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 progresses relentlessly. Obstacles and tricks that were considered too big or technical to attempt become commonplace.

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.

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.Concrete parks usually tend to contain bowls and pools. 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 or a more aggressive angle to the other.
• box jumps - a steep quarter pipe like lip with a deck extending to a landing often less steep than the lip.
• pyramids - a four way wedge or transition box.
  

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 10-15 feet tall (around 2.5 to 3.5 metres) high. The biggest ramp ever used in competition is the X-Games big air ramp at 27 feet tall. 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. Most riders that ride trails maintain that a subtle difference exists in the style and flow of "dirt jumps" and "trails"; trails riders focus more on of a flowing smooth style 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. this flowy trails style is popularized by riders such as mike aitken, chase hawk and chris doyle.

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.

Dirt jumping bikes are heavier than bmx racing bikes but lighter than freestyle bikes. Often a bmx jump bike will have only a rear brake and they might also sport a gyro. The gyro will allow them to do airborne tricks such as barspins. But most trails riders dont ride gryos, they run a sinlge straight cable from the lever to the brakes.

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. Flatland bikes differ from dirt jumping bikes and freestyle bikes in one way. The frames are often more heavily reinforced due to the fact that the people riding flatland often stand on the frames. 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 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. early pioneers of freestyle BMX included Bob Haro, R.L. Osborne, Mike Buff, Pat Romano, Dizz Hicks, Eddie Fiola, Mike Dominguez, Dave Vanderspeck, Stu Thompson, Woody Itson and Tinker Juarez. The 1980s saw a major level of growth in freestyle popularity, but the 1990s brought a general decline in the interest on the sport. This brought the so-called "rider-owned" bicycle companies to the sport, which allowed for more freedom in designing, producing and building bicycle parts and accessories than the traditional corporate companies would allow.

Some of freestyle's major innovators in the 1980s and 1990s included: Eddie Fiola, Mike Dominguez, Brian Blyther, Ron Wilkerson, Hugo Gonzalez(s), Dave Voelker, Rick Moliterno, Vic Murphy, Pete Agustin, Mat Hoffman, Dave Mirra, Kevin Jones, Rick Moliterno,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. That which was won by Northern California's Hugo Gonzalez. At present many freestyle contests are held year-round around the world, being the X-Games, the Metro Jams, the Backyard Jams, and the BMX Freestyle Worlds among the more notorious.

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, and then leveling out the bike by pushing back on the pedals/pushing forward on the handlebars
• Air - Simply, getting both wheels off of a ramp and landing on the same face you came off.
• Grind - Sliding the bike along an object, usually coping (the metal edge of a ramp), a handrail or ledge, using anything other than both wheels.
• Fakie - Riding backwards. Made more difficult due to the fact that most rear bicycle hubs will force the cranks to rotate backwards while the back wheel is rolling backwards.
• Manual - Riding with the front wheel held in the air, without pedalling. A coasting wheelie.
• Nose Manual Basically the same as a manual except you balance on your front wheel instead of your back wheel, usually a bit harder.
• Wallride - Riding with both tires on 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 - A grind when the rear peg is grinding and the front wheel is rolling along the top of the ledge or rail.
• Smith grind - The opposite of the feeble grind. The front peg is grinding along the edge while the back wheel is rolling on the top of the ledge or rail.
• Double peg grind/50-50 - Grinding along with both pegs on the ledge or rail.
• Icepick grind - Grinding balanced only on the rear peg, with the front of the bike held 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 the front peg on one side, the bike crossing over the rail, and the opposite rear 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 on the pedal with the front tire on the rail or ledge, much like a feeble grind. Generally done by pegless riders.
• Luc-E Grind - Grinding with the forward pedal and rear peg, with the front peg hanging below the grind obstacle.
• Magic Carpet grind - Grinding on just the pedal.
• Levetator Grind - Front peg and pedal, with the back peg in the air.
• Disaster Grind/Sprocket Grind - Grinding along using the sprocket.

