@y u n g z o o k a v e l i I’m eighteen and I prefer older bikes, 80s and 90s to be specific. They look cooler and are more enjoyable to ride. Modern bikes all look the same and don’t have much “character” to them.
Well im nearing 40 and in my youth, i can say the bmx back then was fucking awesome that time and i think so before. But now, i can truly say that the new gen bmx really is the bomb. Just my honest opinion though
i have a 24" Haro Downtown for little sprockets i still keep up with cars for the first 4-5 seconds ...then they speed up👋like😯chill im on a bicycle 🙈.....(whoever thinks to comment in the driver's defense)Me:😂👈💀💭🤣! I wish everyone to be safe out there😷 and for those who have lost loved ones they are in my prayer i am sorry😔...
I got 4 of them well 2 are coster brakes and there all original besides tires my 78 snapper ross has a new old chain but all original reflectors you can find it on letgo
Old school! I'm 50, and I rode a Laguna GT with Skyway mags back in the early 80s. I both raced and did freestyle. I still have the scars to prove it. LOL!
I wish new school bikes still had the type of colors and decals they had in the 80’s, I was also cool that each bike looked almost completely different and you could clearly tell the difference between a mongoose, a Gt, and a Skyway, I know that won’t happen like that again due to the shape most companies are using now are stronger, but they could at least do the color schemes
Absolutely! As kids we all knew our bikes at a single glance when they were all parked together in a big group. Today's bikes would get lost in a sea of the same appearance.
Absolutely! I still have both of my GT pro performers. One in white and one in blue. I still ride them with my kids to this day. GT has released the Pro Performer again as the Pro Performer Heritage. I’m hoping to get one.
old school any day, if money and parts weren't the issue. I'm still rebuilding a circa '85 haro master with sate-lite mags, but with modern made parts; a 2006 haro fork, a 3 piece haro (I think) crank with proper BB, 28t primo sprocket, and a used dominator seat
I just bought a 1987 Mongoose Decade in all Chrome. I will polish and restore it. I will upgrade the parts to Decade Pro specs. I will also put a 3 piece crank. 80's bikes are the best!
Old school bikes were sold as just that... Bikes! Even if you bought a bike from a bike shop and not Kmart, kids actually rode them like real bikes. Most kids only raced their friends and sucked at freestyle. Kids actually sat on their seats and used brakes. If you didn't grow up in the era... You just wont understand.
great video! Back in the early-mid 80's, the bikes were super quality and had real style! My brother and I were loop tail Mongoose guys, another buddy had a 'goose Californian. Lots of older gusset framed Gooses roamed the streets along with tons of sweet '82-'83 Predators coming out of the local Schwinn shop. Probably the best bang for buck at that time. Add in few Redlines and an SE owned by a few serious racers. A good buddy had a real nice and super high spec MCS Magnum, another a Torker 24" Cruiser. The first GT Racer I saw in town around 83 was utterly breathtaking. Everybody had a BMX bike no exceptions. The culture demanded it. We would spend hours comparing bikes, analyzing every detail bit by bit and using them everyday get us everywhere our imagination took us so the seats had to be high to crank out the miles. FREEDOM! Every shop and department store in town sold 20" Comp III tires in all of the colors along with an endless supply of tubes and other quality parts.I find the new school stuff bland and boring by comparison.
SPOT ON accurate comment and account of my youth and the culture then! Well before we were driving age we were independent and could go anywhere if we had a bike... a sharp, old school BMX bike. "FREEDOM!" as you perfectly stated. Life was exploration and adventure on a bike then... the kids version of motorcycle culture. And I remember all too well how you could get parts and supplies almost anywhere in a pinch with how many places sold bike products. Definitely different times now.
nice vid, i totally forgot my front wheel was larger. front brake = cherry pickers and endos, i used to smear coke a cola on the rims of my mags to make it sticky so that my dia comp brake pads would grip more, GT mallet neck was the only choice with a hollowed out center bolt for your front cable (and maybe that universal collar for tail whips if you could do more than one) and your handle bars could not lean back, if anything is should have a subtle lean forward - just looked meaner, we also had laid back seat posts, seat posts were necessary for tricks, especially balance tricks and surfing - ie with one foot on the seat and one on the handle bars. lime green, lavender, even pink frames were in, sheeeit even our tires had colors - you just had to be there, i had dyno comp II, always wanted a GT pro performer, Haro Master or Redline tho, PK Ripper was the pinnacle but so far out of reach - honorable mention CW, Diamond Back, Hutch, Mongoose - all gud tho - i still remember the smell picking up a fresh new BMX Plus & Freestyle magazine at the 7-11 - vintage old skool - all fn day
I was raised in a country where no one knew what was a BMX. I saw the movies BMX Bandits and Rad in the 80s n mastered all my stunts from them movies. Nothing feels like an old school BMX💯
Old school bmx if you're my age. I was born in the early 70s. I love the old style bikes. I now own a 24 inch monza at 47 years old. Never too old. The great thing is my 10 year old daughter is into her bmx's I hope that long continues ❤
Those ridiculously low back breaking, kneecap killing seat posts are a no go, and a bike just looks better with a full set of brakes. I prefer old or mid school bikes because they just looked better. The new school bikes remind me of those 80's Huffy's that you'd forgot about the second you saw a GT, Haro, Mongoose or Trick Star. As far as mags go, I wish Lineage/GT would reissue those Tomahawk wheels.
the old bike just look so ugly like a kids toy and the brakes look atrocious just extra weight and not likes it’s adding anything aesthetically pleasing
Very agree... i used to grew up in 90s midschool bmx and i have now a mongose freestyle bmx thats is so much better looking than any of the new ones today.... new bmx no dont have any appeal to me specially no brakes....
@@neji5163 That's just opinions and personal preference. As far as aesthetics go, these so called new street bikes have nothing on the old - mid school flatland/freestyle bikes designs. The GT Show would sweep your favorite so called new design under the rug😂. They all look like the same bike with a different company name on them. In my day, brake free bikes were usually stolen or put together from multiple stolen bikes. Guys who rode them would tear their sneaker soles up, or run through tires much quicker trying to slow down. Tbh, every bike from back then wasn't heavy. Some were heavy, but not all. When I was speaking of the old school Huffy bikes, that's what these modern bikes resemble.
