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4:27 pm
31/12/2010
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Hello, after what is has been about 10 years I am looking to ride bmx again, mainly flatland. I started racing bmx when I was about 6 or 7 and began riding flatland/freestyle when I was 13 in Sydney NSW. I went to a few competitions when I was there and continued riding BMX and some mountain biking until I was about 17/18 years old but have not ridden since. After all these years I am looking to ride flatland again [Image Can Not Be Found]
I need to get myself a bike still and the style has changed allot from the late 90s so I might have to build one myself from parts. Does anyone ride flatland in Perth? I should have a bike soon and I am keen to start riding again.
5:57 pm
22/11/2005
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Word up Scottie blaze
Yep Perth has a good scene rolling.
Mostly ride at the Perth concert hall on st Georges terrace in Perth
Andrew, Mike and Shaun have been hittin it for a while and we also have transplants, Joel from Melbourne working it and Rory from Canberra as the newbie.
Are you on face book?
Riders in Perth don
6:37 pm
31/12/2010
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Cool, thanks for the reply.
I don't have facebook anymore but I might just start up another account, I had a few bikes when I was riding but the best bike I had was a Hoffman SD-4, it was suitable for street/ramps and flatland. Like you said it was not too flatlandy but I made more progress in 3 months on that bike than I did in the prior 12 months on my previous bike which was a cheap Haro Master. It will be very difficult to source that bike again but I will look for something suitable and when I get something I will keep in contact and get in on these flatland sessions [Image Can Not Be Found] Peace.
7:00 pm
22/11/2005
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cool
my advice to you is not to go backwards to an old bike, far to heavy.
lots of good bikes that are not a total flatland set up but are new and light.
i ride a colony sweet tooth with a top tube lenght of 19.8 inch
http://www.newcircle.com.au/product.php ... t=0&page=1
i also ride park and street on this , good bike
if you are looking at getting something new
perth has a bmx only store -
Royal BMX, located at unit 1/218 James street Northbridge, Phone 08 92271999.
or check out newcircle http://www.newcircle.com.au/index.php
12:18 am
31/12/2010
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Hello again,
I am definately starting to realise times have changed, I walked into a shop and was stunned that no one makes frames that split before the seatube for freestyle anymore hahaha, it [i:3ma47dw5]has[/i:3ma47dw5] been a while. Some great advice hear thanks, I have been searching the internet and my brother has also been sending me loads of internet links for places where I can see what is on the market etc. He also sent me the link for this website.
That is great to know that Perth has a bmx only store it has been a long time coming! Thanks for the heads up I will give them a call tomorrow, I used to ride in Sydney and breifly went to Brizzy when I was a teenager and they have everything over there, killer skate parks, bmx only stores, frequent competitions its good to see Perth seems to be catching up over the years. Cool link to your bike, I got all the measurments from the SD-4 frame I used to ride, it was a nice intermediate bike but I remember the frame was real short and the top tube actually measures at 18 3/4". I think i need to find one at least 19" or possibly more.
8:32 pm
Moderators
14/08/2006
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[quote="Scottie Blaze":7pl1hacp]Hello again,
I am definately starting to realise times have changed, I walked into a shop and was stunned that no one makes frames that split before the seatube for freestyle anymore hahaha, it [i:7pl1hacp]has[/i:7pl1hacp] been a while. Some great advice hear thanks, I have been searching the internet and my brother has also been sending me loads of internet links for places where I can see what is on the market etc. He also sent me the link for this website.
