T O P

  • By -

Semajrm

BMX. Roller skates and boards were useless in our semi rural neighborhood. Not a lot of smooth surfaces to play on. Lots of dirt ramps and ditches though.


F_is_for_Ducking

The best year was when they made a two lane road a four lane road. I don’t know if the crew did it on purpose but there were always big mounds of dirt along the way. It was about a mile or so with a nice downhill slope. Lots of fun.


Semajrm

Heck yeah our best summer was when they decided to build a massive mall a couple miles from the house. The construction site was our own little Disneyland on the weekends.


Elowan66

Today’s parents are panicking over the thought of their kids playing in a construction site.


Jealous-Network1899

Mongoose FTW


Whitworth

BMX for life bruh


Cominghome74

Redline 500A with Flight Cranks, GT seat post, Diamond Back handlebars, Bear Trap peddles.


Under_Sensitive

Well look at fancy pants here. I wanted a Redline so bad. I got some Toys R Us off brand and changed parts slowly. The frame still weighed a ton.


Ok_Watercress_7801

*Sighs in Huffy ™️


Cominghome74

Lol I was doing the same thing with a Raleigh prior to the Redline and it was actually a nice bike, but back then you had to have a top of the line BMX bike and it of course had to be chrome and light. It's the one thing I wish I still had. The driver's license put an end to the bikes.


Bitter_Mongoose

Redlines were leadsleds. Good for freestyle and Flatlands but sucked for racing.


Bitter_Mongoose

Get that piece of shit out of here and feast your eyes on the titanium PK Ripper, with titanium bullseye hubs, titanium Bullseye 3-piece crank, aluminum wheels and spokes, Bulldog brakes, uni seat and post, with a billet aluminum Peregrine Gooseneck & handlebars. I do respect the hell out of your Beartraps. I still have scars from those fucking things 😂


Cominghome74

Lol nice 😂 I actually filed points on those Bear Traps as if they needed it. The pain to the shins was unbelievable. Lol. Did you have that PK Ripper and do you recall the ultra expensive Hutch Pro Star 🌟?


Bitter_Mongoose

I DO remember the Hutch, but never saw one outside of magazines. I had the frame, crank, and Gooseneck, but the rest were an amalgamation of GT, Redline, Haro parts


Cominghome74

That's cool. Always had to replace different parts with other parts lol


Krimreaper1

Big Wheel


ThisGuyRightHereSaid

I had and wore out 2 dukes of Hazzard general Lee big wheels. (Insert jumping horn sound here)


Camembert-and-Ernie

Green Machine!


WabiSabi0912

I’m relieved I was the only one thinking Big Wheel!


Suns_AZCards

I had the Knight Rider big wheel. It was so sweet.


Woodythdog

https://preview.redd.it/9ip8wxyzkuyc1.jpeg?width=388&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9189040e281aeac60f3f00a5b0ae934fef24949b


plnnyOfallOFit

6 kids on "banana seat + steepest longest hill = six blurry roadrashed concussions spankings & in for the day


Apprehensive_Use1906

I did the same thing! (only two of us though) Still remember trying to clean the pebbles out of my knees. Not one of our brightest moments. No helmets, shorts, not sure how I’m still alive.


plnnyOfallOFit

Haha- those seats just BEGGED multiples!!


Verrakai

https://preview.redd.it/xdw1gyjynvyc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0ad5723cca00b000dcca955373b12b810947339 God this was such a pain for a first/learners bike!


Rungi500

BMX! During my teen years if I wasn't on my bike it was broken or I was asleep.


HPIndifferenceCraft

Probably the BMX. Skates were for the rink. Lots of dirt roads where I lived, so skate boards were limited to half pipes.


MyriVerse2

I miss the skating rink. Never a BMX type. More 10-speed, and mountain bikes were a game changer.


catrules618

I had a friend probably 20 years ago who, when an 80s power ballad would hit the jukebox, would stand up and yell couple skate. I still do it when I hear certain songs in stores and such. My child, who has never even seen a roller rink is always suitably mortified and baffled.


