bikes

Everything You Need to Know About BMX Bikes

In contradistinction to road and Mountain Bikes, BMX bikes have evolved from garage made creations for a commonplace racing niche into a huge industry and one of the biggest markets in cycling today.  BMX bikes are built for fun and are so well-grounded there is almost no end to what can be done on them.  The thrills you get from riding combined with the tremendous amount of exposure from events such as the X-Games and countless other competitions and races all around the earth, make this one of the most popular styles of bicycling today.

BMX, or bicycle motocross, originated during the beginning 1970’s in Southern California.  Kids started racing their bikes on slime racetracks to imitate their favorite motorcycle racers.  Most bikes were homely mass produced bikes that had been altered in garages or by petite shops in the scene.  With the release of the documentary On Any Sunday in 1972 the craze exploded in popularity all around the country.  As the hold up to ridicule became more popular, riders soon found they could ride skin of the track and that they weren’t limited just to the grime.  Freestyle BMX, a popular discipline of the frolic, where tricks and big air is the goal, exploded in the 1980’s and now rivals the character form of BMX racing in popularity and sales.  Another lobby of the sport to emerged focused on big air off jumps.  Space BMX bikes spun off from freestyle BMX and has a huge following today.  The make a fool of and industry was promoted with the help of very talented and individualistic athletes that showed the in the seventh heaven what was possible on these simple one-geared bikes.  Names like Dave Mirra, Matt Spinner, Matt Hoffman, Ryan Nyquist and Bob Haro can be found not only on BMX bikes but video games, clothing lines and a slew of other products and promotions.

As the trade grew, many large bike companies fast caught on that there was money to be made in this market within the world of cycling.  The kids, parents, bike shops and limited time fabricators who were there at the beginning of the BMX movement began putting their mastery to use and started their own bike or component lines.  Many of these rider-owned companies like Haro Bikes, GT and Mongoose were later bought out by goliath corporate bike companies.  Today, it’s rare to find a great bike operation that doesn’t offer a row of BMX bikes or owns a BMX brand.

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