That is great to know that Perth has a bmx only store it has been a long time coming! Thanks for the heads up I will give them a call tomorrow, I used to ride in Sydney and breifly went to Brizzy when I was a teenager and they have everything over there, killer skate parks, bmx only stores, frequent competitions its good to see Perth seems to be catching up over the years. Cool link to your bike, I got all the measurments from the SD-4 frame I used to ride, it was a nice intermediate bike but I remember the frame was real short and the top tube actually measures at 18 3/4". I think i need to find one at least 19" or possibly more.[/quote:7pl1hacp]
Hey man,
Over the past few years backends have got shorter, headtube angles have got steeper and seat tubes have got shorter too. If you compare the wheelbase of the SD-4 to bikes of today you should be looking for something with about a 20" toptube. You might find a 19" flatland bike too short. The SD-4 could be tossed around at the park a bit and actually ridden places. Most flatland bikes these days only feel nice on 1 wheel spinning in a circle. Bikes are much lighter now so you can afford to ride something a little longer without it feeling like a tank. I reckon this bike is a banger for the cash:
[url:7pl1hacp]http://www.flatlandfuel.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1757[/url:7pl1hacp]
It's also a much less flatland specific bike than some of the competition. I'm stuck in the past a little bit with certain things so if you want any more advice send me a PM. Basically it's going to be really hard to build a 90's style bike. It's really hard to get 48 spoke wheels now for example. As Shaun says there have been some decent advances which shouldn't be overlooked:
lightweight parts and frames generally.
Pivotal seats and posts thanks to Macneil bikes - they brought the technology to the BMX world from moutain bike land.
small gearing - cassette hubs with drivers in the 9/10/11T range
small diameter flatland pegs
tapered flatland forks (they taper towards the dropout so you get more foot on the actual peg)
plastic pedals - heaps of choice now they are the industry standard
There have also been some changes that I'm not sold on - BMX has moved towards a 'disposable' culture as things have got lighter and BMX has increased in popularity making the companies greedy again.
plastic pegs
super small gearing
chains with hollow plates and pins
super machined minimal material parts such as stems
flatland forks that are so skinny they only accept skinny tires
limited edition colourways - buy buy buy before it's too late!!!
internal headsets - they are ok but not as good as normal headsets
Euro bb - it's gone now thankfully!
Paul
4:13 pm
31/12/2010
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Hey Paul,
Thanks for the info, I kind of noticed that all the bmx bikes had 36 spoke wheels when I last went to a bike store, I did not even realise that it was hard to get 48 spoke wheels anymore. I checked out the link for the DK, it looks like to kind of bike that would be suitable for me, I need something that I can use to work back up to an intermediate level of flatland again and then slowly work my way to a level where I might need a real nice flatland specific bike. When I used to ride flatland I knew a guy who rode a Haro Master than was in mint condition, everyone else was riding either Hoffman, Standard, Morales, GT/Dyno etc. and allot of the frames for these bikes looked fairly simple. I was checking out the link for users posting their rides and I noticed there were allot of real radical designs in the frames, and I also noticed allot of these bikes had no brakes or only just one front brake.
It still amazes me that when you stop doing something even if it is for 10 years how much evolution a sport can have within itself, I never knew anyone who rode brakeless and if they did it was because they had just snapped a brake cable and no BMX stores were open to buy another one, hahaha. My brother downloaded me an Oddyssey bmx DVD for me from the store the other day and everyone one on that DVD was riding brakeless.That is was amazes me also because I remember watching the video "balancing act" several years ago and Chase Gouin was riding brakeless flatland in that video and it was quite amazing, but I also remember allot of riders commenting that his style was all wrong because he was riding brakeless and allot of his tricks were not smooth etc, but now I bet they are all riding brakeless now too, haha. I think it is great though because BMX as far as I know has evolved allot from the early 80s and the bikes are becoming rider freindly and the sport is progressing in a positive direction as far as I am aware.
It is good to know that the frames have shorter rear ends now too, I will have to keep that in mind when trying to find a frame that is suitable for my needs. I am going to get to the BMX only store here in Perth when I have a chance and hopefully they have a few flatland bikes that I can ride and get the feel for the new designs. The only other option I found was a Hoffman Sugar Baby frame and fork for sale on craiglist, the only problem is that I think the owner does not want to ship overseas. As far as I am aware the SugarBaby was the same as the BigDaddy and close to the SD-4 design. I would really like to ride Hoffman again but I am willing to compramise, do you think it is worth trying to source something like the Sugar Baby frame and fork combo and build a bike around that? Or is it best to move on from that era all together and just try and find something suitable from the modern era? Thanks.
