Author Topic: What was your local BMX shop back in the day? (Read 34583 times)

MartyC · « **Reply #50 on:** January 15, 2011, 10:10 AM »

Early days it was Apline Sports in Nottinghill Gate, then Alpine Action, then Alpine Sports again in High St Kensington. Managed to persuade Heff's Bike Shop in West Drayton to get some BMX stuff in around '81/'82, then got a job in there working Saturdays and school holidays, also managed to get him to sponsor me and a few other local riders. would haveten go to Surrey BMX of Surrey Skatebaords fame in Woking too as one of my best mates lived not too far from the shop.

There were loads of bike shops selling BMX near us in the end though, Don McKellow's in Hayes End, Spokes in Ruislip and the Chalfonts, Stows in Slough, Ivor J Clarkes in Harefield and a few more that I can;t remember the names of LOL!

Dingobmxer · « **Reply #51 on:** January 15, 2011, 10:44 AM »

Quote from: the gay pensioner on January 15, 2011, 09:00 AM

Oh yea I remember now , was it supercycle discount centre
Think I got my first bike , an ultra burner from there

Or am I getting confused with a place near the race course $:-\$

As you know a lot of burners in notts as it was home to Raleigh

yeah it was Supercvyle discount after it had been SC Racing,

I went on the launch of the Burner as raleigh approached Bunneys for some riders to ride the bikes onto stage

If your a Burner boy no doubts you know Karl Russell't

Dingo

Bob_Acid · « **Reply #52 on:** January 15, 2011, 11:03 AM »

OT cycles in Dartford and Wheelies in Northumberland Heath

louisdog · « **Reply #53 on:** January 15, 2011, 02:39 PM »

Saw my first bmx, in a small shop in my village, called BIKE MAN, visited everyday and wanted a blue bike with yellow lester mags, then they got in the range of Diamond Backs including the Harry Leary Turbo... well....

, They moved to Royston and became SIGMA CYCLES
Got into racing, and used CUSTOM RIDERS in Hitchin, now in Letchworth... gen 1 hanging on the wall..

welsh denny · « **Reply #54 on:** January 15, 2011, 05:14 PM »

mine were tom martins and dragon wheels in cardiff. 2 shops on adjacent roads. 84- 86 ish. then valley bmx in caerphilly - 87- when dragon wheels moved there and changed name. tom martin emigrated.

bigfatolly · « **Reply #55 on:** January 15, 2011, 09:11 PM »

Earliest bike shop i went in that had bmx was sanders in Parkstone,Poole,they made SRE race bikes.

Then it was Strongs and Hotwheels in Bournemouth before Strongs closed down.

But the most local was a shop called BT's bikes on the main road near Poole bmx track,which i lived opposite to.

Bernie the owner was a legend,he could order most stuff,and he could build bikes and wheels etc,we used to hang out in there all the time,happy days.

That closed down,and hotwheels outlived them all,lasting well into the 90s.

I actually went in there in the late 90s when i bought a secondhand MRD and bought a nos tuf neck stem for it,if i had known how big oldschool was to become i would have bought up everything they had!

the_wheelie_king · « **Reply #56 on:** January 15, 2011, 09:40 PM »

Before old school had fully dawned on me, I remember going into Hot Wheels in the mid 90's after a nice pair of wheels for a supergoose I had. It turned out that the old school option was cheaper than the new school one, so I walked out with a pair of brand new 7X's laced to a pair of Bullseye hubs - it was a wheelset that they'd built for someone but were never picked up - and I'm absolutely sure the pair cost me around £70. Literally no-one wanted them! It was mad.

A while later I began to realize just how collectible this stuff was becoming, so I decided to go back to Hot Wheels with the aim of getting a few more bits and pieces. When I turned up, the guy behind the counter told me that some yank called Jeff Haney (!) had bought absolutely everything a month or two earlier and had shipped the whole lot back to the states. This still haunts me to this day...I'll reckon he got most of his collection from that one shop alone. And it was all just sat there, waiting to be bought for next to fook all. The fact that it was all down the end of my road makes me want to weep. It must have been thousands worth.

energiza · « **Reply #57 on:** January 15, 2011, 10:33 PM »

blimey what a good thread.love it
i used to use superbikes in ilford(cant remember the ole ladys name in there) and also mike vickers in barking near the back of the old woolworths(goodtimes)

TIMMO1966 · « **Reply #58 on:** January 15, 2011, 10:38 PM »

Mine was Holts Cyles in Derby who sponsored the Derby Greyhound team,now owned by Andy Pass who used to ride for them. Paid them a visit today for some bits for my road bike and a bit of reminiscing.

Pooch · « **Reply #59 on:** January 16, 2011, 03:32 PM »

Holdsworth on the lower Richmond rd putney. Bought my first red skyways from there.

brettypeeps · « **Reply #60 on:** January 16, 2011, 08:29 PM »

I remember ravs in gillingham he would do anything on the never never for the kids can't recall what the shop was called but it won't be long until someone says it (No Softies rings a bell)

trickydeno · « **Reply #61 on:** January 16, 2011, 08:55 PM »

leedhams in leicester for me.they used to have some good gear.but for the better stuff had to go to a wharehouse type shop in notts on sherwood street,can't remember the name of the shop.i just remember the road name from the ad in action bike or freestyle bmx mag.you climbed some cronky old stairs and it was like aladdins cave......top place.i bought my dp from there,i went in with my wish list of parts from my £210 insurance money(from my knicked super burner) and they built it all up for me there and then.that day was 26 years ago......and i can remember it though it were yesterday.i utterly loved that bike

quality times

stevochb · « **Reply #62 on:** January 16, 2011, 08:58 PM »

My local was Jos Conways in South Shields, had everything that you would ever need. I picked a goose up a couple of years ago and it still had the shop sticker on it

Dan73 · « **Reply #63 on:** January 17, 2011, 10:27 PM »

Cant beleive no-ones mentioned the crawling metropolis ......Lincoln.