@@neji5163 Unless your a weight weeny brakes don’t add much weight, stop faster, especially in emergencies, you can learn so many different brake tricks, and the looks is just opinions, though most people, even younger people like the look of oldschool better
Love old school BMX the most! I always had Huffy and Murray growing up because we hardly had any money. But my dad helped me strip down my bikes to repaint them in cool colors and make them look more like the higher end brands. I save up for several years in the 90s and finally saved enough money to by myself a GT Dyno Zone, which I still have to this day! And I just recently picked up a 1980 Schwinn The Sting at a garage sale for $20! I plan on doing a mild restoration on that one!
One big difference is that old school bikes had a lot of flashy colors and chrome. Everybody's bike was as much an individual as the person themself. Contemporary bikes are very subdued with more of a grunge grey, black, or metal appearance. They all sort of mix together in a crowd and look more or less exactly like the next bike.
I'm old school 80's BMX. BUT I still love to see what guys are doing with the sport currently. I live vicariously through you guys. Im too old and fat to ride BMX anymore. LOL FYI: WE DID NOT USE PADS EITHER. only if you raced like you said. outside of that, pads were for nerds. We also had Z-Rims. Rim was same material as Skyway mags but was spoked. And there was 48 spoke High pressure rims too. My fav. I personally ran 1.75 tires front and back. in our day it was about being smooth, not thrashing and I never popped a tire. We had high seat post because our BMX bikes were not just for freestyle or racing. It was our main means of transportation and riding around for the entire day. OK enough of my rambling. You guys have a good one.
@@assortedproductions6083 Yeah, i got a set used from a guy. I ran them for about 2 or 3 days. Had enough of that negativity and went back to my UKAI rims.
You sat up hi up so you could get a full leg extension, strong pedal stroke while sitting on the saddle. Us who transitioned to MTB and most of the MTB world use a high saddle for going fast and dropper seat posts for hitting jumps
That is true about the leg extension. I don’t know if that was a reason though. If you look up some pro ABA races from the 80s the only time they would be sitting was through turns.
I'm 48, & still riding bmx, & even though i have 1 of the best modern bmx's, with all top notch components, it doesn't fill that void, the 80's bikes were the shit, they were really daring with colors & designs, & i ask kids all the time, & they all think our bikes from the 80's & 90's looked way better than modern iterations
I loved the pads. I was a tom boy and my BMX had pads. I bought it for a tenner off my friend's brother. The seat was painful though and I would envisage that issue being worse for a man.
I like combining the old with the new, I just got done building up my Hoffman crucible to have a nice mix of both worlds, went with ocean blue paint on my frame, fork(odyssey 41 thermal), bars(odyssey 10-4) and crank(odyssey thunderbolt); hot pink parts- Hoffman bikes sticker kit, grips(odyssey aitken flangless), pedals(odyssey twisted pc), chain(ybn), seat(padded and railed, I like the front to back adjustment on a railed seat) and gyro cables(new old stock); white parts- stem(odyssey tomahawk), seat post(odyssey 25.4mm new old stock), 25t sprocket(sunday sabertooth), pegs (4 black ops), skyway mags with sealed bearings a rear 14mm axle and 9t cassette, Goodyear tires 20 x 2; black parts- bar ends(odyssey), odyssey Springfield 990 brake and lever, odyssey gtx-s sealed gyro, clear odyssey slim by four brake pads. I'm currently looking for my next build possibly an oldschool diamondback to convert to all new school parts, I have a few crazy ideas that are really going to upset some of the purists out there. Keep shredding😎
Thanks man. It sounds like you definitely have a project there. I did something similar a few years back with a modern mongoose. Mine didn’t turn out as well. Haha.
Old school rules. No matter how rad and bad you were your bmx bike was an extension of who you were. In the 80s we took pride in what we had. We did not take our bikes and just throw them to the ground, we gently took them and put them up side down on the bars and seat. Our bikes were also very chrome a n.v d colorful. We always cleaned them regularly so they were sharp for the next race. Most of us fixed our own bikes alot of times with cheap tools because we spent our money on quality so not much left for good tools. We managed. I just bought a new 24 inch bmx at age 51. My best buddy iui d too and we enjoy them alot. They are 80s inspired blinged out. Wouldnt have it any other way. I have skyway mags on mine and I love it. One more thing. Just because our bmx bikes were pretty didnt mean they couldnt handle what we threw at them because we put them through hell while we rode. 1980s rule till the LORD comes back for us sheep of his. These kids are crazy today. But good too. Excellent truckers and racers. Our tracks were much more laid back. Take pride in your ride guys. That was cool. Good night and GOD BLESS ALL. AMEN.
I was looking around for an old school BMX because the only trails still open were choked out with people. But I live in a small island state and the shipping would be expensive even if I could get people to box it up. And they were either too expensive, trashed or both. So I ended up just getting a second hand Fit TRL real cheap. Turns out it’s perfect. I love it.
The seats were so high on 80's bikes because you would sit down to wheel stand the thing all the way home from school. Its a shame new school didn't get to live the Bmx craze that took over the world. It was massive and exciting, especially when your 12 with your first Bmx bike with all your friends.
Awesome video. I've stumbled upon a few bmx this summer, my first bmx in 30 years. I enjoy videos like this that help me understand what has happened over the past 30 years. Old school for this old dog.
I seen a meme a few days ago that said, "You see more crackheads and tweakers riding bikes nowadays than you do kids." I find it funny and sad at the same time. My first actual expensive bmx bike was when I was 11, was a 2000 or 2001 Dyno Zone GT. It had front and rear brakes, gyro. All chrome with black skinny grind pegs. I remember in high school the brakeless trend started to do its thing and I took off all my brakes on the bike. But now I realize the tooth size of the drive sprocket was not ment for that lol. I ended up lending the bike to a friend in my early 20s and he said it got stolen..... I've never owned another bike since then but, the past few years I been wanting to own a newer bmx bike just to ride and see how differnt it all is with 25 teeth sprockets. I'm 31 now and probably haven't been on a bike in 10 years. 😂 I'm really just wanting to cruise bmx, but feel good, look good, and maybe do a few tricks every now and then.
