I just started racing BMX 2 months ago as a 38-year-old mom of 2. I have really enjoyed your videos and was inspired to try it after watching your first video

I'm 52 years-old and still ride my Redline BMX Race Bike with Redline 185mm Flight Cranks from the 80s. Mostly at the beaches and up long steep hills for miles often getting nods from roadbike riders in spandex. Just went in for colonoscopy/polyp removal and amazed the staff at my blood pressure readings. 154 lbs at 52 years-old. If nothing else, keep riding to stay youthful and strong.

I still feel butterflies in my stomach when I see an 80's era freestyle bike.

I've been riding bmx since I was 10, I'm 56 and still ride, I have 65 BMX bikes and not planning to stop soon!

Grew up riding BMX during the late 70's into early 80's, then grew out of it as I went into High School. And I still remember some big names, Stu Thompsen, Denny Davidow, Brent Patterson, Bob Morgan, Greg Hill, Harry Leary...

Very interesting. I was an 80's BMX rider and have always wondered why in these modern times, the kids don't bother with brakes on the bikes. Flatland Freestyle 'back in't daaay went I was a lad' was very different. The brakes were essential for all the hopping around on the front and back wheels, something that the kids now don't bother with. Your vid explained everything very nicely and I enjoyed reminiscing on the 80's bikes and tricks.

These had to be the most interesting and detailed documentary about BMX I've ever seen and I learned so much from it , I just love bike riding in all of its disciplines , I own several 20 inch BMX bikes, as well as mountain bikes and road bikes, and I love all of them, thank you so much for these documentary it was so fun to watch and learn , and remember from when I was a kid, I'm almost 44 and steel riding BMX an i will till I die....

We did 'BMX racing' way before the phrase was coined..back in the mid-1960's. We had a 'bmx track' we made on an old filled in dump site complete with hills, jumps, tricky downhills, etc. We used whatever bicycles we had; be they Schwinn Sting Rays and Sting Ray clones, small 20" bikes, full sized 26" fat tire cruisers, and everything in between. Didn't wear helmets or any other safety gear either. We had a ball on that track. The site is still there although the track is long gone and grown over with weeds..brings back memories when I drive by it. Then many years later near my home there was an indoor bmx track inside of a horse show barn where they had weekly organized bmx bike races of course with required safety gear. My wife's nephew raced there with his Takara 20" bmx bike. Great fun to watch.

I'm at 19:47 my friend and 1 millisecond away from a stroke! As being a racer from 1984 to '89 myself i so much enjoy the effort you put into this truly epic video! That Sting-Ray footage - i had tears in my eyes ... Thank you so much for the best vid i have ever seen on yt.

This video is fantastic! I love how you break down everything and explain it in detail, keep up the good work! Long live BMX!

Very well done Eric, a lot of amazing knowledge and effort was put into this video. We appreciate the content as we relive our childhood.

Phenominal job! That was a ton of work to make this documentary but man oh man was it worth it my friend. Thank You so much for doing it. #BMX4EVER

I'm so glad I've found this amazing video! Man, thanks for taking the time and effort to record it! It is definitely reference material for everyone getting into the sport and curious about the origins of the bikes and their evolution! As an old BMXer I know have something I can show my grandkids :D and not have to explain forever! Way to go!!

So many memories! Thank you for putting this together. I remember as a child calling road bikes 10 speeds, even when they had like 18 gears or so. I loved BMX racing too, my dad back in the mid-80's helped build a track at the water park in Tucson AZ. Riding was and still is a form of freedom.

I just wanted to commend you on putting together this awesome documentary! You did an excellent job all the way around on this production!! Very informative, and great research! Thank you so much for your time in doing this, and collecting all the footage and everything together in a very understandable and professional fashion...😁👍

I love this guy’s voice in narrating this. He seems like a genuine and pleasant person. Great video, Thanks!

Congrats on making a great show. Excellent presentation and editorial insights. My eight year old and I have watched it several times already. He now wants a BMX.

Great job on this video! I expected I might start it and finish later, but wound up watching it in its entirety last night.