Big up for F&J cycles, Ray Inkley, and Monks Road bikes. Many an hour spent drooling.

Them was the days. Train ride in after saving up just enough for a sh1te set of copy cw straight bars and a big mac.

Great thread.

part time · « **Reply #64 on:** January 18, 2011, 10:59 AM »

Trents or Halfords for us, no proper shops

Got my Redline from a shop in Henley, think it may have been Ace BMX?

Biggeorge · « **Reply #65 on:** January 18, 2011, 12:38 PM »

Pedalers in south Harrow for me too, was sponsored by them in the early 90's. Used to love going in the a chatting with Dave Knight, the owner, top bloke with a grand sense of humour.
Used to go to Conways in South shields when I was back in the north east, and used to go to custom riders from time to time and also cyclone in waltham abbey.

waza04 · « **Reply #66 on:** January 18, 2011, 07:37 PM »

mine was a little shop in a village just outside leicester, ran by a lil old man, he sold all top kit, bits and bobs, burners, lee chi, aeroyal seats, uni snake combi, and the list goes on! all top pucka items!

trickydeno · « **Reply #67 on:** January 18, 2011, 08:08 PM »

Quote from: waza04 on January 18, 2011, 07:37 PM

mine was a little shop in a village just outside leicester, ran by a lil old man, he sold all top kit, bits and bobs, burners, lee chi, aeroyal seats, uni snake combi, and the list goes on! all top pucka items!

yeah i think i know the shop you mean.was it speedwheels in glenfield-leic? the bloke was quality,can't remember his name.he produced his own spinner/gyro when they first came out.and he had a cool van with an adapted roof and a detachable quarter pipe up the side.you could pop out on top of his van onto the platform roof.he used to organise freestyle comps at the tarmac section at western park in leicester.oh what happy days

Nigelb · « **Reply #68 on:** January 18, 2011, 09:26 PM »

Stechford Cycles in Birmingham was the place......All top stuff i remember the P.k Ripper hanging over the counter, the good old days.

rhino_mac · « **Reply #69 on:** January 18, 2011, 09:49 PM »

First shop I got got my BMX from was Merry Cycles in Alma Road, Bournemouth which was run by a member of the Merry family who owned Hot Wheels in Pokesdown, Bournemouth. It closed down - I think there was a disagreement between the family members. The Hot Wheels store was always a smaller part of their business - their main business was the wholesale side of things, supplying other bike shops.

I liked the guys at Hot Wheels, particularly Neil Merry, who sponsored my Roller Hockey team a few years ago and generally supported us. Always had time to natter with us and talk about cars on a busy Saturday instead of helping paying customers. I think they closed the shop down shortly after they found out the shop was suffering from subsidence - I remember him saying the bill to repair it was thousands. They're still in business but only on the wholesale side of things. Neils brothers wife (if you follow that) sends their kids to the same school as my colleague. I think Neils brother sold his shares in the business but I might be wrong.

Good bunch of lads there!

antiquebmx · « **Reply #70 on:** January 18, 2011, 10:00 PM »

Quote from: stu27 on January 14, 2011, 12:10 PM

stechford cycles in birmingham was the main one for me,sadly not there anymore
always worth a visit as it was quite near birmingham wheels
complete builds upstairs,with all the parts downstairs,but what i really remember is all the landing gear forks hanging up behind the counter
also halfords and roberts cycles in ac0cks green(got me first z rim there)

yeah same here used to stop in stechford cycles on the way to wheels

hunterdubber · « **Reply #71 on:** January 18, 2011, 10:11 PM »

Bikers , {KD Racing } ,local BMX only bike shop used to have a small ad in BMX Action bike, foookin heaven

I'd pay big money just to go back in time for a day ,very happy days

Moza · « **Reply #72 on:** January 19, 2011, 03:16 PM »

Quote from: simo27 on January 14, 2011, 08:15 PM

Armstrong's in Middlesbrough, he didnt get into BMX until a bit later so missed out a bit, another shop sadly long gone.

I remember this well !!! it was a family run business and the owner Colin was an ex road racer. I remember a gold Raceinc frame in the window for ages !!! On a Saturday moring it was like a meeting place. You would get up to around 30 bikes of all types outside !!! It would be great to see a pic from back in the day, most of us would go to a place nicknamed the Arty afterwards, the name was taken from Art college which was near by. Those were the good old days lol, we did have Halfords selling their own brand and Raleigh and had Bobbys cycles (still going) which was a raleigh dealership.

waza04 · « **Reply #73 on:** January 19, 2011, 03:20 PM »

Quote from: trickydeno on January 18, 2011, 08:08 PM

Quote from: waza04 on January 18, 2011, 07:37 PM
mine was a little shop in a village just outside leicester, ran by a lil old man, he sold all top kit, bits and bobs, burners, lee chi, aeroyal seats, uni snake combi, and the list goes on! all top pucka items!

yeah i think i know the shop you mean.was it speedwheels in glenfield-leic? the bloke was quality,can't remember his name.he produced his own spinner/gyro when they first came out.and he had a cool van with an adapted roof and a detachable quarter pipe up the side.you could pop out on top of his van onto the platform roof.he used to organise freestyle comps at the tarmac section at western park in leicester.oh what happy days
[/qu

no but i remember speedwheels, he did awesome stuff, including the dp freestyler range!