Haro 124

Used to be that once apon a time, you only had good stuff from Haro. My Backtrail X24 is proof of that...4130 chromoly frame and relatively good componentry, even though I managed to turn the stock wheels to dust. I soon replaced them with Atomlabs and they have been the wheel of choice ever since and are still running strong. But I digress

Check out this new bike from Haro. Looks like they are going the hi-tensile steel route, and still want to charge US$370 (RRP) for this. These are the specs:

Now who in their right minds will pay that amount of money for hi-tensile frame when there are other manufacturers selling chromoly versions for about the same price? Check out Haro's page here

Frame	Hi-Ten 24 inch frame with MID BB - 21.7" TT.
Fork	1 1/8" Threadless w/crmo steer tube
Grips	Haro Stitch Grips
Handle Bar	Hi-Ten- 5.25" rise
Cranks	3 pc. tubular Crmo 175mm w/sealed MID BB
Gearing	39/16 freewheel.
Tires	Kenda K-Rad 24x1.95 Front and Rear
Hubset	36H Alloy shell 3/8" Frt / 14mm Rear
Rims	36H Alloy single wall
Seat/Seatpost	Haro Slim seat w/Steel Post
Pedals	Haro "Recycled" plastic pedal
Rotor	Straight Cable
Pegs	1 pair

A BMX'er at the Ride Of Silence

Yup, that is my bike. I was at the Ride Of Silence Singapore and was the only BMX'er there, riding a Haro Backtrail X24. The Ride Of Silence is a ride done every year to honour those cyclists that have been injured or even killed in road accidents. I was made a sweeper marshal and that is just what I did...sweep and make sure no one was left behind. Saw some rather harrowing escapes with some pretty stupid drivers in Singapore who refused to give way and some buses that almost knocked down a cyclist. But these were just a minority. A majority of drivers recognised our ride and were patient to the cause. Do you think I enjoyed this? Hell yeah! The road is to be shared by all! So join the Ride Of Silence next year if you can

Looking for BMX bikes

This is a question that we get asked all the time, be it emails or even telephone calls. We are still collating a list of good bicycle shops that sell affordable BMX bikes to those that want to jump on the BMX bandwagon. So, if you are a shop-owner, or are selling your BMX bike, give us an email at admin@osbmx.com or you can put it up on our forums located here.

Remember, most of these enquiries are from school kids so they may not have loads of money. The last thing we need are BMX bikes priced out of range for these youngsters, or their parents They may never know the experience of BMX if they are not given a chance.

Thanks all!

20mm thru-axle for BMX?

I came across this picture in this site named SelectiveBMX.com but I have heard about the rumblings in the underground for some time. Looks like the BMX word is taking another cue from the mountain-bike world with 20mm thru-axles. Check out the bike above from Speed. It has been said that this will make for an overall stiffer ride. But waitaminute...aren't all our axles thru-axles? I know the axles on my bike are. I am not to familiar with cassette hubs so I cannot comment. All I know is, if any of you guy just shelled out big bucks for Crupis, Chris King's or even Shimano DXR hubs, if you want to use this technology, get ready to thrash your frame and hubs. Well, it is too early to tell yet but I can tell you one thing...they might have to do a mite bit more convincing before the BMX world takes it on.

Happy Vesak Day to all

We at Singapore BMX would like to wish all our Buddhist friends a very Happy Vesak Day

A cheap and good helmet for BMX

I was asked a few times, via emails and posts in the forums, about a good helmet to get for BMX. A good one would be a good full-faced helmet but unfortunately, full-faced helmets are a bit on the expensive side. There are very few shops selling good full-faced helmets for BMX but you can get some at quite good prices in the Jalan Besar area of Singapore. That is where I got mine some time ago and it is still a great helmet to use. It cost me less than a $100 but it is a motorcycle helmet and is therefore tougher than your run-of-the-mill BMX helmet. Remember, safety first. Ride safe!

Letters

We get mails on a regular basis here at Singapore BMX. Here are some of them. As always, we always reply to the emails we get:

Hi.

I'm looking for BMX lesson in Singapore. Our company have a promoting Extreme Sports project and we need to provide a series of BMX programme for beginner, intermediate and advance. It will be hold as a series of 4- week courses that are conducted once every two month. The venue may be Somerset Skatepark or East Coast Extreme Park. The requirement of the courses are attached. Kindly send me information includes the pricing, duration of class, class size and number of instructor by this Wednesday. Feel free to call me at (insert number here)  if you have any questions or need more information.
 
We called her and sent her an email. Apparently, its for freestyle and we concentrate mostly on racing. We also gave the lady a few leads.

We had an unusual email a week ago and it goes like this:

Hey,

I came across your site just moments ago and i thought that you guys might be able to help me with it. I'm currently looking for light blue colored tires, i have tried (names of shops here) but none of them actually knows of any information that i can get it from. Hope that you guys might be able to help.


Well my friend, sorry but getting tires of that colour are kinda difficult. If anyone out there knows how to get the tires that this gentleman wants, kindly send us an email and I will forward it to him

That is about all for today, email-wise! Ride safe!

Kuwahara KZ-01??

Came across this on the Kuwahara BMX website and I had to do a double-take...what in the heck is this? Is Kuwahara getting into the retro thing as well? Sure looks like it but the cranks, well, couldn't they have chosen something something else? Some hollow chromoly units? Not asking for a Redline 401 or anything like that but they could have least done something more. And from what I can see, that looks like a fake Suntour pro-sized stem. But other than that, looks like a step in the right direction. It will never be like the Kuwahara's of yester-year but it looks kinda cool in a retro way.

If I bought this, first thing into the trash would be stem, followed by the brakes. Replace the stem with either an NOS Suntour stem and at least an NOS Dia-Compe 1000 caliper. Cranks would also be replaced with at least a pair of Redline Flights. Only then it will look like Clint Miller's bike of old. Hey, if you wanna keep it retro, go all the way!

Can we race BMX in the rain?

I am starting to think that racing BMX now is a sport for wusses. Used to be that rain or shine, the race went on. As a matter of fact, racing in the rain was more exciting because one would have to use more skill to race in wet conditions. Imagine, brake not working on wet rims, people getting stuck in puddles and being overtaken by others.

The reason I am musing about this is because there was a race in Singapore today and they were all praying for it not to rain. Yes, I am all for fair skies and dry tracks but this is BMX...in case anyone forgets, it stands for Bicycle Motocross, where rain or shine, the race goes on. Maybe that is part of the reason why I do not want to race anymore. Back in the day, on rainy days, we just tightened our brakes and some of us ran coaster brakes to make sure we stopped on a dime. I remember roosting over some riders who were not used to riding in the rain. It was fun!

Oh well. So much for memories. I wonder if they will ever have races like that again.

Old School Gathering 28th May 2011, Venue : Bukit Batok Skatepark

It has been some time since we last had a gathering for the old-school BMX brethren. The upcoming one will be in two weeks time at the Bukit Batok skatepark. Time we bring our bikes down to chill with fellow old-schoolers about BMX from back in the day. The details can be found in our forum located here. 

Dear fellow BMXers,

Kindly be informed that there is a gathering for biking and "talk talk" on Saturday 28th May 2011.

Dinner cum "talk talk time" @ Blk 177 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 (S)650177 coffeshop - 6.30pm to about 7.30pm.

Then to the BUKIT BATOK SKATEPARK
@ Blk 175 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 (S)650175.

Long time never meet up , so let's catch up again .

Time to polish those beauties and bring them down .

Got no bike also can , just bring yourself down for "talk talk" session .

Looking forward to your presence there.