Name: Frederick James Weeks Jr.
Hometown: Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA
Started riding BMX in: 1978
Number of BMX bikes in your collection: 27 currently
Have you been a Mongoose fan from the start?
FJ Weeks: Well yes, started out w/ a hand me down spray bombed Huffy. I got my first Mongoose Supergoose in 1981 which is still w/ me today.
What's the story behind the Racer's bike?
Vintage BMX from the 80's and 90's!
Name: Luke Haralambous
Hometown: Birmingham, UK
Started riding BMX in: Around '81
Number of bikes in the collection: 9 left (8 VDC, 1 GJS)
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Luke Haralambous: Late '90s, it felt like I was the only one into old school BMX back then. Many friends questioned why I had BMX.
Is the focus on VDC, Vincent Frames and Vector Bikes for you mainly?
Luke Haralambous: Now it's just VDC freestylers I own, I have stopped buying BMX, don't get me wrong if I was offered another MK1/2 , VDC freestyler, it would be hard to turn down... I've collected Vector, Hutch, TRM and Vincent over the years
Where does the love for these brands come from?
Luke Haralambous: Good question, because the brands I have collected I had never heard of as a kid! Think it comes down to my love of quirkiness. The wackier the better. Rarity is also a big draw.
Name: Bill Ryan
Hometown: Apple Valley, CA - USA
Started riding BMX in: Torrance, CA - USA
Number of bikes in your collection: I have never counted —— and I am afraid if I do the number will scare me.
Since you were part of BMX in the early days over in California do you wish you had saved more from the early days?
Name: Karl Chalk
Country: UK
Number of bikes in the collection: I've had many bmx but always only owned 1 at any time
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Karl Chalk: I'm not a collector of memorabilia but enjoy seeing people's BMX related memorabilia.
Who were the first people you came across that helped you out to find the stuff you needed?
Name: Jeremiah Grimes
Hometown: Washington, PA, USA
Started riding BMX in: 2003
Number of bikes in the collection: 16
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Jeremiah Grimes: I started collecting old school BMX bikes when I got my first bike in 2003, a 1987 GT Performer
Who were the first people you came across that helped you out to find the stuff you needed?
This is vintage 8mm footage of a BMX bike race. The race took place in the San Diego area.
1980s Old School BMX VDC, JMC, SE Racing, PK Ripper, Cook Bros, National Pro, GHP, Race Inc. 15 bikes to ride and BMX dealer on speed dial.
The Limited Edition Vans X The Birth of the BMX Freestyle Movement Package launches the Global Edition of the book. With almost 200 pages of new and updated content, we journey through the history of the UK Freestyle scene in a dedicated chapter that features input from British riders and industry figureheads. We also get into the van with the Factory Tour teams in a chapter that pulls the curtain back on the mid-80s summer tours titled “East of the 5” with insights from the teams, the announcers, and the brand owners who handed over the company credit cards and AAA maps before sending their crews into the depths of every town USA and beyond for the summer months.
To send this last edition up, the good folks at Vans allowed me to design some of their new dedicated Wafflecup BMX Shoes. Bob Haro and Bob Morales feature through archival images shot on the 1982 Haro Freestyle Tour by Dean Bradley.
In addition to the new edition of the book and the shoes, the package includes a dedicated 120-page brand history book titled “The Business End” with brand chapters dedicated to the industry that underpinned Freestyle through the 1098s.
The Full Package…
1 X copy of The Birth of the BMX Freestyle Movement Global Edition.
1 X copy of The Business End Brand / Industry History Book.
1 X custom “43” BMX T-shirt.
Name: Maurice Meyer
Hometown: San Francisco, USA
Started riding BMX in: 1975 or so?
Number of bikes in the collection: 4 fully built, 1 complete unbuilt, a few frames, many Tuff Wheel sets, parts, etc.
You put together your first 'collector' bikes some 15 years ago. What made you decide to put these three bikes together?
Maurice Meyer: I was seeing a lot of really cool stuff being done on VintageBMX.com so I went back to mom's house and dug in the old shed. Found my first Skyway TA frame and fork in really rough condition all rusty from laying on one side on this damp plywood floor. It was probably the best thing I could find though since it was my the bike I rode on my first tour and in my first contest and also had a rare fork since Skyway welded it up with no rake for freestyle. Robert Peterson got the same in white and I think that's it - two ever made and just this one left. At first I thought I'd just put some used parts on it and make it look as used but the people on VintageBMX started hooking me up with mint parts which meant I had to step up and get the frame repaired and chromed. Doing the really personal stuff like making the number plate and custom stickers got me some heavy flashbacks which was awesome.