Old school for sure. Bought a 96 and a 99 dyno on ebay/ craigslist after being completely stunned at how different everything feels . They looked at me crazy when I wanted a higher seat it SEEMS like bmx bikes are built for smaller people or something. Idk how to explain it really but back in the day you could still cruise comfortably on a dyno. 15 years later and I can still cruise on one without being all cramped up or standing the whole time if i want to peddle around the neighborhood with my dogs.
I had my 1982 Roger DeCoster nickel finish bike in separate pieces following me wherever I switched apartments/house. Always thought I'd get her running again. Two years ago, I decide to clean out the basement. Threw it out thinking I'd never have time. While surfing the internet, I stumbled upon the value of it... I'm totally heartbroken over it. BMX old skool forever (except when you throw it away).
Old school bmx bikes for sure!! Freestyle bikes from the 80s the best looking and design in my personal opinion. Ozone, Hutch, Redline, General, Kuwahara, VDC, GT, Dyno, Haro, Mongoose, etc.
Still have most of my old bike left. Redline V bars, Tuff Neck, Dia Compe with the quick release, Tuff Wheel II's, Cook Bro's frame and seat post. That's all I got left.
I like both types. New for picking a line from ramp to ramp. Old style for street riding and doing tricks. I grew up with old so that is where my heart is.
Both old school and new school are better for different reasons. I have lived threw both and ride both today. I would love to see new school riders try the old school bikes.
Seats were up because you sat down and put your inside foot down to make a turn. The turns were flat or part of the turn was banked. Today all the turns are full high banks so you can stay on the pedals.
Front brakes on a bike are like front brakes on a car or motorcycle. More effective. You could use them to got harder at a corner and cut the apex. When you knew most guys would brake sooner or run the top of the berm, you could grab some brake, clip the apex and be in front of them. Unless you could pedal all through the curve it worked pretty well. Higher seats were more comfortable. I'd deliver news papers on my race bike. When you'd go to the track or knew you were going to do some jumping you could lower it easy enough. Old school BMX is what I had, but advances have been made. The long bolt wedge stem isn't as good as the modern threadless stems. The big bottom bracket on the old bike had to be big, to get one piece cranks through. Past 100 lbs the old aluminum 3 piece cranks were too weak. Red Line Flight Cranks or Profiles were neat but expensive. Cars are better, televisions, video games and bikes are better too. The only loss is that back then, someone could start a company in a warehouse or a shed behind the house, and if they made a good bike, guys would buy them. Mongoose, GT-BMX, SE Racing, Hutch, CW, Thruster, GJS, Patterson, Red Line, Diamond Back, all started in the U.S. made them in the U.S. had great welds. Now there are probably 2 or 3 companies in China with robots making them all with different stickers. Are they less good? Probably not, but some of the innocence and soul is gone. I'm middlaged now, and to be honest, I was never that good, but I loved it. I'd leave the house ride all day, go home deliver my papers, and back out to ride until past dark.
1987 freestyle bikes were so iconic. From the frame designs to the graphics, the bar was set high that year. Pro Freestyle Tour, Osborn Pro, Blood Pro, Pro Compe, Master, Sport, Bravo Pro, Magician Pro, Predator Free Form, Decade Pro, Strike Zone, Trick Star, Street Beat, California Shaker, 540 Air, RL-20II
Thank you, I actually learned a lot about new bikes. I just picked my first new school bike out of the trash. It is a Fit Bike and someone spray painted everything and I mean everything white. I have always found working on my bike very peaceful so I decided to restore it. Maybe I will give it to a kid in the neighborhood. Who knows. I am probably too big for it and I would’ve loved to get it as kid. Happy riding everyone!
The seats where high because you had flat berms .. cornering you sat down ..one foot on pedal one stuck out and touched the ground...old school.. I raced in mid eighties on a TAjG...and again from 2009-2015..on redline flight..now that was a balanced bike ..carbon forks ,quick engaged hubs..micro nobby tyres.. ..about 9.5 kg bike.. hard and fast..gold coast ,Australia
Hafta go with old school BMX. I still have my 81 supergoose and my 89 GT interceptor. The super is almost ready to ride again! The GT isnt far behind it. Trying to use as many old school parts as I can, but they're getting harder to come by!
I'm 48 and just started racing last year after 25 years of being away from BMX and Freestyle. I race a Haro XXL 20" and love it but, have to say, Old school bikes are easier to control for me. The new school bikes are fast and light but, handling felt better on the old school bikes!!
Old school! I think the bikes had a personality and a flash all of their own. A lot of modern bikes it's hard to tell who makes them and a lot of them look alike. I used to have a chrome and flo green haro freestyler and a GT Pro Performer (would love to have either one now) They just had a little more style back then. Part of the focus was bike mfg trying to sell bikes to people, and a lot of these days emphasis seems to be on the rider themselves and not necessarily a factory based rider. Just my 2 cents. :)
I grew up in the 80's & 90's on a Kuwahara BMX. By then layback seat poles had become common, really helping with how short the top tube was. I rode that bike EVERYWHERE Then in the early naughtie's I bought a 24" Diamondback Assault T24 (was thinking about getting back into a bit of casual racing), While it was a fun bike to ride, I couldn't ride everywhere like I did as a kid. These days I'm mostly on a flatbar commuter/trekker, wishing I was on a BMX
I have an Assault that I’ve had for years, and it was good for transportation, but I got a new 24 a few months ago and the difference is night and day. It’s much lighter and with racing geometry much easier to ride and control - it’s a lot more like riding my 20 inch when I was a kid. I bet if you get a different bike, you’ll a have much more fun and be able to do more on it
I did miss that didn’t I. That was a must have in the freestyle scene. I can’t remember who made it, but they made seat posts with a grab handle built in. Those are pretty cool.
