20" wheels have dominated the BMX market for over 30 years. Kids on theirs Schwinns with loose grips, pretending to me motocross racers took their bikes to the dirt mounds and bayous to over come gravity. 24" and 26" cruiser BMX racers later hit tracks along with little brother 20" wheels. 26" cruisers died rather quick in the race scene, but transcended to mountain biking. Back to 20" wheels for freestyle and street use... until now. Faction Bike Co is a BMX company dabbling with 22" wheels. 22"? Yes, something totally new for BMX.
I raced BMX for years, and rode some street BMX until my love affair with 'big kid' bikes began. Alas the BMX world is seeing the benefit of a larger wheel, but not TOO large.
3 comments:
I'm not a BMXer, but I was when I was a kid, and I see grown men--mostly college age--on them all the time still. 22" wheels seems pretty much perfect to me. They'll roll better, but still retain all the strength and comparable weight to the 20s.
Schwinn did this way back when... I always thought it was better than 20". I couldn't ride a 20" wheeled bike even when I was a kid, so I raced 24" wheels in the cruiser class.
22" seems perfect to me! But then again, I've always been a centrist.
I am all for this. Wish this was available when I raced BMX.
But I think they go a little far with their claim of 'inventing' it. A 30 second Google search yields plenty of prior art.
http://tinyurl.com/yd435xt
Post a Comment