BMX Bikes


1980 Giant GMX-250

I had a Giant made looptail in my garage for a long time and was planning to restore it. It was pretty beaten up but with a lot of work could be made into a beautiful bike - the though of all of this work made me lose interest in the bike and I got rid of it. At that stage I had an '88 Repco Freestyle and an '81 / '82 SuperMax CrMo that I was building and I thought I would not miss it. I was wrong ..

A few weeks after getting rid of my previous Giant looptail, I saw this frame and fork on eBay and knew I had to have it. It was already painted and stickered in the colours you see and I knew that was one less decision for me to make. The seller, Grant Nichols, didn't want to post the item though and I arranged for him to hold it until I could get it back to Melbourne.

I had decided I wanted to get some restored wheels from Benny - Ukai rims and Shimano high-flage rims - and a set of Shimano 600 Arabesque cranks and as luck would have it, he was heading out to drop some items to Grant and agreed to pick up and post the frame and my new wheels to me. Happy days!

 
   

With the frame and accessories colours already decided for me, the collection for gold parts was on in ernest. Shimano parts were the obvious choice to match the 600 cranks that Benny was preparing and soon I had the NOS chain ring, DX lever and a Takagi chain ring guard. Not many people realise that Takagi was purchased by Shimano in the early 80s and thus it is in fitting with the Shimano theme.

The KKT pedals were sourced from the US and they are absolutely mint and in my mind are perfect for this sort of build. My other choice - the Shimano DX pedals - were way out of my price range and possibly might have looked a little heavy for this build.

   
   

The build consisted of a lot of NOS parts and parts restored by Benny. I stuck mainly to Shimano / Takagi parts although I was originally looking to use a Dia Compe 890 calliper instead of the Tourney I finally settled due to its size and the desire to build using most parts from one manufacturer.

The build is detailed here.

  • Giant '80 Frame and Forks
  • Giant Stem
  • Shimano 600 Arabesque Cranks
  • Takagi Chain Ring
  • Shimano High Flange Hubs
  • Ukai Rims polished by Benny
  • Shimano DX Lever
  • Shimano Tourney Calliper
  • KKT Lightning Pedals
  • Tange Grips
  • ALPs Alloy Bars
  • Viscount Seat in Suede

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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.

Blizzard Cyclone Hurricane Tornado 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.