O.K. ......... WHO WAS THE BADDEST KICK A** BMX TEAM OF OLD SKOOL ?

OLD SKOOL IS 1960 TO 1979

i will get my next "HOT TOPIC" shirt for the
topic "EARLY BMX" 1980 TO 1990. but that's later. just wanted dibs on it. he he he

O.K LET IT RIP. WARNING: SAY THE WRONG TEAM AND SOMEONE MAY CHALLANGE YOU.

HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
MY "HOT TOPIC" T-SHIRT IS IN THE BAG.

BRING IT ON OLD SKOOLERS

RICK T.

I might be a little biased

But I would say

1. Rick's Bike Shop with Hall of famers David Clinton, Bobby Encinas, Thom Lund, Rick Twomey and soon to be HOF John Palfreyman and Doug Takahashi and Tinker Juarez along with photographer extraordinaire Mel Stoutsenberger and other notables

2. Wheels and Things/Torker team ran by the late Sandy Finkleman. Eddy King comes to mind amongst other great amateur riders

3. Redline team when they had Hillage, Stew, Grubby, Dennis, David and other great riders

1-Sundance
2-Honeys Pizza
3-Pines Crew

WOODEN WHEELS # 1

Are we talkin factory, bike shop, or any/all of the above?

I would have to say for Northern California in the BIKE SHOP department between the years of 81-83: NEWARK SCHWINN. Newark Schwinn had perfect scores of 4 points ( 4 first place finishers in the mains ). Newark Schwinn had won the majority of team trophies at local, double pointers, triple pointers, redline championship, gold cup qualifiers, and nationals. Team Newark Schwinn beat out bicycle harbor from Arizona three times at Utah, Deveoshire Downs in Northridge, Ca. and one of the summer nationals. Newark Schwinn had so many team trophies, that the bike shop ran out of room in thier front display. Because of thier success, the team was choosen to be part of the National Team from factory Schwinn based in Chicago at the time. In fact, my father ( team manager ) has afew of the 6 footers in the garage. The team consisted of the following for the years 81-83. Those were the good days.

1) Tony Harmon
2) Fred Hightower ( when he lived in Northern Calif. before he moved to Az. and joined Bicycle Harbor.
3) Roger Serafin ( me )
4) Shannon Kahahane
5) Anthony Wadley
6) Ken Wadley
7) Brian and Brent Torres
8) Christine Precturd
9) Shana Cordova
10) Paul Eggers
11) Kristen Eggers ( I had a HUGE crush on her even though she was afew years older than me)
12) Andy Garcia
13) Juan Dizon
14) Danny Steplight ( co-sponsored )
15) Greg Liggins ( co-sponsored )
16) John Love
17) Jason Martinez
18) Rodney Cornist
19) Vince Gerinilla
20) Allen Porter

"I would have to say for Northern California in the BIKE SHOP department between the years of 81-83: NEWARK SCHWINN"

I know you are proud but Rick set the criteria for Old School 1960-1979. That being said, Wheels and Things/Torker.

Bike Shop Teams
Nor Cal
Silver Shield

SoCal
Ricks
Canoga Cycle Center
Peddlepower
Wheels-N-Things

New Jersey
Pedaler's East
Wilsons Cycle Center
Petes Bike Shop
AER

Delaware
Wooden Wheels

I'd have to go with Canoga Cycle Center if I was out West or Pedaler's East if I was back East.

1. BOSS
2. GT
3. Free Agent


1. Whitmans
2. Pedal Power
3. Wooden Wheels

Mongoose/BMX Products- Even the almighty STU rode a Mongoose at one time. Plus, their helmets ruled hands down. LOL!!!

Dirt Masters - Yamaha Gold Cup Sweep. That's pretty badass!

FMF BMX - GHP, Utterback, and OM.

So many teams. As an AZ racer who started in 74 we all looked to CA except for one early exception. Mothers Customs in AZ. They were all NBA and seriously fast. Iggy Jackson, Miller Bros, Tony Bell, Carl Webster. Mostly bad kids with bad habits. That said they could do it all. That was like 75. We new of Ricks's and Others. But early on for me, I was intrigued by FMF.

I may be mistaken but I would think Wooden Wheels racing would have the most nation championship wins in bike shop team awards . Dans may have caught them by now .

MIKE ....... it's open to both as you say "factory teams" or 'bike shop teams".
remember this is the real old skool and not every team that was good had a factory sponsor as there weren't that many BMX factorys.

PK ......... I set old skool at 1960 to 1979 as those were the begining years of the sport. also because no one has ever set any guidelines as to what is old skool and early school and mid school and new school. there has to be a point where you keep them apart simply due to the development of new parts.

i did say that my next thread was going to be "early school" 1980 to 1990.

if there has been some official guidelines set for the seperaton of the old skool vs mid school, then PLEASE let me know. and i don't mean just someones openion.

i think this is good to hear of all the different teams from the different areas. now we need some team (that means all the team together in their team uniform) pictures posted here to see what everyone is talking about.

