Freestyle BMX
Freestyle BMX is a creative way of using bicycles originally designed for bicycle motocross racing. It can be split into several disciplines, although riders will generally participate in more than one discipline. These are Street, (skate)Park, Vert, Trails and Flatland. Rather confusingly, in competitions, park riding is often referred to as 'Street'.
Street
Street riding occurs on public streets or private property, typically within cities and towns. Without purpose-made ramps, riders have to improvise with banks, walls, rails, gaps, etc. In fact, almost anything can be used as an obstacle, and it is precisely this that draws people to street riding. Riders enjoy street riding because they are not constrained to what a skatepark designer has planned for them to ride, so it allows a good deal of creativity. Street riding relentlessly progresses, with obstacles and tricks that were considered too big or technical to attempt, becoming common place.
Many professional BMXers are street riders who are employed for the exposure they get through video parts and magazines, rather than for their competition results. However, these riders generally don't get paid the huge sums that the big competition riders get, as most of the big money comes from placing in events such as the X Games. However, riders like Van Homan, who is a progressive street rider, often enter the X Games and manage to place quite high.
Street bikes are different from those used on park or dirt. Typically they will have two or four stunt (axle) pegs for grinding. They are usually the heaviest and strongest type of BMX bike. A considerable number of street riders set up their bikes without hand brakes (popularized by riders such as New York's Edwin DeLaRosa).
Some street riders may also ride park and dirt, but the set up of street bikes can make the latter difficult.
Park
Skateparks are used by BMXers as well as skateboarders, and both draw inspiration from the other. Skateparks themselves can be made of wood or concrete, or in the case of local council-supplied parks, metal.
Styles of riding will differ between wood and concrete parks - wood lends itself to technical tricks, while concrete is more suited to a fast, flowing style, with riders searching for gaps, and aiming to air higher from the coping. However, it is not unusual for riders to merge the two styles in either type of park.
Concrete parks are commonly built outdoors due to their ability to withstand years of exposure to the elements. Concrete parks are also often publicly funded due to their permanent and costly nature. Parks made from wood are popular with commercial skateparks due to ease of construction, availability of materials, cost, and the relative safety associated with falling on wood instead of concrete. Parks designed with BMX use in mind will typically have steel coping that is less prone to damage than concrete or pool coping.
Common obstacles include:
- quarter pipes - literally, quarter of a pipe - riders air from it and perform tricks on a platform above the ramp
- spines - two quarter pipes back to back
- flat banks - a flat bank set at an angle of roughly 40 degrees from horizontal
- wall rides - a vertical wall above either quarter pipes or flat banks
- miniramps - two small quarter pipes facing one another, like a halfpipe, but with a short flat area between.
- hips - essentially two quarter pipes or flat banks, each with one edge at a right angle to the other.
Vert
Perhaps the most extreme of the BMX disciplines, a Vert ramp consists of two quarter pipes set facing each other (much like a mini ramp), but at around 10-13 feet tall (around 2.5 to 3 metres) high. Both 'faces' of the ramp have an extension to the transition that is vertical, hence the name.
Riders go up each face, performing tricks in the air before landing into the same face. A typical run involves going from one side to the other, airing above the coping each side. Also possible are 'lip tricks' - tricks on the platform at the top of the ramps before dropping into the ramp.
Mat Hoffman popularised the sport in the early 90s, and holds the record for the highest jump of 27' out of a 25' ramps (a total of over 15.5 metres from the ground). He achieved this by being dragged along a field by a friend with a motorbike and hitting one face of the ramp. On one attempt, he lost control at the peak of his jump, and the resulting crash caused life-threatening injuries such as losing his spleen. Remarkably, despite his age and injuries in the past, he still competes to this day.
The danger of the discipline (and scarcity of full-size vert ramps) puts most riders off, and as such, there are a small number of top professionals who remain at the top of the sport for many years. Most notable are Dave Mirra (US) and Jamie Bestwick (UK) who have won almost all the major international competitions in the past 5 years.
Trails
A photo of some trails courtesy of barendbmx.co.uk Trails are, as the name suggests, lines of jumps built from dirt (heavily compacted mud). The jumps consist of a steep take off, called a lip, with an often slightly less steep landing. The lip and landing are usually built as separate mounds, divided by a gap. The gap is measured from the topmost part of the lip, horizontally to the topmost part of the far side of the landing. Gaps typically range from only a couple of feet to over twenty feet. A moderate gap is around twelve feet.
