can I get a rundown on BMX bikes?
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can I get a rundown on BMX bikes?
So I am not a BMX guy rode some as a kid went MTB and road first chance I got never looked back. Its cool I like to watch it just not my thing. We do have a nice pump track ten minutes from house Kids dig it, so do I. Oldest (8 years old) now wants a BMX cause "real" daddy bought him a POS and took him to skate park to watch him fall down. I am not gonna put the kid on a POS to bomb around the pump track or skate park, I also dont expect this kid to stick with a BMX he wont push his MTB hard so I just dont buy this entire concept.
at any rate I would like to pick up used maybe a HARO, old mongoose whatever( I dont know what is good). I can rebuild, paint, replace parts, I also don't know how to size these things kid is pretty tall(4'9" long legs) for his age current ride a trek 820 13" frame it fits him great and he can toss it around at the pump track when he wants to. estimate of where I am price wise for used bike and rebuild? Would I be crazy to just swap bars on the trek 820 switch it a single speed and call it done? I have a rigid fork i could toss on it to dump the shock to. His biggest issue at least that he admitted is shifting is to hard, and he wants to do tricks.
Can I possibly get this done by Xmas? lol
at any rate I would like to pick up used maybe a HARO, old mongoose whatever( I dont know what is good). I can rebuild, paint, replace parts, I also don't know how to size these things kid is pretty tall(4'9" long legs) for his age current ride a trek 820 13" frame it fits him great and he can toss it around at the pump track when he wants to. estimate of where I am price wise for used bike and rebuild? Would I be crazy to just swap bars on the trek 820 switch it a single speed and call it done? I have a rigid fork i could toss on it to dump the shock to. His biggest issue at least that he admitted is shifting is to hard, and he wants to do tricks.
Can I possibly get this done by Xmas? lol
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It all depends what type of BMX riding your kid wants to do for sizing.
For Freestyle he's right at the cusp of changing wheel sizes. 4.7'' - 5'' they recommend a 18" wheel. Over 5'' they recommend a 20". The reason is in the 80's there was a lot of 20" bikes with 17-18" top tubes, and something like a 19"+ TT was kinda rare. Now just about all 20" bikes are min 19" and can go up to 22". So the 18" frame/wheel size is designed to be a little smaller and easier to thrash around. But how fast is your kid growing?
Haro are OK bikes but they are not that popular anymore. Mongoose went the way of Walmart and are garbage now. Bikes like Fit, Cult, Kink, and We the People are the "Cool" bikes these days.
For Freestyle he's right at the cusp of changing wheel sizes. 4.7'' - 5'' they recommend a 18" wheel. Over 5'' they recommend a 20". The reason is in the 80's there was a lot of 20" bikes with 17-18" top tubes, and something like a 19"+ TT was kinda rare. Now just about all 20" bikes are min 19" and can go up to 22". So the 18" frame/wheel size is designed to be a little smaller and easier to thrash around. But how fast is your kid growing?
Haro are OK bikes but they are not that popular anymore. Mongoose went the way of Walmart and are garbage now. Bikes like Fit, Cult, Kink, and We the People are the "Cool" bikes these days.
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It all depends what type of BMX riding your kid wants to do for sizing.
For Freestyle he's right at the cusp of changing wheel sizes. 4.7'' - 5'' they recommend a 18" wheel. Over 5'' they recommend a 20". The reason is in the 80's there was a lot of 20" bikes with 17-18" top tubes, and something like a 19"+ TT was kinda rare. Now just about all 20" bikes are min 19" and can go up to 22". So the 18" frame/wheel size is designed to be a little smaller and easier to thrash around. But how fast is your kid growing?
Haro are OK bikes but they are not that popular anymore. Mongoose went the way of Walmart and are garbage now. Bikes like Fit, Cult, Kink, and We the People are the "Cool" bikes these days.
For Freestyle he's right at the cusp of changing wheel sizes. 4.7'' - 5'' they recommend a 18" wheel. Over 5'' they recommend a 20". The reason is in the 80's there was a lot of 20" bikes with 17-18" top tubes, and something like a 19"+ TT was kinda rare. Now just about all 20" bikes are min 19" and can go up to 22". So the 18" frame/wheel size is designed to be a little smaller and easier to thrash around. But how fast is your kid growing?
Haro are OK bikes but they are not that popular anymore. Mongoose went the way of Walmart and are garbage now. Bikes like Fit, Cult, Kink, and We the People are the "Cool" bikes these days.
the kid is growing super fast. Long legs and skinny, but fairly strong I know nothing but 20" seems doable to me based on his size.
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I'd skip trying to convert a XC mountain bike to something for the pumptrack unless you have a lot of spare parts around.
for a kid his size, I think a bike with 18" wheels should work, but maybe a 20" bike with a very, very small frame. he'll certainly grow out of it, so don't think of this as a long term investment. give Empire BMX a call and see what they recommend.
I don't know much about older BMX bikes. I started riding in the mid-90s and those bikes were HEAVY. as a scrawny 13 year old, I could barely manage to move one of those bikes around. if you are looking at used bikes, just research exactly what you're getting before you buy. there are tons of HEAVY, crappy old BMX bikes out there that would be a horrible experience for your kid.
if he's looking specifically at something suitable for a pump track, a BMX racing bike (not a "street/ ramp/ park" bike) might work out well and be light enough to throw around.
for a kid his size, I think a bike with 18" wheels should work, but maybe a 20" bike with a very, very small frame. he'll certainly grow out of it, so don't think of this as a long term investment. give Empire BMX a call and see what they recommend.
I don't know much about older BMX bikes. I started riding in the mid-90s and those bikes were HEAVY. as a scrawny 13 year old, I could barely manage to move one of those bikes around. if you are looking at used bikes, just research exactly what you're getting before you buy. there are tons of HEAVY, crappy old BMX bikes out there that would be a horrible experience for your kid.
if he's looking specifically at something suitable for a pump track, a BMX racing bike (not a "street/ ramp/ park" bike) might work out well and be light enough to throw around.
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the DK Siklon looks like a good entry-level bike, but it's going to be large and heavy for him, at least for a while. it looks like a normal adult-sized BMX frame, but I can't find any specifics on the frame size. BMX bikes are usually sized by top tube length, which is not a helpful way to size bikes.
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the DK Siklon looks like a good entry-level bike, but it's going to be large and heavy for him, at least for a while. it looks like a normal adult-sized BMX frame, but I can't find any specifics on the frame size. BMX bikes are usually sized by top tube length, which is not a helpful way to size bikes.
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when I was a kid, I picked up on conscious clues from my parents in ways that prevented me from taking risks in ways that stunted my personal growth. maybe you're not doing that at all and I'm projecting, but that's what I am hearing. get him a badass bike and lead by example.
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when I was a kid, I picked up on conscious clues from my parents in ways that prevented me from taking risks in ways that stunted my personal growth. maybe you're not doing that at all and I'm projecting, but that's what I am hearing. get him a badass bike and lead by example.
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Ha! That sounds like me and my younger brother!
keep an eye out on the local classified ads for a 18" BMX bike or a very small "expert" sized race bike.
keep an eye out on the local classified ads for a 18" BMX bike or a very small "expert" sized race bike.
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