Best ramp transition for air?

Your best bet for BMX is probably an 8ft tranny on a 6 ft tall ramp. You get a nice lip to lock into, a nice lip to pop off, and a nice amount of tranny to catch you and allow you to get a pump in.

That said, 8ft wide is going to make riding it at any size very challenging. So really try to figure a way to make it wider.

Welcome back to bmx.. looks like a good ramp to me nothing radical.
Don't worry about your age. I'm 46 and still riding. Just start out slow and work your way up. Do streaches and safety gear is a must.
Good luck

Thanks for the comments guys. Yes ideally I would go wider, may look to widen later on. In terms of transition and overall height I'm just trying to keep things as low as feasible while at the same time having enough challenge / risk not to get bored.

Brian.. Cheers for your comments. I got a Diamondback Element 2014 about three weeks ago now, took a ride and the smile just came straight back on my face. To be honest right now its still a kind of secret I even have it, family know obviously. but I haven't told a single friend yet!..hahah. No idea what they will make of it, but who cares. It beats jogging round a park to keep fit, hence wanting to build a ramp.

- and yes I've invested in shin pads, ankle guards and helmet. Never once considered getting those back in the day, but like you say its a must now - its not like I can afford time off work nursing injuries thats for sure!! .

Cheers.

Watch the knees and ankles old man.

I'm 35, and have been riding since age 3. Your joints are not muscle, they do not get stronger as you go. If your knees start burning/throbbing or brusing STOP AND HEAL. It sucks but it is what it is.

I'm 44...

We used to ride 8 foot wide box jumps back in the day, you should be fine.

That transition you have should be good.

Thanks for your comments all, and its really encouraging hearing from older riders too.
Going to start building this afternoon.
Cheers..

The dimensions look ok, I would try to push it to at least 12' wide though. Way more fun, easy to ride and safer. I'm 32 and still riding BTW

Diamondback Life wrote:

Thanks for your comments all, and its really encouraging hearing from older riders too.
Going to start building this ...more

Diamondback Life wrote:

Thanks for your comments all, and its really encouraging hearing from older riders too.
Going to start building this afternoon.
Cheers..

...more

Yeah, man! My buddy, Travis, is 41 and still killing it. I met a dude a few years back that was 55 and riding. Personally, I like a 6' tall ramp with the radius you have displayed, but if working with spacial restrictions, that'll work. As I've learned from Trav, lip tricks are where its at as you get older. So a little more tranny would be nice, just so you're not leaning too much. Anything you ride can be fun as long as you make it fun. That goes for everything, haha.

Well I’m 40 this year so that gives me 15years of bruising to look forward to if I can make to 55 and still riding!.. Started building last weekend, got the quarter section done, hopefully should get time to add the deck this weekend. I've had a quick (very careful) ride and it’s definitely steep and tall enough for where Im at right now, until I can find the balls to actually fly at it faster! But until the deck is completed it’s not stable enough for that. I should have made it a bit wider, 8foot is a little narrow as 42bmx has suggested, 12ft would be great, but space is on the tight side unfortunately. Cheers for comments all…

Done! Ramp painted before the house, priorities and all that!

Sweet! Happy shredding!

That looks sick!

That looks fun

Very nice. Might need some more lateral support built in. Maybe box in the bottom.

Yea, I thought it might need that as well when I sketched it up because it does look slender. But its turned out solid as a rock just like it is! The dead weight of the quarter is plenty to stop backward slide, and side-to-side flex of the deck was corrected with the X brace timbers between the back legs. I did go cheap on the timber sheets though, using OSB rather than a decent marine grade external plywood. But at £38 quid (59 dollars) per sheet for ply in the UK, versus just £11 (or 17dollars) for OSB I will just put up with the fact it will prob rot out in 4-5yrs. Just wish it could be 4ft wider, so 12ft not 8ft. Cheers for comments all. £240 quid for the build, or 370 bucks to you. I reckon I'll get my moneys worth of fun back out of it (and yes Im aware we get totally ripped off on the cost of timber, and just about everything else in the UK!).

I would recommend painting the underside if you can, just to cover any moisture there. I did that and my 4 footer lasted 11 years before it collapsed, and that was with sterotypical Minnesota winters (up to like 5-6 feet of snow was common throughout the whole winter).

It was a fun little ramp.

Yes its likely to need it. At the moment I'm still feeling guilty that I painted the ramp and I still haven't got to the house window frames yet!

Thats an awesome ramp !

Your story is very similar to mine. Im 35 now. Havent rode in about 18 years and just bought a bike in the last few days (wethepeople Trust) with a view to getting back out again.

I was searching the net for ramp plans to build something like yours and came across this thread.

Hopefully ill have one built in the next few weeks and then can find out just how much i cant do anymore !

Cheers U.P.O. its hilarious riding again. I'm not any good but who cares. The ramp I built is to the dimensions in the sketch up at the top of this thread and the transition is absolutely fine. If you build it like that with 11mm OSB sheet and 2x4 timbers its frame will wobble till you get the sheet screwed on and the deck built, but once done its solid as a rock.

Ive attached a few photos of the build. Obviously everybody does stuff a bit differently but this method has worked for me.

Somebody on this thread said - that at 8foot the ramp might be a bit too narrow. Its fine, but I tend to agree so as you can see from the last photo here its grown a bit since then!

Somebody also said about watching your knees because your bones might not be what they used to be. They are right! My knees are fine but lower back has been giving me a bit of pain! Im a bit older than you but skeleton not what it used to be, but again who cares!! Good luck with the build,,,,

After approximatley age 25 your bones begin to calcify and harden, loosing their elasticity, also you begin to naturally lose fluids in the discs of your spinal column. Leading to us chrochety old men to be not as flexible as we once were, and more prone to fractures.

knees and other joints just get lots of repeated motion abuse from living so yeah, they get weaker as well.

If you get alot of injuries while being older you may here the word degenerative or disintegrating when speaking to a Dr. About your back or joints. It just means getting older and that pain won't leave. No sweat.

Yea Nwewinit I totally agree. Just saw it was you that mentioned about this before. You’re right. About a month back into it I started getting pain in my lower back pretty bad, so I did take a break for a few weeks to rest because to carry on and just end up with a badly trapped nerve is no joke! Anybody older should def bear that kind of thing in mind. As crap as that sounds, its important if you want to continue to enjoy it. I was surprised it happened but now I know to watch out for that. Cheers..

Diamondback Life wrote:

Yea Nwewinit I totally agree. Just saw it was you that mentioned about this before. You’re right. About a month back into it I ...more

Diamondback Life wrote:

Yea Nwewinit I totally agree. Just saw it was you that mentioned about this before. You’re right. About a month back into it I started getting pain in my lower back pretty bad, so I did take a break for a few weeks to rest because to carry on and just end up with a badly trapped nerve is no joke! Anybody older should def bear that kind of thing in mind. As crap as that sounds, its important if you want to continue to enjoy it. I was surprised it happened but now I know to watch out for that. Cheers..

...more

Add a couple mm worth of spacers under your stem (I went to a local bike shop and picked up a few in different sizes...at like $3 each it's worth having extra around to fine tune). That 2-6mm can make a serious difference with lower back pain and riding stamina

Thats a good idea. I hadnt thought about it but that would definitely make a difference. Nice one, cheers mate.