Or the dyno double curved seat post (draintube) I bought a redline 720xl after thrashing my Raleigh ultraman. Neither had brakes because I couldn't get them set decently. Pads and number plates were rare
The seat was high to put weight on the back wheel in a corner. It’s allows a tight radius and stops front wheel washout. Take a look at Stu Thomson old photo in corners
Great video !!! I'm making a hybrid BMX bike of old and new school. Do you have a suggestion on retro handlebars they are alot bigger than the current BMX handle bars.
Old School All The Way ! Had a Supergoose w Blue Skyway Mags, I would give a Pension Check to have that bike back! We would LIVE at the Bike shop in Huntington Long Island , It was so cool working to get a new part on bike .. Just was different and So Much FUN !! You just had to be there
Old school for cruising, new school for sheer technicality alone, you cannot deny the progress technology has made, and to be fair in 20 more years, we will look back and think of the current gen freestyle bikes as oldschool too. Heck, I remember owning a gt power series in 2008 and i think thats a pretty old school race bmx.
I just started building and selling BMX bikes again. Just sold a Haro and a Mongoose. I have two Mongooses, a TREK and a Gary Fisher now. Finding cool NOS parts that color match is pretty fun. I picked up three spoke Mongoose mags for one of them. I also raise the seats. the squashed down seat looks strange to me. Oh, also doing an Electra Rat Fink bike.
I notice bmx racers today all wear full face helmets. Most of us wore an open face in the 80s. And we had a mouth guard to keep us from losing the teeth.
@@shokojimhollingsworth3940 I had a Jofa mouth guard. Everyone wore them in the 80s. We didnt wear any helmet when we practiced(when the track was closed). And nobody cared. If you fell your friends just helped you off the track.
Old school forever 80s ruled.
meh
old school succs
looks like a 3 year old's toy
@y u n g z o o k a v e l i
I’m eighteen and I prefer older bikes, 80s and 90s to be specific.
They look cooler and are more enjoyable to ride.
Modern bikes all look the same and don’t have much “character” to them.
Plus old school you could put tennis ball in the spokes
Well im nearing 40 and in my youth, i can say the bmx back then was fucking awesome that time and i think so before. But now, i can truly say that the new gen bmx really is the bomb. Just my honest opinion though
GT, Haro, PK Ripper,Mongoose, Skyway,Torker2, Redline. The 70/80 were the best!
i have a 24" Haro Downtown for little sprockets i still keep up with cars for the first 4-5 seconds ...then they speed up👋like😯chill im on a bicycle 🙈.....(whoever thinks to comment in the driver's defense)Me:😂👈💀💭🤣!
I wish everyone to be safe out there😷 and for those who have lost loved ones they are in my prayer i am sorry😔...
Don't forget Diamondback
@@anthonycorrales2596 jesus u love emojis
Hutch
I remember drooling over the PK Ripper hanging on the wall at Rockville BMX in Maryland
Old skool
You just had to be there.
I'm 11 but I saved up and bought a 1979 raliegh rampar and a 1984 schwinn thrasher t1000 I love old school bmxcwish I could be their back then
@@1fiddysquiddy386 Schwinn was considered Toxic Waste in the 80s.
@@xtraflo Predator was ok, it was just too heavy to be a race bike much less a freestyle bike
Lol I totally agree goofy gear and all
Everything was better. Simple, no PC, quality, etc.
Oldschool bmx is more appealing
Ikr
I love brakes on my new school
oldschool bikes just look so ugly
I got 4 of them well 2 are coster brakes and there all original besides tires my 78 snapper ross has a new old chain but all original reflectors you can find it on letgo
@@neji5163 Newschool looks to plain and boring most of the time, at least to me and other people, they work better but most look worse
Old school! I'm 50, and I rode a Laguna GT with Skyway mags back in the early 80s. I both raced and did freestyle. I still have the scars to prove it. LOL!
Me too
ditto. had a peugeot cpx 100
Iam your age i loved skyway mags on my old chrome redline
@@anthonypeters44 Good times!
I'm 52 and my shin's are fvvvvcked up...!
I wish new school bikes still had the type of colors and decals they had in the 80’s, I was also cool that each bike looked almost completely different and you could clearly tell the difference between a mongoose, a Gt, and a Skyway, I know that won’t happen like that again due to the shape most companies are using now are stronger, but they could at least do the color schemes
Absolutely! As kids we all knew our bikes at a single glance when they were all parked together in a big group. Today's bikes would get lost in a sea of the same appearance.
Hands down old school is 100% better , back then brands still had they’re own distinct designs and lost of things that set them apart
Especially with bar types.
I'll take a late old school gt pro performer world tour or haro master team model ANYDAY.1986-1994 WERE MY YRS OF GLORY
oh god yes!!!
Absolutely! I still have both of my GT pro performers. One in white and one in blue.
I still ride them with my kids to this day.
GT has released the Pro Performer again as the Pro Performer Heritage.
I’m hoping to get one.
Same here man.
Old school Bmx bikes are works of art
yep
Yes they were beautiful
old school any day, if money and parts weren't the issue.
I'm still rebuilding a circa '85 haro master with sate-lite mags, but with modern made parts; a 2006 haro fork, a 3 piece haro (I think) crank with proper BB, 28t primo sprocket, and a used dominator seat
I just bought a 1987 Mongoose Decade in all Chrome. I will polish and restore it. I will upgrade the parts to Decade Pro specs. I will also put a 3 piece crank. 80's bikes are the best!
I built a GT Mach one cruiser. I set it up 80s style. Complete with Ame grips. I use it to cruise around the neighborhood.
98 Dyno NSX wit Gumwall tires, 3/32 hollow chain n Eno White Industries freewheel... Wit tektro rear V break.
Old school all day I had lime green and white BMX with white rims and welded stands in front and back when I first saw the BMX movie back in the 80s
my dad built a new school bike in old school style and it turned out amazing
photos on IG by chance? I gots ta see it!
Photos?
