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firehydrant to spinning hitchhiker question... posted on 2006-02-28 14:12:02

I don't use brakes at all in this trick. The hardest part about the spinning hitch (to me) is maintaining speed and momentum through the spin. If you tap your brakes as the frame swings around (fire hydrant) then you'll lose all of your speed and momentum that lets you turbine into the hitchhiker. If you don't know how to do canadian mccircles (firehauls or a turbined mccircles), it might help to learn those first, because you're essentially just dropping the frame into a hitchhiker at the moment of the turbine, (and having the frame spin towards you fire hydrant style). Also, I've found that having really high pressure in my tires helps. I can do it now with my normal 110-115 psi, but when I was learning them I sometimes went up to around 125 or so. Getting into them is pretty consistent, but to me landing them is a lot harder. One of my favorite tricks.....

is scuffing dead? posted on 2006-02-27 13:18:26

No way scuffing is dead. The pumping tricks is cool, but just like scuffing in the mid 90's (or hopping I guess in the 80's) it can be a little overdone. To me giving the tire a hard kick once and coasting looks cooler than pumping your hips into the bars a whole bunch of times. A million tiny little scuffs in circles is a little repetitive, but no more than endless pumping.

Look at Degroot's riding around 1998 or so. Early in his career he did a lot of little scuffs fairly slowly, but as he progressed, it started to flow a lot more. I was watching his Props interview in 1998 and was really impressed. I had forgotten how good that type of riding can look. I was most stoked with dumptruck roll in to double footed dump truck - carved in ccw circles to bike flip to upside down cross footed mega spin, to flip to stick bitch to out. He also had some frontyard varial stuff that was really cool.

Scuffing is just another element of riding. Its not as important as it used to be, but I think it will still be a relevant part of riding for a bit longer.

The AFA.... posted on 2006-02-23 06:14:08

Ahh man, I used to HATE having to wear a helmet during my flatland runs....I always felt there was this huge gap between the way the contest organizers wanted riding to be and the way riding actually was.
Like the organizers wanted people to believe that we actually went home and wore our jerseys and full gear in the lot. I'm not anxious to revisit those days. I remember how weird it was to see the Haro video with guys riding with no helmets on!

Things were like that until Hoffman started doing contests. Its too bad they either can't or won't put on flat contests at CFBs anymore, but considering in the past 3 or so years Hoffman has gone from having like 8-12 contests a year in the US (+ X-Games) to ONE contest (+ X-Games) it sounds like they have their own problems right now.

best vert riders ever ? posted on 2006-02-22 07:40:11

My favorites to watch have always been Mirra, Hoffman, Bestwick, Craig Campbell, and Blyther.

The AFA.... posted on 2006-02-21 12:00:26

AFA or not, what we NEED right now is a yearly, reliable, contest series all over the country. Like the CFB, IFL/AFL, Bicycle Stunts, NBL, 2-Hip, and AFA before. I miss that. Unfortunately, as all of those people involved in the above found out, it's an expensive, time consuming, and usually thankless job.

Instead of starting out something totally from scratch, which requires lots of money, has anyone thought about approaching the NBL (its a non profit so maybe they won't be totally money driven) about doing contests with them? A series wouldn't be so hard to set up, they have the connections, the insurance, etc.

We'd have to go back to rules rules rules and probably have to wear helmets during flatland runs again, though.

The AFA.... posted on 2006-02-21 08:36:40

[quote="FreeEnterprise"]I have my AFA membership card and my NBL membership card still.

D's comments about the NBL are sooo true.

I only did tricks I could pull 100% of the time in contests and I placed top three in every contest I entered...

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/glennwmiii/detail?.dir=1c38&.dnm=9c5bre2.jpg&.src=ph

gm[/quote]

I have a bunch of trophies like that! Those four foot tall NBL trophies were great. Now I have to figure out exactly what to do with them, though....

I still think the old Bicycle Stunts plaques were a lot cooler, though. And easier to get home in one piece.

Why is flatland not appreciated in the USA? posted on 2006-02-21 07:06:42

Good luck getting anyone to agree on what a "required" trick should be. We can't even seem to decide which is more important in a contest, trying harder, newer, tricks or landing easier, older ones.

The AFA.... posted on 2006-02-21 06:45:42

I'm a bit too young to remember the AFA. (I did read about it in the magazines at the time, though) I think some of us remember the AFA as being a lot better than it actually was. I DID hit up a lot of NBL contests back in the day, and let me tell you, I know people sometimes don't like how flatland gets pushed to the background at multi discipline events these days, but the old school comps had their own share of problems.

Problem number 1: Tons of rules - helmets and full pads during flatland runs, DQ'ed for doing a wallride on something during your run, - I was threatend with disqualification from a fatass NBL old man in 1992 for having a helmet in my flat run without a chin strap! Imagine that happening today!

Problem number 2: The AFA, NBL, and ABA were all run by well meaning but usually clueless parent volunteers, former riders who hadn't ridden in 10 years or more, and other old people who usually seemed to be more interested in making people "follow the rules" more than anything else. It could make the events seem like middle school, or a day care center. Not so bad if are actually 12, but do you really want to be treated like that if you are 25? I remember contest officials getting irate when people were riding during non-officially sanctioned practice times, taking extra time to pull a trick after their run is over, and practicing in events you didn't enter.

