Old School BMX....

[Rip76 4,924]

I don't know if this is the place to put this, but I know we had this topic on the other board.

I wouldn't say it's a hobby of mine now, but it was when I was a kid.   

My first bicycle was a 1980 Team Murray, that my mom bought from White's Auto in Texas City.  (Pictured here)

 

I rode that for about 2 years, and then my I got an '82 Mongoose.  Just like this one.  (I had yellow Mongoose pads)

 

After that, I was getting a little more serious about racing and the Mongoose was freaking heavy.  So I moved on to my dream bike.

It was a 1983 Hutch Expert Racer.  Black with gold hardware.  Freaking bad ass!  (All the chrome parts were gold)

 

I raced for a bike shop in TC for about 6 months with that bike.  (Friendswood Track, Texas City Track, Brazosport, etc).

Went in the house one day to get a glass of water.  3 minutes, max.  Damn thing was gone.  My mom was freaking pissed.

Fast forward to the summer of 1984.  Freestyle was moving in on the racing.  So I got one of these.

1984 Redline RL-20 Prostyler.  

I liked this bike a lot, but not like the Hutch.  Rode this for a couple of years, then got a Chevy S-10.    A little tail in the truck and you don't ride bikes anymore. 

Fast forward to 2000/2001, I just got the itch to get another BMX and bought this off of Ebay.  I need to get some Comp 3 tires with the gumwall sides.  Can't stand the all black tire.

I just wanted to have another Hutch.  I don't ride it much.

Bought this the other day for some exercise.  I love the way it rides.  Much easier than a 20".

 

What are some bikes that you had or wanted as a kid?

For me, a Patterson was always a bike I thought was bad ass.  You just didn't see too many of them.

[Pescado_Rojo 19,411]

That OM Flyer looks sweeeet! I had a Murray X20 growing up, but the PK Ripper was my dream bike. Loved the Hutches, too. I don't know if you Facebook, but I follow a group on there called Unbelievable Grails BMX. It's a bunch of dudes who hit up swap meets, pawn shops, etc and buy 80s-90s era BMX bikes and restore them. Some of those guys have sick collections. 

[Rip76 4,924]

Actually I do follow them.

Yes they do.

[RMac5 1,551]

I had a Mongoose BMX bike in the late 70’s, seems like it had the black spoke wheels like the Redline in the above picture. No telling how many wooden ramps we built for jumping stuff. Could ride a wheelie on those bikes for days.

[Telegraph_it 3,357]

This is trip down memory lane. I remember as a kid going to the green belt and digging up dirt to make a ramp with friends. We would then piss in the hole so when someone inevitably failed they splashed in piss water. 

[Gale Snoats 242]

I had a Hutch and loved that bike (my buddies raced at the Brazosport track and I hung out as McDowell's all the time in LJ but my mother wouldn't let me race).  It got stolen so I got a Robinson which I liked but not like that Hutch.  I'd love to get a couple (one for me and one for my boy).  Is Ebay the best place to look?  Any other places you all know of?

[KuЯdt 248]

Man I love those Hutch's.  I had a Pro Racer that I somehow convinced my dad to buy me even though I didn't race.  But I rode it everywhere and we had little tracks back on the banks of the bayou, what we'd probably call a pump track these days.

In a really really stupid move, I sold it after college when I was low on funds.  I still kick myself to this day for doing that.  What an idiot.

Before that I had a Mongoose.  I don't remember the model but it had those big heavy ass mag wheels on it.  That bike was a tank.  Looked similar to this:

 

[Loco 3,752]

Had a Ross Snapper that weighted 12.7 metric tons

worked a paper route and got a partial sponsorship and upgreyedd to one of these....

put a million miles on that bike....

[Pescado_Rojo 19,411]

If I lived in a neighborhood that was close to bars and restaurants, I'd have either an OM Flyer or KOS Cruiser to get around on. 

I've thought about buying one anyway just to get around the neighborhood. 

