I’m trying to get into bmx but don’t want to drop a ton of money. Found this bike on facebook for $110. Just asking to see if it’ll be a good bike to upgrade and learn how to ride on. Another thing to note is that I am 5’8, I did do some research and saw that height is very important, so another question is: Will this bike be comfortable for me? Thanks
by Squishoou
8 Comments
1-piece cranks are a deal breaker for me so no.
Depends on what you are going to do with it…
Good if you were just riding around the neighborhood, not so much if you want to progress with confidence. I’d pass and save some more money to buy an entry level complete from, Kink, Fit, WTP. You can also find better entry level bikes used for dirt cheap. At 5’8″ you’d be fine on a 20″ – 21″ top tube.
If your a beginner 1 piece cranks ain’t gonna matter, not one fuckin bit!
1-piece cranks and hi-tensile steel frame are an instant no. You can get something gold but old for like $200.
Hi tensile steel frame isn’t what you want if you’re wanting to do tricks. Higher weight than something with chromoly (at least the downtube)
Hitensile steel is garbage. You ideally want full chromoly frame, forks, bars.
I’m currently restoring several mid 80s GTs and Dynos and they all have one piece cranks. I guess that was the style of the time. So my restorations are keeping the one piece cranks. It may not be better than modern cranks but i’m looking to restore these bikes using original parts.
I’ve read that one piece are better for vert? No experience so no idea but maybe some old school heads can opine.
What budget do you have for a bike? The thing about BMX is the bikes are crazy cheap compared to almost any other hobby one could have today. They are basically untouched by inflation and not much more expensive than when I was buying them in the mid ‘90s.
This $110 bike you’re looking at is basically something you’d get at a Walmart or something, it’s on the very low end of quality and the low end of the pricing.
But to give you an example of something on the high end of the BMX as a fun hobby spectrum you can get a brand new [Kink Switch for $630](https://www.danscomp.com/kink-2026-switch-bmx-bike-20.75-toptube-storm-blue-bk465blu26/p1615602). With tax it’s gonna be a little over $700 which is quite a jump by comparison, but compared to every non BMX bike on the market it’s still super cheap.
But any bike is better than no bike so buy what you can afford and start riding to see how you like it and look for sales on bikes. I bought a Haro Race Lite Pro XL last year for $350 on sale from $650 and I love it.