Trails riding is sometimes also referred to as Dirt Jumping. Many maintain that a subtle difference exists in the approach of the rider; trails riders focus more on flowing smoothly from one jump to the next whilst performing more stylish tricks, while dirt jumpers try to perform the craziest tricks they can without much thought to their style or smoothness.
Although many regard trails and street as being completely opposite, the attraction is similar—trails riders build their own jumps so their riding is limited only by their creativity and resourcefulness.
Flatland
Flatland BMX occupies a position somewhat removed from the rest of freestyle bmx. People who ride in the above disciplines will generally take part in at least one of the others, but flatlanders tend to only ride flatland. They are often very dedicated and will spend several hours a day perfecting their technique.
Flatland also differs from the others in that the terrain used is nothing but a smooth, flat surface (e.g. an asphalt parking lot, basketball courts, etc.). Tricks are performed by spinning and balancing in a variety of body and bicycle positions. Riders almost always use gnurled aluminum pegs to stand on to manipulate the bike into even stranger positions.
Flatland bikes typically have a shorter wheelbase than other freestyle bikes. This shorter wheelbase requires less effort to make the bike spin or to position the bike on one wheel. One of the primary reasons flatlanders often ride only flatland is a result of the decreased stability of using a shorter bike on ramps, dirt and street.
A variety of options are commonly found on flatland bikes. The most unifying feature of flatland bikes is the use of four pegs, one on the end of each wheel axle. Flatland riders will choose to run either a front brake, a rear brake, both brakes, or no brakes at all, depending on stylistic preference.
History of freestyle
Freestyle BMX was pioneered by Bob Haro in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Along with Haro, who would late produce the first freestyle frames, early pioneers of freestyle bmx included RL Osborne, Mike Buff, Pat Romano, Stu Thompson, and Tinker Juarez. The 1980's saw a major level of growth in freestyle popularity. Some of freestyle's major innovators in the 1980s and 1990s inclued: Eddie Fiola, Mike Dominguez, Brian Blyther, Ron Wilkerson, Dave Voelker, Rick Moliterno, Vic Murphy, Pete Agustin, Mat Hoffman, Dave Mirra, Kevin Jones, Ryan Nyquist, Dennis McCoy, Ruben Alcantara, Jamie Bestwick, Jay Miron, Joe Rich, and Taj Mihelich.
The first freestyle World Championships were held in Vancouver, Canada during Expo86 in 1986.
Tricks
While there innumerable tricks that can be performed, and many new tricks are being created every day, there are a few basic tricks that form the staples of BMX riding in trails, street and park riding, and are often combined to create new tricks.
Base tricks
- Bunny hop - Jumping the bike off the ground without using a jump. Performed by pulling back on the handlebars, then pushing forward while lifting off the ground.
- Air - Simply, getting both wheels off the ground out of a jump, ramp, or bank, and landing with both feet on the pedals.
- Grind - Sliding the bike along an object, usually coping, a handrail or ledge, using anything other than both wheels.
- Fakie - Riding backwards.
- Manual - Riding with the front wheel held in the air, without pedalling. A coasting wheelie.
- Wallride - Riding along a vertical or near vertical wall.
- Endo - Stopping the bike with the front wheel, and raising the rear wheel into the air.
Grind Tricks
- Feeble grind - Grinding along with the front wheel and rear peg on the ledge or rail.
- Smith grind - The opposite of the feeble grind - front peg and rear wheel on the ledge or rail.
- Double peg grind/50-50 - Grinding along with both pegs on the ledge or rail.
- Icepick grind - Grinding along only on the rear peg, with the front of the bike in the air.
- Toothpick grind - Grinding along only on the front peg, with the rear of the bike in the air.
- Crooked grind - Grinding along a rail with one peg on one side, and the opposite peg on the other side. For example, the front right peg on the rail, and the rear left peg on the rail.
- Pedal Grind - Grinding along using the pedal rather than the pegs.
- Luc-E Grind - Grinding with the pedal and rear peg, with the front peg hanging below the grind obstacle.
- Magic Carpet grind - Front peg and pedal, with the back peg in the air.
- Levitator Grind - See pedal grind.
Air Tricks
- X-Up - Turning the bars 180˚ or beyond while holding onto them.
