Anyone ride/race BMX?

office

office

Member
Lots of pump tracks popping up lately in the LA area. I recently went with some family to the Santa Clarita one and had fun just playing around with my full suspension XC. I'll definitely be back and picked up a $200 scratch-n-dent 24" BMX cruiser off Bike Island for $200ish to noodle around on.

As a kid I always wanted to ride Simi BMX but never got around to it and eventually the track closed. Looks like there's a couple of tracks still around though. Figure it might be fun to check out. I was having a ton of fun racing XC mtb this year until I had to chill out due to a (really stupid) health issue and would love to keep going with something else as most of the MTB events wind down in the next few months.

Anyone else ride/race BMX as an adult?
 
Yup, soccer and baseball for me. Not good at either. All the cool kids in my neighborhood had BMX bikes, I had a mountain bike. I have a very distinct little kid memory of trying to jump my mtb at some local dirt jumps and absolutely endo-ing super hard and getting the wind knocked out of me haha.

As my friends dad says, "it's never too late to have a good childhood"
 
Soccer (I was ok, only) and baseball (hated and sucked at). I was actually quite a wuss as a kid, I was afraid of jumping back then. I am NOTHING like who I was then, which is hilarious.

I still have my childhood BMX, I need to restore it.
 
I desperately wanted to race BMX in the 80s. The La Mirada track had been torn down, but if you got your card and showed up with your gear and bike, La Mirada Schwinn would drive you to the Orange Y track. My parents insisted that it was too dangerous, (despite all the safety gear,) so I just rode flatland freestyle instead. For some reason doing framestanders and surfers down a hill with no helmet or pads was okay, but BMX was too dangerous. Now, I think I'm too fat and slow to do it, (Unless I did a LOT of cardio work,) but I know I'd be a much better mtb'r if I started racing BMX. I kept entertaining notions of doing it as an adult, but Orange Y being torn down kind of killed that vision.

I first discovered the FLoop back in the 80s on my BMX bike, and my first mtb was a GT "Hybrid", which was an unfortunately named 1 x 6 BMX cruiser. Bad name for the late 80s/early 90s when the Hybrid genre, (flat bar, knobby tired, 700c bikes,) was all the rage. But I loved it and I loved the way a 24" handled in the air. Every so often I have to convince myself I don't need a 24" or 26" BMX bike. I still have two BMX freestyle bikes, (2012 Sunday Broadcaster and a late mid-school S&M LAF,) that are just a bit of wrench work away from being operational. The LAF might actually be a halfway decent race bike, despite the relatively steep head angle.
 
I bought a 22” BMX a few years ago to cruise around with my kids on. So much fun jumping off curbs and bunny hopping around the hood. When we cruise to the local shopping center I take the BMX too. My wife even rides it around with the kids.

My first 20” wheel was a Mongoose Decade with all the pegs and street trick stuff. Then I had a GT that was more of a regular BMX without all that stuff hanging off of it. Me and my friends rode around in a pack all the time, Elfs, Redlines, GTs were the most common amongst us.

Never raced because I was in every sport possible but always wanted to at the now gone BMX track at the YMCA in Orange.

(Pic from the day I brought it home, seat is not that high when I ride it).
DFAC6634-DF75-4F45-BE24-19C540E989E7.jpeg


Pic of the internet of the Mongoose I had:
upload_2022-3-9_14-29-5.jpeg
 
Sasquatch9billion said:
Was the Orange YMCA track the one you could see from the Chapman exit off the 55?
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Yes indeed.
Cornholio said:
...My first 20” wheel was a Mongoose Decade...[/ATTACH]
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A Mongoose Decade with the pin-pull direct drive was very nearly my first non-Stingray bike. I opted for an '87 GT Pro Freestyle Tour instead. Later I had a Diamond Back Woody Itson Strike Zone, (With an unheard of at the time 76 degree HT) with another weird ACS pin-pull freewheel, but instead of switching the bike to fixie mode, it would switch it to coasterbrake mode. Years after that, Nankai would make a whole hub around this concept with no ability to switch modes. The freecoaster hub allowed one to pedal, freewheel and not deal with backpedal when rolling backwards. Now they are common, but in the mid-school era, you had to hunt for them.
 
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I raced a few years at Ascot and Harbor BMX in Pedro. I had a pre E.T. Kuwahara and I loved that bike and still wish I had it.

About 6 years ago I did a few races at Metro BMX here in Bakersfield on my shops Crupi Cruiser. Was really fun but my kids had busy schedules and may do it again one of these days.
 
Mikie said:
^^I like this^^
It was banana seats and sting rays for me.
I didn't get into mountain biking until I was xxx. :oops:
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This. The schwinn stingray was as close to a BMX as existed at the time. I did take my schwinn Varsity on the dirt roads above Claremont at the time. Sketchy as all get out but fun. I recall riding up there in the hills at night with a buddy, and something started coming toward us through the bushes....damn I don't think I've ever ridden that fast! At least it wasn't @Faust29 dear leg falling out of a tree though.
 
While $200 gets you two Maxxis tires for your mountain bike, things are different in BMX land. For that you get a whole bike!

