Speed Demon

Back in August, I was given the chance to work at the UCI BMX supercross representing Shimano, I was their “tech guy” helping the athletes with their Speed machines. I got to work on and see a lot of amazing race BMX’s worth thousands and it was a real insight to the racing scene.

Unlike a lot of riders getting into riding BMX, I’d never gone down the racing side of things, didn’t even consider it. I started 10+ years ago riding BMX with trial riders hopping onto pallets and up stairs. I’d been to the local BMX track but couldn’t get a hang of the jumps, normally ended up on the floor.

But after working in London, seeing the athletes flying at such speed down the start ramp and round the track, it really got me pumped. I was cheering them on in my head, didn’t matter what country they were from, if they were pushing the limits with a do or die attitude, I was psyched for them.

After that all I could think about is building up a race bike of my own. My main aim is to use it as a fitness build and a bit of fun, something that I can do with a few of the guys at Madison. There will be races to come in the future I’m sure. Got to get my fitness level up though! Roll on!

first time at the race track on my race bike! from Paul King on Vimeo.

With a completely different geometry to my Amplitude Terminal, longer back end, longer top tube and slacker head tube angel, I thought it would either be a massive fail, or great success. I was definitely surprised. Once round and getting used to the length of the bike, I was off. First time attempting to clear the triples went down extremely well and it was a great feeling. I found myself over shooting when trying to manual them after that so I stuck to jumping them in one.

I would like to thank Madison and Saracen for helping me out with getting my bike built and all the support they have given.

Cheers
PK