Problem #3: If you think that the judging is off at contests these days, you should've seen it back then. At an NBL comp in 1990, Ice Money managed to place above top riders like Perry Mervar and DMC because the NBL had a judging system that penalized the riders very harshly for making ANY kind of mistake. Literally you could go from 1st to 10th with one touch. Lots of riders figured this out early on (I was one of them) and worked up routines of much easier tricks than they usually did. A perfect run usually meant you won your class. Riders were penalized for things like "showmanship" (ie. not waving to the crowd when you pull a trick) not having a clean bike, or not wearing or not tucking in your jersey. Bullshit.

Magura! posted on 2006-02-17 07:04:06

Maguras have been around for years and every once in a while someone brings up this topic. I think for the most part hydraulic brakes just work TOO well for most BMX applications. Literally you get nearly thrown over the bars just by LIGHTLY pulling them. Not sure how they'd hold up to abuse, or how much maintenance they need, but I do know that a dialed U-brake works so well for BMX. What I've wondered lately is that now with all the weight conciousness going on, and how many people just run a back brake and no gyro, how long is it going to be before people start ditching U-brakes and using V-brakes instead. They are a lot lighter, easier to set up, and unless you are doing flatland where you might accidently step on them, I would think they would hold up fine. I've heard that the will eventually flex and break, but since bikes are so light now anyway, and most riders only keep frames for a year or two, I'm not sure that's such a big deal anymore.

Magura! posted on 2006-02-17 07:03:30

most common question people ask you bout riding posted on 2006-02-14 08:31:57

"how much does your bike weigh?"
"how much does your bike cost?"
"how far can you wheelie?"
"who taught you that?"
"how did you learn that?"

At it again. posted on 2006-02-14 08:18:29

I would also add that if you can wait for a bit, save some more money, and THEN get a bike...you'll get a LOT more bike for just a bit more money. There's plenty of good bikes to be had for a relatively small amount of money (DK Signal is a good one), but there is a low limit. Go below that and I would be afraid that you'll run into a lot of problems with the bike running smooth, breaking parts, etc. Especially when you're starting, you want to spend time riding the bike, not fixing it, (or replacing parts left and right)

At it again. posted on 2006-02-14 08:04:42

To get a complete flatland bike for the amount you want to spend will be a bit tough. Look around on Ebay for a used complete WTP Pony or Div, Hoffman EP or Momentum, the DK flatland bike, or any Ares or Quamen bike. Also ask riders you know if they can help you out, you can get a pretty good setup for virtually nothing if you are in the right place at the right time.

lighter than air? posted on 2006-02-13 07:43:43

Yeah, negative 6 ounces.....taking it off your bike will actually make your bike HEAVIER...

Kevin Jones' history posted on 2006-02-11 13:48:41

If GT had given a damn about making bikes that kept up with the times, what happened to them wouldn't have. The 1988 PFST was pretty much the same as the 1994 PFST!

Kevin Jones' history posted on 2006-02-11 12:26:15

Yeah, the GT PFST was cool when Martin rode it, but it was THE bike when Kev got one. It was funny, in the later Dorkin' vids you'd see Chase riding the pink one that I guess used to be Kevin's. GT had the best team ever the year that they picked up Kevin...I was bummed when he left the team real early on.

Sigh...This is depressing. posted on 2006-02-10 07:40:59

Everyone has to work. (mostly) Believe me, no matter WHO you are, there are times when you'd rather do something else than work. I know even pros sometimes get bummed on "having" to ride to get ready for a contest or something. Even though they love riding. In the meantime, just enjoy the fact that you'll have a bit of money now. Use your remaining time wisely and ride hard when you get the chance. Sometimes having less time works for you, because you'll be more likely not to waste time and more likely to spend it doing something you really want to do.

Unfortunately as you get older and have more responsibilities, you usually will have less free time. Talk to anyone on the board who works full time and has kids and you'll see what I mean. But that doesn't mean you have to stop riding or even stop progressing.

Ramps/street on flat bikes.... posted on 2006-02-09 06:29:25

Does anyone ride (or want to ride) ramps on their flatland-specific frames anymore? Just curious, I'm wondering if their might be more people out there interested in riding both than people had thought.

dump truck/stick b advice posted on 2006-02-09 06:22:02

I learned them rolling straight from a peg wheelie, with my right hand on the right fork blade (bars backwards) Get comfortable rolling in this position, then in one smooth motion push the bike behind you and move you right foot around the side of the bike (into stick b position). This is the scariest part of the trick - as SOON as your foot goes around in front of the bike, get it onto the back tire and start scuffing, at first you will probably just want to drag scuff b/c you'll have a tendancy to loop out and that will slow you down. Now just ride out like a normal stick-b. I learned getting into stick -b's from a standstill, but I wouldn't recommend it. I think its actually easier to roll into them a lot of the time, its hard to get your balance when you are stopped.

Corporations posted on 2006-02-08 14:23:34

Even the "big companies" that everyone villified back in the day weren't really that big - its not like Haro or GT was like AOL/Time Warner or Exxon or something - there was nothing wrong with the fact that they were big(ger) companies - it was the fact that they made substandard bike parts and didn't care about riding beyong the financial aspects, and companies like Hoffman and Standard actually made parts that worked for what we were doing, seemed to care about the products they were making, and were as into riding as anyone else. I did take offense when companies like Gary Fisher got involved in the late 90's, because they were using BMX as an ATM machine while it was hot again. But being a big company is not by itself bad.

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