Outstanding and inspiring channel. At 51 I just may get back on a BMX bike and race again! 👍

Wow Eric! Just amazing 👍🏻 I never went racing on tracks as a kid, since we did not have them where I lived, but stuck to the woods just like you described. Getting the experience just like you describe @1:13:10 is just so right. I just want to bring out my old Raleigh Ultraburner from 1983 and give it a go! Thanks for an excellent documentury. Great to feel your passion for bmx it real catches. Yes we guys at 50+ still can enjoy going for a ride on our bmx’es again 👍🏻 Thanks 😃

This guy knows his stuff, awsome post, i'm glad i stumbbled upon it. Super duper informative.

About time somebody covered this topic. You guys left no stone unturned. What a great watch. THANK YOU!

This video is sooooo wholesome. Loved every second. Gutted it ended. Subbed, liked and addicted. #Legend

great ..very informative video...i am back in bmx after 34 years...now i am 50...many things have changed..all the points are mentioned in your video..now i understand some issues...but at the end of the day its just having fun riding your bmx :-) i built up the bmx i wanted to have back in da 80's... and i realized that many guys at my age find back to bmx again... i really appreciate your video and work you put in this documentary ... thank you !

Awesome video! There are far too few well made, extensive BMX documentaries like this on KZfaq. It would be interesting to dig deeper into more specific topics in BMX, like tech evolution, teams/brands, legendary riders, BMX subcategories (racing, flatland etc.), old school vs. new school and such. Even topics like how BMX's image and role in society has changed during its existence would be super interesting to learn more about.

Am 52 and retiring soon, and am looking at getting back into riding to get into better shape and fitness. I knew a bunch about BMX but your video filled in what I didn't know, and where it's at today, Still have most of my 85 Robinson pro, just need to get some wheels and cranks, and am sourcing period correct. There's just something about old school BMX bikes from the 80'S that today's bikes just don't have.

Thanks for these vids! 47 today and about to get back into it with the kids too. Appreciate your content a bunch, cheers!

Stellar video and great job. The kid on the Stingray riding the wheelie with bare feet..lol, cool stuff !

One of the most accurate and complete documentals about Bmx, congrats!

Most amazing BMX video ever! You got me back into my BMX Freestyle bike. And now I have all the knowledge I need on this topic which I never knew before. Thank you 🙏 so much

Amazing documentary. So well done my dood!

Well done on this video, brings back memories in the 70s when we first saw bmx bikes for the first time in Brisbane, Australia, my cousins friend bought a cro- mo mongoose with blue tuff1s,another guy had a white Redline with red anodised accessories,about 5 of us neighbourhood kids were blown away, over the next year, Bmx exploded , great days and fun

@3:00 good on you for admitting those facts. Started Freestyle flatground on bikes and Skateboarding Vert ramps the same year.. 1987. Great memories.

Thanks for this 👍 I’m an 80s kid and love the old mongoose and Gt bikes

Great video! I really enjoyed that trip through 80's box freestyle!!

Somehow this showed up in my "Recommended" section. Really informative. I raced motocross as a kid and wasn't into BMX but remember having a Mongoose 'Expert' (if memory serves) sometime back in the mid 1980's. Great explanation and great video!

Skateboarding and BMX was closer in influencing each other than most might think. There's lots of footage of guys on adapted Sting-Rays right alongside pool skaters in those early 70s pool sessions. Also, if you watch Joe Kid on a Sting-Ray really closely, you can see kids with Z-Flex T-shirts on hanging out at the first BMX races.

Well done man. Super informative entertaining and nostalgic.. All parents wishing to start their kids out right should watch and learn. There is great value to competition as a slice of life pie. To find out if your kid is the racer or the engineer. We need both. Your closer is just as important. The people that plan maintain and operate the memories to be, can always use an extra hand. Thanks for sharing!

Best video I have come across !! Great content

I am blown away by how wonderful this video is!!! Great work. I feel enlightened

Canadian here. Great presentation, thanks! Eddie Fiola, Kuwahara (I still have a Laserlite), Diamondback, Quadangle, Potts Modification, it's a detangler or spinner, I have a 2000 blue Rueben (Alcantara), 2008 WTP Addict & more...WTP 2013 Envy black w/ the jet fuel hubs...

Great video! Thank you for exposing people to the history of the evolution of the most fun activity known to man.

This video was honestly awesome, I learned so much. I would have loved for you to include the big wheeled bmx bikes while covering recent trends and innovations. Other than that it was basically perfect, keep it up!!