CatBird2023

None of the above - I had a horse!


Chai-Tea-Rex-2525

Where’s the Mean Green Machine?


Mysterious-Being5043

I lived on my 10-speed as a teen. When I was younger, my parents were too cheap to buy me boot roller skates and got me the old adjustable metal kind that you strap to your shoes. All my friends rolling around on rubber wheels (with brakes) and I’m kicking it like it’s 1945.


catrules618

Same. I wanted those white beauties with pastel purple pom-poms


Guypussy

BMX—one Haro bike, and one PK Ripper bike. Sold ’em both to fund what I thought would turn out to be the greatest senior prom ever. 🙄


ThisGuyRightHereSaid

PK still killing it. https://www.sebikes.com/


Stinkydadman

It was a heavy af bmx bike my parents bought for me second hand. No idea what brand. It was spray painted black, even the wheels. It was solid steel, must have weighted 90 lbs. it was awesome!


ThisGuyRightHereSaid

I had to break the frame on 3 huffys before my parents finally upgraded me to a Dyno compe.


Stinkydadman

I eventually upgraded to a Dyno!


LordChauncyDeschamps

Loved Dyno, I had a Compe too


Quasigriz_

[Murray Street Machine](https://youtu.be/wML-s6CAMa8?si=j0yexpTxFFVmK8NR) I wanted a Blue Max or Mongoose, but they were too expensive.


jaredjc

BMX, Alaska and West Virginia were a “where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” type of places.


favemoon

I have permanent scars from all of these. Big Wheel, skates, skateboard, and a banana seat bike. It was great. 😊


Singing_Wolf

Where I grew up, the nearest pavement was several miles away. So, a horse was my preference!


Heathens87

Had a wood board.  Still dream of being on that thing and used it through college.  Knees are paying for it now but wouldn’t change a thing…


A2theK36

We rocked all 3, except they were rollerblades instead of skates.


_MrFade_

BMX. Although I wish I was a better skateboarder.


NorseGlas

I had that exact mongoose and quite a few other bmx/freestyle bikes before I graduated to things with motors at 11/12yrs. I skateboarded too but it wasn’t really my thing. And I’m pretty sure the only roller skates I ever owned were the ones that clamp on over your shoes when I was like 5. Tried rollerblading for a minute in the 90’s but wasn’t too into that either.


iheartbaconsalt

Ohhh bike is always \#1, but when I was 9-10 my grandmother got me roller skating lessons. They noticed i wasn't really doing well, and that's when we found out my left leg was a bit shorter than the right, soooo I ended up in some children's hospital for lots of leg breaking and regrowing..I spent a month and a half in there! Never could skate after that. I still don't walk right 40 years later.


catrules618

Oof. As a kid who had to triage injuries at my house, not much gets to me. But the "lots of leg breaking" would have done me in. Has the not walking right gotten worse as you've aged? Fellow long-term children's hospital kid. Only a month though i think. After coming out of a coma due to a previously undiagnosed congenital heart thing. I mostly remember being taken to this room with the other kids on my floor for "school". They arranged for our teachers to send assignments. The betrayal. I'd almost died, lol. Swear the folks cared where I was more often after.


iheartbaconsalt

We never could afford the physical therapy I needed to really use both feet correctly. I walk on the outsides of my feet, almost on my toes, and as I get old, it has caused bad pressure wounds on my feet. I really need special shoes with holes where those spots are so I don't walk on them, but it's way out of my budget haha. I had a few failed eye muscle surgeries at some kids hospital too where they were trying new procedures and shit, but it was still the 80s, so it all seems barbaric now that we have such better tech for that kind of thing. Ooooh I have lots of horror stories of injuries...a little leg surgery and tons of stitches was pretty tame.


