sarahk

My wee ones are pretty excited by bikes. We take them to the local forests and to the BMX tracks and they go for it, particularly my 5 year old boy, must be a blast to be fuelled by testosterone!

Anyway, we're looking at letting him race this summer but how can I prepare him for the standard of other boys. We don't know any other littlies who ride like he does so he's used to being top dog.

What safety gear is normal at this age. Our local store is talking full face helmets! Is that valid or just a sales pitch?

Sarah

Chris L

Hmmm, at five years of age, I expect the emphasis of sports officials would be on encouragement more than competition. I wouldn't think that would be overly important for another couple of years yet, unless I'm underestimating the attitudes of five-year-olds these days.

I think the only way you'll find out is to take him to a race and let him have a go. I'm sure he'll have a blast.

As far as safety gear goes, I've heard about quite a few BMX riders going with full-face helmets. I'd be looking at that too, if I were in your position.

BMXTRIX

Sarah, Your local track should be sanctioned by either the NBL or the ABA which means that they will have a lot of information on what you should expect and what you will need for your son at the track.

Depending on how popular the track is during the racing season, he may find that he has almost no competition at all, or he may be up on the starting gate with multiple races and lots of competitors. It varies from state to state and track to track.

As far as safety gear goes, I recommend that you first go to a race, perhaps without your son, to see what it is like and where your money is best spent. You can bring your son, but without AFA or NBL membership he probably won't be allowed on the track that day.

As well, the track itself will have people that manage it. Those people are excellent to speak with about what is required for your son on race day.

I raced (twice in my life) and I just used a ProTec helmet, one of the small skate inspired ones and I think elbow and knee pads may have been required. A full face helmet IS a good recommendation, as it isn't to difficult to get dumped to the ground during a race and you don't have much protection as your are headed jaw first towards the ground, no matter how old you are.

But, definitely check with the track manager and the organization that sponsors the track and races, then you will know exactly what you need without the guesswork. Just remember that a race situation isn't like practice and while parents may try to make it 'fun' for the kids, the kids themselves may be very competitive with each other regardless and may go down HARD during the actual race. I would recommend two helmets, one for fun, and a full face for when things get serious.

PGZX3

I have noticed that alot of the younger riders (or atleast the higher ranking ones) wear at the very least a jersey and some good race pants with a full face helmet and some gloves. This provides the minimum recommended protection but if you wish to go beyond this you could go as far as to buy a chest protector. I would go any further than making sure your son has a long sleeved shirt, pants, and a full faced helmet for his first few ventures onto the track. Chances are he will be hooked and you will be well on your way to spending more than you ever wanted to if you want to keep him in the same gear as the kids he will be riding with. I recommend the minimum safety gear I said above. A chest protector will just be an inhibitor at this stage in his riding. However a nice bike will take him far!
I gave some advice to another parent about parts in this: https://www.bikeforums.net/bmx/366-need-little-advice-pros-game.html thread, if your son sticks with it those would be some great things to consider!!

sarahk

Wow custom bikes at 7! My fella rides a GT Mach 1 Junior. I'm feeling better about some of the gear I've bought him including gloves. Looks like a f-f helmet is the next big thing. Costs nearly as much as the bike but you can replace a bike, head injuries are harder to fix.

He's already hooked on the riding, gets air on one of the jumps but the tracks we visit are pretty quiet so we're often just with our friends or one or two others. A busy track will be a new experience.

Thanks for the feedback!

Sarah

PGZX3

Yeah, I've seen parents spend incredible amounts of money just to give their kids that boost in confidence, however there is no reason a 5 year old on a stock bike can't be competetive!! Busy tracks definately are a different experience and the biggest thing is to not get intimidated, I know I did early on, especially since I went from dominating at smaller tracks to getting clobbered at some of the bigger tracks. I was also racing two classes which was WAY too much at the time, especially considering how many times it would take me to get to the final at the busier tracks. But enough memories from me! Best of luck to you and the kiddos!!

harowned

Yeah, the safety of ur sons face is worth a couple extra $s. Thats my 2 pennies

ImOnFiRe411

yeah i totally agree just generally i think no matter the skill of ur son younger children probly would take a fall more than a more experiennced rider so i would buy a full face helmet

twahl

I have no idea what the race scene in New Zealand is, but in the US, both ABA and NBL require either full face helmets or mouth guards. having seen kids go down with mouth guards, I wouldn't trust my kid's face to one. Dental work will almost always cost more than a good full face.
Sounds like the LBS is steering you right.

What to expect? Depends on the race scene there. Some tracks here in the US will field a moto of 5 year olds, and I've seen a moto of 4 year olds. However he fits in, it's unlikely that he'll be on the track with kids much bigger and/or more experienced than he is due to the way that BMX classes are set up.

You should find the race crowd to be very helpful. I know that any track I've been to, about 95% of the parents are more than willing to help newcomers out and look after every kid on the track as if they were their own, especially the little guys, but they also help scoop up other parents that foolishly race and end up thrashing around on the track with damaged internal organs.

sarahk

Update:

Well, the 5 year old is now 6 and has his own Haro race bike and a full face helmet. Not long after he got the helmet he got flicked off his bike at the end of a race and ground his chin into the dirt. The helmet got scratched, the boy's pride got wounded - and that's the way it should be.

My 8 year old daughter races too, but much more socially - as is often the way. The club scene is healthy and they get out mountain biking too.

We've had some laughs. He loves patterns and maths and so on race nights he'd like to get a pattern in his results eg 1-2-1-2 or 1-2-3-4 and would deliberately throw races to ensure the pattern was acheived. It took some convincing that only pattern mattered 1-1-1-1 and that actually it was about doing your best. So instead we'd add the numbers together and aim for the lowest race night total and that worked!

Sarah

Brian

I guess I'm a bit late to the party, but if NZ is anything like racing here, the little guys race in a class called "Sprockets". I think it's 8 and under, and there's no points or anything, it's all about building skills and learning to be a good sport. The goal is to get all the kids to finish each race. If you've been to the track a few times, you must know that used equipment comes up regularly, especially from kids that grow so quick.

Required safety gear here means a full face helmet, or helmet with mouthguard, long sleeves, gloves, and long pants. I've seen some pretty liberal interpretations (torn trackies) but I can vouch for the benefits of a quality pair of racing pants, as well as the full face helmet.

There's also no reason why you can't be out there on race night yourself. One of my friends that races has 3 kids that also race, and another friend is out there with her son and daughter as well. It's truly a family sport. If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, or PM or email me. I can also help you out with gear from the US.

Cheers,

Brian

hypersnazz

You'd be amazed at how light and comfy full-face helmets have gotten, especially if you're willing to plunk down a couple extra bucks. Generally speaking the more you pay for a helmet the lighter and better ventilated it gets, safety is the same across the board. For BMX racing full-face helmets are required by most sanctioning bodies and for good reason, no reason to worry that you're being overprotective.

Brian

And there doesn't seem to be a correlation between price and comfort. My Bell is much more comfy than my 661, which was twice the price.