|Freestyle BMX: dirt jumping|
|Around the Academy:
All of the other types of BMX riding that are not racing fall under the bracket of 'freestyle'.
We have written some descriptions of how some bikes are generally set up but please remember that these are just generalisations.
For example, some people use a gyro (a brake mechanism that means the cable will never get tangled no matter how many times the bars are spun).
Many others don't - some riders don't even use brakes at all!
So without further ado:
Dirt jumping is where BMX began.
Dirt jumping is kind of split into two different forms: 'trail riding' and 'dirt jumping'.
'Trails' is the word used to describe a collection of dirt jumps.
Trail riders generally prefer to spend their time in the woods, building more and more jumps that link all over the place for them to flow through.
'Dirt Jumping' is basically what you see at the X-Games: where there are two or more HUGE jumps and riders try and do as many tricks over them as possible.
Dirt bikes are generally heavier than a race bike, but lighter than a street bike (although they can be used for both if you're smooth enough).
A dirt bike will usually have no pegs and may or may not have a gyro.
Dirt riders also tend to use wheels with 36 spokes which are lighter than street wheels and they use race-style two piece-bars.
Some great dirt jumpers include: Stephen Murray (UK), Kye Forte (UK), Neil Wood, Mikey Aitken, Taj Mihelich, Migalla, Brian Foster (all USA).