Edited March 29, 2019 by Pescado_Rojo

[Rip76 4,924]

2 hours ago, Gale Snoats said:

I had a Hutch and loved that bike (my buddies raced at the Brazosport track and I hung out as McDowell's all the time in LJ but my mother wouldn't let me race).  It got stolen so I got a Robinson which I liked but not like that Hutch.  I'd love to get a couple (one for me and one for my boy).  Is Ebay the best place to look?  Any other places you all know of?

Yes,

eBay and BMX Museum.

[pepper brooks 580]

I had a mongoose "supergoose" very similar to Rip's.  it was a bit lighter than the ones with those mag wheels, but still pretty heavy.  Damn I loved that bike.  I bet I put 500k miles on that thing riding it to school and all over hells half acre in east texas.  

[KuЯdt 248]

2 hours ago, Rip76 said:

Yes,

eBay and BMX Museum.

https://hutchbmx.com/store/

[Errestaurants 2,570]

I had a Dyno VFR but my across the street neighbor had a god damn GT Performer. This is late 80's.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[CoTex 1,160]

Redline 600a FTW.

 You can have your sissy hutch or jmc, the violin doesn’t make the musician.

[yoshi 137]

Yes!  A thread about one of my hobbies!  I currently have 3 old school BMX bikes that I've built in the last 8 years.  They hang on the wall in my computer room at home.  When I was a kid I got a 1981 Schwinn Scrambler 36/36.  Then when the freestyle craze hit, I got a 1985 GT Performer.   

Anyway, here's the 3 I currently have....

1st one is a 1984 GT Pro

2nd one is a 1983 Mongoose Californian

And the 3rd is a 1980 Schwinn Mini Scrambler

 

[yoshi 137]

I love building bikes.  Besides these old school BMX bikes, I have 3 mountain bikes.  A 1994 Klein Fervor,  a Specialized Stumpjumper hardtail and I am building a Trek Top Fuel 9.9 right now.  I'm just waiting on a Thomson seat post and a chain I ordered in Wednesday and that bike will be complete.  

[Bash Riprock 1,695]

I had a Diamondback. thought I was hot shit.

[Your Mom 4,805]

I hated every one of you when I was a kid. 

We were poor and I rode Huffys, usually used.  Fast forward to adulthood and I maybe I'm compensating or something but I won't think twice about spending a few grand on a nice bike.  Got a fucking fleet in my garage now.  Only one BMX though and its a We The People that my kids jump our little homemade ramp on.  Mostly we mountain bike now.  But they're minds were blown when I showed them I could still do a footjam tailwhip at 45 years old.  

[Loco 3,752]

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

I hated every one of you when I was a kid. 

We were poor and I rode Huffys, usually used.  Fast forward to adulthood and I maybe I'm compensating or something but I won't think twice about spending a few grand on a nice bike.  Got a fucking fleet in my garage now.  Only one BMX though and its a We The People that my kids jump our little homemade ramp on.  Mostly we mountain bike now.  But they're minds were blown when I showed them I could still do a footjam tailwhip at 45 years old.  

I got up at 3am on Sunday to deliver papers....in addition to the daily set in the PM ...   so yeah, I didn't have the Hutch, Skyline, or Harry Larry Turbo I wanted but I got the fuck off that heavy ass Ross.  The bike shop i raced for only wanted me to air the fuck out of the first jump... they didn't care if I finished.   it was kinda a match made in heaven.   My Asshole friend was riding sew-ups and finishing first, but I was always on the promo photos.  /csb

[Rip76 4,924]

2 hours ago, yoshi said:

Yes!  A thread about one of my hobbies!  I currently have 3 old school BMX bikes that I've built in the last 8 years.  They hang on the wall in my computer room at home.  When I was a kid I got a 1981 Schwinn Scrambler 36/36.  Then when the freestyle craze hit, I got a 1985 GT Performer.   

Anyway, here's the 3 I currently have....

