Recent Posts

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New School Racing / Re: 2026 Race Blog – Year 10 – Here We Go Again!

« Last post by Mikku on June 29, 2026, 09:40 AM »

Good news! I was able to track down a medium D4 over here, albeit the slightly heavier but cheaper polyacrylite version. Beggers can’t be choosers, so I pulled the trigger before it sold! I then put the saving I made by not buying a more expensive composite or carbon model towards some new elbow guards. I’ve been rocking the TLD 5550 Shock Doctor guards since 2017. I really like these and they’ve taken a few hits over the past 9 years including the other weekend. The hard, plastic protection inside still feels okay but the forearm sleeves are ripped and overall, they’ve basically seen better days. I’ve also been wearing them at the skate park, so have definitely got my money’s worth out of them. I therefore decided to replace them with TLD’s new Stage Pro elbow guards. These are fitted with D30 Diablo inserts and are a slimmer and lighter design, which will also fit better under my race jerseys. Talking of jerseys, the Answer Racing one that I was wearing in the crash has ripped in various places, so like my D3 helmet, that’s being retired from active service. I also ripped one of my FIST gloves though thankfully that’s still usable. Just! Onwards and upwards!!

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New School Racing / Re: 2026 Race Blog – Year 10 – Here We Go Again!

« Last post by Mikku on June 26, 2026, 09:37 AM »

Nearly two weeks down the line and I’m still nursing bruised ribs, meaning no riding of any sort let alone racing.

Aside from watching the World Cup, one of the things I’m doing to kill time is research helmets, since during my crash my head or more accurately, my Troy Lee D3 carbon helmet hit the ground. The helmet did its job, preventing any injury to my bonce BUT now sports a decent-sized scrape with loss of paint on the upper rear left. I removed the helmet padding and MIPS liner to investigate further and couldn’t see any noticeable crash damage inside, but the official TLD advice is to replace a helmet after any impact or in any event, within three years of purchase. I take the latter recommendation with a pinch of salt but my D3 is a 2017/8 model, so was probably due for replacement anyway regardless of my crash. Since the D3 has now been phased out by TLD, I’ve therefore been looking at a D4 to replace it. There are three types in the D4 range, namely carbon, composite and polyacrylite, the difference in material being reflected in both weight and price, though they all have the all-important (to me) MIPS, which I think played a huge part in protecting my head in the crash.

Unlike the D3, the medium of which fits me perfectly, the medium and large-sized D4 helmets share the same shell but are fitted with different sized liners and padding. A large would therefore be okay if fitted with M-sized pads, though at an additional cost. Medium-sized D4 helmets have apparently sold out in Japan but I was able to try on a large-sized carbon model at a local mtb shop and that actually fitted me well, though interestingly a large-sized composite model felt too big. I'm therefore currently contemplating whether to buy a large D4 then convert it to a medium with different liners and padding or hold out for a medium, either over here or possibly in Blighty, which I could pick up when I visit later this year.

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Tech and Restoration / Re: 1980 Tange Hot Heart build.

« Last post by Avro on June 22, 2026, 04:33 PM »

Pleased the thumb nails worked, I was so chuffed that I managed to get those on the site!
Yes, I still have the Hot Heart. I recently broke my other bikes up to sell the parts; smaller place required less dust magnets!

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Tech and Restoration / Re: 1980 Tange Hot Heart build.

« Last post by Taipan on June 21, 2026, 07:37 PM »

Oops my bad  yep when you click on them they get bigger lol  like I said cracker of a bike that fella! you still got it?

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Old School Freestyle (frame stands and kickturns galore!) / Re: Magazines download

« Last post by Johnny Ringo on June 21, 2026, 09:32 AM »

BMX Plus - November 1980
Now available for download at https://Oldschoolmags.com

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Old School Series Racing / Re: Before Flaz sends me another PM here are some more pics from yesterday

« Last post by RATTY on June 20, 2026, 09:10 PM »

11 years late ffs

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Q&A, Ideas & Feedback / Re: Gutted & Sad at the state of the forum & site.

« Last post by RATTY on June 20, 2026, 03:25 AM »

 

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New School Racing / Re: 2026 Race Blog – Year 10 – Here We Go Again!

« Last post by Mikku on June 15, 2026, 09:42 AM »

Well that didn’t go quite to plan! The weather held for the weekend, so I hired a car and drove the 70 miles to the Pacific coast for the Seaside Cup race at Hitachinaka. My first time there, I spent the pre-race practice session figuring out the track (basically an anticlockwise U inside a U with asphalt berms) and getting a few gates in. I was in an amalgamated class of 7 riders and was keen to get some race laps in. Unfortunately, the first berm of the first moto was as far as I got, sliding out of third place. Basically my front wheel slid out from under me without warning and I hit the deck hard. Aside from the obligatory asphalt road rash, I immediately felt pain in my ribs and knew that my day was done! I couldn’t ride but managed to walk off the track under my own steam then declined the suggestion of an ambulance, preferring to return the rental car on time over a hospital visit. So I popped some painkillers and slowly but surely managed to drive home, got help unpacking the car and returned it on time and without penalty - job’s a good ‘un. Following an uncomfortable night, I went to hospital today and thankfully X-rays confirmed no fractures, which was a huge relief. I’m therefore hoping to be back on track within the next few weeks. In any case, am happy not to have been more seriously injured in what was most probably my fastest and definitely the most violent crash to date.

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Old School Freestyle (frame stands and kickturns galore!) / Re: Fox Factor F-1 4-Styler & a Little MT Racing History Lesson .... Possibly..

« Last post by oldschoolfool on June 14, 2026, 02:50 PM »

This may be of some interest.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1GGwxYudSF/

I know of Matt through the air-cooled VW scene but never knew he built bmx frames ! His restoration work is something else 😎

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Tech and Restoration / Re: 1980 Tange Hot Heart build.

« Last post by Avro on June 13, 2026, 06:30 PM »

I thought they were thumbnails to click on, I tried to get photos' up on this site. Sorry of only see thumbnails. computer stuff leaves me more cold by the day.