[demo 9]

I completely fail to understand this, i have watched a few bmx race videos/events in my day, and i fail to understand why every guy has to be pedaling so fast he is almost ghosting. why not have gears? I have seen it done, (GT bmx with gears/discs at US open) Why not, those race bikes only get raced, never see them in the park, why not throw a set of gears on there. 135mm MTB hub, standard rim(but you could do discs)

 

[cmc]

I completely fail to understand this, i have watched a few bmx race videos/events in my day, and i fail to understand why every guy has to be pedaling so fast he is almost ghosting. why not have gears? I have seen it done, (GT bmx with gears/discs at US open) Why not, those race bikes only get raced, never see them in the park, why not throw a set of gears on there. 135mm MTB hub, standard rim(but you could do discs)

according to the ABA rulebook, "Multi-speed MTB style bicycles are acceptable for competition in the cruiser class."

http://www.ababmx.com/pdf/2010_aba_rulebook.pdf

 

[TheTruth]

Shut the front door!!!

 

[w00dy]

according to the ABA rulebook, "Multi-speed MTB style bicycles are acceptable for competition in the cruiser class."

http://www.ababmx.com/pdf/2010_aba_rulebook.pdf

In other words, it's been tried but does not add enough competitive advantage for cruisers. It's against the rules for 20" class.

 

[demo 9]

In other words, it's been tried but does not add enough competitive advantage for cruisers. It's against the rules for 20" class.

anybody know why the 20s cant do it?i mean, it looks like they cant pedal fast enough for the freewheel...

 

[IH8Rice]

rules man! follow the rules!

 

[w00dy]

To level the playing field? To keep the speeds down for safety?

 

[cmc]

In other words, it's been tried but does not add enough competitive advantage for cruisers. It's against the rules for 20" class.

hard to say, really, how much it's been tried. i'm not super plugged in the race scene, but it seems like cruiser racers in general have not even sampled mtb's.

competitive advantage? i really don't know. you would need some expert and pro level racers to give it a serious shot for a while to find out. or guys that have been pro in both 4x and bmx.

jeremiah work, a blackmarket rider from austin, is a bmx'er turned 4x/trails rider who positively kills the competition on 26" wheels at the bmx track. probably on both his single speed 26" and 4x bike--i don't remember.

i don't know too much about the 4x scene, though. someone else chime in !

To level the playing field? To keep the speeds down for safety?

yeah, true. . . . i would add, it's also just "tradition." bmx racing is a pretty status-quo oriented sport. remember all the debate over clip-in shoes in the early 90's?

 

[Arkayne]

according to the ABA rulebook, "Multi-speed MTB style bicycles are acceptable for competition in the cruiser class."

http://www.ababmx.com/pdf/2010_aba_rulebook.pdf

I take my SX Trail out to the bmx track sometimes and I'm a tad slower out of the gate vs 20's but then I click click click and I take em down on the first straight.

This is during practice only though.

 

[IH8Rice]

This is during practice only though.

winning practice is important

 

[Arkayne]

winning practice is important

I'd have more trophies than Lopes if practice counted.

 

[jonKranked]

while we're at it, track bikes need some gears too.

 

[fortenndu]

While we're at it, fvck fixies.

 

[dexter]

While we're at it, fvck fixies.

super gay

 

[Sonic Reducer]

some top aa pro maybe mike king or brian lopes experimented with a 3 speed in the late 90s. i just remember reading the article in bmx plus(yes i used to read it lol).

 

[TortugaTonta]

some top aa pro maybe mike king or brian lopes experimented with a 3 speed in the late 90s. i just remember reading the article in bmx plus(yes i used to read it lol).

Yup, I remember a picture of Lopes with a 20" gt that had gears.

I don't think it would help at my local track. I never feel the need to shift there and I have a horrible spin.

 

[Flat tyres]

While we're at it, fvck fixies.

Bro, why you gotta say such hurtful things. Its guys like you that make me want to cry, but my eyeliner would run , and the makeup filled tears would ruin my $120 jeans I stole from my sister. This bmx stuff is soo insensitive to the true nature of cycling. Its bad enough the 30 somethings are jumping on the fixie trend and we are loosing our image to a bunch of drunks getting run over in traffic because they cant connect with fixie gods. Im just gonna go to the coffe house and crack open my ipad and journal some tweets about this mornings vibe. Imm soo sorry if Im rambling, my mom didnt hug me enough and my tatoo artist charges me extra because I cry so much. If your bmx bike has gears how do you stop it? Like brakes or something? Soo ghey.

 

[don]

Have you watched any modern day BMX racing vids?

- They are hardly pedaling save for the first straight. Seems like the last 2 straights are full of rollers where pumping will give you more quickness than pedaling
- Going down the first straight with 7 other dudes full throttle you won't want to think "what gear should I be in"
- The races are short and rapid on a silky smooth track - watching a race now - it looks the smoother you are the quicker you can go
- I would think it would be easy to misshift/crunch gears with the amount of torque going on
- Added weight

I could see gears working on BMX from BITD - rutted track, flat berms, more pedaling and not as many roller/pump section, but the ****fting technology/weight wasn't there.

 

[demo 9]

Have you watched any modern day BMX racing vids?

