What side are you on - build to show or build to ride?


Some of my friends collect - The whole house is full of bikes and parts. (ever trip over a pile of frames worth more then your car?) or my favorite ANLUN stem being used as a door stop.

I like to "restore" and custom-build bikes that I RIDE for awhile then sell. I use the money for my next "score" and start over. 8 years ago I gave away bikes that I could now sell for 10x 's what I paid for them. I even tossed (IN THE TRASH) cracked frames and old pads / grips / seats and tires ..or any part that was not in good working order. A few years later I can't even buy some old hutch grips without paying as much for them as a Hutch Racer Frame. I don't even want to think about the buckets of parts I sold for $20.00.


About four years ago I noticed a big change in the 80's bmx/freestyle bike scene. This would be about the time stupid people figured out how to buy stuff and resell it at a profit on Ebay AND my first of many guys just ripping me off.


Every year or two something becomes the must have be-all-end-all of BMX/Freestyle. take for instance DYNO's I couldn't give these away 5 years ago or a Haro FST/FSX frames for that matter - paid $30.00 sold for $20.00 ....no one wanted them.

What I am trying to get at, the market for vintage BMX/Freestyle will never go away (not till all the current 30-40 year old guys are dead) but the market for these items will shift. The "let me 2nd mortgage my house so I can buy a trickstar crowd" are out of the game now - they will be selling soon and the real collector will be able to add to his collection ...leaving me and a lot of us with less then "collectable" items flooding CL / ebay and other selling forums for a great price. The "rider" group will rise again.


Over the years I have spent less time on valuable bikes and more time on the low end Robinson/Skyway/Hutch/GT bikes that I can buy for a hundred or two complete. Restoring any bike to ride able condition or modeling a bike after your favorite rider (or the local kid who you resented because his bike was so freaking cool). makes this hobby a very enjoyable way to spend some time after work. I have restored enough cheap bikes to stock a J.C Penny's dept. store. Just as fun as my more "expensive" bikes, and for some reason they seem to sell for more - I sold a Hutch JET for enough to buy two Raiders?? Whatever!


I am seeing a major shift in the BMX/Freestyle market - something is changing, I can even "feel it" on forums like this one. The scams from people out to make a buck are causing lot's of problems I agree ...but there seems to be a negative attitude towards the very guys we want in this hobby. You know, the new guys who buy/sell/ride and collect.
I met a guy at the park who bought an "old school" bike after seeing me ride one of mine over to the kids soccer practice. I refered him to this site and others like it to help him get a handle on where to get parts and information.
without having to teach him about evilbay and other rip-you-off auctions. Really these guys are all the same ...They just ask a stupid question/fail to read a rule and get a keyboard beatdown for it. No love, just another guy who hasn't posted before, getting his due for being new.


Please comment on this - feel free to rip my newbie butt - correct my spelling etc.... but let me know what you think about the state of Vintage BMX/Freestyle collecting/building.

I sold my collector bikes and built a DB to ride everyday. I have a few parts left that I'm getting rid of so I don't have the itch to build again. For the most part, I love riding my ONE bike.

welcome to the site.

this subject is well played out but you'll find most folks have a mix of interests-
the collectors collect stuff that is amazing.
some collect survivor stuff.
some love new old stock stuff.
most have a bike they ride regardless of the collection.
some folks can't ride for whatever reason.
some have never been on a race track.
some were pro racers that still have their factory bikes.
some can afford lots of bikes
some can afford none.
but everyone here shares an affinity for the 3 letters, BMX, so it's all good.

We do both.

We collect but mostly ride.

If I had the money I'd collect all the bikes I could and then ride the crap out of them. Have a different race bike for every race. But since I don't I just race what I got and love it all the same. Because you are still out the pedaling.

I build them to ride,I dont have any OS nowadays mainly mid, retro and new

DINGO

i have found that many people buy this stuff up beacause they are loaded with $$$$$$ they probably never raced in there life and probably dont no much about the stuff and there just getting what they no brings $$$$ maybe one day some of this stuff will totally loose its value so us regular folks could buy some. as for riding every bike should be ridden no carpet queens here

I fall into the collector/rider class. All mine are nice, but not show quality, and all are riders. The majority of my collection is mid school GT/Robinson/Auburn, which were bought and restored for cheap, and aren't necessarily worth what I have into them. They were all built to enjoy and ride.