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 degrees on the vertical axis, backwards/forwards.
• Tabletop - Tilting the bike flat on its side while in the air.variations : 'old school tabletop' with bars facing up, 'downtable' or 'pancake' with bars facing down
• Turndown - pulling the bike up vertically whilst turning the bars down until they are rotated 180˚ from the frame.
• Lookback - Similar to the turndown, except the bike is horizontal and the rider is facing backwards.
• Barspin - Spinning the bars 360 degrees while letting go of them.
• Tailwhip - Spinning the bike frame 360 degrees underneath you whilst holding the handlebars.
• Can-Can - 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.
• No-Footed 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.
• Busdriver - Rotating the handlebars 360 degrees while still holding on to one end of the handlebars through their rotation. Like a bus driver turning a corner.
• Truckdriver - The combination of a Barspin and a 360. The rider will typically throw the bars in the opposite direction of the spin. For example spinning 360 degrees clockwise and throwing the bars 360 degrees counter clockwise.
• Toboggan - Turning the handlebars 90 degrees while letting go of the furthest grip to grab the seat instead.

Lip Tricks

• Fufanu - 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, or fakie.
• Stall - Stalling at the top of the ramp; common variations include double peg stall, smith/feeble stall.
• Sprocket Stall - Stalling straight out of the ramp, sprocket on the coping, front tire on the deck and back tire below the coping.
• 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
• Tailtap/Tiretap Stalling up on the deck of the ramp with the rear tire and hopping back in.
• footjams - jumping onto the deck of a quarterpipe and jamming youre foot into the front tire causing youre back end to come up in the air. many variations on this trick can be performed.

Bikes

Freestyle bikes all use 20 inch wheels. Frame sizes and geometry vary, but the top tubes are usually 20-21 inches long. Some riders customize store bought bikes, although most riders build custom bikes from the ground up to suit their preferences and style of riding. Generally, street riders use smoother tires for more grip on concrete, and usually have two or four axle pegs for grinding. Park riders use a similar setup, but some prefer four pegs and twin brakes for better control. Dirt riders usually don't have pegs, and use more knobby tires for better grip in the loose dirt. Dirt bikes also tend to run only a rear brake, Dirt bikes also usually have 36 spokes for less weight. Vert bikes usually use the smoothest tires of all. Flatland riders bikes usually run four pegs, a smaller frame, and a smaller front sprocket as maneuverability and not speed is the basis of flatland. Brakes depend on preference, and many riders have brakeless bicycles. In fact most aspects of a freestyle BMX bike's setup are based on personal preference. Above all a freestyle BMX should be as simple and strong while remaing light and nimble.

Before there was a "true" freestyle bicycle, riders used BMX racing frames for jumping and for performing flatland maneuvers. Bob Haro was the founder of the first freestyle bicycles company, Haro Bikes.[1] Most of the early Haro Freestyler bicycles are collectible items that sell for several thousand dollars. [2] The first freestyle bicycles were not as riding style-specific as modern ones; what made them suitable for flatland usually was the addition of bolt-on components, like standing pegs, platforms for the frame, the forks or the chainstays near the rear dropouts, and front and rear brake cable detangler systems like the ACS Rotor for the rear brake and the Potts Mod, a hollow stem wedge bolt for the front brake. By mid-90s, riding style differentiation in frames and components became the norm.

The bike shown is a little out dated now that smaller sprockets integrated headsets and new bottom brackets that do not allow the use of one piece cranks have come into play.

BMX Specific Bicycle Parts

• Gyro / Rotor - A device that prevents the rear brake cable from becoming tangled during barspins, tailwhips, or any tricks that require the handlebars to spin 360 degrees or more. A 'gyro' is a two piece device that floats under the stem and rotates on ball bearings. The top cable from the rear brake lever connects to one half of the device while the bottom cable from the rear brake connects to the other half. When the brake lever is pulled the 'gyro' raises and in turn pulles the lower cable attached to the brake. This allows the bars to be spun around infinately.
• Axle Pegs - Short 4 to 5 inch long tubes, enclosed on one end, which bolt on to the axles of freestyle BMX bikes. These add either a standing platform for Flatland BMX tricks or are used to slide coping, ledges or handrails in skateparks or on street.