BMX Bike - Flying Away
When I was a kid many moons ago I used to beg for a BMX bike every birthday and every Christmas. We were poor, so instead for my two wheeled gift I got a racing bike, second hand, re painted black but still rusty and too small.Don't get me wrong, I loved it and it became a treasured possession but I still couldn't help covet a shiny new BMX! Having said that, after watching the movie E.T back in the early 80's I also believed that if I had a BMX bike that I would be able to fly over my house on it! Years later, sailing over houses in a BMX videogame was scant consolation!BMX was pretty much brand new in those days and the streets were full of kids buzzing up and down and making makeshift ramps to fly (fall off the end) off! Christmas mornings reflected just how popular BMX was becoming. In fact it had become an overnight roaring success.Despite thousands of valiant attempts, no one ever did manage to fly their BMX over the house, although crazy Billy from the next street has the scars to prove he gave it a really good try. We all concluded that E.T must have had some kind of magical powers!More than 30 years later and although BMX bikes still cannot fly they are still very cool and are more popular than ever. For the first time in its history in 2008 they became a successful part of the Olympic Games in Beijing.At the 2008 Olympics, racing was the only BMX discipline to take part but with the ever growing popularity of the sport in general, it is only a matter of time before Freestyle is included too.People at the top of the BMX sport are extremely dedicated to perfecting their skills and what you see may look easy, but just try it yourself to find out otherwise. Flatland BMX, another discipline is particularly fascinating to watch!With such a variety of styles it is not a surprise to find out just how many different models of BMX there are. Not only does each discipline generally require a different bike with regards to weight and structure but even within the disciplines themselves there are many different models and brands.Famous riders get bikes designed (bmxframes, bmx wheels, bmx pedals etc) not only with their name branding it, but often with their own specifications too.With so much variety and choice out there, it shouldn't be a problem getting hold of the BMX bike you want (it could be a mongoose, haro, snafu, primo, Hoffman amongst many others), either for yourself or for a relative to unwrap on Christmas morning to once more go hurtling up the street, thrilled to bits with their new BMX.