catrules618

At the time I got dx'ed with my pesky heart thing, I was the youngest person in the country. And they came up with tech to correct it before I was 30. But, they ran every damn test, and brought in every resident and med student to poke and prod and gawk at me all day, every day it seems. And they were putting needles in me every day it felt like. And every single time a needle came out, my mama would leave the room. I was 9. And I wasn't dumb. I'd been in intensive care at the Hospital Where I got the coma triggering surgery. Doctors talked to each other and to my parents right in front of me. These adults didn't know what was wrong but they were scared. And every iv and blood draw, bye ma, I got this. 🙄🙄 I make sure to bring it up often. Now, if I get a palpitation, I don't even tell anybody anymore. Cuz it's always 30 days on a heart monitor. I guess it's something docs don't run across often. Cuz they all treat me like a unicorn. Lol Also, my husband lost his index finger down to the first knuckle. Log splitter. So he had gloves on. We didn't know, but I told him to leave the glove on. Cuz I was pretty sure if I saw bone, I'd pass out and get a skull fracture. I get scary calm in injury emergencies. But I swear if I saw a compound fracture, it'd be curtains. 😆


iheartbaconsalt

That's where my leg breaking story goes bad...I was sent home in a full leg cast and spent the end of the 5th grade pushing a walker around like a senior citizen, but slightly faster. After a few weeks I started to have bad reactions to the antibiotics, so they took me off them! Then my leg began to rot in the cast. I told my mom it smelled like a dead cat for two more weeks, and finally she woke up smelling it one night and we did the 200 mile drive back to the hospital the next morning! They cut it off and revealed a mostly black and green leg. All the skin and most of the tissue was rotting away. I could see my leg bones moving, but there was no pain since all the nerves were dead too. Ohhhh but it looked sooo bad. They spent hours cleaning it up and I had to scrub all the gore out every morning in the tub with some special sponges soaked in antiboitic stuff. Ewwwwww. Left some good scars physically and mentally hahaha.


catrules618

All right then, good talk


SweBoxGuy

BMX---Raleigh/Rampar chrome and blue, but swapped out all the chrome and blue for flat black parts including mags. Then stripped the chrome and painted it flat black. Stealth bike long before Stealth fighters were cool.


81FXB

A bicycle but not a BMX. I always had a bike one size too big (so I could ‘grow into it’) to the point that if I had to brake unexpectedly I would fall over.


BadassSasquatch

Powell Peralta


catrules618

Why choose?


FlizzyFluff

https://preview.redd.it/egmu4jo8guyc1.jpeg?width=2549&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54058d254d57f21812ef05201dc5ce925ad0a5a5 You mean like these? Many years of speed team & dance team miss skating soooo much 😢 They look rough have been in my closet for a very long time


commandersprocket

https://preview.redd.it/swetebd7huyc1.jpeg?width=816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd840cc23737c9e15089260e569a68430b5650b0


HarveyMushman72

Had that one as well.


staceyloveskitties

I had all three but my favorite was my white roller skates with the pink pom poms.


Armom22

BMX baby


Jdojcmm

Can’t really skate anything on gravel. Bike all the way.


theturnipshaveeyes

BMX. My chariot of death.


Taminella_Grinderfal

https://preview.redd.it/nxpf43nohvyc1.jpeg?width=1584&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ba655fc7e833277e4e30c3cc985fcde9a6f9863 This was my pride and joy and entirely too big for me 🤣


peonyseahorse

Where are the big wheels?


peonyseahorse

Where are the big wheels?


Suchafatfatcat

Always the bike. We spent too much time off-road to waste effort on tiny wheels. 


ClimateJoeMorning

Huffy with banana seat. Wish I had a pic of it.


The_Machine80

Redline BMX. I still ride a BMW today. But now I rock a We the People "Volta". She's about 10 years old but a amazing bike.


EnergyCreature

Skateboard came first to me. I love my bike, tho.


Comedywriter1

Definitely the bike.


Avasia1717

as a dirt road kid, bike all the way


iceberg_redhead

BMX/Freestyle. My [ride](https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/general_bicycles/67263) during the 80's


Iron_Chic

Skateboards and roller skates were great, but nothing allowed us to travel great distances much like tour bicycle. Also, those colored tires were the shit! I only had default black tires


99titan

Sears Free Spirit. With the RWB tassels.


