BMX Bicycle History
BMX (bicycle Moto Cross) is a popular sport today. A BMX bike is small, typically with 20-inch wheels and only a single-speed crank system. It competes in major venues such as the Mountain Dew Tour and the X-Games. The Capital City BMX Association reports there are more than 500 operating BMX tracks in the United States as of 2010.
Other People Are Reading
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The Beginning
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Fat BMX Magazine claims the sport started in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when kids wanting to mimic dirt motor cycle racers decided to create their own dirt tracks for their bicycles. Columbia Basin BMX states the phenomenon began somewhere in Southern California, and spread quickly throughout the country. The sports name, BMX, comes directly from its inspiration, Moto Cross. The sport first utilized smaller dirt tracks with tight turns, jumps, and berms, but as the sport grew so did the tracks, racing speeds and size of the jumps. Eventually, major companies started producing the bikes, and the competitions grew to a national stage.
American Bicycle Association
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Columbia Basin BMX states the major sanctioning body of the BMX sport, the American Bicycle Association, was created in 1977 to provide a system of qualifying individuals in the sport in a fair manner. This provided better competitions as everyone now had the chance to win. Some of the ABA's accomplishments include providing the first national tour, first cruiser class competition, first gate system, first pro-purse, and the first prestigious National Amateur Competition.
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Trick Potential
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A video of BMX history from Fat BMX Magazine claims the BMX sport grew to include more than just dirt track racing. Eventually, athletes in the sport began to find that these small bikes were far more capable than originally thought. Enthusiasts built huge wooden ramps to launch BMX riders further into the air than ever before, and street riders began performing tricks never before seen. This yielded massive appeal for the sport, and more young riders emerged from every corner of the globe.
Business Growth
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Eventually, as the sport grew in popularity, so did the number of BMX manufacturing companies. The list as of today includes over 15 major producers. Diamond Back, GT Bikes, Haro Bikes, Hoffman Bikes, Mirra Bike Co. and Easter Bike are among these companies. Some bike producers today sell customized BMX bikes for well over a $1,000 a piece.
The BMX sport now has major sponsors such as Disney, Nike, Gatorade, Dow Chemical and American Suzuki, according to the Capital City BMX Association. The types of competition include flatland, vert (half pipe), street riding, dirt jumping and park riding, notes Word IQ.
From Dirt to Today
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Today, BMX riders compete in more than just dirt racing. Word IQ states that in 2008 the sport joined the Summer Olympics. Induction into the Olympics showcases the prestige and technical difficulty of the sport on a global level. BMX is no longer a bunch of kids doing tricks on their bicycles; it is a highly competitive, international sport generating mass audiences.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit bmx image by claude wolf from Fotolia.com
