Full Version: 1976 champoin 2007 skate park
yo....the champion road so good..........jp
There's a park in Cali that allows you to ride bikes...and even vintage???
Totally gnarly man!!!
Totally gnarly man!!!
There's a park in Cali that allows you to ride bikes....will no you can get a ticket for this $82 bucks.....jp
That is KILLER!!! I bet a few of the vintage "collector's" on here will be shaking with anger when they see those pics!
THAT's what a BMX bike is for!!! Awesome pics!
THAT's what a BMX bike is for!!! Awesome pics!
nice job
Right on dude - where are you riding there?
Nor Cal - keeping it real!
Nor Cal - keeping it real!
Where is that, Alameda or Oakland?
yo........ alameda skate park..... 
Coolest bike I've seen in ages. Great shots too. Good stuff mate.
V-bars and knobby tires at the skate park, just doesn't get any better than that.
That can't be the SAME Alameda skatepark that I skated in the 70's......is it?
Awesome Pics - and you have everyones attention in the background - digging the old jersey.
JP is Hella Rad!
Hey - The new skate park in Portland opened Friday. Bikes are welcomed. I stopped by last night and it was crazy how full it was. Literally several people deep all the way around it and at least halk bikes riding. People had BBQ's going behind the vehicles as well.
It actually looks pretty varied in style and addresses a wide range of riding abilities (read the pro's and I could both ride).
Come on up with the wife JP.
Hey - The new skate park in Portland opened Friday. Bikes are welcomed. I stopped by last night and it was crazy how full it was. Literally several people deep all the way around it and at least halk bikes riding. People had BBQ's going behind the vehicles as well.
It actually looks pretty varied in style and addresses a wide range of riding abilities (read the pro's and I could both ride).
Come on up with the wife JP.
There's a dude back there pullin' a semi auto out of his pants getting ready to dust you for snapping that old frame in half. Check it out, light blue shirt.
thats killer! old school er's RULE!
pquinnbmx, you obviously don't know anything about Champion frames.......
I obviously know that I have seen about 4 or 5 of them snapped and re-welded on eBay. Now, I figured there would be some sort of jokes going on about the guy with the gun in the front of his pants...
Were they Schwerma ones or the later SoCal made ones.........the NorCal ones were pretty indestructable but if say you've seen Schwerma frames broken I stand corrected.
[ April 29, 2007, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: spike ]
[ April 29, 2007, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: spike ]
I think that extra bar welded into the front diamond of any BMX frame , usually led to failulure under severe duty testing.
Gotta say you got huge ball's for getting some good "vintage" airtime in a skate park riding a bike with alloy cranks & knobby tires on alloy rims.
Slick ride & _FANTASTIC PHOTO'S_ !!!!!!!!!!!!
It's always good to see a Vintage bike actually moving , _with_ the owner on it.
Somehow I don't think the setup you have would hold up for long under these conditions...
http://www.vintagebmx.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...ic;f=3;t=010468
JB
Gotta say you got huge ball's for getting some good "vintage" airtime in a skate park riding a bike with alloy cranks & knobby tires on alloy rims.
Slick ride & _FANTASTIC PHOTO'S_ !!!!!!!!!!!!
It's always good to see a Vintage bike actually moving , _with_ the owner on it.
Somehow I don't think the setup you have would hold up for long under these conditions...
http://www.vintagebmx.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...ic;f=3;t=010468
JB
I don't know, I just have seen a few snapped ones on eBay over the years. D Chan and Dan, my two norcal collecting buddies could probably tell you what they were, but I know they were squarebacks like that and the headtube area cracked. Of course, any old school bike could snap easily, they have a lot of age on them and such. Sq Back Champions: Rod probably welded a few of them.
Schwrema frames like this bike pictured are NOT square backs, those are the later Red Line/Champion made ones, then maybe I can see how some of them had broke at some point. I have NEVER seen a Schwerma frame broken. AND, there is a difference between the NorCal made frames(the best ones in my opinion) and the later SoCal made ones....for what it's worth.
ok, man, but I got a sentry like that and I'm not going to ride it in a skatepark anytime soon.
Pat - JP has the skills you and I don't! He's a big rider, but not a big boy! He lands soft even at 40+. A rider like Mr Towne if you will.
Roots!
JP, Your the man!
Tearin' Alameda up.That bike ruled 3 years ago unbuilt in your basement, now it's a showpiece.
Tearin' Alameda up.That bike ruled 3 years ago unbuilt in your basement, now it's a showpiece.
JP, you're an animal!! Bring that baby to the Roseville show for sure. Can I do a big skid in the dirt on it?
Spike, that's a different Alameda skatepark than the one you/we rode in the 70's. I'll bet that old one would have had some cool transfer lines from run to run and some good hips. There's an Action Now magazine with a Nor Cal parks review with that in it.
Spike, that's a different Alameda skatepark than the one you/we rode in the 70's. I'll bet that old one would have had some cool transfer lines from run to run and some good hips. There's an Action Now magazine with a Nor Cal parks review with that in it.
There wasn't a square lip anywhere to be seen at the original Alameda park. I went and found the area where it was a couple of years ago, it's either just a flat lot or under a building. I couldn't figure exactly where, looking back everything was pretty mellow but it would probably have been fun on a bike.
