Flatland BMX

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flatland is a BMX riding style that is performed on smooth flat surfaces, often with flatland specific frames, front & rear bolt on axle pegs, a hollow stem bolt for the front brake cable, and rear brake detangler or "gyro" to facilitate the bars being able to rotate endlessy without tangling the brake cables. Also invented specifically for flatland bmx riding was the rear hub mechanism called a "freecoaster", that allows the rear wheel to roll backwards without engaging the hub to make the pedals rotate around. Other technical bicycle setup specifics can include narrow handlebars, rear hand brakes and a Gyro rear brake cable detangler device, very high pressure tires, and a very small front sprocket. But in concept, any BMX bike with axle pegs could be used for flatland riding.

In a contest, your talent and skill is judged by your ability to maintain coordination and balance while performing a variety of difficult and elegant moves. There are usually several categories for judging purposes which can include:

• number of touches, i.e. = the number of times a rider does not complete their trick and/or touches their foot to the ground
• number of tricks completed in the allotted time
• difficulty of the tricks; which can be very subjective, as flatland bmx has become as (if not, more) technical in many ways as figure skating and breakdancing
• originality of the tricks performed; which again is fairly subjective
• style and flow; which means how smooth and/or stylish did the rider perform their moves during the contest run.

Flatland is an involving, time-consuming discipline where the rider learns different balance, counter-balance points and center-of-gravity in motion through repetition and trial-and-error. Some tricks can be learned in hours, others may take years to achieve.

Some flatland riders would refer to flatland as a type of art, and would place the emphasis on being original, while others consider having the most or hardest tricks the important thing, and still others ride just for fun. There is no right or wrong, and only contest riders need to be concerned with the competitive side of things, as there are many riders who prefer doing shows, having parts in videos, or simply riding with their friends and enjoying themselves as much as winning a contest.

Riders usually pedal a few times for speed, and perform various stunts often involving difficult and/or awkward stances on pegs, mounted to the axle of their front or back wheels. Pegs are hollow metal tubes, which are bolted onto both sides of the front and back axles. When flatland riding first came into being, most riders would do one trick, and then get back to the pedals and that was it, but by combining different body, and bicycle positions, into "combos" and "linking" them together, riders challenge themselves further by doing several tricks in a row without stopping inbetween each move. Flatland riding is usually a combination of many different kinds of moves, often linked together in a non-stop fashion as the rider goes through as few as 2 or 3, or as many as 10-12 moves, and position or direction changes in a row, and then finally returning their feet to the pedals. It has been somewhat unelegantly compared to both ice skating, and breakdancing, and really, it is its own thing, but those comparisons will give you a vague idea of what to expect to see.

Notable flatland BMX legends include Bob Haro,Kevin Jones, Chase Gouin, Ross Smith, Bill Neumann, Pete Brandt, Jesse Puente, Chad Degroot, Andrew Faris and Trevor Meyer. Modern flatland legends that have influenced other riders include Simon O'Brien, Martti Kuoppa, Matt Wilhelm, Phil Dolan, Lee Musselwhite, Jeff Desroche, Cory Fester, Stephan Cerra, Terry Adams, and Tanaka Kotaro.

Stall moves were among the first flatland tricks invented, they require good control of the brakes and a fair amount of balance. Stall moves included : the trackstand, the miami hopper, and the lawnmower to name a few.

'Scuffing' refers to kicking the tire to keep the bike moving, although it's kind of more like push, than drag. Scuffing moves came along just slightly before rolling tricks hit the scene in the late 80's. Scuffing was a direct precursor to rolling, as it was done without the use of hand brakes, which were used for a majority of the tricks at the time.

Rolling tricks usually involve rolling on only one wheel, and balancing without using your brakes, or putting your feet on the tire, like scuffing tricks. Rolling tricks were a huge step forward in the progression of flatland bmx riding, by making the tricks flow together better, and ultimately by making flatland a much more audience friendly activity overall.

Spinning can be a combination of scuffing, rolling, or just manipulating the bike to make it spin in a circle, getting progressively closer to its center of balance.

G-turning is going from rolling in one direction to rolling in the reverse (180*) opposite direction, and can be done with many flatland tricks, as well as being a specific old school trick (the g-turn) all by itself.

Turbining is like g-turning only you end up rolling in the original direction that you started in. For instance, from forward to backward, back to forward, and turbining a trick can be done several times in a row, a very dizzying and impressive looking thing indeed.

Kickflipping is an old skateboard term I believe, but as time progresses, and the flatland bmx riders skills progress, they have been able to incorporate this move into their flatland riding. A kickflip is essentially coaxing the front wheel to rotate in a 180* or 360* spin, just by the force off pushing off of one of the front pegs,while pushing with your foot as you do a slight jump into the air, and of course landing your foot back on the peg to complete the kickflip. Kickflipping is one of the flashiest moves in modern flatland, along with the turbined tricks.

Barflipping is much like a kickflip only you rotate the bars using your hands instead of your feet. It seems like a simple technique, but is much more complicated than it sounds. It is impressive looking to do while linking tricks.