BMX Racing

The family and I just got started racing BMX this year. Anybody else on here racing? Picked up a GT Speed Series for myself, loving it so far.


I rode freestyle as a kid, raced MX, but never BMX.

We are all our age appropriate Novice class, however the kids will likely be forced to move to intermediate soon.

 

I used to race in the 90's. My knees can't take it any more. Make sure your kids are always wearing their knee pads.

 

I just recently started riding freestyle again. I used to ride hours on end and not get tired, two days ago I went around the block and had spaghetti legs. Definitely going to take some getting used to. Been looking at getting a bigger BMX or a dirt jumper but since covid everyone has started riding and most companies are back ordered

 

Good advice. Did the pedaling or crashes jack up your knees?

Haha I know the feeling. my legs also turn to jello pretty quick, not like when I was a kid! It sucks bc I have a few shots at working on clearing the rhythm section, then I'm basically spent for the night for that section. I can keep trying but ultimately am running out of steam more and more each time. Getting old sucks, I really need to work for it!

 

Yes.



Mainly one non-racing crash did it in. Then various events during a few times at the track didn't help it any. Blowing up a freewheel and slipping a pedal caused me to jam my leg into the face of a jump. So take care of the kids bikes too.


As for your endurance, give it time. You're getting back into it.

So why a 20" instead of going "Dad Cruiser class"?

 

Used to freestyle back in the day, GT Performer, half pipe

 

Don't complain until you can't trust a fart! If you're hitting rhythms sections you're doing well enough.

That's a cool GT. My nephew started riding a bike this year, I can't wait for him to get a little taller so I can give him the early 90s Dyno VFR I found in a trashcan and restored. Its a tank with a few period correct parts, 3 piece cranks, Araya wheels and DK neck. I need to find some Powerlite bars and Pitbull brakes to complete the "90s cool bike" package.

 

I can picture you doing one of these moves because you always have your feet up.

 

That was one trick

 

Ahh icic. Makes sense. Yes I try to stay up on their bikes, which both have the original freewheels, so thanks for the reminder.

As far as the 20", when we got started this year I went out on the track with the kids with my old freestyle bike, which had 20" wheels. Well it is a mid school bike when everything strong and heavy was in. See below, think Kink 44 tooth sprocket, Primo Super Meat Tenderizer pedals, Profile 3pc cranks, haha. My old wheels (Alex triple wall rims, Haro sealed hubs) were trashed so I bought a cheap set which are on it now. I may rebuild the wheels from the hubs up, just need to find rims, they had a lot of spokes, which doesn't seem popular anymore.


Aside from it being a tank it felt fine, so I thought I would go with another 20", plus it seems the 20" race classes have more riders. So far I love the 20" GT.

I'm hoping the endurance picks up. I say I'm just there for the kids and it's not important, but when I'm on the gate I want to win, haha. I do have a spin bike at home, so I may try to use that more in the winter to help out.

 

good stuff! I've spent many days at skate parks on ramps, half, quarter, spines, etc. we were too poor for woodward, but some of my friends went. I'm still a bit jealous about it!

 

Haha you're right! I'm hanging in there, can't complain. Thanks, it seemed like a bike I could buy and not have mess with anything aside from pedals, which is holding true so far. I owned a VFR back in the day! Very familiar with the mid school stuff, haha. You'll have to post some finished product pics of the build, which is an awesome story. I'm sure your nephew will love it.

 

I grew up going to the real Wooodward in PA.

Just got into BMX discipline last year thanks to my buddy Lars Tribus. Planning on giving a race a try this year.

 

Great thread. I will come back later with my contributions.

 

It was my childhood dream to go to woodward! Some of my friends went as kids. One of them I'm working on getting into racing.

Lars? That's awesome. Do you ride mtb as well?

 

Shot from the end of the season. Don't mind the poor quality markup I did to remove my face/number.

 

Last one.

 

Ooh I love a bmx thread. I grew up in a very small town without access to any racing or tracks. So I grew up riding street and flatland.
I had a few gt’s growing up. A Dyno. My current bmx is a DK Dayton without one factory piece left on it haha. I still rip it with the kids at parks or in the alleyway. Bustin flat 3s is my claim to fame.

 

Flat 3s, that's awesome! I also grew up riding dirt and street. My claim to fame as a kid was wheelies. I could sit down pedal wheelie all day, turns, uphill, down hill, bumps, didn't matter. At 35 I have lost that gift. Now I'm working on bringing back my old manual skills, as the manual is quite popular on the track.

 

Cool! You’ll get it back. It’s just like riding a bike

 

Ahhhaha I see what you did there!

 

Had a Hutch Windstyler growing up. Rode that thing all over SoMd. Spent all my allowance and first job money on bike mods. Wish I would have kept that bike.

 

I bet! Aside from the sentimental value, old school bmx bikes are bringing in some good coin!

 

Yes, that bike was all chrome! I would clean it everyday. Gave it to my neighbor when I got my first car. His eyes were wide as 50 cent pieces. I wonder if he kept it after all these years? Good memories!

 

It's crazy what some people are getting out of these vintage bikes. I still have my F&F 86' GT Performer and power series 3pc cranks, 87' ish Mongoose Californian, mid 90's GT Vertigo, and 2012 Giant Talon 2 29er. Recently got the bike bug from a friend, so now I have a 2021 GT Pro Performer Heritage on the way. And thinking about getting a GT Pro Performer 26".

 

Not a BMXer, but I still have (and still occasionally ride) a GT Pro Freestyle Tour Team model (circa 1988). Similar to this one, without the stickers (removed the first day I had it).

 

When maintained, that old chre looks new forever. Only one way to find out!

I had a Green Splash Vertigo in the 90's, loved that bike! That's so awesome you bought a Heritage. You should post some pics of your fleet!

A good old school classic right there!

 

I was BMX racing in the early to mid 80's. I had a sponsorship through Columbia bikes, but it was due to dad knowing the powers that be at Columbia more than any skill I had. One too many knocks on the head to remember what models I ran. Local tracks with a few forays into NY and CT. Can't really remember why I stopped.

 

I got In to racing bmx in the 90s as well but was racing a basic gt interceptor with a 1 piece crank. Safe to say keeping up with the kids on the powerlites wasn’t very easy hahaha. I was making my way from novice to intermediate when my parents got divorced and I had to stop racing. My oldest son has been getting into riding and we’ve been going to dirt jumps in our area

 

I BMX raced as a kid. I rode a cheap frankenbike based off some old junker I picked up at a garage sale for $10 and put a few hundred bucks of new parts on. No idea what it was originally. It was pretty ghetto. LOL. I did manage to consistently place top 4 in the pack, only won a couple races though. 3rd place seemed to be the best I could manage regularly. The few races I won were usually when I was borrowing a bike from a friend. Riding something newer, lighter and smoother really made a difference.

I did get sponsored for a short while by a local bike shop and travelled to Bellingham, Wash. for a few races. My home track was in Abbotsford, BC.

I dabbled in a little bit of street freestyle as well but never really got very good at it. A few basic tricks and low grind rails were about it. My bike for that was a Specialized 415 FSX.