Wellgo pedals

There are lots of pedals out there in the market that one can use for BMX. Even thought lots of BMX racers swear by clipless pedals, the flat pedal is what most ordinary folk like you and me can use to pedal our bikes for all-around usage. I wish Shimano was still making their DX pedals from back in the day. The closes I have come to getting a pair of pedals that are like the Shimano DX are the wellgo pedals that are made in Taiwan. They are relatively easy to find and are inexepensive. Most bikeshops should have them in stock. Use them and abuse them. Good value for money.

Those made-in-Taiwan BMX bikes from back in the day

Back in the day, not all were lucky to own state-of-the-art BMX bikes as they were pretty expensive. When I first started out, I had a CINCOA BMX bike. I know...strange sounding name but they were pretty popular back in the day. No matter what people said about it, I loved my bike.

Just recently, one of the old-schoolers came upon this stash of BMX bikes that was kept by this bikeshop. These bikes were pulled out of the boxes they were stored in, some as long as 25 years. They were assembled and here they are...new-old-stock or NOS as we call them in the BMX world. When I saw this pic, instant memories of my CINCOA bike came flooding back. There is a CINCOA among the stash there in the pic. Would love to get one but there are 5 bikes in my house so it would not be practical.

A trip down memory lane for me, in more ways than one. I was able to realise my dreams on that bike. Now that BMX is in the Olympics, can the powers that be here in Singapore help some kids realise their dreams of racing against the best? I hope so and I hope those YOG people can make it so.

BMX sites on the internet

Just had a long conversation with some of the folks at WhyOhGee. knowledge is a two-way process...you gain some and you give some. They wanted to know more about BMX. Well, this is what this blog is for and this post is to show you some sites that I think are pretty good.

Wikipedia. There are lots of links there and I check it on a daily basis to make sure that all the information in the BMX section is up to date. It is not only me. Some people around the world do it too, defending the sport that we love

Gene's BMX site. We have been friends for a few years, sending emails and helping each other out on our various web-pages. Gene's site is great and he has information from many sources, adding versatility to his site. He is a BMXer nonetheless and I respect his views

Joe Kid on a Stingray. This is a film about the history of BMX. If anyone wants to know about BMX, this is the film to get. Has interviews with all the movers and shakers.

Singapore-wise, there are very few websites that can give you information but the Singapore Amateur Cycling Association has some information on BMX (written by me...who else?) that was put up some time ago. Other sites in Singapore are just forums dedicated to stunts and tricks, which are another division of BMX. But BMX started off as bicycle motocross aka bike racing.

On the right -> there are some links there. Check them out too!

The rplies are coming thick and fast

I posted something in this blog with regards to WhyOhGee and their silence. I will say this. Blogs are powerful. The whole world van see what is being written about BMX in Singapore. The true picture emerges and what do I get? An email. An explanatory email but an email nonetheless. Here it be, in italics

I have spoken with my colleagues and your queries about BMX can be directed to Mr Victor Yew, President of the Singapore Amateur Cycling Association. He is in talks with us for the preparations of YOG. Here is his email address, president@cycling.org.sg.

If only they knew I know Victor personally after working with him as VP of BMX in SACA and how they slashed my budget for BMX, only choosing to concentrate on road and MTB.

As for the venue, SYOGOC announced on 29 April that the revamp of the Tampines Bike Park is expected to complete in December 2009. Rest assured that there are plans underway to prepare the venue.

I will believe it when I see it done. Trust me. We BMXers have been given so many empty promises over the years that we are immune to NATO (No action, talk only). By the way, is it going to be a total revamp of the whole park or just the BMX track? So we have the funds now?

Since I've read that you're going for the ride of silence, perhaps I could interview you on how it went and also for your enthusiasm for the sport as an individual.

Sure you can. No worries. Anything for BMX, considering I have been a fan of the sport for like, 25 years? Egads! That is a quarter of a century!

Cheers,

Cheers to you too! Cheers for BMX too, I hope.

So much for the WhyOhGee enthusiasm

It is always like this. Someone from some statutory board (in this case, WhyOhGee, which in turn is part of SSC or Singapore Sports Council, which in turn is part of MCYS) gets in touch with me with regards to BMX and when I tell them what BMX is about and ask how things are going on with regards to BMX, I receive no reply. Makes me wonder if they are serious about BMX at all. But monitoring the blog, yes they certainly are doing that! In any case, I am used to it because it is nothing new. So to the people that sent me those emails, tell that to your WhyOhGee people.

In any case, today is the Singapore Ride Of Silence ride. Will be joining them tonight at the Merlion Park. I made a post about it yesterday or the day before. Check it out!

