(File photo)
For many Generation X’ers, BMX bikes were the gateway drug into a lifetime love of bicycling. I can still remember following my older brothers to the local dirt jump track and coveting brands like Hutch, G.T., and P.K. Ripper.
That’s why this event poster pinned to the door of The Recyclery in southeast Portland caught my eye.
The event is being put together by members of a popular, locally-based BMX website, BMXMuseum.com (I wrote about it last year).
One of them is Rob Pugh. He says the show will have prizes for Best of Show and other categories and that while the focus is on bikes from the ’70s and ’80s, newer bikes are also welcome.
curator of the BMX Museum.
(File photo).
The event is sponsored by The Recyclery, Seven Corners Cyclery, and Brooker Enterprises (a local powdercoater who specializes in bicycles).
The show runs from 10am to 2pm on Saturday the 18th at Blue Lake Regional Park. Admission to the show is free, but entry to the park is $4.
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how right you are! I still have very fond memories of my GT Performer, my CW (may god rest its car crushed soul). The redline RL-20 of my later years never really agreed with me.
But man o man I wish I had my GT and its sweet peregrine mags (in my view, an improvement over the venerable skyway tuffwheel II\’s)!
The Hutch trickstar pictures is very pretty, but in my neighborhood we called them the \”crack star\” because they so frequently cracked at the joint between the head tube and the downtube.
Aw man, my first after-market part – A Mongoose \”double-clamp gooseneck.\” My bike wasn\’t so hot, but that stem, I swear my bike flew higher ever after.
My friend had a chrome Mongoose. THAT was hot.
I was always a spoked wheel kid though. I\’d polish those wheels til the bike looked new.
Schwinn Predator. All chrome with blue anodized accessories. First add-on was a pair of blue bear-trap pedals. If you rode that bike barefoot, you\’re feet got shredded.
ohhh, I liked that bike!
I had the Phantom Scrambler. The Predator was sooooo sweet.
Too bad that those bikes have been priced up SO HIGH by collectors. I wish I had kept my looptail SE Racing \”P.K.Ripper\” and every \”old school\” BMX part that I took off my bike as new stuff became available. I also wish my second generation PK with \”graphite\” Skyway Tuff II\’s (coasterbrake) hadn\’t been stolen.
I still keep my eye out for bargains but I am not hopeful.
haro sport / redline 401 flight cranks / dia-comp brakes with locking levers / epoch head set / haro kneesaver handlebars … ack.. I\’m having flashbacks…
SKiDmark,
Might I suggest looking for bargains when you\’re on road trips. This town pretty much establishes the ceiling on prices for bike stuff. Hit some town that is barely big enough for its own Craigslist listing, and you might find something.
I used to frequent vintagebmx.com and the prices on vintage BMX stuff have nothing to do with Portland. There are people all over the country collecting vintage BMX bikes and parts. The stuff was all made by very small companies with a high level of quality. It was subject to a good deal of abuse and at the time I don\’t think any of us thought we would be nostalgic about it when we hit middle age. Just like all those Hot Wheels you crushed as a kid, think of what they are worth now.
I\’ll wait until I can afford it, or I will wait for another \”P.K.Ripper\” re-issue from SE Racing. They did one last year but they sold out almost immediately. They were a good price too.
According to Metro\’s site, you do not need to pay the $4 if you walk or bike to Blue Lake Regional Park. 🙂
I remember racing on my Titan, that thing was so light and fun to ride….wow, I wonder where it is now.
Ugh, I still remember going off my first ramp on a BMX as a child. Painful.
the easiest way to get to Blue Lake Park by bike is to take the MAX Red Line to the Parkrose/Sumner station, where you can pick up the I-205 trail to Marine Drive. Airport Way east of I-205 also has bike lanes and traffic is light on weekends. It\’s about a 16 mile round trip from the MAX Parkrose station to Blue Lake Park, all flat, although there might be some headwinds.