THANKS RICK T.

The first that came to my mind was GT with Hill, Schofield, on to Fehd, Bark - those guys and the others rocked.

Then I thought about Free Agent later in the decade with MAtt Haden, Todd Slavik, Kenny May, Galen Sarlin . .

I would have to say RBS. The only reason being is from CT I did hear about them when I first started racing (1979). The only other teams that I remember from that time frame were Cook Bro., GT and SE. Another point that I am considering is my present day knowledge of the sport(thanks to JKOS).

Old-skull

RBS Local
SE 1978-81
Kuwahara of course you know they rule Global!
Jag early years with Sewell

If ya don't know you better ask somebody. Badboys.

RRS

Midwest bike shops, and I may forget a few so feel free to add.

BJ's bike and Ski
Rydjor Bike Shop
Penn Cycle
Minnetonka Ted, I mean Schwinn..


Of course, Tremco, which became Rondo, then became Tahoe.

Rick,

It has always (okay, for the last 10 or so years) been accepted that "Old School" is Pre-1985 and "Mid School" is post 1986. In fact, early site guidelines described this as such.

Ricks Bike Shop Team (these are my boys)
Peddlers West
Canoga Cycle Center
Beavers Bicyles
Gus Dano
Bikette/DirtMasters
Motorcyles Unlimited

These were some of the local bike shops that I remember that kicked azz. There were also riders sponsored by parents or non bicyle enities that were instrumental in getting the sport started.

Patti - aka: Mother Biker and Ricks Wife

Besides the obvious (Rick's Bike Shop), I thought this motley crew (Canoga Cycle Center) had some heavy hitters.

Obviously for me it was ALWAYS Rick's Bike Shop Team..... always will be.

For NorCal it would be Silver Shield.

My bad. I didn't realize that it was from 1960-1979. Hey, im turning 41 next week and my mind is already getting out of whack ( heheheh ).

To awnser the original question, definately Ricks Bike Shop is number one in that catagory.

I know for a fact Wooden Wheels had the best jersey of oldschool . How can you beat having Leary on a JMC doing a Leary . Harry was seen on our backs at tracks every where for about 8-9 years bitd . Thanks Harry by the way . Would love to make some retro jersey's .

SPEEDO had a pretty good cast of riders too! Brent & Brian Patterson. I believe? both Ronnie & Richie Anderson, Scott Clark, Kevin Ridling, Mike Koron and a bunch of others that did pretty well too..

Patterson Racing as a follow up to the SPEEDO Team that began in '78

I don't know about "bad" but, how about the Norwalk Bikers. Bottema, Tinker, me and a whole lot of others.

Mike

KEN P.

never saw a site guidelines for year seperation for old skool, mid school etc.
if you can PLEASE look them up for me so i can either agree and follow or ???
who set these guidelines and was it because they owned the site or how were they qualified to make the decision. was it just one guy or a panel of people?

thanks for your information.

RICK T.

Rick,

It was around ten years back when most of these sites (ROOST, OldSchoolBMX.com, etc.) were just coming online. There were discussions back then and everyone started sticking to the following (which is pulled straight from the sub menu of this site). It wasn't really one person but more a group consensus that ultimately dictated the current "rule of thumb".

"Vintage BMX Racing
If you lived on your BMX bike during the 70's and 80's this is the place to hang.

Mid School BMX
BADD, JAD and everything in between. As a general rule, anything after '86 belongs here. "


Back then, the discussions were basically, 1970s and early 1980s was when the sport was in its prime before the "split" to race and freestyle in the mid 1980s. Many purists still say "Neon Ruined Everything" By 1986, the neon revolution was in full swing and most of the folks that grew up racing had gone on to college, careers, and real life.

Hmmmm Did I see Tinker on Rick's???? When was that?.. Is there a minimum of length for "Team Membership?.." That would toss Dirtmasters.. a 3 week to three month Team doesn't qualify in my book..LOL..

I would vote for the ones close to my heart.. 1976-mid 77.. FMF dominated, JU, Stu, Greg Hill, OM... 1st actual National Championship #1 & 3 & 10 ....

Then Mid 77 to 1980's... SE Racing with Stu, PK, OM, JU, Greg Hill, Rod Beckering, Bubba Hayes, Eric and Robbie Rupe, and others... National #1 Championships EVERY YEAR!!! Gee does that qualify?....

There were many great teams BITD.. I think Patterson/Speedo & Robinson (When Chuck was alive) have been overlooked..

Nuff said, just another vote... from another Old Man..
C-Ya..
OM

Before Speedo the Pattersons rode under their Dad's company, A&A(AAA?) Fire Extinguishers, I think they had quite a few guys riding for them. Panda had a pretty big team at times up north but it was ALWAYS Rick's for me.

