isn't that you, Merc? i would have never thought that ... we have this much in common.
here's my gt:
i really like the '08 fueler. all it needs are some knobby tires like the old powerlite retro or some maxxis maxx daddies. afterall the original from 1994 was supposed to be a tails bike.
Yep it's me bro. Nice GT! Love the chrome bikes.
I'm more of an OLD SCHOOL rider, as my shirts from the now dead OS-BMX.COM showcase, as it's what I rode in the 80s. When I got back into Bicycle Motorcross Outriding (minimal air tricks, no gryros so no tail whips and stuff) in July of 2008, my first bike I purchased was this one...
an '81 Schwinn Sting "Competition" bike done up in the early 80s BMX rider
Mike Poulsen white scheme. I found out fairly quick that it was just too light of a frame for a man (at that time) who was 245lbs. It couldn't handle the stuff I wanted it to do. The guys at the bike shop kept warning me to just ride around on it, that one piece crank, Old School 80s bikes just weren't the same as modern stuff, and I'd split the tube if I tried anything more than jumping a curb. Thus after I broke the fly wheel on it, I put it away in storage. My son Jake Ryan will get the bike when he's older as his first bike.
A bit later (one month later to be exact, in August of 2008) after much looking and confirming with BMX legend Eddie Fiola himself on OS-BMX.com, about what kind of bike it was that Bill Allen rode as Cru Jones in the 1986 movie RAD... that Fiola did all the stunt riding for, it was confirmed that it was a de stickered '84 Mongoose Californian "expert" frame.
I came up with this...
rather than an '84 it's an '83 Mongoose Californian Expert that came more or less fully assembled (other than me having to put on the handle bars) from the lady I bought it off of on eBAY in Michigan. Immediately I set out to custom the bike in a salute to RAD. What you have there is the RAD CUSTOM '83 Mongoose.
But after about a full month of tearing up the streets (it's a much better build than the Schwinn) and then going to an actual BMX track, no matter my love for the geometry in those older bikes. I just wasn't holding my own against other riders on a single piece crank bike. Thus it now sits in storage, which my daughter will end up with since she's seen RAD probably about 780 times since Sept. of 2008 (along with BMX Bandits), and loves Cru Jone's bike as well.
And so it was that I had to look for a modern BMX bike if I was going to continue Outriding and track racing. At first I figured it for being a devoted race bike, and had figured on getting a
a SuperCross ICON (EVO), though of the first 2008 produced ones in the same dark blue with white stickering of racer Kenneth Fallen. Didn't happen because I planned mostly to ride Street, Park, Dirt. What I needed was a BMX bike built like a tank to withstand punishement. Everyone in the community (who'd know, as I was just getting back into it after 17 years) said devoted race bikes made of Aluminum couldn't handle the abuse. I needed a good old CroMoly steel bike made for a rider like me in mind. Thus it was down to a REDLINE or the GT Fueler. I went with the Fueler (glad I did then, I hate the color schemes since 2008) and originally customized it out as the ATM-09-RSC SCOPEDOG in a salute to the Japanimation Armored Trooper VOTOMS (since it's built like a tank)... but after about a year and a half, decided it looked more like a sleek motorcycle and it meshed better with my anime fave of MOSPEADA.
Yeah I know. Long story.
Anyhow that's how I got back into it. As of 2010, even with my bum left knee and ankle, I can (usually) "Outride" most younger guys in their teens. I'm that "old cool dude" to what there is of the BMX community in San Antonio. They know I leave the Vert and modern flatland stuff to them. I stick with what I know. I had intended to get back into Flatland Freestyle as I did in the 80s (and was marginal good), but I HAVE TO WORK. I can't afford to have an accident and break a leg or whatever. Thus I Outride... as in literally... "Out to ride" and one who "Outrides" the other FAF riders out there. I fully support the sport though (mostly the racing part of it) and have even been toying with the idea of going to the 2012 Olympic BMX Tryouts. It be fucking awesome if somehow (I doubt it, but you never know) actually made teh team and got to go to London in 2012. But I really don't have the time to practice as much as I should. Life just gets in the way.
I'll be rooting them all on (Team America) in 2012 though, and then rooting for the UK when Shanaze Reade returns, hopefully this time to kick ass and take home the gold. I'm still amazed that one dude from Latvia (Maris Strombergs) was so fucking fast at the 2008 Olympics that he pretty much aced the final heat in 36 seconds!
Are you guys actually comfortable sitting on those things?
If you're referring to SuperGoose and I on our BMX bikes, then (speaking for me), that's a Yes & No answer. It depends on how one wants to ride. If you keep the seat post low (almost non existent) on the frame, you'll over pedal all the time and blow out your knees. I'm a serious "Outrider" usually going from Street to trails and doing jumps and shit on mounds. When I do the jumps and stuff (mounds) I put the seat post down. For everything else, I jack the seat post up (it's a special post, not factory standard) to keep it "almost" level with the handle bars. This puts me slightly above the bike at a horizontal slant, leaning on the bike as I ride, but my legs are high enough to not over pedal. Thus you'll see me riding 8 to 10 miles whereas most who ride BMX either race them at a devoted track, or... they don't pedal much at all save for flatland or vert proj for tricks.
It really depends on the rider. Those 80s plastic seats hurt like hell now as an adult. The padded stuff of today is not so bad. NO they aren't comfortable in the sense that a lot of pressure can be put on the nads. I have some fucking huge nuts so this is a problem at times, thus I've learned once I'm up to speed, to lean back with my arms extended to the full, and actually my ass is barely on the seat itself. Only returning to the upward position when I need to stand up and proj, or continuous pedal from a sitting position.
