Helmets required at XG Asia BMX StreetHelmets required at XG Asia BMX Street

Helmets are now required for pro BMX riders in the BMX Street category at the 2011 Kia X Games Asia in Shanghai, China. 

Formerly recommended but not mandatory, the new helmet ruling comes following a head injury suffered by Fit Bike Co. pro Van Homan at X Games 16 in Los Angeles, Calif. last August. Homan fell backwards off his bike during Street practice and suffered a fractured skull and bruising and bleeding on his skull. He was hospitalized for several days and out of commission for close to three months.

According to X Games Director of Sports and Competition Tim Reed, the decision did not come hastily. "After each X Games, we evaluate every aspect of the event including the safety of the athletes and courses. As part of the evaluation we recognized that the speed and size of the tricks that were being executed during the street competition warranted helmets. In collaboration with our BMX sport organizer, Mat Hoffman, we made the decision to require helmets for those athletes who participate in BMX Street. With this decision we look forward to supporting the growth and the safe progression of BMX street in the years ahead."

Many BMX pros seemed unfazed by the decision.

More here: http://sports.espn.go.com/action/xgames/news/story?id=6450021

Emails

We get lots of emails and most of them are replied to, with advice given sometimes. We got this one fairly recently:

Good day and I hope this email finds you well. This is (name withheld) and I writing to you from (company name withheld); we're a local production house and we are currently working on a 'daredevil' video and would like to feature a BMX biker perform high level trick in an urban environment, i.e. along the pavements, stairs etc. As a gauge, I'm looking for someone who can and dares to cycle down a long flight of stairs. But this is just a gauge and I'd love to explore other options. I'd be elated if you can introduce or recommend anyone you might find suitable! I'm looking to shoot this video by the end of this month. Thank you very much for your time!

We answered this query and gave the person some advice as to who to contact and at the same time, informed that person of the differences between BMX racing and BMX freestyle. I think they had a bit of a BMX education!

We also had a letter from this gentleman. I thank you sir, for the kind words!

I just ran across your blog, nice work. You guys seem to know what you're talking about. Could you recommend some bike shops in Singapore that sell BMX bikes?  I'm having a hard time finding a place that sells more than mountain bikes and I figured you guys would know of a few reputable shops I could check out.

Thanks,
 

Well, able to help him we did. gave him a link to some good bike shops. Hope he managed to find a good bike!

So remember, keep those emails coming in! Always willing to help you with any BMX advice!

'Approved by UCI' stickering program divides opinions

Looks like the the UCI is coming up with this new "Approved for UCI" thingy according to this article I just read here. What do you guys think? Do you think it will be introduced to BMX frames as well? I do not know but looking at some of the ridiculous things being passed by UCI nowadays, it just might be...

Haro Race Lite 2011

I have always liked Haro Bikes. Since day one, they have been churning out quality bikes at affordable prices and they last a long time. My Backtrail X24 cruiser is proof of that. And it is still with me after all these years and still riding great.

Which brings me to the topic of this new bike by Haro, called the Race Lite. All I can say is, nice colours. The specs of the bike are as follows.

Frame	7005 Alloy w/fully internal head tube - 21" TT
Fork	Sinz Stealth Carbon 1-1/8" Threadless
Grips	SINZ Sticky Grips
Handle Bar	Full Crmo 8" rise
Cranks	"2-pc Alloy 175mm, Euro Sealed Bearing external cartrige BB"
Gearing	39/14 Cassette cog
Tires	Intense Micro Knobby 2 20x2.125 F/20x1.75 R
Hubset	36H Alloy Shell sealed bearing / Cassette rear
Rims	Alienation 36H Deviant DW Frt/36H Runaway DW Rear
Seat/Seatpost	Haro plastic Pivotal seat w/Pivotal post
Pedals	Haro DX Alloy
Rotor	N/A
Pegs	N/A

Looks like that they are going the Kuwahara way (new-school, not old-school) of using Deviant as their main supplier of rims. What I would replace is the SINZ carbon fork and get a Supercross fork that is WAY stronger and weighs about the same. As for cranks, well, everyone seems to be gearing (pun not intended) towards aluminium cranks nowadays. I would personally change the cranks to Promo Powerbites. But all in all, it looks a pretty killer bike...but it is not a thrasher. So much for those days when one could do some nifty tricks, even with a race-bike. For me? I would rather wait for the SE Racing PK-Ripper looptail that is about to be released. But I am rather torn as I do love Haro.

