BMX for Beginners - Getting started

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This is my SE Everyday, which I picked up a few days ago at a bike shop. It’s a solid entry level BMX bike, which costs around $300. This likely puts me in the same situation as you, whether you’re hopping on a BMX for the first time, or picking up the sport again after years of hiatus.

Let’s take a look at my SE. Notice the steel frame, the heavy duty 3-piece crank, the compact drivetrain, and the two-piece handlebars. These are the features you’ll find on almost ANY decent BMX bike today, but there are lots of other parts of the setup to consider, like brakes vs no-brakes, pegs, how many pegs, etc. We’ll get into all of that stuff later on, but right now all you need to know is that a good BMX will be really heavy duty.

This is because even the best BMX riders fail over and over and over again until they pull a new trick. Here’s me when I was like 16 years old. See? I didn’t even check the bike to see if it was okay.

In BMX, if you aren’t falling, you aren’t progressing, period. This isn’t to say you’ll always get hurt when you fall. In fact, learning to fall properly is something that comes with practice, but the main point is that you won’t have time to worry about your bike when you’re on a collision course with the ground.

We will be touching on some of the finer points of falling in this series.

It’s been a few days since I bought my SE, and I’m starting to get used to it. At first I was looping out like crazy on manuals and bunny hops, but now the bike is starting to feel somewhat normal to me. It feels awesome to ride some street again.

Compared to a mountain bike or even a trials bike, it feels really stiff, and twitchy, all in a good way though. Even if you haven’t started to learn tricks yet, it’s important to get a lot of riding time in on your new bmx just so you can get a feel for the geometry, the steering, and the overall ride.

We’re going to start with basic techniques like manuals and bunny hops, and then we’ll learn how to not die at the skatepark. Then we’ll learn how to fly. Finally, we’ll move on to intermediate skills like 360’s, wall rides, and combos. All of this stuff is fully attainable in your first year of BMX, as long as you’re in good shape and can put in the riding time.

In the next video, we’ll learn about BMX maintenance, what tools to use, and some of the things you’ll need to adjust as you ride your new BMX. Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.

Here’s the bike from this series: http://amzn.to/1Yb4fcx

Check out the bar I 180’ed the keg in:   / twoandwhatever