I know next to nothing about BMX stuff except the vague memories of this stuff from 15 years ago, but it seems very decent. Aluminum frame, chromo forks, 3 piece cranks, sealed BB, doublewall rims. $225 with just a few barely noticeable scratches.

Just spinning it around the neighborhood - gearing (39T / 16T -- 24x2.4) feels way high to me. Rear hub has a clunk that I couldn't solve - checked axle tightness, chain is tight, don't feel any play in the freewheel, crankarms are tight. Otherwise, it's the type of regular BMX I assembled many many years ago at a local bike shop. It's not featherweight but it's surprisingly light.

Just riding around gets the heartrate up pretty good.

IMG_0329.jpg
 
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39/16 x 24" = 58.5 gear inches, so that is a bit higher than traditional 20" which is typically around 55gi. I seem to recall Cruisers are typically 39/17, but my info is super old.

More info here: https://www.profileracing.com/gear-...earing evolved over,feel best for most people.

When I got back into mtb in 2014, I was really poor so I used my BMX bike parts. I knew 55gi was going to hurt, so I mixed a new school chainring (28t) with a late mid school cassette (11t) for 50.9gi. All the SSmtb articles I read suggested 52gi (Which is 2:1 on 26") 51gi would spin out way too fast on a legit BMX track, but your 59gi sounds pretty steep.
 
In the 70's I always wanted a real BMX bike,
All my parents could get me was a Murray with a banana seat.
There was a dry creek bed where all the kids rode. I had little skill and could barely go up and down.
30+ years later I moved to where I am now and my neighbor and his kid were going to Orange Y and Etnies. I thought about getting a DJ or a BMX and trying those places out.
Then Etnies stopped allowing bikes because it wasn't originally designed for bikes. Even worse, when they expanded they didn't do that.
Then, the Orange Y BMX got closed for some stupid reason.
So, I never got that bike or tried it out.
Maybe I'll find a place and give it a go when I'm 60?
 
Started racing BMX when I was 8 yrs old. I wanted to race MX but mom said "to dangerous", so BMX it was. Prado Park, Corona YMCA, Upland Pipeline, and Azusa were all on the rotation. Then Montclair Grand Prix opened and that was my home track up until when my GT got stolen. I was in the middle of 8ht grade, sometimes racing twice a week. Worked my way up to expert class and could almost always get on the podium. Then one day I was at the local pet store with a friend looking at rats. We leaned our bikes up against the window and we were taking turns checking on them. As I was walking to the front of the store to check the bikes, I see a cholo walk up to the bikes. My bike was against the window and my friends (a pit bike) was leaning against mine. The homie grabs my friends bike and moves it out of the way. He hops on my bike and takes off. I run out, screaming at him and hop on my friends pit bike and try to catch him. No luck, he's pulling away as we go through the shopping center parking lot. About half way thru some guy pulls up next to me in a car and says jump in we'll catch him. We chase him out of the parking lot and onto the street. We are really close to him, then he goes across the street into a new neighborhood of homes being built. There are no paved roads, only dirt roads. We followed him as far as we could and he eventually ditched us. That was the end of BMX racing... Dad, I want a skateboard! Fast forward about six years or so and I bought my first mountain bike. The area we are moving to in a few weeks has two pump tracks and a bike park all within 15 minutes of my house. I may be looking into a beater 20". Riding a 29er on a pump track is exhausting.
 
Redman said:
Started racing BMX when I was 8 yrs old. I wanted to race MX but mom said "to dangerous", so BMX it was. Prado Park, Corona YMCA, Upland Pipeline, and Azusa were all on the rotation. Then Montclair Grand Prix opened and that was my home track up until when my GT got stolen. I was in the middle of 8ht grade, sometimes racing twice a week. Worked my way up to expert class and could almost always get on the podium. Then one day I was at the local pet store with a friend looking at rats. We leaned our bikes up against the window and we were taking turns checking on them. As I was walking to the front of the store to check the bikes, I see a cholo walk up to the bikes. My bike was against the window and my friends (a pit bike) was leaning against mine. The homie grabs my friends bike and moves it out of the way. He hops on my bike and takes off. I run out, screaming at him and hop on my friends pit bike and try to catch him. No luck, he's pulling away as we go through the shopping center parking lot. About half way thru some guy pulls up next to me in a car and says jump in we'll catch him. We chase him out of the parking lot and onto the street. We are really close to him, then he goes across the street into a new neighborhood of homes being built. There are no paved roads, only dirt roads. We followed him as far as we could and he eventually ditched us. That was the end of BMX racing... Dad, I want a skateboard! Fast forward about six years or so and I bought my first mountain bike. The area we are moving to in a few weeks has two pump tracks and a bike park all within 15 minutes of my house. I may be looking into a beater 20". Riding a 29er on a pump track is exhausting.
Click to expand...

Maybe check out 22” bmx bikes.. a little more wheel but not like a 24” or 26”
 
Cornholio said:
Maybe check out 22” bmx bikes.. a little more wheel but not like a 24” or 26”
Click to expand...

