BMXmuseum.com Forums

It's to piss you off.

It's not for everyone.It is a great way once you've learned the trick with brakes(whiplashes) to start doing them without to understand how the trick is without brakes.Once you start doing 3-4 whiplashes (brakeless) 7-10 with brakes becomes the norm....just don't try that many without brakes!

I have a grand idea.

Instead of starting thread after thread about why riders do what they do today, go out and ride and ask them yourself.

Who knows, you might learn something about BMX after 1990.

Better yet, you might enjoy yourself, too.

Capt. Nemo wrote:

I have a grand idea.

Instead of starting thread after thread about why riders do what they do today, go out and ride and ask them yourself.

Who knows, you might learn something about BMX after 1990.

Better yet, you might enjoy yourself, too.

This is a discussion forum, genius. Ideas get brought up over and over.

teamrandr wrote:

Unreal this is the first time this has ever been brought up!!!!!!

today you mean

I rode flatland -with brakes- from the mid 80's to the mid 90s, then again a couple of years before quitting in 2000.

I resumed riding around 2009. I managed to recover most of my tricks.

A few months ago my front brake broke, and I tried riding like that. Some things became more difficult, and more dangerous, too. But I kept trying. Sometimes, I trained with brakes before going brakeless again. When I managed to pull my tricks brakeless, they were centrainly smoother, and I had a greater sense of achievement. There are a few things still out of my reach, but I dont want to go back to front brakes anymore. I feel I have gained more skills.

HOWEVER, I never took my back brake off. I still have to ride to my spots, and the street is simply too full of dangers not related to your riding skills. I think its stupid to increase the chances of injury for nothing. Also, I dont see the point of wasting you tires and shoes when you can let the brake pads do the job.

I thought it seemed really limiting when I first saw some of the brakeless pioneers riding back in 1996 or so.  Over the years people have adapted just about everything to brakeless riding.  Most lip tricks can be done with pedal pressure.  For vert riding, people say you can slow down from just landing lower on the transition and unpumping, For street riding, which mostly revolves around pedaling fast, correctly judging distances/height of gaps/obstacles, etc. and being able to hop consistently over 40" and confidently land on your pegs most of the time, you don't really need brakes at all.   Even the featheriest brakiest trick of all, the nose wheelie, is being done at insane lengths with no brakes at all now. For flat, apart from a few specific things, most modern tricks can translate to brakeless without any problems. 
Chase Hawk has never run brakes and can flow airs as good as Blyther. 

I keep brakes on my bikes for three reasons:  1.)decades - you can do them brakeless but they're a totally different trick that way, super scary and you'll slam way, way hard learning them.  It was also hard on my wrists landing them brakeless on 130 psi tires.  2.) multiple fire hydrants - you can do them brakeless, but the method changes and it doesn't feel quite the same to me.  3.) habit and being able to stop


The biggest problem I see with brakeless riding is nitwit kids crashing into each other in concrete parks (or skaters, getting us kicked out of parks for being unsafe) and being crashed into cars on street because they can't slow down.

Jesus h Munson. Another week of this

D1976 wrote:

I keep brakes on my bikes for three reasons:  1.)decades - you can do them brakeless but they're a totally different trick that way, super scary and you'll slam way, way hard learning them.  It was also hard on my wrists landing them brakeless on 130 psi tires.  2.) multiple fire hydrants - you can do them brakeless, but the method changes and it doesn't feel quite the same to me.  3.) habit and being able to stop

1. well said. I can bust decades NP. But I dont think I could do a riding/brakeless decade. I'd anticipate a concussion, lol.
2. fire hydrants; I dont use brakes for them anyway, I think they'd throw me off balance if I used brakes.
3. being able to stop is nice

Even if you are a pro, the street is full of dangers not related to your riding skills.

Also, I dont see the point of wasting you tires and shoes when you can let the brake pads do the job.

Brakeless tricks are great, but riding completely without them is stupid, unless you are in totally in control of your environment. That might be the case, sometimes...

chillywilly263 wrote:

Punjab wrote:

Capt. Nemo wrote:

I have a grand idea.

Instead of starting thread after thread about why riders do what they do today, go out and ride and ask them yourself.

Who knows, you might learn something about BMX after 1990.

Better yet, you might enjoy yourself, too.

This is a discussion forum, genius. Ideas get brought up over and over.

Except every topic this guy starts questions what's happening in modern day BMX. It gets a little old.

+10 that seat post to high

spyker wrote:

dirtbikes wrote:

chillywilly263 wrote:

Except every topic this guy starts questions what's happening in modern day BMX. It gets a little old.

+10 that seat post to high

I agree.

The topic of this thread should be changed to " why does xjguy ride with his seatpost so high ".

I never understood why people rode with their seatposts so high,what purpose does it serve? I think xjguy should tell all curious minds due to his seatposts being skyjacked high on his bikes.

Feel free to start a thread on that........back on topic please.

If the reader does not like the topic he has no obligation to participate or even read it.

There is not one topic that any of us can come up with relating to BMX that has not at some point already been discussed.   That being said new people, new discussions, new threads, without it, then just shut the site down.