sakhas154

I grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC and I now live on a college campus in Baltimore. I live next to a huge state park, with great offroading, but I find myself strangely attracted to urban freeriding around campus.

Are there any advantages to having a BMX/freestyle bike over a MTB? I've worked in one of the most awesome high end bike shops but my knowledge about bikes doesn't really apply to actually riding them unconventionally.

Does a lower center of gravity help that much? I know pegs and a gyro stem would allow me to do quite a few things I can't do on my baby monkey. I call it my baby monkey because it's a fisher frame stripped of the paint (all silver), running deore components with xt front derailleur and brake levers/shifters. A king headset, shimano m515 clipless pedals, and the cheapest wheels I could pick up ($10 to be exact.... because all the nice parts were donated to me, whereas the lower end stuff was actually purchased. made for quite an awesome deal). Also rocking a Pilot fork. Anybody that does "urban freeriding", what do you guys ride? Conventional mountain bikes? And what kind of stuff do you do?

I find myself working on balance, with whatever I do. I try and sit on one of the wheels, do rotations around it, work on landings, balancing, and even repeating. Today I've started working on "plants"? (I don't know what anything is called). I look like such a dork trying to freestyle on a mountain bike, but I don't really care. I'm only curious as to who else out there does the same and what kind of stuff you do? What bikes do you ride? What kind of tricks do you do?

Just wondering.

jcivic00

well for urban I would definitely use something that's geared a little more towards abuse. The bmx bike would be good, however, it has it's limits. Here in town there are LOTS of stair sets, and going down them on a bmx would be anything but smooth. I use my P3 and it handles the job nicely. A regular MTB is good, but the headtube has a tendency to crack from the top/down tubes under prolonged stresses as are prevalent in urban freeride. You might want to take a look at the KHS rigid one that jenson currently has, or something along those lines. Another thing is a good wheelset, single wall rims will not cut it. I recommend some rhyno lites. a little heavier, but never had a problem. good luck and if you need any more info just ask. also, here's something to drool over from www.unrealcycles.com

BAC5.2

I ride a 44 pound, Banshee Scream. I ride everything.

Your bike is definately not built for urban riding, spend the money for a BMX bike and buy a burly MTB.

Then you can ride everywhere.

Jim311

I ride a XC frame for urban freeriding and while I don't do drops much larger than 4-5 feet anymore, my frame and XC wheels have held up well. I destroyed a rear hub and axle but that's the only problem I've had thus far.

BAC5.2

It will last, but only for so long, and only for so much. Why ride a bike you are worried about breaking? That is a BIG confidence buster.

I was worried about breaking EVERYTHING on my old bike, but with the Scream, I am not worried about busting anything.