8:23 pm
25/02/2005
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I tend to disagree with your thought on parts as your bike us more street orinteered set up and not flatlandy like others... Each to their own though which keeps variety there...
12:28 am
22/11/2005
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Scottie
Do not regress but progress
Going back to what you had will keep you in that mode of thinking.
Get a fresh new deal and forget about the past stuff. its all new and if your getting back into it after 10 years you should just jump straight in and get fly funky fresh.
My advice is to go with something not to flatland orientated. Stick with something with a top tube length of about 19inch. This will feel roomy for your
2:01 am
31/12/2010
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Haha thanks for the advice Shaun, Its so hard for me because what I still think is cool and new is..........but rather that was also 10 years ago <!-- s
--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt="" title="Laughing" /><!-- s -->, times have changed though I just got the accept it. I am just super excited to be keen on riding again and I feel just like a little kid when I used to do wheelies all the way down my street, I love BMX man I can't believe it has been this long since I have ridden! I actually only recently decided to get back into riding which came about after buying a DVD/VCR player and I pulled out all of my BMX videos from the 90s, dusted them off and starting watching them again and I just though what the hell am I doing I love this stuff, it was a cool moment.
Are you Shaun Jarvis? Holy cow man I know I have heard that name before, I began riding flatland when I live in Sydney for 18 months when I was 13, my cousin rides over there and he knew allot of riders who rode flatland and ramps so I got introduced to the flatland scene over there. When I came back to Perth mid-way through 1998 I realised that not so many people rode flatland and it was difficult to ride with others and progress like I did in Sydney. I began to ride basic trails and started riding the small skate parks that popped up around the year 2000 but my riding died out fairly quick when I got my licensce to drive and started full time work at a young age.
I used to ride with some of the riders in Perth years ago and when I came back to Perth I was told there was a few flatland riders here, it was a guy called Swanga who knew some of the riders and I am sure he mentioned your name even way back then, from what he was saying your were the best flatlander in WA even all those years ago if I remember correctly. I never got around to being able to ride flatland sessions over here with any other riders cause there was just not the frequent and populated sessions there were when I was in Sydney and it was more difficult to get in contact with fellow flatland riders.
I am stoked to get an invite man that means allot to me, I know how good of riders that you guys are and even when I stopped I was only at an intermediate level which means I have so much practicing to do! haha. I really appreciate the advice from everyone this is great, as you people know none of this forum stuff was around years ago and I was quite suprised when my brother sent me a link to this website because I had no idea that anything like this existed. I have guitar lessons on Wednesday but I will try and make it down on Friday to say hello and I will drop into Royal Bmx when I get a chance to have a chat about getting the right bike for me, peace.
3:15 am
22/11/2005
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see ya friday
1:22 am
10/04/2006
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[quote:1rp27ej0]Are you Shaun Jarvis? Holy cow man I know I have heard that name before[/quote:1rp27ej0]
Have you heard of 'Buff'..?? Because if you haven't, you soon will... BAM!!!
1:35 am
01/05/2010
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I'll try and stop by tomoz to say a quick g'day after work.. Currently bike-less but be good to catch up with you boys..
1:42 am
10/04/2006
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Ha ha [Image Can Not Be Found] Nah, I'm not that egotesticle. I'm Andrew, better known around here as 'Buff'. I'm one of the Perth riders, but unfortunately I haven't been on my bike much lately due to work commitments.
As Shaun said, we don't have regular jam sessions, it's more of a case of txting or calling and teeing something up when we have a spare day, often arranged weeks in advance. I work shift work and Shaun isn't a 9 to 5'er either, so we have the luxury of riding in the day time in the City during the week, which has 1 killer perk... OFFICE BABES!! They're left right 'n center, and the atmosphere of weekday sessions is always good.
