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I have a recurring question in my mind each time I read a new thread on this site and how people respond in those threads. My question is "What did you use your BMX bike for BITD?"

Here is where I come from. I mowed lawns, shoveled snow for bike cash or requested parts for birthdays and Christmas. Anything it took to improve my bike, make it lighter or faster by buying the best parts or what I wanted. I raced for 5 years approx. I rode my bike everywhere, literally thousand of miles on a single speed, 20" BMX bike. When we were not racing in the ABA, we were racing around the neighborhood, jumping driveway curbs, hand making ramps/starting gates, building tracks, organizing mud run races, raced down frozing streams, wheelie contests, bunny hop jumpoff's, etc. We were our bike all the time.

I always thought BMX was one of two things: #1 riding a BMX style bike around the block and bashing or #2 racing competetively. BMX has evolved a lot over the last 30 years. How many of your raced? How many of you just spend your youth bashing around on your BMX bike?

I've read a lot of threads about which hubs to use, which cranks are best, etc. I've read many people say, "We never had those parts", "They were too expensive", etc. Also I notice a lot of old school rims with tons of front wheel brake rub. Few racers I ever met used front brakes, so it made me wonder.

Last edited by esw (2013-01-09 11:10am)

novabmx · 2013-01-09 11:15am

I lived on my bike bitd pulled a mower on saturday's also went fishing almost everyday, Had fishing rods on one side of the bars and a bucket full of shiners on the other side.

Last edited by novabmx (2013-01-09 11:15am)

SoGnarly · 2013-01-09 11:16am

Delivered papers, back and fourth to school, general ripping around town.

josare714 · 2013-01-09 11:17am

Deliverying the OC Register in the Anaheim Area ,,,,,

tim1218 · 2013-01-09 11:40am

Delivered the Atlantic City Press on it. Made sure I took the pads off beforehand ( newspaper ink was brutal! )

BMX KYLE · 2013-01-09 11:48am

Everyrthing Trips to the store mall arcade.To freinds houses.jumping wheelies racing.Really to much to list.I lived on my bmx bike in the summer time.When I was not riding my bmx.I was riding my atc.

TONE · 2013-01-09 11:55am

I used mine for bicycle motocross.

forty_three · 2013-01-09 11:59am

Ramps, Street, Trails, Racing, Skateparks, Flatland, Lake Jumping, Picking up cheerleaders, etc.

Last edited by forty_three (2013-01-09 11:59am)

tkBMX76 · 2013-01-09 12:00pm

Was on my bike more than I was on my feet BITD. Rode everywhere, trails, paper route, hanging with friends. If I wasnt on my bike I was playing football or basketball.

Coco · 2013-01-09 12:08pm

Besides the obvious of racing, I rode mine around for transportation and for mucho fun. I had a beater 10 speed for when I had to leave a bike unattended like at the swimming pool or mall ect. I was walking distance from elementary school so I never had to take my race bike.

Nachoman3 · 2013-01-09 12:12pm

paper route
going to school
going to town
going to friends houses
jumping every possible thing in my neigborhood and town
racing

TXBONE · 2013-01-09 12:13pm

I used my bmx bike to sit on my floor and tell people I rode.

tomhutch · 2013-01-09 12:17pm

the only thing i did not do was race . my expert racer had pegs and front brakes i drilled the forks my self

efil4a8ks · 2013-01-09 12:37pm

Riding all over town and jumping the dirt jumps we made in several diff locations around me. We had a blast.

EzDz · 2013-01-09 1:11pm

Outside of the normal lawns and stuff:
Look for change in abandoned couches.
Allergy studies for my aunts job at a drug research place (I got out of school for a day and got $120).
Put sand in aluminum cans when cashing in (gangsta).
Steal food and pocket lunch money (Hutch hubs werent cheap).

Forgive me, I was 12.