Old school bikes were sold as just that... Bikes! Even if you bought a bike from a bike shop and not Kmart, kids actually rode them like real bikes. Most kids only raced their friends and sucked at freestyle. Kids actually sat on their seats and used brakes. If you didn't grow up in the era... You just wont understand.
Hilariously spot on. Why am I obsessing on this , I don't know.
Facts! '87 GT Performer here
100%!,! One bike did it all. Raced, jumped, and got you around town from spot to spot all day with your friends....
@@emiliorebenga443 95 GT Mach one
Great comment, agreed 100%
One thing about high seat post is our bike was how we got around most of the time. I had a laid back seat post on mine.
great video! Back in the early-mid 80's, the bikes were super quality and had real style! My brother and I were loop tail Mongoose guys, another buddy had a 'goose Californian. Lots of older gusset framed Gooses roamed the streets along with tons of sweet '82-'83 Predators coming out of the local Schwinn shop. Probably the best bang for buck at that time. Add in few Redlines and an SE owned by a few serious racers. A good buddy had a real nice and super high spec MCS Magnum, another a Torker 24" Cruiser. The first GT Racer I saw in town around 83 was utterly breathtaking. Everybody had a BMX bike no exceptions. The culture demanded it. We would spend hours comparing bikes, analyzing every detail bit by bit and using them everyday get us everywhere our imagination took us so the seats had to be high to crank out the miles. FREEDOM! Every shop and department store in town sold 20" Comp III tires in all of the colors along with an endless supply of tubes and other quality parts.I find the new school stuff bland and boring by comparison.
SPOT ON accurate comment and account of my youth and the culture then! Well before we were driving age we were independent and could go anywhere if we had a bike... a sharp, old school BMX bike. "FREEDOM!" as you perfectly stated. Life was exploration and adventure on a bike then... the kids version of motorcycle culture. And I remember all too well how you could get parts and supplies almost anywhere in a pinch with how many places sold bike products. Definitely different times now.
Old school. Gold 80s bmx
nice vid, i totally forgot my front wheel was larger. front brake = cherry pickers and endos, i used to smear coke a cola on the rims of my mags to make it sticky so that my dia comp brake pads would grip more, GT mallet neck was the only choice with a hollowed out center bolt for your front cable (and maybe that universal collar for tail whips if you could do more than one) and your handle bars could not lean back, if anything is should have a subtle lean forward - just looked meaner, we also had laid back seat posts, seat posts were necessary for tricks, especially balance tricks and surfing - ie with one foot on the seat and one on the handle bars. lime green, lavender, even pink frames were in, sheeeit even our tires had colors - you just had to be there, i had dyno comp II, always wanted a GT pro performer, Haro Master or Redline tho, PK Ripper was the pinnacle but so far out of reach - honorable mention CW, Diamond Back, Hutch, Mongoose - all gud tho - i still remember the smell picking up a fresh new BMX Plus & Freestyle magazine at the 7-11 - vintage old skool - all fn day
No love for Kuwahara? They were in a little known 1982 movie called E.T The Extra-terrestrial...
Pk Ripper was one of the pinnacles lol can't forget about the quadangles!! I thought those bikes were the holy grails and still do today lol
@@richardwilliams1218 Yes! everyone wanted one or the other... I had a Redline, but still wished for one of the SE's...
Remember Z-Rims, some didn't like them... I loved mine!
401 Flight cranks were just another dream I couldn't afford.
The mags made the bike look so good.
Old school bikes looked awesome i had a pk ripper i wish i still had it.
I was raised in a country where no one knew what was a BMX. I saw the movies BMX Bandits and Rad in the 80s n mastered all my stunts from them movies. Nothing feels like an old school BMX💯
Old school bmx if you're my age. I was born in the early 70s. I love the old style bikes. I now own a 24 inch monza at 47 years old. Never too old. The great thing is my 10 year old daughter is into her bmx's I hope that long continues ❤
I just got a monza 24 in with black skyway mags for valentines day 2022. I'm 50 and it's awesome to be on a bmx again.
Those ridiculously low back breaking, kneecap killing seat posts are a no go, and a bike just looks better with a full set of brakes. I prefer old or mid school bikes because they just looked better. The new school bikes remind me of those 80's Huffy's that you'd forgot about the second you saw a GT, Haro, Mongoose or Trick Star. As far as mags go, I wish Lineage/GT would reissue those Tomahawk wheels.
rgw1380rw I agree, before my tomahawks turn into dust..
the old bike just look so ugly like a kids toy and the brakes look atrocious just extra weight and not likes it’s adding anything aesthetically pleasing
Very agree... i used to grew up in 90s midschool bmx and i have now a mongose freestyle bmx thats is so much better looking than any of the new ones today.... new bmx no dont have any appeal to me specially no brakes....
@@neji5163 That's just opinions and personal preference. As far as aesthetics go, these so called new street bikes have nothing on the old - mid school flatland/freestyle bikes designs. The GT Show would sweep your favorite so called new design under the rug😂. They all look like the same bike with a different company name on them. In my day, brake free bikes were usually stolen or put together from multiple stolen bikes. Guys who rode them would tear their sneaker soles up, or run through tires much quicker trying to slow down. Tbh, every bike from back then wasn't heavy. Some were heavy, but not all. When I was speaking of the old school Huffy bikes, that's what these modern bikes resemble.
@@neji5163 Unless your a weight weeny brakes don’t add much weight, stop faster, especially in emergencies, you can learn so many different brake tricks, and the looks is just opinions, though most people, even younger people like the look of oldschool better
I am picking up a 91 Schwinn Phantom this weekend, plan on using the frame for my own bmx build. Crazy, this bike is 2yrs older then me!
Had a Red Line Pro Line in the late 1970's, also had a Schwinn Comp frame bike I built with different components.....good times !
love the old school bike. I remember doing freestyle with knobby dirt tires lol
In 85 I ran front brake only, wore a high arch into my Vans puttin my foot behind seatpost to stop if needed.