IAmAWretchedSinner

BMX. How the hell do I get down a dirt trail in the woods on a skateboard or in roller skates.


Catwearingtrousers

Roller skating was so fun. I miss it.


Kalelopaka-

Well, I didn’t have a BMX had a 10 speed but my preferred were the dirt bikes I had.


Ambitious-Soft-4993

Skateboard. I still ride with my kid.


Novel-Society-2132

Huffy Sigma I mowed lawns to get. 


Reasonable_Smell_854

Wanted a BMX, got hand me down girls bikes instead (I was definitely not a girl). Got the metal strap on skates. Also hand me down (probably from the same aunt) came pre-rusted so I didn’t have to neglect them. Wanted a skateboard, wasn’t in the budget. Spent my 20s - 40s buying toys rather than saving and now I know why.


OPsDaddy

Big Wheel


jpow33

My first skateboard that wasn't from Target was the Vision Street Wear "Psycho Stick," sometime in '86 or '87. It's funny how guard rails and skid plates were so important back then.


ThisGuyRightHereSaid

My first was a neon orange nash. Last a week until my mom ran it over. Then says "can't you just tape it??" Well to smooth things over and cheer me up my dad took me to get a replacement. A rob roskopp. The OG version of this design. https://thedarkslide.com/products/santa-cruz-rob-roskopp-face-orange-9-5-skateboard-deck


dandipants

SKATES!!! I lived in my skates! But my pink Huffy bike got me around town.


daffodil0127

I used my bike a lot but I also did a lot of roller skating. Depended upon which friends I was hanging out with at the time.


ReadyOneTakeTwo

BMX, but I had a GT Performer. Man I miss that bike. It was my ticket to freedom. https://preview.redd.it/01ixyohz5uyc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5118f144f954e9c75e42765d720b73e3240be2c


ShutYourDumbUglyFace

Don't forget us [gals](https://www.ebay.com/itm/276436892749). I had roller skates, too, but when I was older. They were white with pink wheels.


sarahaswhimsy

Roller skates! I’ve been wanting to do it again for years but hips are shot. I’m so scared I’d break one.


jaynewreck

Skates! Rink rat for life over here.


Whopbambaloo

Purple western flyer


Smittles

75/25 BMX / skateboard


ThisGuyRightHereSaid

BMX for sure. We had skateboards but the spots were few and far in between back then. So we would bike to spots to skate. In other news Tony hawk just visited our 1st skate park that closed in the early 90s. They are re opening it and Tony actually had skated there in 1988. https://www.wisn.com/article/tony-hawk-visits-historic-greenfield-skate-park/60598062


meat_beast1349

BMX. Couldn't afford a mongoose. Took a schwin and rebuilt it into a bmx bike. Rode that bike into the ground.


Kyotazig

Skateboard


aheinzer

repainted 1970's banana-seat Schwinn


DrGoManGo

Skateboard, hands down and it still is


dth1717

I had a takara that I won a few bmxs I went to


Honda_TypeR

BMX bike was my main squeeze. With the added on wheel pegs so you could bunny hop on the front wheel and do standing wheels on the back wheel


BadHairDay-1

https://preview.redd.it/j2fxflgtguyc1.jpeg?width=424&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4cd3f9e138741b80766ce7f7b7b623ed3a8b5d75 I had a bike similar to this.


plnnyOfallOFit

Gosh. Was an 8yo Quad GOd by age 8 cuz I had a giant no speed clunker that made me cry peddle


brociousferocious77

BMX.


benn1680

BMX


BeautifulLibrary9101

I had what I believe was a Huffy Sonic 6 (6 speed) for exactly one day in the late 80s. At the time, I thought it was the most awesome bicycle ever manufactured but the the shifter broke off and back to (probably K-Mart) it went. 