Nash · 2013-01-09 3:08pm

tim1218 wrote:
Delivered the Atlantic City Press on it. Made sure I took the pads off beforehand ( newspaper ink was brutal! )

Oh man, that statement instantly brought back some memories. I had a flashback to the ink stains on the orange A'MEs on my Schwinn Streetwise. I haven't thought about that in 27/28 years.

MrOlive · 2013-01-09 3:33pm

I helped deliver the Paper in Brandon South Dakota for my friend Daniel Walker. I used to call my bike my 3rd leg. I would say I could do better on that than walking. I lived on that thing, heck I still keep one next to my bed, lol

Burning River · 2013-01-09 3:35pm

I used it to jump in the dirt and to carry my skateboard around . Go figure I ended up being a skater for the past 25 years .

ultrahots · 2013-01-09 3:40pm

My bike was transportation all week long as I did drive nor did I have a car until I was almost 19.To buy it and parts I collected cans and delivered the State Journal and Cap Times.To put 30 miles a day on the bike was not out of the norm.When I could find a ride and scrounge enough cash we would goto the track and race.My mom tried to take us as much as possible but single mom no dad around and 4 kids to feed.I was a poor kid for the most part and rode on used hand me down bikes all my childhood.To this day I have never owned a New Bike.One of these days I will buy a never ridden brand new bike to build.

Last edited by ultrahots (2013-01-09 3:41pm)

G. · 2013-01-09 3:45pm

mine was my transportation, rode them to school, early on made a homemade "track" with some other local kids, then started racing NBL. I too was a poor kid w a single Mom so I had jobs at 14 and started workin at bike shops by 15 and was fast enough to get Sponsor help. A few times I did some 30+ mile bike rides with a duffel bag on my back to get to my best friends house to stay over for weekends and get a ride w his family to races. Did some flatland tricks and got into trails and street riding on my race bikes, doing stair gaps and wall rides up till 89 when a knee injury ended everything

Last edited by G. (2013-01-09 3:47pm)

GuitarDinger · 2013-01-09 3:51pm

I lived in the country so "town cruising" was somewhat limited.
Countless days of cruising around the neighborhood. Lots of trail riding. We made hills, jumps, and berms. We also built ramps. We jumped lots of stuff, including each other. Sometimes (when we were brave) we bunny-hopped each other. Nothing to crazy.

Worst accident (on bikes) was a friend went down a hill hit a root lost control hit a tree and the seat broke off and tore his sack on the post. To ER......................he went.

Motorcycles that's another story....

oldschuulbmxer · 2013-01-09 5:25pm

Any and every trouble!

Otto · 2013-01-09 7:35pm

Trail riding in the woods, ramming logs and tree stumps to get airborn cause dad wouldn't let me build a ramp.

maxycross · 2013-01-09 7:52pm

I did everything on my BMX bike BITD. Rode everywhere, - school, stores, fishing, arcade, delivered the Phila Bulletin and delivered every paper "in the door" without ever getting off of the bike. Built & unbuilt that bike so many times; regreasing and adding new parts to replace worn out or bent & broken ones or just to add the new ones that I was able to get by getting my birthday or Christmas presents early.

We rode, jumped and bunny-hopped every possible obstacle and built a few ramps from any lumber we could gather.

I also raced for a few years locally in Bensalem, PA.

I have no fonder memories than that of me and my friends on our BMX bikes!

coffin2death · 2013-01-09 8:30pm

my group of riding friends and i rode the streets on race bikes. looking for/ making jumps. jumping over stuff, wallrides, one part that was prohibitively expensive in new zealand was race cranks. we made do with cromoly 1 PC cranks.

it was the race guys with parents supporting them that had decent cranks, sealed bearing hubs.

a set of redline flights would cost as much as a whole bike at the shops. maybe you could have got them for less from the u.s by mail order. we rode 48 spoke wheels, on race frames. something like a 89 gt pro series was exotic stuff for us.

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What did you use your BMX bike used for back in the day?

What did you use your BMX bike used for back in the day?

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tim1218 wrote:

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