Construction
BMX frames are made of various types of steel. Cheaper, low end bikes are usually made of steel. High range bikes are mostly chromoly or high tensile steel, although the latter is noticeably heavier with respect to strength. High-performance BMX bikes use lightweight 4130 chromoly, or generation 3 chromoly.
The introduction and widespread popularity of the cassette hub has ushered in the use of smaller gearing on BMX bikes. The freewheel hub is all but extinct due to several factors. The smallest freewheels that can be made is with 8 teeth, which is smaller than most riders prefer. Also, they are less consistent than cassette hubs, and skip or jam up far more frequently.
Most freestyle, street, and park BMX bikes, the wheels have 36 spokes. Dirt jumping and freestyle bike wheel sizes include 16" and 18" for younger, smaller riders, 20" for most other riders, and a few companies including Haro and Sunday offer 24" freestyle bikes for taller or older riders who feel cramped on a standard 20" BMX bike.
Models
BMX bikes are available in these models types:
BMX frames are made of various types of steel. Cheaper, low end bikes are usually made of steel. High range bikes are mostly chromoly or high tensile steel, although the latter is noticeably heavier with respect to strength. High-performance BMX bikes use lightweight 4130 chromoly, or generation 3 chromoly.
The introduction and widespread popularity of the cassette hub has ushered in the use of smaller gearing on BMX bikes. The freewheel hub is all but extinct due to several factors. The smallest freewheels that can be made is with 8 teeth, which is smaller than most riders prefer. Also, they are less consistent than cassette hubs, and skip or jam up far more frequently.
Most freestyle, street, and park BMX bikes, the wheels have 36 spokes. Dirt jumping and freestyle bike wheel sizes include 16" and 18" for younger, smaller riders, 20" for most other riders, and a few companies including Haro and Sunday offer 24" freestyle bikes for taller or older riders who feel cramped on a standard 20" BMX bike.
Models
BMX bikes are available in these models types:
- Park - park style BMX bikes often remove unnecessary weight by reducing the structural excess on particular areas of the bike, due to the smooth transitions that make up park riding. Also, brakes are as frequent as infrequent on park style BMX bikes.
- Dirt - dirt style BMX bikes are similar to park style BMX bikes, however they feature tires with thicker tread for better grip on potentially loose surfaces.
- Flatland - flatland style BMX bikes feature different geometrical principles to the traditional park BMX bikes because flatland riding requires precise balance on multiple parts of the bike. They also use metal pegs attached to both sides of each wheel axle for more trick oportunities.
- Street - street style BMX bikes commonly have metal pegs attached to the axles to enable the rider to grind on rails. Also, the street BMX is commonly heavier and stronger than the traditional dirt or park style BMX bikes due to the extra strain encountered with the hard, flat surfaces of street riding. Street riders commonly have no brakes to enable the rider to spin the bars without the brake cable getting in the way. This means the rider uses their foot against the top of the back tire to slow down.