So I've gotten it into my head that I want to race bmx, but I have almost no money for a bike. Last Friday I pulled an old Haro freestyle out of the trash and cleaned it up, then traded it for this So Cal Flyer.
I understand that the Floval Flyer is more the race bike, but this is what I ended up with and I'm going to build it.
The first thing I did was take those big ass cruiser bars off. I will used them on an old Schwinn I have. I replaced them with some old bars I've had since high-school, I believe they are from a Dyno cruiser. They've been cut down, so I will need to weld about an inch back onto both sides.
I put on an old Mongoose seat just to see how it will look with a more race oriented seat on it. I've always had skinny seats on my bikes.
Future plans will be to put some brakes on it, I was thinking Box V Brakes. I need to find the proper front wheel and tire, this one appears to be off a roadmaster mountain bike. Install chain tensioners, grips, better pedals, and possibly a 44t sprocket. Oh yeah and a paint job.
So my question to you guys is: what improvement s can I make to this thing better for racing and less of a wheelie bike?
by ol-stinky
1 Comment
This is nitpicky but nobody races a seat with “guts” anymore everything is pivotal or even uni.
You’re probably on the right track but the geometry may ultimately be the limiting factor. Sure you can upgrade components here and there and that may help a little.
You mention a 44T and that’s a fine benchmark gear _IF_ you’re running a standard 20 x 1.75″ tire on a class frame with a 16T cog in the back. But cruiser gearing is different if this is a 24″ wheel you’ll need to math the right ratios for that.
Otherwise the best weight weenie upgrades are usually in rotating mass: wheels. unfortunately these are expensive upgrades.
Even ignoring wheels and tires, you’ll probably spend more on upgrades than you might’ve on a decent used race bike.