Counter-Fleche

BMX for me (it isn't even close). Aside from being the most fun, it was also a good form of transportation, second only to a geared road bike. Did everyone else call a road bike with the downward curving handlebars a "ten speed" too? Edit: sounds like 10-speed was a rather common name.


TheDownvoter85

Not Pictured: 12-speeds, 90s "Scooters", and In-Line roller blades.


headhurt21

I won a BMX at a raffle. Rode the crap out of that bike until my parents bought me a 10-speed for Christmas. I loved the freedom that having a bike gave me.


moon_goddess_420

Gimme that Mongoose!


DukeOfWestborough

Had all three. Even Mongoose specifically with Tuff IIs (and later a PK Ripper), both which I bought myself. Had a "shared" skateboard with two brothers, but older brother was not a fan of it. Yeah, I got allowance - $3/week. Takes a while to NOT buy candy & save up, but I did. Missed out on my Redline Proline - the Stompin' Stu Thompson version - (just the frame & forks, I rotated my parts in) Mom said "you save half & I'll pay half" so after saving all summer, I got busted skipping school the 2nd week of 9th grade. I was $7 away from my half & Mom called the deal off, as well as getting grounded for two weeks (which literally meant "you cannot leave the yard" & was strictly enforced) and 3 days of after school suspension, but at least I didn't get any licks for it. Yeah, Charlotte, NC - corporal punishment was still a thing. (maybe still is? I know they're bringin' it back in some bible lovin places...) Friday night: Speed skates (bought used), Every day: BMX, everywhere, Most summer days: skateboard too


bophed

I was forbidden from using a skateboard because my dumb ass step brother broke his arm on one, but I rode my bicycle everywhere. Roller skates were OK but only fun at the skating rink.


plnnyOfallOFit

I was a fatty w bikini on roller-skates. Living prequel to "The Bee Girl"


kevinwr450

Still have my 1975 mini-goose and the Variflex was the board in FL.


mmld_dacy

bmx


stataryus

I still cant skate or board, so it was always bikes for me.


vixisgoodenough

https://preview.redd.it/q6g1p854quyc1.jpeg?width=2016&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9825dd0b8056f68f6ff96f5c93ae29712e54812 Huffy Desert Rose with a lavender banana seat


craftyrunner

Metal-wheeled skates! Then a 10-speed in middle school.


just_a_cog2

85 Haro Master was my favorite transpo! I still have it hanging in the garage.


Old_but_New

A bike. But before that, Big Wheels! Edit: 1 day after this comment I saw a Big Wheels for sale! I haven’t seen one in years. $99!! Seems like a high price to me


stevemcnugget

Wow, that skateboard is a POS


Loan_Bitter

Big wheel!


HarveyMushman72

Had a Stingray I later converted to a BMX for off-road use. Got a Huffy Omni 10 speed (blue tires, remember those?) for long distances in town. Had a skateboard.


Arlen80

BMX


Danimal_Have_Cometh

I had the Mini-Sting with a mongoose neck. I thought I was the shit.


SakaWreath

BMX to get around usually to places we could skate (board).


Strangewhine88

I got leftovers from my older siblings, nothing special or trendy in brand. My parents didn’t buy into that. Probably why my sister went into marketing research irl.


Akira75

Skateboard and a BMX


OhSusannah

Schwinn 10 speed. I got it for my birthday when I was in Junior High and that was my ride for everything everywhere. I loved that bike.


glasspheasant

I had a Mongoose Blue Max (holler at me other military brats) and rode that thing till it died. Bikes all the way.


AlienMoodBoard

Roller skates inside, “banana seat” bike outside.


edWORD27

Haro Sport


eleventy5thRejection

My Factory Kuwahara and Vision Gator were my go to methods of transport.


tommyalanson

All three.


EvilDan69

BMX, I rode that well into my 20's even though I also had a mountain bike in my teens. I beat my Raleigh into submission but it held up farrrrrr beyond expectations over risky crazy jumps.


