https://shop.sundaybikes.com/collections/sunday-frames?utm_medium=banner&utm_source=dig

30 Signs That You Were A Mid-School BMXer

If you don't understand then you just weren't there

4 Dec 2016

Midguyslider2

Words by Joey Spinoza

Was BMX better back in the mid-school era? Print was thriving, videos showed more of the fun side of BMX, the web was ‘emerging’ and you could land with your foot off the pedal and still have it counted (even if your name is Joe Rich). Social media hadn’t formed enough of a bubble to completely engulf us and FBM were happily proving that fire, beer and BMX were simply meant to be. However - we need to face up to the fact that time has moved on and that most of us never really adjusted to a wider set of bars.  Here’s 30 signs to remind yourself you were really there.

1.  You had a pair of Primo V Monsters and you thought they were indestructible. So did we.

2.  Your blood boils when you see a new BMX video featuring an old school trick. It’s like no one asked if it was okay to re-use it.

3.  Your back hurts, all the fucking time.

4.  You are consistently un-happy with the rising price of BMX tires.

5.  In your world, a bar spin involves the complete removal of both hands from the bars. Otherwise it’s a bus driver but only YOU use that term so it’s sort of redundant to anyone 30 or younger.

6.  A curb or a flat rail is considered a practice area and never would you film a legit clip on either.

7.  “Everything’s a bit flatland, isn’t it?” is something you've said more than once recently.

8.  You still shake your head irritably when you see a pair of yellow tires.

9.  You’re posting more #TBT's on Instagram than new riding posts. 

10.  The last time you went riding you didn’t land a single trick and spent 80% of the time talking about getting the heads cleaned on your old VX.

11.  There was a time when you feared the coming of DVD’s. You remember it well.

12.  Van Homan means everything to you. You feel that he embodies similar attributes to a Supreme Being or God; you wish he still had a 44-tooth chain ring though.

13.  Facebook becomes your ‘complaining zone’ and you find consolation and comfort from your older friends who agree that BMX has lost its way.

14.  You think Jamie Bestwick still rides for KHE.

15.  You remember when your trousers were wider than your bars.

16.  You had a Poor Boy backpack and it was terrible at doing the job it was designed for.

17.  You have a large collection of Props on VHS.

18.  You remember how those Ells Bells videos were really weird and they lasted forever.

19.  The words Lengthy and Shorty make you feel warm inside.

20.  You felt sad when the bash guard made way for the grind disk.

21.  You owned a pair of beige cargo pants. Do not argue this one.

22.  You often reminisce when Joe Rich and Taj Mihelich started T-1, stating that it felt like a tectonic plate had shifted and created a brand new era in BMX - it was called the glory days.

23.  You remember the birth of finger bikes. You bought one for your kid but they hate it because it’s not an app. You often play with it. Alone.

24.  You were (just) too old and a bit fat to wear girls jeans, yet you still tried.

25.  You cut out bits of plastic bottles and inserted them down your rims to stop the inner tube forcing its way out of the holes in your tires.

26.  You still own some Little Devil stickers but you can’t see yourself ever sticking them anywhere. Instead they remain in a box. Your girlfriend thinks you are odd because of this box.

27. You wore a peaked beanie.

28. The Backyard Jam was to you what Woodstock was to your parents, without the sex (well, for most of us anyway).

29.  Every time you fix a light bulb you think of Lou Bickel.

30.  When they removed the flanges on hubs, they removed a little piece of your heart.

Woah there I hear you shouting, trucker cap on backwards, chain wallet dangling in the wind… “How did you define mid-school?” Well, this is what we think. A lot of people used to say that old school died around 1990 and mid-school took over, then the new school came around 2000. We think that’s shifting and mid-school is spreading out from around 1990-2005. Feel free to add your comments, memories, and thoughts below. We love to read constructive feedback whether it's good or bad. Alternatively you could just leave a turd emoticon and go eat avocado bark in a miserable parking lot.

Previous

Next

Productivity - Eclat Winter 16/17

Will Those Forks Fit Down The Chimney?

Related Content

BMX videos vhs

Where's The Love? The Disposable Age of BMX

Stuart Fenton talks of fickle times in BMX and dreams of a VHS resurrection

17 Feb 2015
Dig Celebrations New

The DIG Guide To BMX Celebrations

Let's at least make celebrating great again!

13 Nov 2016
20 Things Slider Dig Final

20 things every Pro BMX rider needs to do

The check list of all check lists

20 Nov 2016
T Shirt Guy Mainweb

10 Of The Worst Mainstream BMX T-Shirts We've Ever Seen!

There Are People Out There Wearing These....

27 Nov 2016
Dig 10riders Title Graphic

10 Riders We Wish Still Rode*

*In the public eye...

16 Mar 2016
soundtrack graphic RF1

Soundtrack - Road Fools 1

Is there a more classic BMX VHS playlist?

