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1986
- There were only about a dozen different freestyle bikes available. Maybe 3 or 4
companies were producing the bikes. Haro and GT were the names that meant quality.
Mongoose had a couple of bikes out there but if you wanted a GOOD bike you were on a GT or
Haro. Some riders went with a couple of smaller companies- Hutch or Skyway. More often
though, Haro was the bike of choice. Mags were the standard. Really good riders went with
ACS Z-Rims. I think that Z-Rims were made of plastic or nylon (like mags) but were laced
with spokes like rims. Your brakes would never work! 990's either did not exist or were
not used on freestyle bikes yet.
Contests: The American Freestyle Association (AFA) was the sanctioning body for freestyle
events both at the local level and the national level. Kind of like the ABA or NBL
competitors could go to local events and earn some national points. Local contests could
have affiliation with the AFA and hold events and advertise their events as such. Riders
followed in the footsteps of BMX and would ALL be wearing leathers when they were
competing. The AFA required helmets for all classes regardless of what you were competing
in. This included flatland. The Protec helmets were not the helmets of choice at the time
and riders would be out doing cherry pickers and nourie stands with big Ecko helmets
strapped on. National events, the AFA Masters would draw hundreds of riders out.
LITERALLY! The contests only had vert and flatland only. The AFA would have beginner,
intermediate, expert, and pro levels broken into 4 age groups- 13 and under, 14-15, 16-18,
and 19 or older. One event had upwards of 120 entrants in the 16-18 expert flatland class.
Flatland was HUGE. The best riders were expected to compete in both flatland and vert.
Dennis McCoy was best known for his ability as a flatland rider.
Magazines: There were several magazines that were dedicated to the sport of Freestyle BMX.
The magazines included Freestyle, Freestylin', I believe BMX Plus was producing zines. A
little known photographer was taking pics for Freestylin' by the name of Spike Jonze. The
number one topic to cover in the magazines: FLATLAND! That's right, flatland. An AFA
Masters event (the nationals) as covered by Freestylin' magazine had 13 pictures of
flatland, two pictures of vert, and some other miscellaneous pics. Grinding didn't exist
on bikes yet. The two-inch pegs made it virtually impossible to do a grind. Besides, ramps
usually didn't have coping. They just went up and came down and tried to pull a decent
trick. Fakie airs were possibly the hardest trick at the time on vert. For flatland... bar
rides were the latest thing.
Working on bikes: Working on bikes was part of an average day of riding- you didn't just
get up in the morning and go out and ride. You got up and, at the very least, spent 5
minutes cleaning your mags with 409 or Simple Green so that your brakes would work for an
hour. At the worst you had to deal with the crap parts- Axles, hubs, and pegs were the
killers. You see, the axles for the bikes were pretty short and were not heat treated for
strength. Pegs screwed directly onto the axle. So you would stand on a two-inch peg for
hours at a time HOPPING on it. Needless to say, the axle would quickly start to bend. Then
you would need to flip the axle over so you would bend it the other way. Due to the
bending and the fact that the axle peg was the nut that held your wheel in place, the pegs
would come loose. Your peg would move and your wheel would move and the hub would come
loose. So you would try to tighten your pegs down as hard as possible to stop that from
happening. Unfortunately, the aluminum pegs would strip out... Often taking the axle with
it. So it would be off to the bike shop to spend $10.00 for an axle and $10.00 for another
pair of pegs.
Brakes: If you don't know already, chrome has the best braking surface under optimal
conditions. Aluminum is on all the mountain bikes because it has small pits that make the
braking better under varied conditions. But for freestyle and dry weather riders, chrome
plated rims are the way to go. In 1986 they did not exist. There were some riders that
always were in the right climate or worked on their bike enough that they could get a set
of mags to have some decent braking power. But for the rest of us, braking was an art form
in itself. Learning endos REALLY was a trick.
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