BMX 101, the do’s and dont’s

I don't fully understand the question. Are you asking about why brakeless got popular or you just more interested in hearing about the newest trends? Only confused cause the bike in the pic is clearly brakeless. I could ramble about either.

**edit** Actually looking closer the bike DOES have a brake but it isn't connected to a lever. It's not clear at all, I was wrong.

big tires, tall bars, and short rearends.

DO: Ride ya bike, and have fun doing it.
DONT: Worry about much else.

latest trend Colors are bad.

Just kidding. But I do see a LOT of black and grey bikes. Don't get me wrong, I actually really like how yours looks. But I myself like color. Although I do like a clean look too. Whatever floats your boat. LOL.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Honestly I have been at it the last 20 years, and noticed the things I listed hit SO MUCH more in the last decade VS the first decade.

dave lawrence wrote:

Honestly I have been at it the last 20 years, and noticed the things I listed hit SO MUCH more in the last decade VS the first decade.

Maybe it's a sign that BMX may be gaining in popularity again? Perhaps that's wishful thinking on my part.

Either that or it's picking up more influence from skateboarding.

Yeah, the attitude of lemmings has always been a thing. I mean where I went to high school I was like the kid from the wrong side of the tracks cuz I played music, listened to something other than Guns and Roses and Madonna, and didn't wear Izod and.... I forget all the popular brands..... Ocean Pacific?

It is kind of a bummer that the sports that were more "individualistic" back in the day have now become more mainstream. I mean.......... Skaters were there, but we were an odd man out type of a thing.

I played football and wrestled, but I was always the weirdo. My Mom taught me to be true to my own self. Not do what everyone else wanted to do. It was so bad in our high school we had a group of about 20 guys that would all wait to watch what this one guy would do at lunch. As soon as the "Leader" got up to go outside, they all did at the same time. It was wild to watch. EVERY DAY. I mean I kind of get they were all wanting to go play basketball or something together but it was at the chosen time of the "leader". I mean weird.

granggg wrote:

Maybe it's a sign that BMX may be gaining in popularity again? Perhaps that's wishful thinking on my part.

Either that or it's picking up more influence from skateboarding.

My guess is that MANY parents just toss computers/tablets/phones/video games etc at kids and don't monitor what their kids are up to on those devices, so they can get away with a LOT more. The internet became SO MUCH more popular with Youtube, Vimeo and social media too.

It all seems to correlate together some.

Maybe it's just me seeing that, but I am raising both of my kids in a similar way to how I was raised. Playing outside, exploring my yard etc, and playing with friends.

Yeah sorry i might have been a bit off with my questioning, but you got the point.

I have a friend who’s claims that he is ”in the know”, and according to him brakes were gay, AND i had to have 4 pegs on my bike for it to be cool.
Thats what i was getting to, according to the cool kids of bmx, what is ”in” at this time?

I dont ride park more than a couple of times a year, so pegs isnt something i need, but when i do i like the brake to adjust my speed a bit easier.

Anyway, i really like jumping on the airbag and i learnt to backflip consistently today, and attempted some barrel rolls and stuff, good times

Great shot and congrats on dialing in those backflips!

As far as what's "in" right now, I'm afraid I haven't been paying attention. I just slap stuff on my bike that I like. I have noticed that I'm one of the few goobers with a gyro so I suppose gyros are out (that or I'm about to start one hell of a trend resurgence).

Lastander wrote:

Yeah sorry i might have been a bit off with my questioning, but you got the point.

I have a friend who’s claims that he is ”in the know”, and according to him brakes were gay, AND i had to have 4 pegs on my bike for it to be cool.
Thats what i was getting to, according to the cool kids of bmx, what is ”in” at this time?

I dont ride park more than a couple of times a year, so pegs isnt something i need, but when i do i like the brake to adjust my speed a bit easier.

Anyway, i really like jumping on the airbag and i learnt to backflip consistently today, and attempted some barrel rolls and stuff, good times

What's really popular right now is 4 pegs, freecoaster, no brakes, big bars, fat tires, and short chainstays

Fuck what’s popular , you won’t stand out amongst the crowd if you look like everyone else

IMO no brakes is cool because it forces you to learn a new level of control. WIth brakes, it's easy to ride fast all over the place because you can slow down or stop at any time. With no brakes, you have to be mindful of ways to scrub speed at any point as well as thinking about where your momentum will want to take you.

I grew to appreciate the skill it takes for no-brakes while watching people without brakes manipulate their speed. Kick the rear wheel to the side as a "speed-check", pivtoting the rear end 90 degress in an instant to stop from crashing into something. It's cool to see and is one of the subtle nuances that can make you appreciate a riders style and abilities beyond just doing tricks.

