dave lawrence wrote:
I think the lack of individuality is something that is lacking these days. Everyone dresses the same, sets their bikes up the same, rides the same and acts the same.
The internet is good and bad for BMX too. Good for getting footage out, and seeing footage/content easily.
Bad because it gives every stupid kid (myself included) a voice to share their opinion etc. Some are better than others, but some kids just need to get slapped.
It also has helped create a mindset where riders bash eachother all day long for things like having brakes or not, running or not running a freecoaster, having visible seatpost or slamming it, or riding a park on occasion instead of the foot tall ledge in front of the mall for a year.
This makes me sound old, but back when I started, if you saw a rider, you were instantly friends until you realize one person had a crap personality, but you would still ride together on occasion. Now when I see another rider roll in, all the guys around their age get awkward-like social anxiety kicks up and it becomes a silent 1-up game until someone says something. There is silent judgement when someone doesn't have the same style setup-(brakes vs none, coaster vs cassette, pads/helmet vs not) and it is stupid.
granggg wrote:
I think this post nailed it. My sample set is small but the attitude of other riders is something I noticed for sure.
I think a lot of marketing and online sales have homogenized the way people prefer their bikes. "Back in my day..." (early/mid 90s) I recall everyone having different setups and styles but I think a lot of that was due to a lack of funds and access to enough strong voices saying "ride this way." Kids just bought bikes from the local shop that they thought rode well and adjusted them accordingly.
We also wore what we happened to have. Then again, we were still kids and maybe hadn't started to consider daily aesthetics.
Anyway, the OP is requesting info about what's changed in the last 10-12 years, not the last 20 years and I'm just ranting. Everybody ride and have fun and focus on the "free" in freestyle. Someone call my nurse and have her wheel me back to my room.
I agree with the observations in this...
Back when I was a kid, you wanted to be different. I mean mechanically Bikes we're all setup the same way, layback seat post, F/R Brakes, Odyssey or ACS rotor, but as far as brands and color layouts, everyone wanted to be different.
We did a lot of swapping of Rims/tire, Brakes/Brake levers, bars, cranks, sprocket and chain rings, grips, seats, etc too look as different from the next guy as the rest.
Same with Clothes and shoes, you had some overlap, but kids always tried to be unique...
Now it seems everyone wants to be pretty much the same. IF not, you get pointed out.
I think the media (Social, Print, TV, online etc) has a lot to do with this today.
Not to get too political, but this could be partially caused by the spread and growing popularity of Socialism with youg folks and really young parents, even if at a subconscious level..