What's ur work schedule like..??
We'll have to set up a 'welcome to the scene' jam. Look us up on Facebook when you're back online 'n ready to roll. Shaun Jarvis, Andrew McDermott and Michael Brandt.
1:45 am
10/04/2006
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Damn, joel. I'm working tomorrow night so I can't make it to the spot. Still haven't met you yet!! I have a Hoffman Disruptor you can use for the time being, Joel. It's in pieces, but I have all the required parts in the shed. What's ur schedule like for the next few weeks..??
Oh, the Hoffman is brakeless, but i think i have brakes somewhere, too.
In a couple of weeks I'll have a fair bit of time to ride, so hopefully ur free and we can all jam..!!
3:33 am
22/11/2005
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joel get ya cranks o ya bike and hit it,
dont stop in after work but indtaed use that time to put your cranks on so that the next time you can stop in after work with your bike.
scottie blaze - remember on st georges terrace side of the concert hall.
yes we will have to tee up a welcome jam for joel , rory and scottie
9:06 am
01/05/2010
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Thanks for the kind offer Buff, much appreciated. I'm like 90% of the way there with my new rig.. Just waiting on a part from Newcircle (who have been awesome in helping me out) and then just dialing the beast in! Work is pretty busy for me usually but will start dropping in to the spot after work on the regular in the arvo.. Looking forward to catching up with you all..
1:28 am
31/12/2010
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[quote:3povtmaa]Have you heard of 'Buff'..?? Because if you haven't, you soon will... BAM!!![/quote:3povtmaa]
Hahaha.
Yeah I am bikeless too right now but I have a hardcore savings plan! I got two savings accounts but one is for a house deposit so I am not touching that and the other has moths in it right now but soon I will have a bike! Didn't get a chance to go down on Friday though, I do the 8am-4pm Mon to Fri and I work Saturday and Sunday mornings at another job too so Sat and Sunday arvos are good for me, but I am trying to strike a deal with my fulltime job so I can work 4 days during the week because 7 days is too much. This way I can have friday off to ride flatland.
What time do you guys stay at the conny hall until?? And **** yeah if there if office chicks there I know damn well that is why you guys ride there, hahaha. Do you know of the netball courts on High Road opposite the Golf Course in Fremantle? Another good place to ride I will be hitting that up allot but the only problem would be it is not as central as Perth depending on where everyone lives, I live close to a few carparks that have lights at night so allot of my practice will be weekday evenings close to home.
Question for you guys: How much would a imtermediate flatland bike setup cost? Or does anyone know how much the DK Opsis is?
And who is who on that Perth video?
9:36 am
01/05/2010
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As I said in the other thread- check out the Colony Apprentice on newcircle.com.au
1:20 pm
10/04/2006
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Scotty, the Apprentice is a great place to start, and shipped locally (Aus), whereas the Opsis is shipped from the states. You would be stoked with either bike.
Damn, 7 days a week is hardcore...!! Shaun and I will usually stay at the spot in Perth 'till about 5 ish, and Shaun usually stays a little later, sometimes. We've been known to ride early morning, which is also a great atmosphere.
I haven't been to the Freo spot before, I usually stick to Perth, as it's central for most the Perth crew. And speaking of, the guys in the Perth video are...
- Long-haired lout at the start: Ben Moran, a.k.a 'HCBM'. Not based in Perth but welcome Australia wide.
- Bald guy, second rider: Eric Effinger, Canadian rider visiting. Top guy, but back in Toronto now.
- Yellow 'n Black bike: Andrew McDermott, a.k.a. 'Buff'. Regular Perth rider.
- Green shirt at the end: Mike Brandt, a.k.a. 'Mike B', regular Perth rider.
Joel and Scotty, you guys need cool nicknames..!! I'm thinking J.C. and Blaze..??
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