Freeride or BMX Cruiser

Radio E V E R H A R T said:

I'm looking for a bike to beat around the pavement in town. Jumps

and

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stuff, stairs, etc.

....

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Here's my criteria: I'd like a bike that I can pound tricks in a

town

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environment. Singlespeed preferred. But - I've got about a 3 mile
ride to get to town so the bike has to fit me well enough to get
there. This is why standard BMX won't cut it - just too small.

If you are shorter than average, you can do fine with a 24" bmx
cruiser; if you are taller than about 5'10" or so, you should stick to
a bigger bike that will give you a better fit.

The bikes you linked to are equipped with relatively long-travel
suspension forks, so they will provide a very different riding
experience than a fully rigid 24" cruiser will. A rigid-forked bike
would probably be better overall for precision stunt riding, while a
suspended bike would likely be more suitable for landing big jumps.

Most 24" cruisers are built for racing, not jumping, so be certain of
what you are getting if you go that way. The following links are for
bikes that are built to take some rough treatment:

http://www.diamondbackbmx.com/items.asp?deptid=3&itemid=126
http://www.danscomp.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?action=DETAIL&item=107002
http://harobikes.com/bmx/nyquist-r24.php

Most freestyle riders and dirt jumpers use 48 spoke wheels, at least on
the rear. Most of the MTB-based "hucking" bikes I have seen use 32
spoke wheels-- which are cheaper to manufacture but not necessarily
appropriate for the application. If you don't weigh much and they are
well built, they might hold up anyway.

I used to work in a bike shop with another mechanic who commuted over
20 miles-- one way-- on a 24"-wheeled SE Floval Flyer, then later on a
Cyclecraft 24" cruiser. Despite having just one gear in rolling
terrain, he took about an hour in each direction.

Chalo Colina

Quoted message said:

Here's my criteria: I'd like a bike that I can pound tricks in a

town

Quoted message said:

environment. Singlespeed preferred. But - I've got about a 3 mile
ride to get to town so the bike has to fit me well enough to get
there. This is why standard BMX won't cut it - just too small.

Chalo linked some good cruisers. Also, three miles isn't far to go on
a 20". Pedal, pedal, pedal, coast. Repeat. 20 inchers are fast, and
you'll quickly become flexible enough to ride one 6 miles. BMX
cruisers are really fast but they aren't as flickable as a 20". I love
my cruiser, though, and I haven't had trouble with the wheels (36
spokes, Sun BFR rims).
IMO, most freeride hardtails are overweight, none-too-agile turds.
Kids seem to like them, but unless you're riding rough offroad trails,
they don't offer much.
-Vee

Quoted message said:

The bikes you linked to are equipped with relatively long-travel
suspension forks, so they will provide a very different riding

Not all of them. The P. Street has a 80mm travel dirt-jumping style fork,
and it's really stiff in person.

Quoted message said:

experience than a fully rigid 24" cruiser will. A rigid-forked bike
would probably be better overall for precision stunt riding, while a
suspended bike would likely be more suitable for landing big jumps.

A little bit of suspension goes a long way.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

"Radio E V E R H A R T" <[email hidden]>
wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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I'm looking for a bike to beat around the pavement in town. Jumps and
stuff, stairs, etc. Saw the Specialized P series bikes. These look a
little like a BMX and MTB at the same time.

The P series is great... the P1 is a good value except for the fork. If you
don't do too much crazy stuff, it's good, but you may want to upgrade that
later. Specialized don't warranty their P-bikes often, but that's because
nobody breaks them!

The P.Street is ridiculously heavy, and it's a 24" bike. The frame is
probably made out of lead, and the tubing is probably filled with lead
solder, too 😉 It has a gyro though.

I have a Giant STP2 that I love to ride around for tricks and I sometimes
ride it to class.

http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/DSCN1527.jpg

They don't have a single-speed STP, but a conversion is always easy.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Vee said:

...
Chalo linked some good cruisers. Also, three miles isn't far to go on
a 20". Pedal, pedal, pedal, coast. Repeat. 20 inchers are fast, and
you'll quickly become flexible enough to ride one 6 miles....

The longest day ride I have taken on a bicycle with 20-inch wheel is 128
miles.

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island

THANKS to all for your informative responses. Think I'll forget the
Freeride and go for a BMX 20 or 24". 128 miles? >> woa...

K

Tom Sherman said:

Vee said:

...
Chalo linked some good cruisers. Also, three miles isn't far to go on
a 20". Pedal, pedal, pedal, coast. Repeat. 20 inchers are fast, and
you'll quickly become flexible enough to ride one 6 miles....

The longest day ride I have taken on a bicycle with 20-inch wheel is 128
miles.

Radio E V E R H A R T said:

Tom Sherman said:

Vee said:

...
Chalo linked some good cruisers. Also, three miles isn't far to go on
a 20". Pedal, pedal, pedal, coast. Repeat. 20 inchers are fast, and
you'll quickly become flexible enough to ride one 6 miles....

The longest day ride I have taken on a bicycle with 20-inch wheel is 128
miles.

THANKS to all for your informative responses. Think I'll forget the
Freeride and go for a BMX 20 or 24". 128 miles? >> woa...

It was a warm day and my green bodysock ended up with a white salt
stripe down each side.

Bike picture at
<http://www.ransbikes.com/Gallery/Archive/images/Sherman1.jpg>.

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island

Quoted message said:

It was a warm day and my green bodysock ended up with a white salt stripe
down each side.

Oh come on... unless you're an RBT regular, any old Joe would guess that you
were talking about a BMX bike. 😉

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

Phil said:

Quoted message said:

It was a warm day and my green bodysock ended up with a white salt stripe
down each side.

Oh come on... unless you're an RBT regular, any old Joe would guess that you
were talking about a BMX bike. 😉

Here is account of riding Paris-Brest-Paris on a small wheel bike:
<http://www.mile43.com/peterson/pbp.html>.

--
Tom Sherman - Near Rock Island