Love old school BMX the most! I always had Huffy and Murray growing up because we hardly had any money. But my dad helped me strip down my bikes to repaint them in cool colors and make them look more like the higher end brands. I save up for several years in the 90s and finally saved enough money to by myself a GT Dyno Zone, which I still have to this day! And I just recently picked up a 1980 Schwinn The Sting at a garage sale for $20! I plan on doing a mild restoration on that one!
One big difference is that old school bikes had a lot of flashy colors and chrome. Everybody's bike was as much an individual as the person themself. Contemporary bikes are very subdued with more of a grunge grey, black, or metal appearance. They all sort of mix together in a crowd and look more or less exactly like the next bike.
I never ran a front break on my bike. BMX guys rarely had front break. Freestyle had front break.
Truth.
Oldschool Bmx Always. Looks better than today's bikes. Much better styling than now.
Old school or no school!, the 80’s ruled!
Definitely
I love bmx from. The. 80s. The best
It was a fun time. 80s were the Golden era of BMX and Skateboarding.
@@M3LTUP I loveyou. Broo
80s BMX bikes ruled because they had style and they didn’t look boring like the new bikes.
I'm old school 80's BMX. BUT I still love to see what guys are doing with the sport currently. I live vicariously through you guys. Im too old and fat to ride BMX anymore. LOL FYI: WE DID NOT USE PADS EITHER. only if you raced like you said. outside of that, pads were for nerds. We also had Z-Rims. Rim was same material as Skyway mags but was spoked. And there was 48 spoke High pressure rims too. My fav. I personally ran 1.75 tires front and back. in our day it was about being smooth, not thrashing and I never popped a tire. We had high seat post because our BMX bikes were not just for freestyle or racing. It was our main means of transportation and riding around for the entire day. OK enough of my rambling. You guys have a good one.
Z rims! Those flexed like crazy. From what I recall it used to be mandatory by tracks to had pads if you raced.
@@assortedproductions6083 Yeah, i got a set used from a guy. I ran them for about 2 or 3 days. Had enough of that negativity and went back to my UKAI rims.
You sat up hi up so you could get a full leg extension, strong pedal stroke while sitting on the saddle. Us who transitioned to MTB and most of the MTB world use a high saddle for going fast and dropper seat posts for hitting jumps
That is true about the leg extension. I don’t know if that was a reason though. If you look up some pro ABA races from the 80s the only time they would be sitting was through turns.
I'm 48, & still riding bmx, & even though i have 1 of the best modern bmx's, with all top notch components, it doesn't fill that void, the 80's bikes were the shit, they were really daring with colors & designs, & i ask kids all the time, & they all think our bikes from the 80's & 90's looked way better than modern iterations
I loved the pads. I was a tom boy and my BMX had pads. I bought it for a tenner off my friend's brother. The seat was painful though and I would envisage that issue being worse for a man.
I like combining the old with the new, I just got done building up my Hoffman crucible to have a nice mix of both worlds, went with ocean blue paint on my frame, fork(odyssey 41 thermal), bars(odyssey 10-4) and crank(odyssey thunderbolt); hot pink parts- Hoffman bikes sticker kit, grips(odyssey aitken flangless), pedals(odyssey twisted pc), chain(ybn), seat(padded and railed, I like the front to back adjustment on a railed seat) and gyro cables(new old stock); white parts- stem(odyssey tomahawk), seat post(odyssey 25.4mm new old stock), 25t sprocket(sunday sabertooth), pegs (4 black ops), skyway mags with sealed bearings a rear 14mm axle and 9t cassette, Goodyear tires 20 x 2; black parts- bar ends(odyssey), odyssey Springfield 990 brake and lever, odyssey gtx-s sealed gyro, clear odyssey slim by four brake pads. I'm currently looking for my next build possibly an oldschool diamondback to convert to all new school parts, I have a few crazy ideas that are really going to upset some of the purists out there. Keep shredding😎
Much respect for them typing skills
Thanks man. It sounds like you definitely have a project there. I did something similar a few years back with a modern mongoose. Mine didn’t turn out as well. Haha.
I gotta see it bruh
Old school with the higher seat was used for stability. But at the same time, like you said, it was easy to get around.
I loved my BMX in the 80s and always wondered why kids today have their so low haha.
I always loved my laid back seat post i think it was a gt.
First thing you notice is a CHROME frame
It’s not chrome
Its nickel
@@wackyduck3 It’s not nickel, that’s the original, this is just paint
Old bikes are cool, but modern bikes are just way better all around. And they feel awesome
Old school rules. No matter how rad and bad you were your bmx bike was an extension of who you were. In the 80s we took pride in what we had. We did not take our bikes and just throw them to the ground, we gently took them and put them up side down on the bars and seat. Our bikes were also very chrome a n.v d colorful. We always cleaned them regularly so they were sharp for the next race. Most of us fixed our own bikes alot of times with cheap tools because we spent our money on quality so not much left for good tools. We managed. I just bought a new 24 inch bmx at age 51. My best buddy iui d too and we enjoy them alot. They are 80s inspired blinged out. Wouldnt have it any other way. I have skyway mags on mine and I love it. One more thing. Just because our bmx bikes were pretty didnt mean they couldnt handle what we threw at them because we put them through hell while we rode. 1980s rule till the LORD comes back for us sheep of his. These kids are crazy today. But good too. Excellent truckers and racers. Our tracks were much more laid back. Take pride in your ride guys. That was cool. Good night and GOD BLESS ALL. AMEN.
Says it all brother'
My dad has an old school before and mine have a new generation BMX i respect both they're good!
I was looking around for an old school BMX because the only trails still open were choked out with people. But I live in a small island state and the shipping would be expensive even if I could get people to box it up. And they were either too expensive, trashed or both. So I ended up just getting a second hand Fit TRL real cheap.
Turns out it’s perfect. I love it.
The seats were so high on 80's bikes because you would sit down to wheel stand the thing all the way home from school. Its a shame new school didn't get to live the Bmx craze that took over the world. It was massive and exciting, especially when your 12 with your first Bmx bike with all your friends.