1st one is a 1984 GT Pro

2nd one is a 1983 Mongoose Californian

And the 3rd is a 1980 Schwinn Mini Scrambler

 

That Mongoose is clean.

[Rip76 4,924]

2 hours ago, Your Mom said:

I hated every one of you when I was a kid. 

We were poor and I rode Huffys, usually used.  Fast forward to adulthood and I maybe I'm compensating or something but I won't think twice about spending a few grand on a nice bike.  Got a fucking fleet in my garage now.  Only one BMX though and its a We The People that my kids jump our little homemade ramp on.  Mostly we mountain bike now.  But they're minds were blown when I showed them I could still do a footjam tailwhip at 45 years old.  

Oh we didn’t have any cash.

Luckily mom always got a good tax return.

😊

[Rip76 4,924]

4 hours ago, KuЯdt said:

https://hutchbmx.com/store/

Or you can go direct 😊

The prices on the F/F are not bad.

The freaking cranks OTOH are nuts.

[yoshi 137]

1 hour ago, Rip76 said:

That Mongoose is clean.

Thanks.   The chrome on the frame and fork is pretty close to perfect.  It's the original finish.  Whoever owned it in the past must not have really rode it much and then stuck it in the attic for 20 years.   Got a really good deal on the frame and fork and then bought all other parts over time separately. 

The 1984 GT Pro frame had been rechromed before I bought it.   Looks OK, but you can see some blemishes in the job.   I wouldn't have been happy with it if I was the one who took it to the chromer.   I got a pretty good deal on it after the fact so I can deal with the defects.  

[ScottS 1,061]

14 hours ago, Gale Snoats said:

I had a Hutch and loved that bike (my buddies raced at the Brazosport track and I hung out as McDowell's all the time in LJ but my mother wouldn't let me race).  It got stolen so I got a Robinson which I liked but not like that Hutch.  I'd love to get a couple (one for me and one for my boy).  Is Ebay the best place to look?  Any other places you all know of?

McDowell's...holy crap.  I grew up in Lake Jackson and had not thought about that place in forever.

[Fuck Tim Beck 3,815]

First and only BMX bike I got used in 1982? I hadn't even been asking for a new bike, and mom and dad surprised me with it. 

Of course we were a schwinn family cuz that's what mom grew up riding. Mine had a yellow seat and yellow pads. 

[Your Mom 4,805]

I rocked a Huffy Challenger similar to this for a while.  That thing was always falling apart, and my bike wrenching skills played no small part in that.  My friends were always saying my Challenger should have been the one to blow up instead of the Shuttle version.  That was one of 4 or 5 cheap BMX bikes I had, most of which my dad bought for about $10 at the annual police auction of unclaimed recovered stolen bikes or at a garage sale. 

[254512 236]

Mega bump, got my 5 year old off the training wheels and am back in love with a bike after 30 years

[254512 236]

Starting to do more than I thought, and probably a couple of more things later. 

[fattyflattie 4,639]

On 3/29/2019 at 10:50 PM, ScottS said:

McDowell's...holy crap.  I grew up in Lake Jackson and had not thought about that place in forever.

Had a bunch of friends that raced at that track out by the dump.  Best I ever had was a chrome Dyno, from McDowell's.  Talk about heavy, the mongooses my friends had were feathers in comparison.  I still remember the exact moment I got it.  Digging up those deep memories.  Good thread. 

[YGIFS 19,449]

Holy shit this takes me back.  Our youngest is starting to pedal bike a few weeks back.  And I'm showing both girls pictures of me on my old BMX bikes.  1980 & 1984 Mongoose.  And they're cracking up at the color schemes.  Orange & Yellow and the next one that chromely mainframe deal.  And outta the blue, my mom is coming down to visit for first communion and she finds the blue/white checkered vans style pads I had for the bigger one.  Took me back to a totally different time 40 years ago.  Holy shit.  The miles we put on those bikes.  We would literally ride them from home to the Western Springs metra and ride into Chicago and back again and use them to get around town.  Then after school make snow ramps and leave 'em out in the summer sun to bake.  When they needed air, walk 'em down to White Hen pantry to use the free pump ad get some candy while you were there.  Like some of y'all said, the miles and memories we put on those BMX's           Rubber will never smell so great again.  