Brilliant video full of great history, and I learned a lot of things that I didn't know. Thanks for explaining the weird frame geometry and "no brakes" BS of these modern bikes, not to mention their lackluster styling compared to the late 70s and thought the 80s. I had an '87 Diamond Back Hot streak, my dad bought it for me brand new and if I recall it was $225-250 or so, pretty expensive for the day. I'm 48 and am going to build a custom 29" cruiser and visit some of my local bike parks/pump tracks and see if I can have some fun. You do a great job of presenting, by the way, you've got a very pleasant voice and cadence and sound like a great guy. Keep up the good work.

Great video, I'm 49 and remember the brightly colored bikes. My favorite were painted lime or neon green.

This video is so good I did not watch it all at once but in stages...if that makes sense Thanks for the content

This was just lovely, thanks for this :)

Thank you for this in depth look into the evolution of the Scene. 👍🏽🙏🏽

54 years old. I just ordered a fat tire 20 in e bike, I've been watching tons of old BMX videos I can't wipe the smile off my face with the memories in the 80s with me and my best buds riding our BMX bikes for miles and miles everyday, I think I've forgotten more about BMX then most people will know, I'm so excited about getting my new bike! this has definitely brought back the greatest childhood memories for me I can't wait to get back out on the road again especially living at the beach, great time to cruise around on a bike

Awesome documentary! This was perfect.

Awesome video! As a BMX kid from the 1980's I can really appreciate this. 👍😃🍺🍺

Just, Woa. Excellent documentary, very well presented and narrated. It is really a work of love. I really appreciate your work, thanks. I used to compete in BMX by 1982-84.

I ride a kink freestyle bike on MTB trails. I run front and rear brakes and 28/9 gearing. It’s a lot of fun.

I love the beginning of rad racing when you got to freestyle. Great documentary very well made. anyone reading this go get a bike and ride.

What an awesome video. I have a UK-centric view of BMX starting with my youth in the 1980s, so it was fascinating to learn about the roots of the sport in the US. Keep up the great work.

Very great explanation of the history Eric. Wish I had this 20 years ago because as a kid I was confused with what could be called a BMX track. Even today, shopping for a BMX bike things are clear as mud as you explained. Looking forward to updates in a few years.

I'm a 48yo father just getting back into BMX after 2 decades off, but wasn't too far away, i work as a prototype ebike tester, but my 8yo got into bmx & the nostalgia hit hard, thanks for making videos like this, it gets us caught up on all the stuff we missed during our time...."adulting"! 😆

Dear Eric wanted to re- on how enjoyable, real and nothing short of incredible your videos are. I appreciate the huge effort, care and research you put in to achieve imo the amazing level of quality content in your videos.Thank you for the truly valuable, entertaining, inspiring and educational experience! - ALSO that I agree entirely keeping BMX racing earthy😂

I'm going to finish this video later tonight but I gotta give you a 👍 for that jersey. I'm a 47 yr old guy who freestyled and skateboarded in the 80's. As an 80's kid bright colors are still part of my life so are Van's and Swatch watches which were also a big part of BMX and skateboarding 👍

Amazing video thanks so much for the information, lots of great history.

Awesome video and very informative. I raced a lot as a teenager then a little in my early and mid 30’s I’m 39 now and back at it and still love racing my 1993 Kastan cr-24 cruiser and my 1999 Mosh Pro XL.

At first from the way you started this documentary, it looked like the two books you were referring to was the timeline you were using. I almost stopped watching it there, which I am glad I decided to watch more. I started commenting on what I thought you were suggesting, and was unfair, so my apologies there. You made it very enjoyable to watch, documentaries might actually be your thing? This really is a very nicely put together history of The bicycle and BMX. I actually grew up with many of those riders who started the BMX tricks and had influence in the design of the BMX bikes, so when it appeared to be newer generation taking credit for something way back I wanted to bail this video. Actually there were many good facts, and interesting videos.

I always wondered about those bikes. Now I dig it, thanks! 😃👍

Larry Stevenson the inventor of the skate board, my good friend I took him to my factory and we made his first new aluminum trucks. Randell Kim Panda bike owner and designer. There is lots of things you don't know about the history of the first BMX bikes.

So much good content in this video! A couple of additional bikes not mentioned are OS 20 and big tire (26” and 29”) bikes. And Mini 20 as well as micro mini (18”) bike have been around for 20-30 years

Awesome video. Love it and will watch it again. 48 and wish I could track down an old Profile like use to have.