Kuwahara Laserlite 2011

Came across this new bike from Kuwahara...the LaserLite 2011. Wow. The colours. I do not know who is the designer at Kuwahara who chose the colours for this bike but I can tell you one one thing, it sure ain't making it. Colours aside, it comes with some pretty decent componentry that will satisfy most new-schoolers now...FUNN cranks and Alienation rims, Tioga tires and well, from what I hear, a pretty expensive price. Well, there are lots of other bikes out there that can get you more bang for your buck. I personally would give it a miss though.

New PK Ripper looptail for 2011

This may be old news for some but I can tell you that I am stoked to see this. Imagine, the looptail PK Ripper with, check this out, genuine Oakley B1-B grips! Plus it is finished in a lovely baby-blue! All I can say is, if you are wondering what you can give me on my birthday, wonder no more. This thing is sweet!

More emails

We get emails on a daily basis and we answer most of them. Lots of these emails are from people who are not sure about BMX, how to get started or just want some info on what kind of bike to get. We had one recently in our mailbox:

Hey sorry to bother you, I came across your blog when I was searching for BMX Bikes in Singapore. I'm really interested in starting BMX riding, maybe not racing yet but hopefully to start from street. Any idea which shops that you would recommend a beginner to go to? Really appreciate your time reading this. Thanks!

Sure mate. The fundamentals of riding are very important. If you do not handle it well, a 20" BMX bike can be squirreley. In any case, we got back to him via email and gave him some shop names that he could try to get a decent bike.

I'm just 14. Very interested in bmx. Living in east area. Anyone can teach me? Please. I really want to learn it. I see it as a very good sports. Hope that there's someone willing to teach me. :l I've been asking alot of people. But no one responded. Hope you really can find someone to teach me. Reply asap please. Thank you   

Well mate, the first thing is that you need to get accustomed to the bike you are riding, presumably a BMX. Once you are in tune with your bike and know what it is capable of, you can bring it to the next level. Let us get the track up and running and we will be only too glad to help

Well, that is the mail sorted out today. Happy riding!

SSC, SACA, Singapore Cycling Federation, SSF and the bullshit

The old-school BMX gathering was great. We had the usual regulars turning out but the company is all that it is all about...meeting of old friends and exchanging nuggets of information from back in the day, even sharing of stories old and new. Camaraderie...that is BMX for you!

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about our sorry state of BMX here in Singapore. SACA just put up a notice on their web-page to say that one must be certified to run race on the Singapore BMX track. Now, I wonder who was the one that came up with this ridiculous suggestion. Certified? What if some people want to ride the track to try it out? It is roll-able and nice to ride. SSC and SACA, what you have done is effectively KILL BMX again. Who in their right minds will pay $30 to get freaking "certified"? And while we are at that, what give you guys the right to say that we as BMX riders, who have been doing it for years, need to be certified?

We re-started the BMX sport in Singapore to get youth off the street...to get them to channel their energy into the healthy sport of BMX racing. Now look at this bullshit. Who in their right mind will pay $30 to get certified to ride the track? Honestly, whoever is in charge has once again made Singapore the laughing stock as far as BMX has concerned.

We here at Singapore BMX distance ourselves from what SSC and SACA has planned as far as this "certification" is concerned. We do not want this and we did not suggest it, in case anyone is wondering. The screenshots of the web-page where these new rules are, are provided below

First Old-School BMX gathering for 2011

Hi all. Just a heads up. There will be an old-school BMX gathering at the Bukit Batok Skatepark on the 8th of January 2011. First of all, there will be dinner cum "talk talk time" @ Blk 177 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 (S)650177 coffeshop from 6.30pm to about 7.30pm. After that, we will adjourn to the Bukit Batok Skatepark at Blk 175 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 (S)650175. You should be able to find the address in Google Maps. The posts in the Singapore BMX Forums is located here. See you there!

Singapore BMX in 2011

It is the New Year so we would like to wish one and all a very happy 2011. Hopefully, this year, we get to see if we can use that BMX track that was slated for the YOG. It seems that the track is quite badly eroded so there may need to be some works done to it to make sure that it is ride-able and safe. We will be posting some new stuff here about the track when we get news so stay tuned.