BMX

What is BMX freestyle?

BMX freestyle means a small, sturdy bike on 20 inch wheels, ridden for tricks. No race, no clock, no set course. What counts is what you do with it, and where. That is exactly why the bikes are built the way they are: short frames, thick tubing, strong hubs and tyres that take hard landings.

Which disciplines belong to it?

Street is BMX in the city, on stairs, rails and ledges. Bikes break fastest here, so builds are robust, often with Frames in thick walled CrMo and pegs on the axles.

Park happens in the skatepark or indoors, on ramps, in bowls and over spines. Slightly lighter builds are common, because there is a lot of jumping and spinning.

Dirt is jumping over earth mounds. The bikes resemble park builds but usually run knobbier tyres.

Flatland takes place on flat ground with no obstacles at all. Those bikes differ most from the rest: short geometry, four pegs, and a Bars that leaves plenty of room for your hands.

What is the difference between BMX freestyle and BMX race?

Both are called BMX and both run 20 inch wheels, and that is where it ends. A freestyle bike is built for strength and may weigh more for it. A race bike is built for acceleration, weighs considerably less, has a brake, no pegs, and comes in finely graded frame sizes matched to rider height. If you want to ride a track with a start hill and berms, everything for that is under BMX Race.

Where do I start?

With a complete bike. Building one from single parts almost always costs more than a finished bike of the same quality, and it gains you nothing at the beginning. The BMX Beginner section says what we recommend. There are BMX Kids 12" - 18" for children, and if you are taller or simply want a more relaxed ride, have a look at the BMX Cruiser 22" - 29".

Video: 20 years of kunstform

How all of this started, and what BMX in Stuttgart made of it over twenty years, is told in our documentary.