Bill Ryan of SupercrossBMX has some new drool-worth BMX models out. You can check it out as he is quite active on Facebook. I still have the Supercross Devo cruiser that he sold me some years back. It is a great bike Bill and I love it!

We are being followed!

It looks like we are put on someone's Google reader so it looks like Singapore BMX is finally getting the recognition it deserves about the long-suffering BMX sport in Singapore. Yesterday, some girl from WhyOhGee sends me an email about BMX and now, it seems that they want to learn more about BMX from us. Well, always willing to help but it must be a two-way process. The Singapore Sports Council must do more to make the track race-ready. I have heard rumours, yes but they are all just what they are...rumours. Some rumours are flying about that the track will be torn down to be made way for an Olympic-styled BMX track. I have yet to see this done. Secondly, I have heard that they are trying to understand about BMX but to most of these "unwashed" people, BMX is all about stunts. Like the girl from WhyOhGee yesterday who said she only read about it and that is about it. I do not know...sounds like lip-service to me.

And yesterday. Went to a Nike shop and an Adidas shop. None of them carry any BMX footwear or apparel but they do so in the USA. Very few BMX bikeshops are around so how are people going to cater to racers who need to race in the Youth Olympic Games? I got this email today

hihi may i know if there is any bike shop in singapore to get 28t wheelring?or any parts for my haro bmx?i need to change my parts and cant wait for the parts to be delivered to my house vis online shopping.please advise.

THANKS

See what I mean? It is a national effort. WhyOhGee needs to understand that. You need to make the BMX vibe here for it to happen but I see no vibe. We tried to do it years ago. We tried to get BMX tracks made here when we found out in 2003 that BMX was an Olympic sport. We sent tapes of racing to MCYS in 2001 but we received no word from them. I was VP of BMX in SACA when I was told that ther would be no funding for BMX, only road and mountainbike. So you see? We have tried but we had very little support. Now with slightly more than a year to the Youth Olympic Games in 2010, how are WhyOhGee going to do it?

YOu know, I even went through the website of the Asian Youth Games. Not an iota of cycling in it. Oh well. Loosk like it is still going to be an uphill climb

WhyOhGee responds, and about time too!

Got an email from someone in the YOG organisation, from their mini-site no less. The WhyOhGee person sent me this email and about bloody time too!

Hi,

The official Singapore 2010 youth website, WhyOhGee (whyohgee.sg) would like to do a feature on BMX racing.

Will there be a BMX racing event coming up soon? If not, are there any BMX racing athletes we could interview for a feature story? Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks.

I wonder. Why only now? And secondly, I do not think they have been down to the Tampines BMX Track to see the condition of the track. I do not think so. If not, they would not be asking me the question.

The Ride Of Silence

The Ride of Silence (rideofsilence.org) was created in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways.

The ride of Silence is also a way for us, cyclists, to raise cycling safety awareness in Singapore.

All cyclists know the roads are dangerous. In 2008, 22 Singaporeans died finding out how dangerous they really are (that is 1 person every 2 weeks); in 2009, 6 died so far.

Granted some of these were genuine unavoidable accident, but the other part could have been avoided if proper precautions would have been taken (behaviour, helmet, lights...).

Unfortunately, not many people know what cycling safety means.

This event is an attempt to will help demystify and popularize cycling safety. And in turn save lives for years to come.

I hope you will all join cyclists worldwide in a silent slow-paced ride in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways.

The event will be taking places in hundredths of cities across the world. In Singapore, it will takes place on May 20, 2009 at 7:00 pm, starting from Merlion Park

The ride will be 19Km, slow paced ( <20km/h>http://tinyurl.com/rideofsilence-sg

Ride poster here:
http://tinyurl.com/rideofsilence-sgpdf

Dress in White
Helmets MANDATORY

Smith & Wesson MTB. How about a BMX one?

Seems that Smith & Wesson are making mountainbikes or have been making mountainbikes for some time. I do not know. I just came across this piece of news. I wonder...how about making a Smith & Wesson BMX bike? That would get people talking and as you know, when Smith & Wesson speaks, people listen

Profile Gun-Drilled Hollow BB Spindles

According to their website, Profile are making changes to the axle on their famous cranksets. The spindle will be hollowed out like the picture above, which is courtesy of Profile's website. Some one said that maybe this is Profile's way of getting back into the market of race cranks, as many dropped Profile in favour of the Shimano DXR cranks. Seems that the spindle is 18% lighter with the hollowed out or "gun-drilled" spindle. More information can be found in the links above. I will say one thing for certain... this looks good but will the strength of the axles be weakened? I am by no means a crank expert but I think that it will be weakened only marginally, not totally. Still a lot of strength left in these cranks!