- One hander/no hander - Letting go of the handlebars with one hand/both hands.
- One footer/no footer - Removing one foot/both feet from the pedals.
- Seatgrab - Grabbing the seat with one or both hands.
- Tiregrab - Grabbing the front tire with one or both hands.
- 180/360/540/720/900 - Spinning the bike the number of degrees indicated, left or right.
- Backflip/Frontflip - Rotating the bike 360 degreeds on the vertical axis, backwards/forwards.
- Tabletop - Tilting the bike flat on its side while in the air.
- Turndown - pulling the bike up vertically whilst turning the bars down until they are rotated 180˚ from the frame.
- Barspin - Spinning the bars 360 degrees while letting go of them.
- Tailwhip - Spinning the bike 360 dgrees underneath you whilst holding the handlebars.
- Step-thru - Lifting one foot off the pedal and thrusting it to the opposite side of the bike.
- Candybar - Lifting one foot off the pedal and thrusting it over the handlebars.
- Can-can - Lifting both feet off the pedals and thrusting them to one side of the bike.
- Superman - Lifting both feet off the pedals and thrusting them backwards.
- Nothing - Releasing the bike entirely.
Lip Tricks
- Tailtap - Leaving the ramp, then placing the rear tire on the coping, while holding the nose of the bike in the air, and returning nose first into the ramp.
- Abubaca - As above, but returning into the ramp backwards, in a fakie.
- Stall - Stalling at the top of the ramp; common variations include double peg stall, smith/feeble stall.
- Disaster - Leaving the ramp, spinning 180 degrees, and landing with one wheel in and one wheel out of the ramp.
- Ice pick - Stalling at the top of the ramp with only the rear peg, while holding the nose in the air.
- Nosepick - Stalling at the top of the ramp with only the front tire on the coping, while holding the rear of the bike in the air.
- Toothpick - Stalling at the top of the ramp with only the front peg, while holding the rear of the bike in the air.
Side flip twist sideways in the air.
Bikes
Freestyle bikes all use 20 inch wheels. Frame sizes and geometry vary depending on preference, but the top tubes are usually 20-21 inches long. Riders often customise store bought bikes, to suit their preferences and style of riding. Generally, street riders use smoother tires for more grip on concrete, and usually have two pegs for grinding. Park riders use a similar setup, but some prefer four pegs and twin brakes for better control. Dirt riders don't usually have pegs, and use more knobbly tires for better grip in the loose dirt. Dirt bikes also tend to run only a rear brake, and use thinner axles (10mm) and less spokes (36 instead of 48) for lightness, and because they don't need to be as strong as park or street bikes. Vert riders don't usually need pegs, but may choose to run them anyway; they use the smoothest tires of all. Flatland riders bikes usually run four pegs, and a smaller chainring, as speed is not as essential for flatland. Brakes depend on preference.
Legendary Freestylers
"Old School" (1977-1988)*
- Bob Haro
- Tinker Juarez
- Jeff Watson
- Eddie Fiola
- Woody Itson
- Martin Aparijo
- Dennis McCoy
- Fred Blood
- Mat Hoffman
- Bob Morales
- Mike Dominquez
- Ron Wilkerson
- Josh White
- Dave Vanderspek
- Dave Voelker
- Pete Augustin
- R.L. Osborn
- Mike Buff
- Ceppie Maes
- Rich Sigur
- Hugo Gonzales
- Scotty Freeman
- Trevor Hernandez
- Brian Belcher
- Bob Morales
- Dizz Hicks
- Brian Scura
- Krys Dauchy
"Mid School" (1989-2000)*
- Ryan Nyquist
- Jamie Bestwick
- John Parker
- Simon O'Brien
- Fuzzy Hall
- Brian Foster
- Dave Mirra
"New/Current School" (2001-Present)*
- Danny Hickerson
- Steve Cuesta
- Josh Stricker
- Dave Brumlow
- Larry Alvarado
- Rich Hirsch
- Simon O'Brien
*Note, there are significant bleed overs between eras. Some Mid School riders started their careers during the Old School Era but were largely unknown during that time; some New Schoolers started during the Mid School Era. On the otherhand there are still a few Old Schoolers that are still active in freestyle competition. Dennis McCoy for instance has just celebrated his 20th year in professional national freestyle competition.