- They are hardly pedaling save for the first straight. Seems like the last 2 straights are full of rollers where pumping will give you more quickness than pedaling
- Going down the first straight with 7 other dudes full throttle you won't want to think "what gear should I be in"
- The races are short and rapid on a silky smooth track - watching a race now - it looks the smoother you are the quicker you can go
- I would think it would be easy to misshift/crunch gears with the amount of torque going on
- Added weight

I could see gears working on BMX from BITD - rutted track, flat berms, more pedaling and not as many roller/pump section, but the ****fting technology/weight wasn't there.

could be, i know gears won automatically make you win races, i dont have any videos off the top of my head, you just see them gate (in potentially too tall of a gear) than max it out b4 the first roller, not every track has lots of pedaling, but ive seen a fair share of bmx'rs ghost pedaling. ill agree that the technology isnt there, but i do think it could help, not a full 10 speed, but a 3 speed i think could have an advantage if they got the torque problem fixed

 

[Tetreault]

2 reasons

1. tradition, they have been single speed for ever, might as well just keep it.

2. why would you want to? so that you can go faster? you wont really be faster once everyone uses gears, it adds weight, makes it more expensive and complicated, and i don't want to be flying into a berm with a bunch of guys and hoping that i dont skip a gear and eat ****.

if it aint broke dont fix it

 

[don]

could be, i know gears won automatically make you win races, i dont have any videos off the top of my head, you just see them gate (in potentially too tall of a gear) than max it out b4 the first roller, not every track has lots of pedaling, but ive seen a fair share of bmx'rs ghost pedaling. ill agree that the technology isnt there, but i do think it could help, not a full 10 speed, but a 3 speed i think could have an advantage if they got the torque problem fixed

What is ghost pedaling? Is it slipping a pedal?

I actually think the technology could be developed in this day and age but for it to work, I agree a 3 speed setup max would be the way to go. Most likely a 2 speed would be best - just a hi/low to keep it simple.

 

[hydro422]

What is ghost pedaling? Is it slipping a pedal?

Ghost pedaling is when you've maxed out for your gears, you keep pedaling but its pointless. Like when bombing a hill and you can't pedal any faster. I can't recall ever seeing that at a bmx race though.

 

[wachusettrider]

gears on any bike is just pointless. I have 7 bikes all single speed and there great. Imo
gears suck!!!!!!

 

[Krzr3000]

BMX racing, at least at higher levels is SO dialed. They are already clearing huge gaps and distances and landing like cats. Its not like mtb 4x/slalom, its lot more smooth. They need to be able to drop the hammer, not worry about shifting.

 

[demo 9]

I dont argue it isnt dialed, i dont even argue it needs gears, but every once and a while a bmx race video pops up, and it looks like they are spinning a ton. I figure that in a "RPM" sense, you go from, uuggghhh-moving-little faster-most power-trying to keep up with hub. My thinking is similar to a dyno of a car, (most) cars make alot of power until X rpm when it drops. the more you keep the car in that range (gears) the faster it goes. I know that is a machine and we are human, but id think that if a machine looses power at a certain RPM, that a human on a bicycle would be the same thing/worse. opinions? thoughts? hammerschmidt?

 

[Pete..]

I remember seeing a couple pictures of Chris Powell's 3 speed bmx bike a couple years ago. It was absolutely awesome. He had it set up with the OG Saints, an e13 lg1 and XO shifter(I think) and derailleur. It looked so sick

Edit:
Here we go. Can't embed pictures off of pink bike on my iPad for some reason
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2473551/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2473550/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2473549/
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2473548/

 

[jonKranked]

I dont argue it isnt dialed, i dont even argue it needs gears, but every once and a while a bmx race video pops up, and it looks like they are spinning a ton. I figure that in a "RPM" sense, you go from, uuggghhh-moving-little faster-most power-trying to keep up with hub. My thinking is similar to a dyno of a car, (most) cars make alot of power until X rpm when it drops. the more you keep the car in that range (gears) the faster it goes. I know that is a machine and we are human, but id think that if a machine looses power at a certain RPM, that a human on a bicycle would be the same thing/worse. opinions? thoughts? hammerschmidt?

where's that video of the redline team training for the olympics? or was it world champs? nutty. they were doing jump lunges holding a 45lb plate in each arm.

don't think power is an issue.

 

[TortugaTonta]

Dutch national team preparing for 2010 Worlds on Vimeo

 

[opiecunningham]

I dont argue it isnt dialed, i dont even argue it needs gears, but every once and a while a bmx race video pops up, and it looks like they are spinning a ton. I figure that in a "RPM" sense, you go from, uuggghhh-moving-little faster-most power-trying to keep up with hub. My thinking is similar to a dyno of a car, (most) cars make alot of power until X rpm when it drops. the more you keep the car in that range (gears) the faster it goes. I know that is a machine and we are human, but id think that if a machine looses power at a certain RPM, that a human on a bicycle would be the same thing/worse. opinions? thoughts? hammerschmidt?

The roadies call it cadence i think. count the number of pedal strokes a min (rpm) they try to balance power versus revolutions and keep the heart rate consistent. I am at times forced to do some xc on my squishy to get from one sesh spot to the next and know that some times its easier to have a higher rpm and climb and other climbs its better to gear down and power the pedals.