It was the summer of my son’s 10th birthday.
I bought him his first BMX bike. Pegs, gyro, everything. He already had a mountain bike and knew how to ride, but I wondered if he’d enjoy something different on two wheels.
He loved it.
Soon, he asked if I knew any tricks.
I scanned the garage. Multiple bikes. No BMX. Nothing like the ones I rode in my youth—you know, the ones you rode everywhere with the neighborhood crew.
What happened to mine? I had no idea. I hadn’t seen it since the ’90s.
So, I set out to find a budget-friendly used BMX bike to ride with my son.
That led me down the familiar rabbit hole an engineer falls into when revisiting an old hobby. Research everything. What’s changed? What’s stayed the same? What do I need to know before buying something?
I knew I wanted a chromoly frame. I wanted mid-school or modern geometry. And I wanted a brand I remembered from my youth. Mongoose. Dyno. GT. Haro.
I soon found a slightly neglected Mongoose L100 complete bike. After negotiating with a guy online, I went to pick it up for $110.
It was as described. A few new tires, grips, and brake pads, and I was ready to ride.
It has been a blast.
Riding with my son. Relearning some tricks. Taking it to the local pump track and dirt jumps.
It’s a little squirrelly in the air. Or maybe I am.
This has been the summer of BMX. An awesome opportunity to bond with my son. My daughter even steals the bike occasionally to visit her neighborhood friend.
We still ride nearly every evening.
The evening “st-roll,” as we call it.
#makingmemories