There's a few scratch and dent Gravity 24's left on Bike Island still too.
https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_STOR20.cgi?Action=Details&ProdID=3603

I went out to Santa Clarita pump track again this weekend. It really reveals how bad my bike handling skills are. It's a little bit more fun on the 24" though. Gravity has clicking freewheel and they gave me $30 back. Sounds good to me. I ordered a 17T Shimano freewheel and the Park Tool to change it.

Right now my goal is to be able to manual on flat ground. After about 5 days of trying my brain is letting me not use my arms to keep from looping. It's slow going.
 
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office said:
There's a few scratch and dent Gravity 24's left on Bike Island still too.
https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_STOR20.cgi?Action=Details&ProdID=3603

I went out to Santa Clarita pump track again this weekend. It really reveals how bad my bike handling skills are. It's a little bit more fun on the 24" though. Gravity has clicking freewheel and they gave me $30 back. Sounds good to me. I ordered a 17T Shimano freewheel and the Park Tool to change it.

Right now my goal is to be able to manual on flat ground. After about 5 days of trying my brain is letting me not use my arms to keep from looping. It's slow going.
Click to expand...

Build one of these. IT helped me A LOT!

 
Grassblade23 said:
39/16 x 24" = 58.5 gear inches, so that is a bit higher than traditional 20" which is typically around 55gi. I seem to recall Cruisers are typically 39/17, but my info is super old.
Click to expand...

I got a Shimano 17T freewheel - this got rid of the clunk and brought it down to a nice ratio. I'm usually not picky about anything but it was like pedaling a truck, especially at the pump track. I put some real pedals on it and it feels nice and smooth, no gritty grindy-ness.

Just doing some urban exploration mostly

IMG_0362.jpg
 
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Empty Saturday - I went to Freedom Park BMX track in Camarillo today, it's off the freeway tucked behind the airport. Took the $15 Beginner clinic - joined the lineup with the kids and learned to ride the track. They give you tons of practice time and teach you how to balance on the starting gate.The coaches are great, everyone is super friendly and it's such a fun time - I got a crash course in riding/classes/motos. Balancing on the gate is tricky. There are a million little things that mess me up - foot off a bit, cranks not level, having a little bobble. Eventually managed to get out of the gate without bobbing over the afternoon.

Signed up to race and got 2nd out of 3 in the main! I'm definitely going to be back.

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I let my ABA membership lapse last Summer, but I’ll occasionally practice & race a state race every couple of years. 24” was always my favorite to race, never enjoyed riding/racing 20s. Picked up a DJ & don’t bother riding bikes without suspension anymore… if I didn’t live so close to the trails I’d probably ride bmx more but it’s always a hassle to drive to the track.
 
Been working on my manual skills. They still suck but every 1/10 feels fleetingly good. I'm too lazy to build one of those manual stands..

The $200 Gravity is starting to show it's budget nature. I gave the wheels a good true as all the spokes were coming out of tension and the whole wheel was creaking. But after that it was good.

Chain kept stretching like crazy. I'd make it one BMX track session and it'd need an adjustment. It seems to have bedded in though and hasn't needed tightening in a bit0.

Square taper crankset started creeking really bad on a ride. I made the mistake of pulling off the crankarms and putting some teflon grease on the mating surfaces. Now the bolt keeps backing itself off and the crank starts wobbling - always seems to happen at the track. I did a 15 mile ride and came back and the bolt had backed itself off, although the crank didn't pop off the taper. I gave it some serious torque this last time with some blue loctite and I'm going to leave it overnight to dry. I had these types of cranks as a kid and they are either flawless or endlessly problematic, no in-between.

No big deals on these though. Just need a little tweaking. Makes me appreciate quality mtb's though.
 
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office said:
Lots of pump tracks popping up lately in the LA area. I recently went with some family to the Santa Clarita one and had fun just playing around with my full suspension XC. I'll definitely be back and picked up a $200 scratch-n-dent 24" BMX cruiser off Bike Island for $200ish to noodle around on.

As a kid I always wanted to ride Simi BMX but never got around to it and eventually the track closed. Looks like there's a couple of tracks still around though. Figure it might be fun to check out. I was having a ton of fun racing XC mtb this year until I had to chill out due to a (really stupid) health issue and would love to keep going with something else as most of the MTB events wind down in the next few months.

Anyone else ride/race BMX as an adult?
Click to expand...
Only once I tried BMX and said I wouldn't get on it again! :facepalm:
 
So I removed my left crankarm and did some close visual inspection. Doesn't look like it came loose and cause damage through vibration/wearing. I put an actual twist in the taper. Too many practice starts on pavement I guess.

I'm going to stick another square taper crank arm on and call it good for now.

For future project - Looks like I can swap a 2 piece MTB style crank + BB. There are lots of Amazon ones for $40 or so. I'm assuming these will work with a spacer or two which they include.

For the chainring, is there a specific spec I need to request for a 104 BCD pattern that works with single speed chains?

https://boxcomponents.com/products/box-two-chainring?variant=36638978801831

I'm pretty sure this Box is the chainring I need, just don't want to pay $55 for.

I'm not a buy once cry once person. More like, buy two or three times and cry throughout.

61USanOqJEL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
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