Upside Down Ones And Graphite Wheels

The undeniable perfection of this picture from a time when GT Bikes and The King Eddie Fiola where on top of the BMX world. Many an old school BMX bike collector would love to get their hands on that chrome Performer that Eddie is riding there and add it to their stable of bikes. 

Jeremy Alder--Bar Spin

Taken from the December 1988 issue of Freestylin' magazine.

Brent Patterson Leading At Grass Valley

Dig this shot of Brent Patterson leading Perry Kramer, Toby Henderson and Anthony Sewell at the ABA Springnationals in Grass Valley.

Drob and The King Of Balance--Freestylin' January 1986

Woody Itson Fakie Cable Ride

Found this amazing shot of Woody Itson over on Vintage BMX.

http://edwardkoenning.blogspot.com/2010/11/bmx-action-december-1981.html

Skyway Advertisment--BMX Action January 1984

Great Skyway Recreation advertisement that has one of the most kick ass Bob Haro pictures. I wanted all three of these bikes in that ad. Not to mention the green cables and blue Dia-Compe brake set up like Bob had.

Skyway Spinmaster

Not sure how this came up the other night, and why on earth we were talking about some of the worst "detanglers" made in BMX history. Having owned most of the early models that were made, the Spinmaster by Skyway was one of the worst. Only lasted about a month before I bent the sleeve that the stem went through. I guess I am glad I never had the Spin Tech by SAKAE detangler though. Those were the worst.

Kink Sound Sprocket

Dave Vanderspek at Joe's

From the May 1985 issue of Freestylin'. Vander was always a shredder. Check the upside down chainstay mounted brakes. RIP Vanderspek. 

How To Tabletop With Bob Medrano

More from the BMX Action November 1982 post. Bob Medrano shows you how to get it done.

Nice shorts skinny.

Yeah. Yeah. I am often told I have great legs, for an eight grader. And if anyone knows where my crossbar is? I would like it back.

BMX Action April 1980

Before Eddy Fiola was crowned King of the Skateparks, Bicycle Motocross Action had already named Tinker Juarez as the King. This iconic cover of Tinker laying out some style at the Lakewood Skatepark is ranked up there in my top ten covers from this time frame.

Not too often will I post up one of the editorial pages from any old publication. But when it includes artwork by Mr Bob Haro himself, I just had to get it posted. Here is a link for a bunch of his awesome drawings. Go get yourself a new desktop image.

I had run many a set of these Tioga Comp ST tires, I feel kinda lame for not knowing that the ST stood for Stadium Tire. I get a black mark for that against my old school knowledge. Good to see the overall design of the Comp ST didn't change much over the years. Great tires.

Tinker Juarez may be known to most people as a winning mountain bike racer. But his roots run deep into BMX history. This spread of him tearing up Lakewood Skatepark is proof of that. And I really could care less if anyone says anything about his knees in that table top picture. Awesome style on a bike that has wheels that weigh more than my whole bike now.

Bmx Plus March 1983

Lots of goodies in this issue. Great cover shot of Greg Hill with enough seat post sticking out that it needed two stickers. Still classic style from one of the era's faster racers. 

You know it is going to be a good issue when they have a section dedicated to just crashes and they used this their lead off image. Such a great capture. I looked at it and all all thought of was "Wow. One piece cranks." I am such a bike dork.

This is the section that sparked my interest in freestyle. There was something cool about seeing these guys doing stuff on a bike that I could probably do. And the fact that I didn't need to go to a BMX track to ride was a big plus. What I would give to have those slides today. Would make some really nice posters. Dig that picture of Fiola at Lakewood Skatepark.

Another page from the same article. It looks like that full pipe air is not going to turn out well for Jeff Watson. Knowing how big that pipe was, that landing could not have been nice. Although, those spongy old Tuff 1's probably absorbed most to the shock from the landing.

Freestylin' July 1985

This was such a good issue of Freesylin' magazine. So many good pictures and articles. And the coverage from that Del Mar contest was so crazy. It also looked like it might have been the starting point for the world take over by Skyway. Their riders were all over this issue.

Two Skyway riders on the cover. Not bad. You know, as soon as everyone saw those orange Tuff Wheels on Scotty Freeman's bike, they were going to go out and get a set. I opted for the lavender.

Objective Rad? Sure. Vector Bars might have been cool (I had a set or two), but every set I had and I think every set everyone else had cracked. And as much of a game changer as the "Rotor" was in the BMX industry, you would have thought they could have used something better than an exhaust c-clamp as a cable stop. Good for them for only letting this go for a short time and coming out with that headset cup that had the stop built into it.

 

Del Mar Skatepark  was always such a cool looking place. With it's crazy long snake run, and all of the different bowls. Bummer it was kinda of the younger stepbrother to the Pipeline Skatepark. I wish it would have gotten more coverage before they bulldozed it. Did Jeff Carroll land in that frame stand, or did he go back to the pedals before landing?

Classic Hugo Gonzales. This is the reason I would set up 3 foot tall pieces of plywood by a ditch and learned 360's over them. Hugo is the man!

Monday Magazine throwback.

When I was a wee little lad growing up out in the middle of nowhere, I would pace back and forth at the front door looking at the mail box seeing if we had gotten any mail yet. I even resorted to leaving the door of our mailbox open so that when the mailman came and closed the door, I knew it was time. That mail was my lifeline to the outside world of BMX. Getting a new magazine was one of the best things. I would read and study these magazines, every single word and picture. Good times. Here are a few more of my favorite pictures.

July 1981 Bicycle Motocross Action. Before they switched over to BMX Action. So many things about this picture. Front brake and a coaster. No rear caliper. Crazy kinked quarter pipe. So good.

January 1984 BMX Plus Mike Dominquez cover. I remember looking at this cover so much and wondering what the hell kinda of brake pads was he running, and where on Earth did he get a set of white Skyway Tuff Wheels. Also that I needed to get one of those Hadley bottom brackets for my bike.

January 1985 BMX Plus, Woody Itson.Never really thought of Mr. Itson as much of a ramp rider. Most of what I had seen in the magazines was of him riding flatland. So seeing him doing a look back on that sick chrome Trick Star. WOW! I got on my bike and rode to the closest ditch and tried to learn these things. And what about that crazy SST hub? How many of those were produced?