Awesome video. I've stumbled upon a few bmx this summer, my first bmx in 30 years. I enjoy videos like this that help me understand what has happened over the past 30 years. Old school for this old dog.
What I'd give to have my Vector mark ii , Thruster tri power , and Race Inc. back. Those bikes were art.
I still have my Race inc from back in the day. It hangs in my shop. Unchanged from the early 80's.
Old for sure.. that's the bike and me ! Thanks for sharing
I seen a meme a few days ago that said, "You see more crackheads and tweakers riding bikes nowadays than you do kids."
I find it funny and sad at the same time. My first actual expensive bmx bike was when I was 11, was a 2000 or 2001 Dyno Zone GT.
It had front and rear brakes, gyro. All chrome with black skinny grind pegs.
I remember in high school the brakeless trend started to do its thing and I took off all my brakes on the bike. But now I realize the tooth size of the drive sprocket was not ment for that lol.
I ended up lending the bike to a friend in my early 20s and he said it got stolen.....
I've never owned another bike since then but, the past few years I been wanting to own a newer bmx bike just to ride and see how differnt it all is with 25 teeth sprockets. I'm 31 now and probably haven't been on a bike in 10 years. 😂
I'm really just wanting to cruise bmx, but feel good, look good, and maybe do a few tricks every now and then.
That pad on the neck saved my family jewels more then I can count.
Old school for sure. Bought a 96 and a 99 dyno on ebay/ craigslist after being completely stunned at how different everything feels . They looked at me crazy when I wanted a higher seat it SEEMS like bmx bikes are built for smaller people or something. Idk how to explain it really but back in the day you could still cruise comfortably on a dyno. 15 years later and I can still cruise on one without being all cramped up or standing the whole time if i want to peddle around the neighborhood with my dogs.
98 Dyno NSX wit Gumwall tires, 3/32 hollow chain n Eno White Industries freewheel... Wit tektro rear V break.
@@DadeRich720 so sick bro.. nice
Old school all the way...80's style. Had so many different bikes from a Hutch, CW, and a Cooks Brother with Red line and Profile cranks.
Still have my old Haro freestyle frame, just wish it was complete. Also have a Hutch frame
I had my 1982 Roger DeCoster nickel finish bike in separate pieces following me wherever I switched apartments/house. Always thought I'd get her running again.
Two years ago, I decide to clean out the basement. Threw it out thinking I'd never have time.
While surfing the internet, I stumbled upon the value of it...
I'm totally heartbroken over it.
BMX old skool forever (except when you throw it away).
3 bikes i remember having as a child were Concorde BMX bike , Mongoose decade pros , Mongoose hooligan
Old school bmx bikes for sure!! Freestyle bikes from the 80s the best looking and design in my personal opinion. Ozone, Hutch, Redline, General, Kuwahara, VDC, GT, Dyno, Haro, Mongoose, etc.
Still have most of my old bike left. Redline V bars, Tuff Neck, Dia Compe with the quick release, Tuff Wheel II's, Cook Bro's frame and seat post. That's all I got left.
I like both types. New for picking a line from ramp to ramp. Old style for street riding and doing tricks. I grew up with old so that is where my heart is.
I'm still riding front A. D 990 break, and imo breaks give you more trick options. I prefer the! Late 90s bmx bikes.
Dayum Son, you have a great narrator voice. Very well done. I really enjoyed this video and old school for sure was better!
Thank you man! Old school is better, don’t tell anybody I told you that. Haha.
Ilove. Old school. Best
Both old school and new school are better for different reasons. I have lived threw both and ride both today. I would love to see new school riders try the old school bikes.
Seats were up because you sat down and put your inside foot down to make a turn. The turns were flat or part of the turn was banked. Today all the turns are full high banks so you can stay on the pedals.
Parrish Stevens you are correct! I remember doing sit down slide turns.
I prefere old school, love the Style, and my generation
I grew up riding GT vertigos they are still my favorite bikes
Front brakes on a bike are like front brakes on a car or motorcycle.
More effective.
You could use them to got harder at a corner and cut the apex.
When you knew most guys would brake sooner or run the top of the berm, you could grab some brake, clip the apex and be in front of them.
Unless you could pedal all through the curve it worked pretty well.
Higher seats were more comfortable.
I'd deliver news papers on my race bike.
When you'd go to the track or knew you were going to do some jumping you could lower it easy enough.
Old school BMX is what I had, but advances have been made.
The long bolt wedge stem isn't as good as the modern threadless stems.
The big bottom bracket on the old bike had to be big, to get one piece cranks through.
Past 100 lbs the old aluminum 3 piece cranks were too weak.
Red Line Flight Cranks or Profiles were neat but expensive.
Cars are better, televisions, video games and bikes are better too.
The only loss is that back then, someone could start a company in a warehouse or a shed behind the house,
and if they made a good bike, guys would buy them.
Mongoose, GT-BMX, SE Racing, Hutch, CW, Thruster, GJS, Patterson, Red Line, Diamond Back,
all started in the U.S. made them in the U.S. had great welds.
Now there are probably 2 or 3 companies in China with robots making them all with different stickers.
Are they less good?
Probably not, but some of the innocence and soul is gone.
I'm middlaged now, and to be honest, I was never that good, but I loved it.
I'd leave the house ride all day, go home deliver my papers, and back out to ride until past dark.
Dam nice video man i gotta say old school for me course thats what i grew up on
1987 freestyle bikes were so iconic. From the frame designs to the graphics, the bar was set high that year. Pro Freestyle Tour, Osborn Pro, Blood Pro, Pro Compe, Master, Sport, Bravo Pro, Magician Pro, Predator Free Form, Decade Pro, Strike Zone, Trick Star, Street Beat, California Shaker, 540 Air, RL-20II
I'm obsessed with that dayglo pink 89 PFT 😍.
rgw1380rw For me it’s the ‘87 Dyno Pro Compe....those graphics and handlebars were the best IMO
@@Wiggy74 I used to have an 88 Pro Compe Team. I liked those pretzel bars, but they had to be leaning on the right angle 😏👍
rgw1380rw The ‘88 Dynos had the “Flintstones” graphics lol
86 Diamondback
Thank you, I actually learned a lot about new bikes. I just picked my first new school bike out of the trash. It is a Fit Bike and someone spray painted everything and I mean everything white. I have always found working on my bike very peaceful so I decided to restore it. Maybe I will give it to a kid in the neighborhood. Who knows. I am probably too big for it and I would’ve loved to get it as kid. Happy riding everyone!