[Mittens 8,251]

Texas BMX Roundup is coming up here in a couple of weeks.  Bike show/swap will be at Capitol City BMX in Pflugerville on Sunday, June 4th if you want to check out old school builds or buy vintage parts.  Usually some old school legends there - met Woody Itson there in 2021 and the whole SE Team came in 2019.

FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057108054177
IG: https://www.instagram.com/texasbmxroundup/

 

[Mittens 8,251]

From the 2021 show:

2019 winners:

[CleverNickname 1,308]

My son rides my 20+ year old mongoose cruiser to school.

[RMac5 1,551]

This is a cool thread. I had a blue mongoose, mine was the regular spoke wheels, not the solid 5 spoke that were much cooler.

[Mittens 8,251]

2021 weekend: https://www.facebook.com/BigBMXSyndicate/videos/4304802276206232 

[Mittens 8,251]

2023 show: https://www.facebook.com/mtz.angel/videos/937735420891149

[254512 236]

The 5 year old I finally got off training wheels that made me want a bike again is now 7 and was excited for some checkered pads to match the donuts.

[Rip76 4,924]

I forgot about this thread.

Bought a Race Inc. 26” a while back, man this thing rides great.

 

[troph 24,781]

We were the poors I had a used huffy and I was so jealous of all you super rad bikers. I did manage to scream with that bike down the half mile hill (10 degree grade all the way down I bet) in our hood in Anderson Mill. A few homemade jumps, but didn’t get any girls because huffy. I wanted that diamond back, nope we can’t have nice things. Did scrape the shit out of my knees more than a few times which is why you’ll never see me show you a pic of my knees or elbows, you fuckers would rag on me so hard if I did. 

Edited May 30 by troph

[254512 236]

15 hours ago, troph said:

We were the poors I had a used huffy and I was so jealous of all you super rad bikers. I did manage to scream with that bike down the half mile hill (10 degree grade all the way down I bet) in our hood in Anderson Mill. A few homemade jumps, but didn’t get any girls because huffy. I wanted that diamond back, nope we can’t have nice things. Did scrape the shit out of my knees more than a few times which is why you’ll never see me show you a pic of my knees or elbows, you fuckers would rag on me so hard if I did. 

This was my beloved Wal-Mart ride in the mid 80’s. I miss just standing up on the bars next the seat post and putting my arms out to balance like I was flying. 

[Slacks 6,819]

How n the hell did I not see this thread? 

 

[TwiceHorn 31,429]

On 5/29/2024 at 7:12 PM, Rip76 said:

I forgot about this thread.

Bought a Race Inc. 26” a while back, man this thing rides great.

 

That is really cool. 

I pretty much missed out on BMX although some friends had BMX bikes (OG Redlines and Mongeese) toward the end of our biking careers (5th grade or so). So 20" wheels and small frames mostly still fit. 

I am a mountain biker now and realized that I am missing a lot of bike handling skills and intuitions by having missed out on BMX. 

I have toyed with buying some kind of BMX bike to try to obtain these skills on a simpler, lighter platform, but at 6-1 and the better part of 200 lbs, a 20 incher just doesn't seem right. 

A bike like that might be just the ticket. Wish they weren't so spendy though. 

[Jerry Callo 8,694]

On 5/30/2024 at 7:21 AM, troph said:

We were the poors I had a used huffy and I was so jealous of all you super rad bikers. I did manage to scream with that bike down the half mile hill (10 degree grade all the way down I bet) in our hood in Anderson Mill. A few homemade jumps, but didn’t get any girls because huffy. I wanted that diamond back, nope we can’t have nice things. Did scrape the shit out of my knees more than a few times which is why you’ll never see me show you a pic of my knees or elbows, you fuckers would rag on me so hard if I did. 