Hey JP,
Sorry I wasn't there to witness the glory of the Champion at the park. Beautiful stuff. I'm shooting a feature film until mid May, but I'll see you when I'm wrapped and we'll hit the park!
Frazer
Sorry I wasn't there to witness the glory of the Champion at the park. Beautiful stuff. I'm shooting a feature film until mid May, but I'll see you when I'm wrapped and we'll hit the park!
Frazer
Is the skate park next to the abandoned runway that the show, mythbusters, always use?
John
John
that is the coolest thing I have seen in a very,very long time
Ride on!!
Ride on!!
Yes, the skate park is on the decomissioned military base, and the park is just on the other side of the fence from a square mile or so of runways that get used for things like shooting TV shows, training cops to chase civilians (lots of cop excercises going on out there) and building an 8 million dollar short piece of freeway for Matrix II to shoot on (which was torn down promply when shooting was finished--witness the profound waste that is studio filmmaking).
quote:The "extra" bar is not welded into the front diamond. it was welded to the headtube before the downtube was welded up. It pierces the down tube which is than slid over the finished "extra" bar. THe triangulation of the tubes is strong. The headtubes on the Schwerma was machined down from a much thicker piece of tubing and the seat mast has a machined insert also added. The frame was built pure overkill for bitd.
I think that extra bar welded into the front diamond of any BMX frame , usually led to failulure under severe duty testing.
Yeah, what Bill said, in early Champion ads there are see through drawings showing how it all connects together. I have never even heard of a Schwerma frame ever breaking, maybe ones after he commited suicide but they were pretty indestructable, I know I beat mine up pretty bad, has some nice dings in the frame to prove it.
JP u r awesome! I bet those knobbys made a wicked buzz on the concrete. Love it
jesse D
park rider
jesse D
park rider
yo going to the skate park today! with the stamped out dg!! hope to get some rad pics.....jp
I know that I put more than 10 years of pure hell on mine and it never showed any sines of failing. I think it is to this day, still the strongest frame ever made in BMX. Awesome JP
hell yes slayer!!!!!
That's a fantastic bike, nice to see it being used...
Post those DG shots!
My bad on the comment about the extra bar in the front triangle , it was one of ignorance in the way that these early BMX frames were _actually_ built.
If someone has a scan of the "see thru" Champion Ad spike mentioned I'd appreciate to see it posted here or a link to it.
I don't remember ever seeing BMX magazines for sale here in Australia in 1976 , I would have been old enough to notice one & have a look inside.
Back then as I was working as a paper boy for the local newsagent. I could scan thru all the magazines on display there at 5am in the morning
JB
If someone has a scan of the "see thru" Champion Ad spike mentioned I'd appreciate to see it posted here or a link to it.
I don't remember ever seeing BMX magazines for sale here in Australia in 1976 , I would have been old enough to notice one & have a look inside.
Back then as I was working as a paper boy for the local newsagent. I could scan thru all the magazines on display there at 5am in the morning
JB
That's obviously a post-Schwerma ad, but the diagram in the lower right shows the way the "third" bar was attached.
WOW.
Schwerma _really_ did know his stuff.
Did he work at Boeings , Skunkworks division or similar .mil contactors "special projects" department , before he got into building bike frames ??
No person with civilian engineering experience could have possibly seen & solved the 2 main problem's that every double diamond framed BMX bike was going to have to face back in 1976.
Those pictures are worth a thousand words to me , thanks for posing them , atxbmx & dunphy1.
There are some insane vectorial forces that happen at the top of a double diamond style BMX frame when under "severe duty" & Schwerma had them completely under control with this early design.
I'm glad he advertised his secret back then rather than quietly keeping it to himself.
You would end up breaking yourself or your forks before this frame even mumbled a minor complaint.
I don't know how rare these old BMX frames are but the only way they would have gotten bent or broken over the years is when a car backed over them or they were shot with a high powered rifle etc.
Most impressive.
JB
Schwerma _really_ did know his stuff.
Did he work at Boeings , Skunkworks division or similar .mil contactors "special projects" department , before he got into building bike frames ??
No person with civilian engineering experience could have possibly seen & solved the 2 main problem's that every double diamond framed BMX bike was going to have to face back in 1976.
Those pictures are worth a thousand words to me , thanks for posing them , atxbmx & dunphy1.
There are some insane vectorial forces that happen at the top of a double diamond style BMX frame when under "severe duty" & Schwerma had them completely under control with this early design.
I'm glad he advertised his secret back then rather than quietly keeping it to himself.
You would end up breaking yourself or your forks before this frame even mumbled a minor complaint.
I don't know how rare these old BMX frames are but the only way they would have gotten bent or broken over the years is when a car backed over them or they were shot with a high powered rifle etc.
Most impressive.
JB
yo........going 2 the skate park!!!on the chamption!!!
Very cool thread & awesome bike JP 
Here's my first OS build , a post schwerma though
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Here's my first OS build , a post schwerma though
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Radittude!
Jesse D
Jesse D
That red Champion is absurdly hot. Thanks for posting.
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