Huge and beautiful work here🤩 BMX 4ever!!! THX

Nicely done. Ride on 🤘 P.S. Nice Bob Haro tune at the end. :)

Thank you...excellent video . I'm from the 60s bmx and this helps me understand the evolution of BMX💯💯💯💯🎯

Thank you for the no-nosense and relatable history lesson on BMX!

I remember reading in the BMX magazines about 24” and (I think) 26” cruiser classes as a kid in the ‘80s. I never saw one in person, though.

I've raced all my life! 11 til I was 46! Greatest sport on Earth!!

I was of the understanding that a lot of freestyle and trail riders angle their seats up to make it easier to grab or get a foot under. I really wouldn’t know anything about that, but it’s what I’ve heard. Great video!

Well done. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I started racing BMX in 1975 in Florida. I won the state championship in the 9-10 expert class in West Palm Beach on a Mongoose then stepped up to a custom Panda Elite. Even raced an alloy Bigfoot frame which at the time was the lightest out (anyone remember?). My final race was a regional championship indoors at the Bayfront Center in St. Pete. Back then it was concrete with wood jumps, and we had to use street tires and spray them with hairspray to help them grip the track. During the first moto I was running first when there was a loud bang heard throughout the auditorium. I quickly realized it was my frame breaking at the goose neck. So, my dad ran to the bike shop and bought a Race Inc. frame and rushed back to the track and swapped everything over just in time for the second moto except for the hand brake which we couldn't get adjusted in time. I ended up placing fifth in the second moto and third in the final. I could go on for hours about the various tracks and memories from my years of racing as they were the best years of my youth.

I won my first trophy in 1978 at Azusa BMX track in California…I can remember being influenced by Evil Kanevel and imitated him around 1972.my first bmx bike was a webco.

This is a rad documentary Thanks for making👍

The opening and closing sequences were filmed overlooking Horseman’s Arena BMX track, the first track I ever raced at back in 1979. Thanks for the well put together informational video. BMX RULES!

Been into BMX since 1978, got my first Huff Pro Thunder 3 in 1980 when I turned 10, then I saw Bob Haro on some Saturday morning TV magazine for teens and I was hooked on Freestyle!

Great history lesson, learned a lot of stuff that's been happening since I stopped riding 40 years ago.

In 1968, my neighbor friend and me put together bikes to simulate MX bikes. We built our own MX track in an empty lot in 1969. It may have been one of the earliest track to exist.

This was AWESOME!!! Thank you :)

Great video! Missing some points for todays different styles of freestyle. Why Pegs are on one side because, the rider may only favor grinding on one side. Why they also sell left side drive cranks and wheels for people who prefer grinding on the right side and vice Versa . you didn’t mention what a freecoaster is. freecoaster allows you to roll backwards without back pedaling. Great for skateparks. This is an awesome video. I learned a lot of the history. Thank you .

Excellent Video @ Learn BMX Racing

This is good history of BMX In America. We had a strong BMX scene here in Australia as well. 80's was the best era for BMX. It was loud just like skateboards were then.

I have a 1979 Race Inc. that I got for Christmas in 1982, an upgrade from my Schwinn Scrambler. It was fun to race, but it was my main mode of transportation from age 12 to 16. I keep it in my living room to this day. It sits in the corner, just so I can look at it when I want to. The welds are amazing. I got so good on that bike when I was young it became a part of my body and soul and I will never part with it. CW handlebars, Tuf-neck goose neck, Sugino chain wheel, Super Maxy cranks, Sunshine hubs, Araya rims. Elina Ultralight Saddle, AMC seat post clamp, Dia-compe rear brake, KKT pedals. All of it gold, except the forks, handlebars, and spokes.

I still have my 1978 Torker. I’ve been thinking of making it a retirement restoration project and add the period correct accessories I couldn’t afford back then. At age 61 I’m probably too old to do much other than maybe a quick pedal on my street. I do know I can use some skills I learned in BMX in mountain biking. Outstanding video!

Thank for this masterclass in BMX History, sir! It was beyond perfect.

