Anyone know anything about BMX bikes?

paul.skibum

I am vaguely thinking about getting a BMX to help me learn some additional bike handling skills (like manualing) - thought I could pick one up pretty cheap on ebay maybe - but I know nothing about them and what I should be looking for!

good frames? Mongoose? Haro?

Good wheels? Hubs? Brakes (Tekro sem to come up often)

Would I be better off just learning the skills on my Cove and save the money for beer?!

supersonic

Can be very useful bikes - cheap and tough.

Always go for a full cromo frame and forks - and as many cromo parts as you can get as HiTen parts a very heavy and harsh to ride.
If you are a heavy ride consider 48 spoke wheels and 14mm front hubs. Alloy hubbs save weight.
3 piece cranks are a bonus.
If you are over 6ft, consider the top tube length - 21inches may suit you better.
9t rear drivers are preferable.

This is a belter for the money:

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/haro-f5- ... 45879.html

BorisSpencer

I bought myself a BMX about 18 months ago (I'm 46 and missed out as a kid) for pretty much the same reason as yourself.
It languished in the back of the shed until the last few weeks, the council refurbished the local BMX track and I've been taking my lad down most evenings. The first couple of times I rode my Rock Lobster round the track, but there is just something about riding a BMX on it.

Salsa

You don't really need 48 spoke wheels unless your a serious hucker & whilst 9 tooth drivers are trendy the bearings blow quite easily, you can still micro gear with a 10 or 11 tooth driver (I run 28/11).
Any bike that has a 1 piece crank is going to be a censored kids bike.
Real BMX's are quite expensive but you may get a decent 2nd hand bike around £300 or a starter bike new, Tektro brakes are ok but nothing special, more popular brakes are Odyssey Evo's/Fly & decent cassette hubs start around £100 (Profile/Ody/G-Sport/Proper/Eclat/Demolition etc).
If you want a proper BMX look for names like Fly/We the People/Subrosa/Proper/Superstar/FBM/Sunday.
Have a look on sites like Pijin/Alans BMX/Custom Riders for quality BMX's & parts.

Don't expect to get on a BMX & be able to manual really easily, yes they are easier than an MTB to manual it still took me nearly 2 years to be able to pull off 100 metre + manuals whenever I want.

*AJ*

Personally, I think you'd be better off with a race style BMX, these tend to be a bit longer, and will have a V brake mount on the back.

GT make some nice entry level race bikes...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=28670

paul.skibum

Thanks all - I looked at custom riders and was comparing race vs street/park - I was erring toward the latter as it seemed the shorter rear end would help me with pulling manuals and other such shenanigans. Race versiosn I figured I may as well just stick with my HT.

Had a roam around ebay - lots of bikes there but few with decent descriptions (which I assume to mean they are cheap toot) I found a very interesting one with a battery and speaker system mounted on it though! I wont be bidding!

Basically the thinking was - buy a cheap second hand as it would only be to play on and I dont need new glam bits in which case maybe going against recommendations so far might not be too much of a worry?

If I mess about on it for an hour or two every weekend will I worry that its cheap hi tens and a censored crankset that much?

supersonic

"If you want a proper BMX look for names like Fly/We the People/Subrosa/Proper/Superstar/FBM/Sunday."

You still have to be careful with the budget ones - some are cheaply made. ie:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.We%20The%20Peop ... _18997.htm
http://www.rscycles.co.uk/subrosa-salva ... 3791-p.asp

Hi Ten steel frames are not worth it.

*AJ*

paul.skibum wrote:

Thanks all - I looked at custom riders and was comparing race vs street/park - I was erring toward the latter as it seemed the shorter rear end would help me with pulling manuals and other such shenanigans. Race versiosn I figured I may as well just stick with my HT.

Whilst that is true, a street/park bike will feel 100% different to your HT. The brakes will be different the balance point will be different etc etc.

A race bike will be much more similar and you will carry the skill from bike to bike.

I can manual my Gary Fisher race bike forever... and my Specialized HT too. I do however struggle when playing about on a park bike as it is so very different.