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I decided to have a play on my BMX last night for the first time in a long while and TBH I found it a proper chore.
It was just a half hour trundling about hopping small things and manualing a bit to try and get my eye back in on the diddy bike, first of all I felt very noodley and a bit unstable but I figured that was down to the whole issue of going back from MTBs to a BMX again (Steep head angle, harsher ride, etc) but the more I carried on the more I just felt like a newborn pony riding a tightrope.
I simply couldn't get my balance right on the thing, it felt like I was too far forwards half the time and I simply couldn't unweight the front wheel properly, I could feel every minor landing somehow tweaking my right knee and this morning both my forearms are feeling a bit pulled.
Now I know I've gotten unfit over the last few months, and noticeably out of shape and riding MTBs almost exclusively for the last year and a half or so has probably made me softer and a bit used to creature comforts on the bike/lacking muscle memory, but I did find that short pootle a bit concerning TBH, what should I do to improve the situation? I want to keep the BMX and get back into jumping on it again (Local my woods have some good scope for building MTB lines and more dirt jumps maybe a pump track over winter), I'd like to be comfortable riding like I used to again by the summer but I'm a bit discouraged by my quick spin on the BMX last night...
So any advice on anything either to sort me or the bike out?
Oh, how familiar!
I remember getting my first bmx at a very late stage (early 20's). I'd been riding a lot and I thought I was getting pretty good at street on an MTB and buying a BMX would just help me get even more awesome! One word - no. My first experience on a BMX was disasterous with all the things that you describe about the unsteady, harsh ride etc. I very soon realised that it would take me a very very long time to get good at BMX.
If you are getting back into riding BMX there really is only one thing you can do. Practice for a short time regularly! 20 mins every night or something on really basic stuff. You'll soon get used to the bike again and then you can start to enjoy riding it.
After realising I wasn't going to doing massive drops, tailwhips and grinds off every bit of street furniture on my bike I actually just started riding around on it a lot without doing many tricks at all. The tight handling and harsh ride definitely helped improve my smoothness, my bunny hops and manuals improved a lot too. In the end I was surprised how much it helped me with my mountain biking. Needless to say, however, it's now sitting in my attic 🙁 Maybe I should dust it off again.
Hmmm, I know what you mean, it felt happier hopping, manualing at speed if that makes sense. Oddly I managed a few little bit a very scrappy manual to hop to fakie, but I wasn't comfortable enough to try any wall rides or ambitous stuff, I took the pegs off it when I first got it grinding handrails and stuff isn't really my bag I prefer dirt riding really so I might need to go find a nearish spot to build some jumps I think...
You're right of course: same old story, 32 year old "Rad Dad" who'd gone off the boil a bit in:
"Pulls barely used BMX out of shed and discovers he can't ide very well shocker!"
New Baby due End of Jan' so I might waste a portion of my paternity leave trying to regain my yoof and be a BMXist again...
I could build another Dirt jumpy MTB tomorrow from all the spare stuff in the shed but TBH the BMX is the better tool for the job and I'd prefer to be riding that than tinkering in the shed, plus that way lies more expenditure (IME)...