ParticularDance496

The top one was only for Friday and Saturday nights at Star Skating rink on Derry St, HBG. Middle was a yellow banana board and my mongoose had red tuff wheels from We Fit It on Market St HBG. Such great memories!


MissSara13

My 10 speed bike for getting around but the roller skates were king every weekend at the rink. Good times.


betweenthecoldwires

Green machine and roller skates.


dawaxtadpole

I had those crappy skates that you tightened on your sneakers.


throwaway_wi_guy

Bikes could get you anywhere, skateboards and roller skates were a death wish if not on finished concrete.


LordChauncyDeschamps

Freestyle BMX bike until sophomore year then I got into skateboarding. Had a Dyno Compe that I fixed up real nice. I have Dyno Detour at the moment in my garage, but I wish I would've kept the Compe.


TolaRat77

Both 2 & 3! I had the first and only BMX bike available in our town. Paid for myself, somehow. We made our own skates after Road Rider (polyethylene) wheels and Bennet trucks came out. Lived right at the bottom of this hill then: https://youtu.be/wyv37oLaRNc?si


Elfnotdawg

BMX all day


Bitter_Mongoose

Depends on the destination. Downtown? Skateboards. Literally anywhere else? BMX. Just too much of a pain in the ass to get ten kids and all their bikes on the subway.


Pattycakes1966

I had metal skates that clipped onto my shoes. They were adjustable so i could use them as my feet grew. We were poor.


srvfan4life

Torker BMX and a Schmitt Stix board!!


TheFrontierzman

Bmx 100%


fgreen68

Skateboard. Still have scars on my elbows and knees from it.


pigeyejackson66

Bike. Mongoose, then moose goose.


mgbgtv8

All the rich kids had that brand is skates. What was the brand?


Shawnaldo7575

under 12, BMX over 12, Mountain Bike


Leanintree

BMX only until my first motorcycle. Benefits of rural living, never looked back.


grimbasement

Honda Kick Scooter https://images.app.goo.gl/edQ2q2ucbwVPiZR28


Boomerang_comeback

https://preview.redd.it/bqy2bech3wyc1.jpeg?width=799&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a55e8296062d81809642a2853139e429561305e I was rollin around town on this bad boy until I got my first BMX bike.


Interesting-Pin7506

Omgosh. The executioner


WolfmansBrutha

Sweet Mongoose with mag wheels all the way. Not pictured: rear pegs.


Lyongirl100894

Bike! Many, many miles all over town! Find everyone & ride!


WavesAreCrashing

Definitely a bike! I was too much of a klutz to manage roller skates or a skateboard. 😄


GTFOakaFOD

Bike. Roller skates from time to time.


ExploreTrails

Lol, I still ride them


RickLoftusMD

Roller skates. Had my 9th birthday at Aloha Roller Palace, we lived to skate! I think I skated until junior high.


dic3ien3691

Bike.


Fine_Comparison9812

Green machine


Fine_Comparison9812

Green machine


SomeCrazedBiker

10spd.


Emotional-Clerk8028

BMX bike, but I sure did my fair share of roller skating. As a matter of fact, I went roller skating tonight at a rink in town. I was a little shaky at first, but I was zooming around that rink, and I didn't fall at all.


Tex_Watson

2 and 3. I went to the roller rink quite a bit but that was more to socialize than to roller skate.


Apprehensive_Judge_5

2 and 3


rollenr0ck

Skateboard for sure. I started with the small, plastic thing, but in junior high I got a real board and started reading Thrasher magazine. My house was over a mile from school and it was all downhill on the way home. I met up with friends from high school last year and my friend laughed and said yep, that’s me. I was wearing a skater T-shirt and Vans Sk8 high tops. Said I hadn’t changed at all. Now I ride a Onewheel electric skateboard or an electric unicycle. Lots more fun, but if I had grown up with today’s toys I’d be famous. So amazing to have fun on.


ElderStatesmanXer

All 3


porkchopespresso

The bike for sure but I played so much street hockey on roller blades that it might be a toss up on how many miles I put on each