I can't think of any hills like that in Anderson Mill.  I did get some serious road rash wiping out on a steep hill on Spicewood Parkway circa nineteen hundred and eight-three.

[troph 24,781]

1 hour ago, Jerry Callo said:

I can't think of any hills like that in Anderson Mill.  I did get some serious road rash wiping out on a steep hill on Spicewood Parkway circa nineteen hundred and eight-three.

There’s one where I used to live. I’ll find it on a map. 

[Mittens 8,251]

Perfect timing!

[Jerry Callo 8,694]

I wonder if there'll be any sweet jumps.

[Mittens 8,251]

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=2787970048138545

This is from 3 years ago - the last time it was out at Capitol City BMX.  The vid is from the whole weekend, but a couple sweet jumps for sure.

[MalibuSheriff 1,090]

On 3/28/2019 at 12:32 PM, Rip76 said:

I don't know if this is the place to put this, but I know we had this topic on the other board.

I wouldn't say it's a hobby of mine now, but it was when I was a kid.   

My first bicycle was a 1980 Team Murray, that my mom bought from White's Auto in Texas City.  (Pictured here)

 

I rode that for about 2 years, and then my I got an '82 Mongoose.  Just like this one.  (I had yellow Mongoose pads)

 

After that, I was getting a little more serious about racing and the Mongoose was freaking heavy.  So I moved on to my dream bike.

It was a 1983 Hutch Expert Racer.  Black with gold hardware.  Freaking bad ass!  (All the chrome parts were gold)

 

I raced for a bike shop in TC for about 6 months with that bike.  (Friendswood Track, Texas City Track, Brazosport, etc).

Went in the house one day to get a glass of water.  3 minutes, max.  Damn thing was gone.  My mom was freaking pissed.

Fast forward to the summer of 1984.  Freestyle was moving in on the racing.  So I got one of these.

1984 Redline RL-20 Prostyler.  

I liked this bike a lot, but not like the Hutch.  Rode this for a couple of years, then got a Chevy S-10.    A little tail in the truck and you don't ride bikes anymore. 

Fast forward to 2000/2001, I just got the itch to get another BMX and bought this off of Ebay.  I need to get some Comp 3 tires with the gumwall sides.  Can't stand the all black tire.

I just wanted to have another Hutch.  I don't ride it much.

Bought this the other day for some exercise.  I love the way it rides.  Much easier than a 20".

 

What are some bikes that you had or wanted as a kid?

For me, a Patterson was always a bike I thought was bad ass.  You just didn't see too many of them.

Wow!  What a blast from the past.  I also started out with a Gold Team Murray and then on to Mongoose back in the day.  

I lived in single parent home and mom worked all the time to make ends meet.  I had saved up for over a year for my Team Murray and some deadbeat, shitbag stole the bike off a second floor apartment balcony in Muskogee, OK.  If I sound bitter, I still am….

Those were some good times though and then progressed from Mongoose to YZ-80 a few years later.  Bob Hannah was the shiznit back in the day.

[troph 24,781]

On 5/31/2024 at 12:26 PM, Jerry Callo said:

I can't think of any hills like that in Anderson Mill.  I did get some serious road rash wiping out on a steep hill on Spicewood Parkway circa nineteen hundred and eight-three.

 

On 5/31/2024 at 1:41 PM, troph said:

There’s one where I used to live. I’ll find it on a map. 

Probably a quarter mile or so actually.  We’d ride from left to right on this orientation down split rail parkway to the curve (red circle).  We rented a house around the curve before hillside oak lane. Blue circle was the area I could roam without supervision - although now I think about it I could ride up to the movie theatre too to play video games. So lake creek to just before 183. That pool at Anderson mill park is where all kinds of shit went down. 

 

 

Edited June 1 by troph

[254512 236]

On 5/31/2024 at 2:03 PM, Mittens said:

Perfect timing!

Dammit, went last year. Can’t believe I missed this. May have to coerce my son to get momma to change plans tomorrow.