14 Jun 2015
jimmy levan BMX office SEA 04 ED

The story behind the Metal Bikes Lost tapes

Why the early 2000's were such a ground breaking classic time for BMX...

27 Feb 2015
Death Of Creative Thought Lead Image

The Death Of Creative Thought

"I feel as if I can see first hand how we as human beings are crumbling away."

18 Sep 2016
Wtp Frame Battleship Kho1 Ht

BMX Frames - Then & Now

Discussing the evolution of the BMX frame with WETHEPEOPLE

29 Sep 2016
https://us.bsdforever.com/collections/bsd-revolution/products/revolution-hub

Latest Content

HIQSI At7 W Mohqdefault
Play Button

WAR PARTY - WEBEFILMING - 005

Boyd Hilder, Kaz Campbell, and Tom Bridges at Boomers

27 Jan 2025
Crustopolis thumbnail
Play Button

Robin Slootmaker - STASH X MERRITT: CRUSTOPOLIS

Three months in Taiwan

27 Jan 2025
Fodv MJW Tsl0hqdefault
Play Button

Cold Cuts CITYWIDE - KINK

Philadelphia, PA

25 Jan 2025
S64zkgsp8 X8hqdefault
Play Button

HIGH FLYERS.//JANOSCH KLAUS

Supported by VANS

24 Jan 2025
Eo5ertxno Kchqdefault
Play Button

Spot to spot - Ep 2 Callan Stibbards

A Fremantle spot tour

24 Jan 2025
Vut K Fy En0pshqdefault
Play Button

NSSAROUND - OUT OF THE LOOP

MBFF Nominee

24 Jan 2025
Sbw Q4 Z8 URL Ahqdefault
Play Button

Peak Fall Perfection

The ultimate season to ride trails on the east coast

24 Jan 2025
B Jejp IU Kpbohqdefault
Play Button

Source BMX: Chase Hawk Bike Check 2025

Chase runs down the style chariot

24 Jan 2025
B9m V Qe S Pm Ahqdefault
Play Button

WELCOME TO ODYSSEY PRO - Okert, Loubser & Levenson

New Year, Big Changes

23 Jan 2025
XNM2m H6 BJA Ehqdefault
Play Button

LEWIS ROGERS 2025 - DIG LOCALS

Another year of clips

23 Jan 2025
Y Vyqs Pm Jbqshqdefault
Play Button

Demolition Parts - Dad Cam Vol. 1

Paul Thoelen, Sasha Pardoe, Ben Winter, Jason Watts & Josh Dove

23 Jan 2025
ONE ROLL IN A DAY  - Cologne Revisited
ONE ROLL IN A DAY  - Cologne Revisited
ONE ROLL IN A DAY  - Cologne Revisited
ONE ROLL IN A DAY  - Cologne Revisited

ONE ROLL IN A DAY - Cologne Revisited

Ryan Corrigan pointing and shooting at the real BMX Worlds

22 Jan 2025

DIG Partner stores

More Dig This

Stack

DIG BOOK #2024

NOW SHIPPING

30 Dec 2024
New dig apparel main image

NEW DIG BMX APPAREL

Available now

27 Dec 2024
30 YRS POSH BOOK MNTN V V 004

(Almost) 30 YEARS OF POSH WOODS

Now available for pre-order

24 Dec 2024
BSD Grime Safari Reed Stark Austin 6

Reed Stark - A Photo Safari

Safari Forever...

6 Dec 2024
Et FW24 Dig Magazine Collab Shoot 031

Introducing the DIG X ETNIES Collection

Celebrating a 25 year partnership

7 Nov 2024
24 photo comp web leader

THE 2024 DIG PHOTO COMP IS NOW LIVE!

OVER $1000 WORTH OF PRIZES UP FOR GRABS

15 Oct 2024
Greystoke issue 2

GREYSTOKE BMX MAGAZINE - ISSUE 2 OUT NOW

132 pages of tangible, hold-in-your-hands BMX print media.

11 Oct 2024
SUNDAY Silvawave Frame 3 Q web

PRODUCT DROP: Brett Silva's signature SUNDAY 'SILVAWAVE' frame

"It was only a matter of time before Brett got to call the shots."

26 Sep 2024
Osomatsu 4

SETUPS - Kazuei "Osomatsu" Oimatsu - ALIVE INDUSTRY

A Ben Lewis signature frame stacked with Animal parts

12 Sep 2024
20240907 BOH 019 perris

BATTLE OF HASTINGS 2024 - Everything you need to know

Schedule, livestream links, highlights, results & more...

2 Sep 2024
Garrett ss24

SIMPLE SESSION 24 - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Highlight videos, schedules, results and more

24 Aug 2024
Volume frames 2

PRODUCTIVITY - NEW VOLUME JASON WATTS & KRIS FOX FRAMES

Certified for roasting - THE SMOKO & THUNDERHOOF

6 Aug 2024