do I need a bmx or mountain bike?
 

I'm living on a college campus in a city, so there's quite a bit of cool looking things to jump off of, stairs, drops, etc. Basically I want something that is extremely durable that can take riding down stairs, off ledges, take a beating if I crash, etc.

Of course if I wanted to trail ride I would want a mountain bike, not sure if there are any trails around here though.

Basically just something to ride around on, have fun, and be able to go on lots of terrain, and take a rather hard beating. There are lots of railings and stair cases and ledges and benches and stuff, but I have never ridden bmx. I could also see fun in riding a mtb bike off of this stuff though.

which bike do I want?

it all depends. you are going to be riding street of course. also how much money are you willing to spend. what exactly do u want to do because your not gunna be able to ride street much with a mountain bike. my mirra 540 i have can really take a beatin. if your going to want to try some grinds then go with bmx. but if you want to commute easier and do a couple of jumps here and there i guess you could go with a mountain bike. it all depends

I don't know if it'd be such a great idea to be thrashing on a mountain bike. Of course an MTB is the best for trails, but jumps and stuff are best handled by a bmx. A BMX cruiser might be a nice in-between. I rode a Dyno NSX-24 and a DK Fury-24 in college and I still enjoy riding my DK around the city - very durable.

Buy a 20". You will ruin a mtb on rails.

buy a 20" and get a good one too

this is a video of street/urban mountain biking: http://www.feedthehabit.com/videos/b...ey_style2.html

If you're not used to BMX bikes, they're going to feel cramped and small for a while. BMX bikes are by their nature stronger than mountain bikes, but that doesn't necessarily mean a Giant STP 2 or a Kona Scrap wouldn't be plenty burly enough for a little around campus street riding. If your flava is more riding around, getting places with a little street on the side, I'd say go with a 'progressive hardtail' as I've heard them called. If you want a BMX bike for the sake of riding a BMX bike or your preference leans toward much more technical riding, go BMX.

Did I just watch an old episode of Pacific Blue?

i live on the what they say is the biggest college campus and most bike friendly campus in north america. southern illinois university at edwardsville (SIUE). its a little over 2000 acres. so i had to have a mtb for the trails, but i still wanted to ride street, jumps, and big drops. when i was younger i always had nice bmx bikes, and i still wanted that aspect of the ride. i looked at the gary fisher opie at first. it was the first bike i had ever heard of that had a bmx attitude but a mtb frame. i ended up buying a mongoose ritual. it has a rear peg for ice picks, a chain guard for grinds on the other side, a short ass profile more like a bmx, 24" wheels (26 is standard on mtb, 20 on bmx) disc brakes, and its a single speed like a bmx. it also has front suspension so big drops hurt less and it makes for a less bumpy ride on the trails, makes endos wierd as hell. so this is an option that i like. not nearly as cramped as a 20" but still along the same bloodline. many many many of the bike manufacturers make these ranging from about $350 to $2k. more than that and they usually are going to be full suspension for bigger and moreinsane drops.

Full-sus rides typically aren't used for street and strict dirt jump applications simply due to weight and durability issues. By nature a mountain bike must either be heavier or weaker than a BMX bike...you can't (out of the same materials) make a bike that's just as strong, just as light and twice the size, so downhillers and freeriders on 50lbs worth of 9" big-hit bike employ gravity to do most of the dirty work.

I reccomend a BMX Cruiser. Before you make a purchace, don't rule them out, and make sure you ride one before you buy something else. Since they are bigger, they make up ground more than a 20", take a beating, and are are heck of a lot of fun to ride.