What is your favorite ol' school memory?

What is it you look back upon and go "That was the coolest thing!"

Do you remember what used to suck about freestyle in the 80's?

In the mid 80's the coolest thing was the movie Rad. There hasn't been a movie made for the big screen since Rad and probably for good reason. Rad was hokey- It was a BS story about an underground rider who NEVER rode on a bmx track in his life and proceeds to beat out the best factory pros in existence. NOT TO MENTION that the guy is a world class flatland rider AND street ramp rider. Of course you gotta love the 'ass sliding'... whatever.

The concept of a 'street' rider didn't even exist yet.

I loved the movie Rad- WHY? Because, NO bike shops had videos of freestyle yet. The opening and closing sequences from the movie presented flatland from the best pros (at the time) and gave people an idea of what was possible to do on a bike. The only other way you got to see PICTURES of tricks was in magazines which, of course, don't move.

My first bike was a little different than my bike now... I look back and realize that the BEST bike when I started riding doesn't even compare to what is available today.

GT and Haro were about your only choices for a decent freestyle bike. I actually got a BMX bike and converted it to a freestyle bike. I got a stem with a hollow bolt (Potts mod) and inverted front brakes (Dia Compe Nippon 883's). I also decided against getting an ACS Rotor (which was the current norm) and got the brand new detangler- The Odyssey Gyro which Odyssey did not change the design on for about a decade.

The coolest tricks weren't rolling... They were hopping or balancing. It was about a year before I saw anyone doing a scuffing trick- and that was the COOLEST thing in existence.