Looking To Get Into Bmxing

[Jake.]

Some of you may have seen my wanted thread looking for a bmx, I'm after a park/street bmx but I'm not 100% sure what to look for in one.

I was advised by a mate at the bike shop to buy one brand new, as second hand ones are usually beaten the hell out off. But I'm really struggling on deciding what one to get, any tips/help/advice would be really appreciated.

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

second hand ones are usually beaten the hell out off.

I think you'll find that's not really true. There are a hell of a lot of people who just cruise around and sit on their bikes at parks etc. and never actually ride the things.

Make sure what you get has sealed hubs, 4130 frame and forks and is as new as possible. If you can afford to buy new go for it as there are some real bargains out there but you will obviously get even more for your money if you go second hand.

[Dwarf Shortage]

Mafiabikes.com are selling brand new BMXs dirt cheap, not sure on quality or anything but it's probably worth a look, completes going at £135.

[Jake.]

I think you'll find that's not really true. There are a hell of a lot of people who just cruise around and sit on their bikes at parks etc. and never actually ride the things.

Make sure what you get has sealed hubs, 4130 frame and forks and is as new as possible. If you can afford to buy new go for it as there are some real bargains out there but you will obviously get even more for your money if you go second hand.

True... Forgot about the majority of chavs that buy bmx's just so they can chill out at a park lol. I'm going to be chucking mine about and riding the shit out of it.

My budget is probably up to about £500, wouldn't want to spend more than that for a first bmx.

Any of these good? http://verdebmx.com/2012/

Mafiabikes.com are selling brand new BMXs dirt cheap, not sure on quality or anything but it's probably worth a look, completes going at £135.

Woah, those do look damn cheap. I wouldn't get the £135 bmx as I just read that it's aimed for kids that want to hop up curbs and do 180's... lolhttp://www.mafiabike.com/clip/clip.html <-- that does look pretty good for £200...

Edited November 25, 2011 by OnzaKid

[Revolver]

Buy mine.

[Jake.]

Just had a look, and I'm not really interested, but thanks for the offer. It looks pretty old?

Edited November 25, 2011 by OnzaKid

[Revolver]

Few years old now.

Rides good.

A respray would see it straight.

[AlexxRogers]

Decent street BMXes from decent street riders will be pretty beaten.

As for buying new, the WeThePeople range are great value for money! I'd recommend them, they're pretty much the only complete bikes I see.

EDIT: That Mafia BMX seems extremely good value for money, but as with most things, that's probably for a reason.

Edited November 25, 2011 by AlexxRogers

[Matt Vandart]

f**k that you'll get an epic bmx for 500 on ebay

[Monkman]

Mines on Ebay...the Mothership...has no reserve on it and its at 99p at the moment....worth a bid

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110781659589?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_510wt_1263

[Jake.]

Thanks for the help so far, but you guys seem to be trying to sell me your bikes, rather than advising me in what type of bike to go for, trusted brands, parts, things to look out for, common fualts amoung second hand bikes to look out for when buying them, stuff like that, would be hugely appreciated if I could get a few posts in relation to that.

[Rockman]

I'd check out the new Saracen range.. The shop I work in stock them, the Saracan Amplitude Terminal is £399 and is a really nice bike to ride. Green one btw.

[weirdoku]

I know for a fact nathie wafie on here is selling his for £150 (rode with him last night), it's not a piece of shit either. I would buy it myself if I had £150 but I don't. Might be worth messaging him.

[planet x alan]

Thanks for the help so far, but you guys seem to be trying to sell me your bikes, rather than advising me in what type of bike to go for, trusted brands, parts, things to look out for, common fualts amoung second hand bikes to look out for when buying them, stuff like that, would be hugely appreciated if I could get a few posts in relation to that.

Trusted brands:

Wethepeople

Mankind

United

Kisbikeco

Fit

Federal

Sunday

Subrosa

Those are the 1st that come to mind. Would advise against verde. Especially as you say you are going to ride the hell out of it. One of the guys i ride with snapped 3 verde frames (he's a small lad and a smooth rider).

