Did dudes seriously tool around on them in the pits at the track, BITD? I find this amusing. I always wondered where they got the name from... they always just seemed like cool bikes for little bros/sis bak then.

yup, sure did...............

they became so popular they started having pit races at some of the tracks

Ha. People will race and upgrade anything I guess.

Pits are great for training leg memorization in approaching big step ups etc, etc.

We use them as part of our training. The gears spin so fast its a excellent way to teach the mind to peddle over and through everything.