BMX - old schooler needs advice

just bought my FINAL frame and am building my Final bike ! At almost 40 years old , I found a brand new Flatty frame for 60 bucks on e-bay and scooped it up ! I have kore flatland forks and some Mirra bars and am going for some redline monster cranks .

Questions for the gurus (remember to be gentle , I was riding in 79' , well before many were born and I humbly ask for the new school low-down)

Wheels and tires :I am 205 lbs. and need some rim strenghth info as well as grip info on any good skins out there .

Gearing : what are the flatlanders using , I see teeny front sprockets , what sized gearing are you young bucks using ?

Not a sales pitch , but I have access to a couple more Flatty frames and will pass on the info to any one interested . Gratis .

just bought my FINAL frame and am building my Final bike ! At almost 40 years old , I found a brand new Flatty frame for 60 bucks on e-bay and scooped it up ! I have kore flatland forks and some Mirra bars and am going for some redline monster cranks .

Questions for the gurus (remember to be gentle , I was riding in 79' , well before many were born and I humbly ask for the new school low-down)

Wheels and tires :I am 205 lbs. and need some rim strenghth info as well as grip info on any good skins out there .

Gearing : what are the flatlanders using , I see teeny front sprockets , what sized gearing are you young bucks using ?

Not a sales pitch , but I have access to a couple more Flatty frames and will pass on the info to any one interested . Gratis .

I am interested in a Flatty frame, the name rings a bell but I cant picture it, got any pics. I do flat and I use a 39 tooth profile sprocket and an 18 tooth cog on my freecoaster. The trend now is towards everything being really small, small front and small back gets the same ratio as using bigger both, but because I have a mid 90's frame my 990 drop outs are on the chainstays and my chain would hit if I went any smaller.

Your best bet for wheels are either Primo Hula hoops or Odyssey Hazard rims, get them in chrome so that your brakes are top notch, go with 48holes if you worried about strength.
Hubs whatever you can afford; maybe a freecoaster and a sealed front hub.
The Nankai freecoaster and the new Odyssey Reloader hubs are pretty much the favourites, there is a cheaper alternative the Taska or Generix freecoaster, but i dont recomend those...

Tires: cant go wrong with Primo Wall tires or even Primo Vmonsters (nice and lite). Wall are tuff as hell and last ages.

The small sprocket thing has been around in flatland for ages, but has only sorta caught on recently with street and park.
If you go for a freecoaster hub look for something with a 12 or 13tooth cog, then you can run a 30 or 33t up front, doesnt get all that expensive that way. (i currently use a Nankai coaster with a 11t driver and 25t front sprocket)
If you going for a freewheel hub; a flip flop hub with 14t / 16t threat option is the way to go; get a 14t freewheel with that and anything around 36t to 39t in the front side.
try : http://flatlandfuel.com

Hope this helps

age doesn't really mean much..

this guy is 38 or so....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/pnj666/markFuf.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/pnj666/MarkWall.jpg

what matters more then age is actually riding. the more time you spend on your bike, the better you will be.

as for wheels, Alex makes probably the strongest.
http://www.albes.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=112

there is no picture but you can go to Danscomp.com and probably see a pic if your curious.

Thanks all , I'll post a couple pics as the scoot progresses . pnj , is that you ? thanks for the inspiration regardless . I found a great used parts store up in your neck of the woods the last time I was there . I forget the name , but is was by the Gas Works ? park , killer deals and tons of old school stuff . East of the aurora bridge , on the waterfront .

OT

naw, it's my friend Mark. the bike shop your speaking of is Recycled Cycles.

oddtodd: Make sure to check out www.flatlandfuel.com and shoot Pat an email to say Hi! he has all the hookups on the latest and greatest in flatland. Older frames tend not to have nearly the level of engineering and design that newer frames have, but some of the older stuff is still fun.

Definitely take a look at the Nankai Techno Lite freecoaster w/12 tooth or smaller cog. I run 27/12 gearing and have no problems. Gearing is preference for sure, but the smaller stuff is definitely the style - save weight and keep stuff outta the way.