Frame sizes are very important. If you've only really rode trials bikes you'll be best going for a longer top tube frame. I'd probably say no smaller than 20.75" maybe even closer to 21". And probably go for some wider bars as you will no doubt be used to the hench bars that we use on the trials.

You also have the option of rear hub type. The two main ones being freehub and freecoaster. Freehub being your profile hubs etc etc... Freecoaster being KHE geisha etc. If you're not sure what a freecoaster is then search Karl Poynter, Rob Ridge or Bruce Krisman. Before committing to a freecoaster should you chose to go down that route I'd strongly recommend trying one out.

Maybe I've gone a bit too in depth, if so I apologize. 2nd hand would definitely be your best bet. For £500 you'll get something real nice. There are a LOT of posers in BMX that just role up at the park and sit and do nothing on top spec bikes.

[Jake.]

Trusted brands:

Wethepeople

Mankind

United

Kisbikeco

Fit

Federal

Sunday

Subrosa

Those are the 1st that come to mind. Would advise against verde. Especially as you say you are going to ride the hell out of it. One of the guys i ride with snapped 3 verde frames (he's a small lad and a smooth rider).

Frame sizes are very important. If you've only really rode trials bikes you'll be best going for a longer top tube frame. I'd probably say no smaller than 20.75" maybe even closer to 21". And probably go for some wider bars as you will no doubt be used to the hench bars that we use on the trials.

You also have the option of rear hub type. The two main ones being freehub and freecoaster. Freehub being your profile hubs etc etc... Freecoaster being KHE geisha etc. If you're not sure what a freecoaster is then search Karl Poynter, Rob Ridge or Bruce Krisman. Before committing to a freecoaster should you chose to go down that route I'd strongly recommend trying one out.

Maybe I've gone a bit too in depth, if so I apologize. 2nd hand would definitely be your best bet. For £500 you'll get something real nice. There are a LOT of posers in BMX that just role up at the park and sit and do nothing on top spec bikes.

Thank you! This is exactly the sort of information I was looking for.

Haven't heard half those brand names, but that's really helpful. Is this eBay wethepeople any good?

Woah... Okay, I'll avoid verde then, I didn't really like any of their bikes other than the £400+ ones.

Thanks for the frame size tip, that's the frame size I also got recommended by another rider.

Just had a quick search on what a freecoaster is, I'll probably go for a freehub as it's cheaper- and in a way you get more control when going backwards.

I probably won't spend £500, but I'd go up to that if I saw a bike that I was really interested in. I'll probably be more likely to spend around £300 - £400. Still not sure what bike to get, I like the look of a mafiabike though.

[Leistonbmx]

For £500 you could build a perfect bmx. My last 2 builds have been under £600. And they include ti spokes, ti bolts all over, profile hubs and cranks etc.

[bike_dummie]

If i were to buy a bmx i would stay clear of anything hi-tensile steel that includes that mafiabike and most other budget brands such as blank ect, as recommended above stick with cromo steel (4130).

Edited November 26, 2011 by bike_dummie

[Jake.]

Opinions on this guys?

http://www.cyclecellar.co.uk/products/207-fitbikeco-eddie-2-2012-bmx-bike.aspx

specs:

http://fitbikeco.com/bikes/2336-eddie-2

And this?

http://fitbikeco.com/bikes/2349-inman-1

[planet x alan]

Opinions on this guys?

http://www.cyclecellar.co.uk/products/207-fitbikeco-eddie-2-2012-bmx-bike.aspx ------------20.5 MAY be a little short. Otherwise looks okay

specs:

http://fitbikeco.com/bikes/2336-eddie-2

And this?

-

http://fitbikeco.com/bikes/2349-inman-1 -------This one looks a little more of a budget build but still pretty good spec. But again 20.5 maybe a little short.

Do you know any bmxers? Might be a good idea to go ride with them and play on their bikes to make your own opinion up on frame sizing as I know it's personal preference.

Check out the wethepeople completes. I'm really impressed with where they are going.