That bike on the far right (the one with the kid with the baseball cap) at 1:02:41 is a 1982 MK1 Raleigh Tuff Burner (Blue frame, Yellow skyways with blue tyres and yellow padset). I bought one for my nephew last year and gave it to him two months ago. Everyone who sees it goes mental. The adults smile and talk nostalgically about having one as a kid or wishing they had that one and The kids in his school hover around it like it's a UFO that's just landed in the playground. It get's attention from everyone. People shout out "Oh, Sick Bike mate" or "Oh Wow, I haven't seen one of those in a long time". Even when it's parked up people stop and take photos of it I've even had people just straight up make offers to buy it there and then. It's a legendary bike in the UK. Every kid in the 80's wanted one but never got one. It's the most iconic bike in British history and the most desirable. It was a stunningly beautiful bike back then and still is; perhaps even better considering the bland neutral black or colourless bikes you get today which is why my nephew made a lot of new friends very quickly at his school. Not many kids can say that they ride an original 1982 MK1 Raleigh Tuff Burner let alone take one to school. It really is an awesome bike. I just think that all these different versions just lack character today. They are all trying to be the next innovation and design fad. I can't honestly say that I actually like the modern styles because unlike the 70's, 80's or 90's BMX bikes they lack several features that all the previous bikes had. Function, practicality and best of all style. This is why I gave my nephew an 80's bike. It's because he can actually use it to ride to school, go to a track and go off road if he wants to. You can't do all that with low seats, pegs and silly gear ratios. The bikes we had as kids performed multiple roles in our lives. They were used for everything we did as kids and that's why we loved them so much. Now you need ten different bikes for the sake of just one. It's just stupid. Kids have one or two bikes at the most just like shoes. I can't even see the design differences between all these new bikes. They just look idiotic and not very practical. Just like those little tiny bikes you showed earlier. The riders look like a bunch of clowns.

awesome work! great video. :)

I had a Mongoose and it was a vision of the color "red". I loved that bike. It had a red plastic seat with red alloy seat post that was shaped like the inside of a gun barrel, red grips, the kind that molded to your hands with finger inlays, a red Haro two-finger brake system, red snake-belly tires and rims along with red pedals. If that wasn't "red" enough, I strapped red padding over the neck and middle bar. It looked awesome !! The only thing I wished it had in retrospect was a red three-piece alloy crank-set (Mongoose didn't offer this option as it came stock with a single crank-set with the gold inlay in the middle). However, the GT's and Redline's had this option of a colored 3-piece crank set which looked really, really cool when matched up with everything else. I remember a neighbor's friend pulled up on an all-yellow /gold Gt, fully decked out. It was a sight to behold! He even had holes drilled into the plastic seat to make it lighter. I think he was a serious racer on the circuit or sponsored or something. But yea, the whole idea of having colored anything is out of style today, particularly colored crank sets. There was something to them, when I look back on those colored reflective finishes, the finish looked more like reflective coating you'd see on high performance F1 cars than bicycle painted parts. Real classy workmanship imo. Thank you for this trip down memory lane as I pedaled alongside on my Mongoose loving every minute of it. ;)

muy educativo, me hizo recordar viejos tiempos, gran documental felicidades

Thanks for this video,. In 1984 I had the Murray X20r and rode it into the ground. My Dad had to reweld the frame at least twice from the punishment of our improvised BMX tracks that we created. I think it cost around $160, which at that time was still considered somewhat expensive. After I basically completely destroyed that bike, my Mom and Dad bought me an all chrome Hutch Pro Racer. I still have that bike and ride it today for fun and exercise. What a time the 1980's were to be a kid, and the golden era of BMX!

Thank you. Very informative. Stay RAD 👍

Nicely done. You took a topic I had no interest in and held my attention all the way to end credits. I now see BMX differently. Bravo sir.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this.,

Wow! I learned a lot. Thanks

Thank you for making this video . Class of 86

Nice to see people with similar stories in the comments. Started racing last year at 38. Just had a nice finish at midwest nationals in my class this year. So cool to see everyone's progress!

Stoked you speak on the Netherlands "BMX" history . 👍

sick man. great video, I can only imagine how long it took you to get it all together. Huge props. One thing I have to point out is the birth and progression of slopestyle mountain bikes, FMB, Crankworx, etc... That would be the subject of another video. I sometimes wonder when was the first 26" slope style bike made??? As an Old school BMXer I remember seeing one of those bikes for the first time in the early 00's and man did they look cool... BMX rigs with a suspension fork and 26" wheels.