Getting back into bmx after selling my last bike 9 or 10 years ago. I grew up mountain biking and eventually focused more on street riding with single-speed mountain bikes (Specialized P1 and P3, Geekhouse, Evil Imperial to name a few) built for street riding in my teens and early 20’s.
I eventually bought my first bmx bike before graduating college. It was some sort of cheaper Eastern complete and never went back to single-speed 26″ bikes with front suspension for street riding. Quickly my capabilities outgrew that bike and bought a used TerribleOne Barcode frame, fork and bars, then swapped all the parts to it from the Eastern, eventually replacing them as they broke with nicer parts. After a couple years I sold that bike (regrettably) and built up a FBM Capone with some nicer parts like Profile cranks, Odyssey Hazard wheels, T1 bars, etc. A few years later I slowed down with bmx riding due to work/life and biking friends moving away, then focused more on road riding and sold the Capone (also, regrettably).
A few months ago the bug bit me again and I quickly found a 2012 WTP Versus bike with random parts on it locally and started riding again. While riding the WTP for a bit I was familiarizing myself with more modern bikes/parts and deciding on what bike to buy complete or build with nicer parts, eventually settling on a Kink Williams complete after finding one in stock at a local shop. After putting down a deposit over the phone and planning to pick it up that weekend when I had time, I realized that I would quickly start upgrading a few parts like the cranks and that would put the cost close to a top of the line complete.
Well, I got a refund on my deposit for the Williams and I still have that WTP as a backup or for friends that visit, but now I also have a brand new 2023 Sunday Soundwave Special V3 complete from Dans Comp and it is blowing my mind how nice this thing is, both performance and spec-wise. If I had this 10 years ago I don’t think I would have ever taken a hiatus. Freecoasters and brakeless are new to me but I am enjoying learning a new riding style and getting my 180’s dialed back in to ride/hop out of fakie without pedaling backwards. I’m nearly 40 and wish I never stopped riding, but if you are on the fence about it, just buy a cheaper bike like I did to get back into it and a month later you’ll be at 90% of your former skills 🙂
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Getting back into bmx after selling my last bike 9 or 10 years ago. I grew up mountain biking and eventually focused more on street riding with single-speed mountain bikes (Specialized P1 and P3, Geekhouse, Evil Imperial to name a few) built for street riding in my teens and early 20’s.
I eventually bought my first bmx bike before graduating college. It was some sort of cheaper Eastern complete and never went back to single-speed 26″ bikes with front suspension for street riding. Quickly my capabilities outgrew that bike and bought a used TerribleOne Barcode frame, fork and bars, then swapped all the parts to it from the Eastern, eventually replacing them as they broke with nicer parts. After a couple years I sold that bike (regrettably) and built up a FBM Capone with some nicer parts like Profile cranks, Odyssey Hazard wheels, T1 bars, etc. A few years later I slowed down with bmx riding due to work/life and biking friends moving away, then focused more on road riding and sold the Capone (also, regrettably).
A few months ago the bug bit me again and I quickly found a 2012 WTP Versus bike with random parts on it locally and started riding again. While riding the WTP for a bit I was familiarizing myself with more modern bikes/parts and deciding on what bike to buy complete or build with nicer parts, eventually settling on a Kink Williams complete after finding one in stock at a local shop. After putting down a deposit over the phone and planning to pick it up that weekend when I had time, I realized that I would quickly start upgrading a few parts like the cranks and that would put the cost close to a top of the line complete.
Well, I got a refund on my deposit for the Williams and I still have that WTP as a backup or for friends that visit, but now I also have a brand new 2023 Sunday Soundwave Special V3 complete from Dans Comp and it is blowing my mind how nice this thing is, both performance and spec-wise. If I had this 10 years ago I don’t think I would have ever taken a hiatus. Freecoasters and brakeless are new to me but I am enjoying learning a new riding style and getting my 180’s dialed back in to ride/hop out of fakie without pedaling backwards. I’m nearly 40 and wish I never stopped riding, but if you are on the fence about it, just buy a cheaper bike like I did to get back into it and a month later you’ll be at 90% of your former skills 🙂