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1993-1994
- Freestyle still wasn't very popular but riders had a common thread in the BS contests.
Hoffman Bikes came out in full force and riders really began to take riding to the edge.
This was probably the best contest year ever. Bikes were finally getting good and the
quality of riding was still being pushed to new levels. If you never went to a BS contest
don't expect to go to an ESPN event and expect the same thing. The street course at BS
events always had spectators standing in the MIDDLE of the riding area DURING pro's runs.
These were contests for riders and the contests were broken down further still to include
beginners and intermediates with the Stuntboys and Stuntmen.
If you didn't like to compete then things were better as well since the bikes were finally
being built better. Flatlanders got to take advantage of aluminum bolt on pegs for the
first time and the un-brake and freecoaster became words that actually meant something to
riders. Riders began to realize, finally, that they could make a difference in the
industry and began to. Rider owned companies began to crawl out of the woodwork and the
quality of products was reaching an all time high. No longer able to get by with the crap
that they had survived on for years GT and Haro introduced major changes to their bicycle
designs. GT had built such a reputation that they pulled away with a huge market share.
Haro didn't survive as the number one company in freestyle. Despite producing the first
freestyle bike and leading the industry in the mid 80's, Haro still hadn't caught on. Haro
STILL HASN'T caught on yet.
Dennis McCoy won the year-end overall title for the BS series and continued as the best in
the world. There was one rider that was going to push Dennis to be better if he wanted to
hold onto that title: Jay Miron.
- See 1993. Things are really getting brighter. Matt Hoffman builds a 21 foot quarter-pipe
that he gets dragged towards by a motorcycle and then launches over 25 feet into the air.
Above the ramp... nearly 50 feet above the ground. The story says that one night a storm
rolled in that had some strong winds that blew the ramp over. Rumor had it that Matt's
friends were so freaked about him using the ramp that they went out that night and
destroyed the ramp so Matt would not be able to ride it anymore. It's still probably the
most incredible thing done on a vert ramp.
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