OLD SCHOOL BMX !
Old BMX have beautiful geometry frames and look beautiful more valuable!
Greetings from Germany!
The seats where high because you had flat berms .. cornering you sat down ..one foot on pedal one stuck out and touched the ground...old school.. I raced in mid eighties on a TAjG...and again from 2009-2015..on redline flight..now that was a balanced bike ..carbon forks ,quick engaged hubs..micro nobby tyres.. ..about 9.5 kg bike.. hard and fast..gold coast ,Australia
Hafta go with old school BMX. I still have my 81 supergoose and my 89 GT interceptor. The super is almost ready to ride again! The GT isnt far behind it. Trying to use as many old school parts as I can, but they're getting harder to come by!
I bought my son a Schwinn Brian Foster Super Stock 2 back in 1990 and it was a well built bike for it's time .
I'm 48 and just started racing last year after 25 years of being away from BMX and Freestyle. I race a Haro XXL 20" and love it but, have to say, Old school bikes are easier to control for me. The new school bikes are fast and light but, handling felt better on the old school bikes!!
Old school! I think the bikes had a personality and a flash all of their own. A lot of modern bikes it's hard to tell who makes them and a lot of them look alike. I used to have a chrome and flo green haro freestyler and a GT Pro Performer (would love to have either one now) They just had a little more style back then. Part of the focus was bike mfg trying to sell bikes to people, and a lot of these days emphasis seems to be on the rider themselves and not necessarily a factory based rider. Just my 2 cents. :)
I still kinda like flanges
98 Dyno NSX wit Gumwall tires, 3/32 hollow chain n Eno White Industries freewheel... Wit tektro rear V break.
I grew up in the 80's & 90's on a Kuwahara BMX. By then layback seat poles had become common, really helping with how short the top tube was. I rode that bike EVERYWHERE
Then in the early naughtie's I bought a 24" Diamondback Assault T24 (was thinking about getting back into a bit of casual racing), While it was a fun bike to ride, I couldn't ride everywhere like I did as a kid.
These days I'm mostly on a flatbar commuter/trekker, wishing I was on a BMX
I have an Assault that I’ve had for years, and it was good for transportation, but I got a new 24 a few months ago and the difference is night and day. It’s much lighter and with racing geometry much easier to ride and control - it’s a lot more like riding my 20 inch when I was a kid. I bet if you get a different bike, you’ll a have much more fun and be able to do more on it
Too bad you didn't mention layback seat posts.
I did miss that didn’t I. That was a must have in the freestyle scene. I can’t remember who made it, but they made seat posts with a grab handle built in. Those are pretty cool.
Yep I had one.
Or the dyno double curved seat post (draintube) I bought a redline 720xl after thrashing my Raleigh ultraman. Neither had brakes because I couldn't get them set decently. Pads and number plates were rare
a precursor to the longer frames.. interesting. they definitely helped for wheelies
New = Black & White. Old = Technicolor. Cool vid
Born in '83 and I got to say I love them both.
Old school. No contest. Loved my BMX burner in the 80s.
I'm 42 n still have my 1984 Raleigh Burner. So sturdy that I can shred it on DJ tracks!
The seat was high to put weight on the back wheel in a corner. It’s allows a tight radius and stops front wheel washout.
Take a look at Stu Thomson old photo in corners
Great video !!! I'm making a hybrid BMX bike of old and new school. Do you have a suggestion on retro handlebars they are alot bigger than the current BMX handle bars.
New BMX bikes have no style. I'm glad GT makes a heritage Performer. I'll take that any day over the common today's BMX.
Old School All The Way ! Had a Supergoose w Blue Skyway Mags, I would give a Pension Check to have that bike back! We would LIVE at the Bike shop in Huntington Long Island , It was so cool working to get a new part on bike .. Just was different and So Much FUN !! You just had to be there
I genuinely really enjoy your videos
Thank you!
Old school for cruising, new school for sheer technicality alone, you cannot deny the progress technology has made, and to be fair in 20 more years, we will look back and think of the current gen freestyle bikes as oldschool too.
Heck, I remember owning a gt power series in 2008 and i think thats a pretty old school race bmx.
I just started building and selling BMX bikes again. Just sold a Haro and a Mongoose. I have two Mongooses, a TREK and a Gary Fisher now. Finding cool NOS parts that color match is pretty fun. I picked up three spoke Mongoose mags for one of them. I also raise the seats. the squashed down seat looks strange to me. Oh, also doing an Electra Rat Fink bike.
This is why I love my mid school bike. It's a little of both worlds.
Nice babe bro I think you covered all the major spots pretty cool!
Great video I love the old school bmx other.then surfer colors. But I started on bmx dirt first. I love the simplicity that has evolved.
I had a GT Pro Performer pastel green with built in frame standers
Old school for sure. I have an '83 Redline 600a sitting in the parents basement.
Don't let it sit and rot oil and polish it up them things are worth big money.
Yes ,I agree with the berserker. I just bought a Mongoose legion L100. And as I go along , I'll add some old school parts
st Louis Chris i would not suggest a mongoose
We need both bring the old school back!
Walmart has the chrome old school mongoose with the yellow mags but the quality is not the same as bike shop quality
Great video!
I notice bmx racers today all wear full face helmets. Most of us wore an open face in the 80s. And we had a mouth guard to keep us from losing the teeth.
DYNAMO ME lol those old protec helmets were basically a batter’s helmet with a chin strap!!!🤣
@@shokojimhollingsworth3940 I had a Jofa mouth guard. Everyone wore them in the 80s. We didnt wear any helmet when we practiced(when the track was closed). And nobody cared. If you fell your friends just helped you off the track.