Blogging a Dead Horse

BMX Bikes

1982 Repco Hotfoot X-Gusset

Scored this nice X-Gusset from Danthrax recently. He powdered the frame and bars in anticipation of a build for his wife but unfortunately other things got in the way (baby!) and it was time for him to move it along. Also in the deal were the pedals, seat clamp, seat post and Dominator seat you see here.

After building two teams, I thought it was time to build an X-Gusset - the ubiquitous bike from the '80s .. This bike is intended to be a rider and you will not see many high dollar parts on it however I did get to use a set of re-powdered Tourney calipers and an odd set of Shimano DX and SX levers.

One thing I found about these bikes is that a standard seat clamp will not fit on the tubing no matter how much you force it! The seat post itself is a nice fit so the inside diameter of the tubing appears correct, so I would assume that the HiTen steel that the bike is made from has a thicker wall section resulting in a larger outside diameter!

I spent a long time with my Dremel and then a hand file removing lots of material before I could get the clamp to fit. I then hand to finish the edges off with Wet 'n Dry before repainting the seat clamp black.

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Extra Info / Links

OldSchoolMags.com Have you ever wished that you could go back in time to the late 70's and early 80's when you could walk into a newsagency and see the latest issues of BMX Action, BMX Plus, Super BMX and Freestylin' in the racks as crisp and clean as the day they were printed? If you said yes to any of these questions, this is the site for you ..

BMX Works This site has everything you will ever need to restore an old school bmx from loose parts - nuts, bolts and bearings - through to complete brake sets, cranks sets and finishing parts, such as pad sets and decals.

Madman's BMX Painting Services Pete's work is second to none. I have two frames painted by him - a Hotfoot Freestyle in white and a Hotfoot 24" Cruiser in Hazard Yellow - and both have come out beautifully. Pete can also handle the stripping of paint and chrome and other prep work.

Re-Rides Sydney Australia based BMX restoration and photography. Rebuilding retro BMX bikes from 80's old-school, 90's mid-school and 00's new-school era's.

SDBMX SDBMX sells a distinctive range of cast alloy BMX rims that will finish of any old-school, mid-school or even new-school build. Styles include the Blizzard, Cyclone, Hurricane, Tornado and Typhoon.

Vintage Mongoose Anyone who is interested in Mongooses (Mongeese?) has probably already found this site. When I was restoring my Motomag, I found this site invaluable for information and reproductions decals and grips. Warren, who is behind this site, is a local who is passionate - no obsessive - about the Mongoose brand and it shows.

Other Bikes

Below are some of my other completed bikes. I am currently working on a couple of local Australian bikes and I will publish pictures of these when they are complete.

If you have a bike that you don't want and you are in Australia, contact me as I may be interested in restoring it!

Recent Updates

22 Apr 2016 Malvern Star and Speedwell pad collection
Thanks to Ben Leech for some additional pads for the collection. I had previously sold a yellow CrMo set thinking I didn't need to have a spare set sitting around the house. But regrets .. and now I own a set again.

14 Apr 2016 Bike of the Week Winner!
Thanks to everyone who voted for my SuperMax in the Bike of the Week poll on the Facebook site. I was really surprised to pip Tony's Supergoose as it is a magnificently restored bike.

30 Mar 2016 Dia Compe Pack Rack
I found these on eBay and thought they looked cool - but what would you do with a pack rack that is this small? Its a great idea but as its all supported by a single centre bolt, your load would want to be both small and light.

9 Jan 2016 Forever Bicycles, Ai WeiWei
‘Forever’ is a popular brand of mass-produced bicycles manufactured in China since the 1940s and desired by Ai as a child. Composed from almost 1500 bicycles, this installation suggests both the individual and the multitude, with the collective energy of social progress signalled in the assemblage and perspectival rush of multiple forms. Forever Bicycles disconnects the bicycles from their everyday function – reconfiguring them as an immense labyrinth-like network. The multi-tiered installation also achieves an architectural presence, much like a traditional arch or gateway to the exhibition..