To me the tricks you wanna do and the riding you want to do drives the hardware. If someone thinks his set up is the ONLY way, that's just silly. Plus what kind of a world would it be if we all had to the stuff the same exact way. I mean.... that's just boring. I like keeping things super duper simple. So I'm leaning towards no brakes. But there are times when I want some, so..... a quandry. LOL. Plus I'm not sure I wanna burn the soles of my shoes out overly fast by breaking on the tire. They cost too much money. LOL.

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..

smullen wrote:

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..

Lmao what? You could hop the Levan church gap twice with that leap you just made

smullen wrote:

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..

Being different for the sake of being different is just as stupid as being the same for the sake of being the same.

You do you...

I'm not sure I agree. Although I kind of see your point. But I think some people have an inherent desire to do things differently, so being true to yourself means looking for new ways to do things. If there wasn't any of that, we'd probably have music and such that wasn't all that different. Which we sort of do already. But obviously things change. Because people desire it.

Same goes with industry. If everyone just said, meh, the status quo works just fine, there might not be innovation. I think innovaters say, hmmmm, this can be done differently and possibly better. Whatever it might be. Phones, cars, appliances, houses, etc. You get the point.

I won't argue whether innovation is a good thing or not. Sometimes I think we go too far but it's not really something anyone has any control over. It can be good in some ways and bad in others.

Anyways.... sort of off topic but I get where smullen was coming from. Socialistic countries don't tend to be the most creative and innovative places. Somewhat. I think. LOL.

Fortyseven wrote:

I'm not sure I agree. Although I kind of see your point. But I think some people have an inherent desire to do things differently, so being true to yourself means looking for new ways to do things. If there wasn't any of that, we'd probably have music and such that wasn't all that different. Which we sort of do already. But obviously things change. Because people desire it.

Same goes with industry. If everyone just said, meh, the status quo works just fine, there might not be innovation. I think innovaters say, hmmmm, this can be done differently and possibly better. Whatever it might be. Phones, cars, appliances, houses, etc. You get the point.

I won't argue whether innovation is a good thing or not. Sometimes I think we go too far but it's not really something anyone has any control over. It can be good in some ways and bad in others.

Anyways.... sort of off topic but I get where smullen was coming from. Socialistic countries don't tend to be the most creative and innovative places. Somewhat. I think. LOL.

Missed the point entirely. My point was: You're worrying too much about what other people are doing, for some bizarre reason...

LOL. I'm not the one who started this thread. Just thought it was interesting. But whatever. You're entitled to your opinion.

Fortyseven wrote:

LOL. I'm not the one who started this thread. Just thought it was interesting. But whatever. You're entitled to your opinion.

A modern completely-street bike nowadays would go something like this: big 4pc bars, top load stem, short forks, short end frame with a high stand-over, a fat seat about 4 inches high, short cranks, pedals w/ grind sides, 4 plastic pegs, a freecoaster and wide tyres. Although the "real street" kind of riders would probably have steel pegs and a cassette rather than plastics and a coaster.

p1p1092 wrote:

Being different for the sake of being different is just as stupid as being the same for the sake of being the same.

You do you...

Nailed it, people that do things just to be different annoy me. Do things because you want to, not just to try and be individual. I think Trey Jones (in my opinion) is too much like this sometimes. He's a very talented, very stylish rider but sometimes he tries so hard to be unique that he ends up doing things that don't even look good just for the sake of being different

LMX000 wrote:

A modern completely-street bike nowadays would go something like this: big 4pc bars, top load stem, short forks, short end frame with a high stand-over, a fat seat about 4 inches high, short cranks, pedals w/ grind sides, 4 plastic pegs, a freecoaster and wide tyres. Although the "real street" kind of riders would probably have steel pegs and a cassette rather than plastics and a coaster.

Back on track with the thread, this is what I have seen the most with the few people I have seen outside. It's also what I see in most web edits. Also brakeless.

Do: run front brakes because they are fucking rad

Don’t: plastic pegs

smullen wrote:

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..

p1p1092 wrote:

Being different for the sake of being different is just as stupid as being the same for the sake of being the same.

You do you...

RumHam wrote:

Nailed it, people that do things just to be different annoy me. Do things because you want to, not just to try and be individual. I think Trey Jones (in my opinion) is too much like this sometimes. He's a very talented, very stylish rider but sometimes he tries so hard to be unique that he ends up doing things that don't even look good just for the sake of being different

Trey is weird for sure. I agree though I feel like he under utilizes his real skills just to do weird stuff lol.

Fortyseven wrote:

LOL. I'm not the one who started this thread. Just thought it was interesting. But whatever. You're entitled to your opinion.

p1p1092 wrote:

Bringin' it back! Lol