hey, this is my first post on this site. i signed up because i have a bike i plan on restoring at some point, cant get to it right now with my house renovating. anyway ive never rode bmx, i mean everyones had a bmx bike at some point in their life but that doesnt necessarily mean they knew how to do anything with it, but ive always thought bmx was cool and love the way a cool bmx bike looks. so from looking around recently trying to figure out how im going to put this bike together ive come across some comments from people showing discontent for freestyle flatground riding (i think its called flatland in bmx?). basically people saying its gay and other things like that. whats the deal? i always liked watching that stuff. reminds me of rodney mullen but on a bike.

Gay, huh?

Sounds like you're bike-curious.


Welcome to the site. Paint your bike pink and show the haters a thing or two.

There wasnt a track in the town where I grew up, but I lived ona cul-de-sac....so yeah, I was always way more into flatland than racing.

That still didnt keep me and my friends from building dirt jumps, though.

Never heard this while I was riding. Maybe it's a new school thing.

Any good racer knows how to do a few cool tricks, and I can respect the ability of new school flatlanders, but let's face it, the 80's were gay.

Now there is nothing gay about doing a backwards nose wheelie at 20 miles per hour, and most of the flatlanders were actually phenomenal all around riders. I just didn't like the flavor that was pushed and the 175 lb. bikes that were ridden in order to do most of that stuff.

Racing is a pure, graceful and powerful sport where split second decisions are required. No moto is ever the same and the best racer is decided by a finish line.

Water ballet is decided by subjective judges.

Yeah, but I would say that while there were freestyle competitions, the essence of freestyle wasn't competitive. It was more about hanging out with your buddies and pushing your skills to learn new tricks. I like racing, and I loved doing flatland back in the 80s. Both are fun on a bike. If competition is your thing, I'd say I lean toward the racing side.

I agree totally.

Search for long enough on the internet (well in truth probably less than five minutes) and you will find people who hate/dislike/criticize pretty much anything.

It's unfortunate that too much focus is often placed on the vocal minority.

I've never ridden flatland but i can certainly appreciate the skill those guys have. I think they have the best bike control of ANY discipline.
The hate probably comes from the narrow minded few that can't do it and think street is all there is.

i have to say i agree... whats the fun in bmx if you dont respect every aspect of it? i say it goes the same for cars... how can you be a "car guy" if your not in to all aspects of cars?
i vote the flant landers are awsome! and im a street rider.

lol. nope, chrome, sweet sweet chrome.

I think anyone who says they hate flatland are just jealous that they don't have those skills, and know that the good flatland riders are on a level that they know they will NEVER attain.

I think a good flatland rider on his bike is a living work of art

i dont know how you can say this is gay...

FLatLand

or do you prefer pegless and brakeless.

BrakeLess & PegLess

I knew a guy named Steve Marino who would practice in his garage at night (all night during the summer) and when it rained. He got really good, really quick, and had a tricked out Radberry RL 20 II, but he couldn't jump.

My back yard looked like termite mounds in Africa. I was a jumper and a racer. I put no importance on "Cherrypickers" with my bars spinning because it didn't help me win races. Could I do a 360 rollout? yeah. Can I still? Sure can.

Remember, I just said the 80's were gay. Not flat landers in general. And yes, some of them are bad asses.

It was just never my thing.

Good stuff.

Well i miss wrote that,, i did not really mean "you" i really meant anyone in general...

thank god for the 80's bmx bikes. i feel they were
some of the most versatile bmx bikes ever made.

I thought I was going to be suckered into watching more "artistic cycling."

that poop poop poop, I say again, poop is sick. i love the shovits with the front wheel.

lol nice profanity filter.

i was a flatlander in the 80s. i loved it but i was not great at it. i was better at street but liked flatland better. i could get a boomerang, tail whip and some other basic stuff but that is all. i can still do a boomerang using the pegs.