Justin Fox
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hi kids,
I've never owned a BMX (unless you call a 90's Bully a BMX) and my mate Jing has been pushing me to get one.
I've dropped in to Hell on Wheels in Newtown to check out their bikes but ended up gawking at their skate stuff more than the bikes lol. I used to be a skater in the day (I'm 33 now) and I'm still very much in love with skate culture (BMX culture seems pretty fucking close by the way).
With skating I never ever bought a "complete". In fact there wasn't any such a thing as a complete back then unless you bought a skateboard (brick) from Kmart.
So I'm just wondering absout BMX Completes. I initially had a budget of $500. I had a look at the 09 Fit range and it all just looks cheap to me. I've tried to figure out why, maybe it's because:
A) They are fairly cheap. Some were about $600-ish and 'looked' similar to the more expensive ones.
B) They all seemed to try hard to 'look' custom but in the end of the day none of them looked like how I would build one to look like (ie: I'd have to buy one and then modify it to suit my tatstes later on).
C) Maybe it's because of my skating days but I just don't feel too right about buying something already done/personalised by the company.
I've done some math and it seems like a lesser brand name complete with a full chromoly frame can be had for about $600. I could then de-sticker it, put a bit more cash into it (say new stem, bars, pedals, saddle, smaller things) and get it to where I'd be happy with it. That might add up to be under $1k.
OR
I could buy a 2nd hand beater from eBay or the forums but I am having a hard time trusting the condition of the bikes I'm looking at.
OR
I could go custom which I added up to cost about $1600!!! That's crazy to me for a simple BMX bike (with no gears/sussy/much technology/etc).
So, just thinking out loud, any thoughts on completes and/or any advice would be appreciated.
I've never owned a BMX (unless you call a 90's Bully a BMX) and my mate Jing has been pushing me to get one.
I've dropped in to Hell on Wheels in Newtown to check out their bikes but ended up gawking at their skate stuff more than the bikes lol. I used to be a skater in the day (I'm 33 now) and I'm still very much in love with skate culture (BMX culture seems pretty fucking close by the way).
With skating I never ever bought a "complete". In fact there wasn't any such a thing as a complete back then unless you bought a skateboard (brick) from Kmart.
So I'm just wondering absout BMX Completes. I initially had a budget of $500. I had a look at the 09 Fit range and it all just looks cheap to me. I've tried to figure out why, maybe it's because:
A) They are fairly cheap. Some were about $600-ish and 'looked' similar to the more expensive ones.
B) They all seemed to try hard to 'look' custom but in the end of the day none of them looked like how I would build one to look like (ie: I'd have to buy one and then modify it to suit my tatstes later on).
C) Maybe it's because of my skating days but I just don't feel too right about buying something already done/personalised by the company.
I've done some math and it seems like a lesser brand name complete with a full chromoly frame can be had for about $600. I could then de-sticker it, put a bit more cash into it (say new stem, bars, pedals, saddle, smaller things) and get it to where I'd be happy with it. That might add up to be under $1k.
OR
I could buy a 2nd hand beater from eBay or the forums but I am having a hard time trusting the condition of the bikes I'm looking at.
OR
I could go custom which I added up to cost about $1600!!! That's crazy to me for a simple BMX bike (with no gears/sussy/much technology/etc).
So, just thinking out loud, any thoughts on completes and/or any advice would be appreciated.