Rims - lots of good stuff... I use Araya Super 7x and am 180lbs. No problems really, but they definitely aren't the strongest out there, but they have good chrome and a good blend of strength/weight. Odyssey Duralectra rims are dope, but pricey.

Primo Walls for tires, then experiment after that if you want.

Read some how-to's at www.bmxtrix.com to get yourself going again if you need to.

Been there , awesome site ! trying to get my parts list finalized and may need some more freecoaster questions answered , but my new ride will be a subtle mix of old and new school . I hope my now non-rubbery skelatal system holds up !

stretch often. it helps.

for wheels: Odyssey Wheels (make sure you get 14mm axels) (also get the freecoaster since you want to ride flat)
gearing: some small ratios are...... 39-14 36-13 33-11- 30-10 25-9
tires, for street or flatland: try Primo Comets and or Primo Walls
-taylor- kinetikbikeshop@yahoo.com

Uh, kid, you got no dibs on age on this forum.

There are many of us, uh.... mature fellows here.

for wheels: Odyssey Wheels (make sure you get 14mm axels) (also get the freecoaster since you want to ride flat)
gearing: some small ratios are...... 39-14 36-13 33-11- 30-10 25-9
tires, for street or flatland: try Primo Comets and or Primo Walls
-taylor- kinetikbikeshop@yahoo.com


those are the correct ratios. i dont know much about flatland, but i think they like more acceleration, so they have a small gear in front, and a bigger gear in the back.

Uh, kid, you got no dibs on age on this forum.

There are many of us, uh.... mature fellows here. Good to hear ! need some inspiration for when I finaly get back at it and all the younguns laugh at me ! Any tips 57 ?

Good to hear ! need some inspiration for when I finaly get back at it and all the younguns laugh at me ! Any tips 57 ?

I have a tip, have fun!! I ride street on a 26" single speed I've set up to street ride.Just yesterday we ran into some fine young men and rode with them for a while.There has never been an issue about age.My son was the youngest at 12 and the rest of the guys were from 14 to 18 or so.Some were on bmx some on mtb P.2 and the like. Just fall in and ride.

Yeah go have fun. Also nice parts you bought too.

Just got some chrome redline Monser cranks and a set of redline platform pedals for $90 new , starting to shape up , but waiting til I have most of the parts to assemble it (like christmas , never got half a present)

Headset and stem advice for a oryg setup anyone ?

Get a Solid headset; they don't make them anymore (due to a lawsuit from Cane Creek), but you can still get one from Empire. Thing is indestructable, unlike the King, which costs twice as much and doesn't work half as well.

http://empirebmx.com/catalog/showdetail2.aspx?id=1049900&ret=catalog.aspx

For the detangler, look into an Odyssey GTX (steel) or GTX-R (aluminum).

http://empirebmx.com/catalog/showdetail2.aspx?id=1030300&ret=catalog.aspx
http://empirebmx.com/catalog/showdetail2.aspx?id=1030350&ret=catalog.aspx

I personally don't like the more expensive gyro models. the loose ball bearing ones work just fine for me. get a Dragonfly top cable and some Odyssey knarps and your set.

I don't know, I always had a lot of problems with the SST Oryg (granted, I never tried the Odyssey Gyro or Gyro 2), but when I switched over the GTX-R, all my problems were gone.

But, anyway, I definitely agree on the Dragonfly upper cable (keep in mind that if the inner cable snaps, you can simply loop around a regular inner cable to replace it), especially with a Dia-Compe Tech 77 lever.

i'd just like to say, you older, more "mature" guy are an absolute inspiration. i'm 16 now and i think i'll ride till the day i die!

araya rb-j1 ebay my man. Thats if you want it old school and tuff as hell! for all the young guys they were used by miron,wilkerson etc... stopped importing them when shwinn folded their contract. Your hazard lighta ain't got it like these. Also araya super 7x is easier to find and just as good as the new stuff.

I have a set of Wilkerson Riot wheels , never peeled the sticker to see what they were . Thanks !