another thread!

[Jt]

got to have raleigh..for all there sins they brought bmx to the masses in the uk.

indesputable fact!

(it pains me to say it as well!)

[Dark Diggler]

what about apollo, magna and of course universal.


Philistines 

[SaMAlex]

I think I agree with the first post, apart from I might swap Skyway for Haro. Im with you on the Tuff wheel thing, but Haro took BMX from the race track to the skate ramps. I cant overlook that move.

OK, maybe we leave Skyway in there for the tuff wheel and Haro can bump GT off the list!

[dialledbikes]

I think I agree with the first post, apart from I might swap Skyway for Haro. Im with you on the Tuff wheel thing, but Haro took BMX from the race track to the skate ramps. I cant overlook that move.

OK, maybe we leave Skyway in there for the tuff wheel and Haro can bump GT off the list!

Yeah, Haro was a hard one to leave off.  I still think that squiggly/bent pipe Haro logo is one of the greatest logos ever (not just in BMX).  And Bob Haro invented freestyle.  But the others just mean more to me.

I wanted to leave GT off cos I was kind of anti-GT after Todd Huffman got Moeller banned/thrown out of the Grands for selling "GT Sucks" T-shirts, and also after GT robbed Dale Holmes of his bonus for winning the No.1 cruiser title (they claimed he breached contract by mentioning his new sponsor, Nirve, in his acceptance speech, so withheld about $10k/$20k) - and those were the main reasons my first new school bike was an S&M Holmes instead of a GT Fueller - but there's no denying that GT were once the biggest BMX company on the planet and the impact they had around the world.  Kept the BMX fire burning during the wilderness years.  Always stuck with racing too (as did Redline, Haro and Mongoose to a lesser extent).

[RATTY]

Purely from a UK viewpoint and from the first days of bmx

1. Mongoose, despite Halfords staging the first UK race, Ammaco and mongoose developed BMX in the South of the UK, without ammaco and mongoose Im sure BMX would have struggled to grow as it did.

2. ACE racing, a very small manufacturer and shop in East London, The MD Richard Barrington had an amazing team and spotted some of the best talent this country has ever seen, especially back in the 80s, Andy Ruffell, Nicki Mathews, Cav Strutt, Steve Gilley and Pete Middleton to name a few, He wasnt able to fund the team like ammaco etc. Im sure if he had of been able to, ace racing would have been huge.

3. Raleigh, for the wrong reasons, they was the first to mass produce shit, despite being able to produce quality they choose to sell absolute garbage to a naive UK market, then they was the first to offer ridiculous salaries to riders, threw large amounts of cash at the sport and then pulled the plug in favour of MTBs, thus nearly killing BMX as a sport in this country.

4. Haro, a true inspiration to every BMX rider, from nothing he developed his business, with innovative and futuristic products, and what an ambassador, I remember Bob visiting the track at walthamstow, I asked him why he had cut his perm off in favour of a crew cut? His reply was he wanted to be accepted by the kids in the UK. Like he needed to be accepted over here, he was a star.

5. Redline. A very biased answer as I do have a redline fetish but, they had the best team, the best bikes, the best PR and the bikes everyone wanted to own.

5a. I know its a sneaky 6th one but SE does need to be mentioned, not a great influence on the Uk scene, but very important in the development of BMX

 

[Redline]

I'd go with.....

1. Redline - first Chro-Mo forks, Flight Cranks etc

2. Mongoose

3. Se Racing

4. Haro

5. Hutch

John

[mark 2]

On the Redline front again I think they raised the bar when it came to engineering. As much as I'm a Hutch collector if anything I've had a good think whether I'd include them in a top 5. Maybe just for taking it to the next level of image and bling. I don't know crap about mid and new school but I'd have a biased stab with limited knowledge at......

1. SE
2. Haro
3. Redline
4. Hutch
5. Skyway or GT........

Based on who moved things forward for different reasons......I'll change my mind a by tea time

[munners]

1 Skyway (wheels, break pads and the best multi purpose frameset - the TA)

2 GT (Legendary company that are still going strong)

3 SE Racing (rippers and quads..... what can i say!)

4 Redline (for their cranks in particular. Flights were the Daddy. A must have for the real deal bike)

5 Haro (1st freestyle bike and again still rocking on)

How could you argue   ....... Although i know jack about mid and new skool. Sorry.

[Trev]

In no particular order

1. Raleigh
2. Skyway
3. Haro
4. Redline
5. GT

[Waxintaxin]

SE
HOFFMAN
MONGOOSE
JAG
REDLINE

[darkersomeday]

strange that no-one mentioned Terrible-1

1. SE racing

2. S&m bikes

3. HARO

4. Standard bykes

5. Terrible-1

[Lazarou]

Why T-1 Joe? To my mind they just influenced the fashion side of BMX, the other companies mentioned contributed much more in my opinion. 

[Swivel]

For me, is the following:

1. HARO (come on, Bob invented freestyle and we all followed suit as fast as possible...)
2. RALEIGH (for making BMX UK countrywide)
3. GT (as their bikes are just sexy and everyone wanted one)
4. SKYWAY (not only is the TA awesome but the Streetbeat also, but the Tuff Wheels stand out above them both for lastability)
5. SE RACING (Quadangle is beautiful and stood out from the crowd but not top of the list for me)

Many may think I'm talking out my butt but there you go 

Matt 

[billstup]

1. Mongoose, cos they were the first quality bike over here, and were in it from the start.
2. Haro, because of freestyle.
3. Skyway, because I love em 
4. Redline, because of flites  ( frames not up to much imo )
5. Don`t really have another one 

[Philbert]

i agree with the first top 5

i know i have standard running through my blood so i'm bias but they are in many ways still leading the way. especially in terms of geometry!

[dialledbikes]

Taj is one of my favourite riders (and Joe Rich and Robo aren't too shabby either), but I don't think T1 influenced or changed BMX in any material way, shape or form.  Still a good/respected bike company/brand though.

[kirk]

Skyway

Haro

Redline, Only for the Flights, I was never a big fan of there bikes.

Mongoose, The Motomag and box bars just sum up early BMX as it should be Bicycle MOTOCROSS,

SE

[Mattdub]

I agree with Mikes top 5 but would swap out S&M for Redline ( flights  ) and Standard for Haro , Bob was an icon & influence to so many .

Before his plates his scribbles/drawings in BMXA were Very cool too , here's a Back to School ad from BMX PLUS Dec 81 where his drawings were used on notebooks , pencils & pens etc .



Oh , and some Haro pencils 

[Flaz]

influential and important are really 2 completly different things so here are what i think are the most influential and why i think so   and this is for the uk old school bmx

Raliegh    like em or not  they are a major player uk bmx 

kuwahara  the ET film  was a major bmx influence on a lot of kids

skyway  the wheel are iconic

haro  the birth of freestyle the free coaster bracket

diamond back / redline /gt/ mongoose/ se/ torker.. etc   are all about  as influential as each other

the list aint whats the best or whats the worst its what influenced thousands of kids  on the path of bmx

my best mate got a burner 2 months before i got my mongoose, but trust me it was when i saw his burner i knew i wanted a bmx