Bike Sizing

What bike do I need?

This article was originally published by LUXBMX 

You can basically race on any 20 inch BMX bike, or 24/26 inch cruiser, but a race specific BMX bike has certain traits that lends itself to handling a modern BMX track better than say a freestyle bike. But there’s nothing wrong with giving racing a crack on your freestyle bike. There are provisions to race smaller wheeled bikes as well. 12 – 18 inch wheel sizes.

There are some rules around this though:

1. Brakes: You have to run a rear brake. We do not recommend the use of front brakes.
2. Pegs, stands, bells and reflectors etc must also be removed. Plus, no tassels sorry.  
3. You bike must be in good working order. Your local club peeps will help you asses its appropriateness.  

The big differences between a race bike and a street dirt jumper style of BMX is the geometry of the bike and the way it is set up. Race bikes are generally sized appropriately for the rider’s height and built with lighter alloy or carbon frames. There are still chromoly frames out there too. The bikes overall are lighter and built for speed, not comfort. Ditto for the cruiser class of bikes.

Here’s a guide on sizing and the broad terms used within BMX racing circles to describe the race bike size. These are based up complete bikes you can buy, there’s another world where you build a custom race bike from the ground up. More than likely your first race bike will come from one of these categories though:

Balance Bike: 2 to 4 years old

Micro - 18 inch wheel: 3 to 5 year old

Mini/Micro: 4 to 6 year old

Junior: 5 to 8 year old

Expert/Expert XL: 7 to 15 year old

Pro/Pro XL/Pro XXL: 14 year old +

Cruiser (Pro sized 24 inch wheel): 14 years old +

Age is just a rough guide for you to get an understanding of sizing and a visit to your local club will sort you out for pinpointing the right bike size for as previously mentioned, most clubs have a range of trial bikes, or one of the families there will more than likely allow your rider to jump on one of their bikes to narrow it down for you. Just note down the frame size of the bike your rider fits best on, and the top-tube length. This is usually found on a frame decal. Or if you are in Brisbane, or close, come into the shop as we carry all complete sizes and the team there can "size" you up for a bike, and you can take it for a test ride. 

Click here to go straight to our complete range of race bikes if you're ready to get started!

 

 What do I need to wear?

This is pretty straight forward with the minimum requirements being a full-face helmet, gloves, long pants and long-sleeved shirt. You don’t need specific racewear just yet and you are allowed to ride and race club events in jeans and a long-sleeved tee. Once you move into racing above a club level, you will need to wear more specific racewear like the type you find here in our racewear section on our website.

You might also want to add some pads to wear under your race gear for extra protection and you can find these in the same link. Elbow and knee pads are our recommendation. You don’t want to “pad” up too much that it restricts your movement, so go for slimmer pads.

All Information on this page is courtesy of  LUX BMX