I love the big ol’ thing for what it is but something else is needed to fill the jackass in my blood. Think beach cruiser for the old school BMX’er…or a bike your wife will fall in love with for it’s comfort on a paved or gravel path and it’s relaxed seating position compared to a mountain or hybrid bike.
![24 inch free agent bmx 24 inch free agent bmx](https://bmxmuseum.com/image/p1040932_sized_blowup.jpg)
The Big Ripper is not a small maneuverable bike that you want to jump hard or mess around on too much. So, it’s a wonderful bike and I’m surprised to say that I would suggest it to a lot of women riders who just want a comfy cruiser that is easy to ride. For her, it’s 100% better than her mountain bike and better for long rides than my 20” that she likes to ride around with the kids. My 5’-7” wife has actually stolen this bike from me because it’s so easy to ride, stable and fast. This thing is mostly just a great commuter that feels right and can be treated like a giant BMX. Plus, it has a ton of cool factor that seems to draw plenty of looks. You can stand up and ride, sit down and cruise, bunny hop, wheelie, and go fast on this thing. I chose this mostly because after riding one I found that it can be ridden all day and still be comfortable. The first bike that I recently picked up was an SE Big Ripper. My tricks are very limited: simple jumps, bunny hops, 180’s, etc so it’s funny to me how much he likes it when I mess around with him. My kids are now 5 and 8 so I’ve spent the last couple years riding this at the park and around the neighborhood with them and my son still love’s that I can do “tricks” on it. I don’t get out and do much actual BMX riding anymore. It’s been a great bike for me and I still get a chuckle when I ride up to the school with my son and all of the moms out there comment on how I’m riding his bike. I have ridden this bike for almost 22 years, sometimes often while other times it has sat while I did other things. My local shop had this on the floor so I took it. I wish I had the ELF because it was much nicer than the Powerlite but almost everything was bent or hurt on it after this and I needed a bike. I picked this bike up as a complete when I was 19 after being run over by a Suburban aboard my ~1990 ELF Pro. This is the bike I’m finally trying to free myself from by getting a new big wheel BMX. I hate having gears to mess with, you can’t really do anything fun on it unless you go to the trails, and it sucks to commute anywhere on due to the knobby tires and front suspension. I have a ridged tail Mongoose mountain bike that I’ve had for about 13 years but in all that time I’ve never really liked riding that bike. So, here is what I’ve got right now and why. Long path rides with the family mess around on the jumps with the kids, bunny hops, wheelies, etc. My son in particular is really starting to like jumping his bike on a cheapo set of ramps we have. I have two young kids that are finally starting to come with to some paved or crushed gravel trails and ride under their own power. I’m 6’-4”, 230lbs so most people think I look like a circus bear on a 20” bike. If you need a bike that will work nicely for many things the choices expand quickly and you find that multiple bikes may be needed or you are making a big compromise somewhere.Ībout me: I was born in ’74 so I’m no spring chicken on a bike. If you are looking for a bike to do one thing on, it’s easy. That’s a bit scary to most people but the reality is that none of the modern bikes are truly do-it-all kind of bikes for everybody. I looked around all to forums and blogs and stopped by several shops to ride a few bikes before buying a one to fit my needs and what I found is that I really need three more bikes.
![24 inch free agent bmx 24 inch free agent bmx](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/88/d9/ec/88d9ec85701f0c68c9af4ca20cfa6c86.jpg)
So, what do you ride when you realize that you’re a bit too old to be truly happy on a 20” anymore? If you rode a BMX bike in the 80’s and early 90’s you will find that some things have changed and that there is no longer simply BMX bikes but specific genera of bikes for different uses all kind of lumped together by many people.