Have you considered building a custom? May be a pretty bold move but you will end up with a bike you won't really need to change anything on. I find when looking at completes (even top models) I am already looking at changing cranks/wheels/bars etc. Just a thought.

[eskimo]

Don't bother with new. £500 still won't get you anything. But this is coming from an abuser of bikes. A complete of that money could potentially last you, or some peg bashing could mess it up with ease.

I rarely see second hand go for more than your budget, even the blinged out american made bikes go for less.

[edit]

And TT size are semi irrelevent. I've rode 20" to 21". Favoured 20.6" the most. Any length bmx will feel tooooooooo short after riding even the shortest of mods.

Edited November 27, 2011 by eskimo

[winchman]

Having spent two years working in Europs largest baike factory I feel I have an eye for quality.

A few of the local lads have had issues with We the People but perhaps it was bad luck.

I feel you shold buy second hand as its far better value.

Asda do a BMX for £65????.

I feel Fly Bikes are very good quality and often cheap as the Exchange rate (they are Spanish) keeps them expensive, and people havent heard of them as they make no cheap bikes.

As my son loves tinkering with them I look out for good quality ones at the car boot.

I bought this Premium Death Trap for £49

I didnt have a clue what brand it was but could tell it was quality as the bearings are all sealed and it is very light at 22lbs, the welds are good too.

We rebrand any bikes we do up as Sababa ( its hebrew slang for Cool etc, aparantly it also has an Arabic meaning for unconditional love but still researching, its spelt wrong on this bike !)

I recently sold this for £130

Bought from Ebay for £120 used for 6 months as a spare bike then sold again, it was very good as it had a sealed BB and wheels, but watch out as they do several different colours and specs some have lesser wheels on them.

I feel ignore the brands and look at the quality, take Shimano, make some top quality stuff but the £65 bikes at Asda possibly have Shimano stuff on them.

I will have a look on Ebay and see what catches my eye, one of the best ways to buy one is have a word with yur local BMXers

I would buy this for no more than £150, the front chain ring is big but that wont be a problem, people are obsessed as they tell you it catches dropping in to bowls, well if it does you are doing it wrong, I proved this at Rampworks by asking a pro, he rode it no problem, but this could be changed at a later date but you would have to spend £150+ to get a better back wheel

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-fly-pantera-bmx-/250939313173?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3a6d260c15

Edited November 27, 2011 by winchman

[Mark W]

the front chain ring is big but that wont be a problem, people are obsessed as they tell you it catches dropping in to bowls,

...or catching it doing crank slides, pedal grinds, etc.

Out of interest, which factory did you work in?

[winchman]

Used to fix this stuff

http://www.mach1.fr/machines/pages/operations.aspx?tp=1

So spent some time at a few different ones, seen some good seen some bad all come out of the same factorys

[monkeyseemonkeydo]

I would buy this for no more than £150, the front chain ring is big but that wont be a problem, people are obsessed as they tell you it catches dropping in to bowls, well if it does you are doing it wrong, I proved this at Rampworks by asking a pro, he rode it no problem, but this could be changed at a later date but you would have to spend £150+ to get a better back wheel

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-fly-pantera-bmx-/250939313173?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3a6d260c15

Personally I wouldn't pay more than £80-£100 for that. The frame's obviously pretty good but the rest of it looks old, heavy and in need of upgrading.

[winchman]

Personally I wouldn't pay more than £80-£100 for that. The frame's obviously pretty good but the rest of it looks old, heavy and in need of upgrading.

Its all down to personal taste, I would imagine it would weight about 26Lbs. I like Flys some people dont, but its what works best for you, I feel they are good value and an underated bike as like so many things people follow trends and the manufacturers just want to sell you more stuff so they like to rubbish a product once its been out a few years so you will buy the next one.

The thing I find interesting is the day our son took a cheap Mongoose to Rampworx, he still had a good day and did all the things he could on his £1000 Fly.

We are all guilty at times of getting caught up with the latest shiny bit when really we should be out riding.