FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Name: GAry Sansom
Hometown: Lewiston ID...
Started riding BMX in: 1969
Number of bikes in the collection: Over 600..200 plus completes and 400 plus framesets

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
GAry Sansom: Hmm... a couple times.. I rode all thru the 70's..and 80's.. when I moved to Portland in 1996, I was down to 5 bikes..then I found ebay..

At this moment, do you wish you had started collecting earlier?
GAry Sansom: Yes..they were so inexpensive in the early 90's.

Do you feel there is a need for BMX products to survive for history's sake?
GAry Sansom: For sure..part of the reason I started collecting.

What's one of your oldest BMX products in your collection?
Gary Sansom: My 1981 Kuwahara.. Skyway forks..Redline squareback

When you started riding what bike was the dream bike for you?
Gary Sansom: SE Quad angle..I recall seeing one in the shop.. 1980 or so.

Name: Rainer Schadowski
Hometown: Karlsruhe, Germany
Started riding BMX in: 1980
Number of bikes in the collection: Currently 61 and counting

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Rainer Schadowski: It evolved from my habit keeping bikes and gear I had raced and never sold. Then my Dad added more bikes and gear he got from retired racers and all of a sudden it was a collection. That was in the mid to late 90s.

Name: Jeff Tollefson, aka JT & The Torker Kid
Hometown: Saint Paul, Minnesota (USA)
Started riding BMX in: 1974
Number of bikes in the collection: Down to 25

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Jeff Tollefson: I actually started the day I got my 1974 Redline Squareback frame and fork 46 years ago. As a kid I traded and sold various parts yet by 1984 I had a basement full of vintage items then started JTFreestyle, my mini bike shop/mail order selling new school parts while doing Freestyle shows. So basically I was collecting from the start.

Do you feel there is a need for BMX products to survive for history's sake?
Jeff Tollefson: Yes, there are so many BMX innovations throughout the years and having those documented/displayed is key for all future generations to experience BMX. My daughter, Jemma (8), grew up with my vintage bike collection in our home. Seeing first generation Redline parts, Motomags, Addicks sprockets, various stems, one piece/alloy/chromoly cranks, into the crazy Freestyle parts she knows so much about the history of our sport before she became a National #1 BMX racer. When I bring vintage bikes to a BMX race the kids and adults all freak out on what we rode back in the day and have an opportunity to explain the history of BMX through the bikes.

What's one of your oldest BMX products in your collection?
Jeff Tollefson: My original 1974 Redline Squareback frame and fork

Name: Ben Murphy
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland but now living in Vancouver, Canada
Started riding BMX in: 2000
Number of bikes in the collection: 20 I think, plus Tons of spare parts, Boxes and boxes of Magazines and a VHS/DVD collection for around 700 or so, who knows haha?

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Ben Murphy: I remember it to the day. It was 26 December 2015, I bought an FBM Night Train with Kick Ass Forks, 44t FBM sprocket. I had joined the group Mid School BMX Day on Facebook a while before. I got some money for Christmas and I knew I had to buy it.

It takes someone to do it. It took Alain Massabova a year to do it. Some things are easier said then done. "You should write a book about the history of BMX!" Alain took on the challenge and pulled it off, and in a great way. 300 pages of French BMX history, from the early days to 2022. From racing to freestyle. Jams to competitions. Road trips to photo shoots. France has some rich history in BMX and flipping through the book you will face familiar names. Some you've forgotten. Some are still ripping. In 35 years a lot has happened in BMX and seeing everything together in one thick book is great. Collecting the photos alone must have been a challenge. Back in the day nothing was digital so that scanner must have made some overtime scanning all the early photos. Then archiving them first, putting them in the right order before making a selection. Which ones to use?

It only works when eveyone pitches in, and lots of them did. This makes the book something special for everyone. The book starts off with the 1978-1988 oldschool phase. How it started, the pioneers,

We've asked Mel Stoutsenberger to pick his favourite photos from back in the day and give us the Who, Where, When, What, and Why. Mel documented BMX first hand. His photos tell stories.

Who: My long time friend and fellow bike mechanic, John George. Little did I know when I shot this photo that John would land the NBA National #1 position later in the year. John worked as a mechanic for Canoga Cycle Center and raced for their team exclusively. He raced NBA sanctioned events almost every weekend of the year as well as many week nights. He was fast, hard to beat and had piles of style. Whether he was on a long gnarly downhill course like Malibu Country Club or a Friday night flat track bash at the Van Nuys Teen Center, John always held his own.