KEN P.

OLD SKOOL 1970's to mid 80's (85) sounds reasonable, and makes sense. I can live with that. THANK YOU for the input.

RICK T.

This thread has been certified an official VintageBMX "Topic On Fire," earning Rick a limited edition T-Shirt for starting the thread.


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Best,

M

Gary, I liked the Wooden Wheels jersey but I prefer the Pedaler's East jersey. BTW I got a magazine from Reid off ebay recently. Hit him up, I bet hed let you make Jersey's. I'm sure Fergie and myself would buy one. That is if Fergie isnt allergic to anything not spandex.

1970's Factorys
Nor Cal
Panda
Speedo
Patterson

SoCal
Webco
FMF
Redline
JMC
SE
Torker
Robinson
DG

East Coast
MCS
Thruster

If it was the mid 70s and I lived out west I woulda wanted to race with a Webco, DG or Panda team. If it was late 70s Patterson or SE. Back East and it would have to be Thruster. I loved the first uniforms they had but hated the second "Baby Bib" jerseys.

SE racing any year of course ! LOL. My first year on SE . It was me PK and Stu . At the end of the year Scot started racin cruiser and kicked but ! The year was 1979.

Yep, I stand (slightly corrected) I have to include not only Scot Birdtrap's killer FMF team but also Sandy Finkleman's Diamond Back team in my top 5.

Reid sold WWR back in like 86 or 87 to my teamate friend Tom Harvey & Kim ( sister). Tom & Kim kept bmx alive in Delaware & had a national team up until 02 . Now I'm the only racer on the team . I guess Iv'e got one of those lifetime sponsors .

The best team ever was Jolly rancher W/ Todd Corbitt and Brad Birdwell. The free candy that everyone loved. So what if cycle craft made the team murry bikes they rode then. We all enjoyed the candy. Plus both those boys were fast.

1. DeLUX BMX

2. Honeys Pizza (who can forget Larry Pacifico!)

Are you sure its not "40 West Gulf" out of Hagerstown, Maryland or Frostburg or wherever?

Where's John Fallon or Robbie Showe when you need them?

Oh yea Im sure Wooden Wheels #1 . I recall racing thoughs names bitd . Your brother was a little more consistent then those guys . Been tryin to get the old team back together on the track but most wont . Ron Re did but got hurt , then vanished . Tom still has the shop going but retired in 2002 from bmx racing . Too bad it was a great team at that time . It would be cool to have a Deluxx vs WWR retro race someday . Of coarse we would have to have back Kent Gordy since you guys stole him . HA HA

Well I never got to see them in action. But word or rep had traveled across the Pacific ocean and the ones I remember are of course Ricks, Dirt Master and Silver shield. Team BMX products, and SE. also Robinson. My pick would be SE cause I was a Stu fan and he was testing the STR 1 here at the NBA South Pacific nats.

Changstar

No love for the old Florida teams?

Flying Wheels and Hot Shop traded NBL team titles.

Eagle Snacks came on to dominate.

WP was awesome BITD.

MCS was always there.

Oak Ridge bike shop had the cool Capt America unis.

And Moped South/Knight Bikes sponsored all of us not fast enough for the above.

Arizona,

Green Machine

Landis Schwinn

Pedlers Corner

Swiss American

Bike Barn

Bike Gallery

Road Runner

Tempe Cycle

WP Racing for sure (member)
Titan (member)
MCS (member)
World Class (member)
GT
Diamond Back
Eagle Snacks

I gotta go with Patterson - small team but awesome riders and wins per head.

You can't ignore the success of Diamond Back under Sandy Finkleman's management or the GT team at the same time.

I like this list given I raced for three of these? Mothers Custom was the first hardcore team in AZ, but that was 74-76 or so. Greem machine was pretty darn solid for a long time. I remember Pedlers corner having a pretty good team.

Mongoose anyone?

When I started racing in 1976, the following teams influenced us because of magazine coverage and seeing them on the various tours from 1976 to 1978:

1. Rick's Bike Shop (Thom and JP)
2. Webco (Rick Corteau)
3. DG (Jeff Bottema, Stu, and Skibel)
4. Mongoose (PK, Stanley Robinson, Tinker...)
5. FMF (Scott, Stu and Utterback)
6. Wheels n Things (Coy Hudson... all you had to do was watch Eddie King race anywhere...)
7. Speedo (the Patterson brothers and most of the future Patterson team...)
8. Silver Shield (was this also the first Champion team?)
9. R&R Centurian (Boo Boo Moreno)
10. Kawasaki (mainly because of DC, and most probably because of "the tabletop pic" and his WFO speed)

Most of my early memories are from the magazines and papers... some later ones are from seeing and racing the guys on tour when they would come out east...

Richard Vogt
bmxmountainbiker