The odd little bikes don’t look rideable by anyone over twelve years old – and they are, in point of fact, designed for children. But no one who rides a BMX (and no, it’s not “BMX bike,” since the “B” in BMX stands for “bicycle”) ever sits down on one unless they’re posing for a photo. The bikes are made for stunting and soaring – tiny platforms for airborne maneuvers in imitation of motocross moves, without the motor. “Born out of the ‘70s motorcycle race scene in southern California as kids tried to emulate the adults on their own dirt bikes,” notes Style Magazine, “BMX was a ‘sport created by kids, for kids,’ explained John David, COO of USA BMX.”
It didn’t stay that way. BMX soon became a serious sport for grown-ups and, in 2003, an Olympic event. Bike motocross is back, in a big way, though you might not know it if you aren’t part of a bike subculture. But if you lived in the early 1980s, there was no getting around the extreme popularity of BMX. The bikes were everywhere: in stores, in magazines, on television, in iconic scenes in movies like E.T., The Goonies, and, of course, the BMX-ploitation movies Rad and BMX Bandits (starring a 15-year-old Nicole Kidman!), released in 1986 and 1983, respectively… read more >
