PRESERVATION BICYCLE # 20: 1980 ST Racing BMX
Preservation Bikes Are Back!!!
***Quick preface before we jump in to preservation bike #20…
Was everything in the 80s better? The music? The fashion? The BMX scene…? Probably not, but I’d sure argue that there was something special about the bikes of the early/mid 80s and their advertising (see below). Is it the childhood nostalgia that makes these bikes so special? Or maybe the lack of plastic components? Or maybe they just seem a little more handmade? I don’t know what it is, but an $80 bike from 1984 will always catch my eye, attention, and admiration more than the $3500 bikes we see in the ads and on the shelves today. Enjoy this preservation bike from year the Winter Olympics were held at Lake Placid!
1980 ST Racing BMX
This is a 1980 ST Racing BMX bicycle, and the only real info I could find about it is that it was ST Racing’s first BMX bike, and it appears their last BMX bike was made in around 1985. There’s nothing insanely special about these bikes that were likely sold at local hardware stores (this one from Coast to Coast), other than they came from a time when kids bikes were done right. This “lil gem” is about 40 years old and, with a little love, will out perform and likely weigh less than any coaster brake BMX in today’s department stores. Look at the gusset where the head tube, top tube, and down tube connect! Look at that stem (aka Gooseneck)! Look at that grip, handlebar, bar pad combo! If you’ve got “retro cool” kid in your family/friend group, I’d highly encourage you adopt this preservation bike and up there coolness credentials.
PRESERVATION BICYCLE NUMBER #20
MAKE: ST Racing
MODEL: BMX
YEAR/AGE: 1980 (The year the Pac Man arcade game was released)
SIZE: Most kids 1st - 4th grade or full size folks who ride BMX bikes
ADOPTION FEE: $50 (and we’ll throw in a $30 BBP gift cert to help with used parts)
RECOMMENDED REPAIRS:
BASIC: With 2-3 hours of cleaning, degreasing, regreasing, and some bearing adjustments, I think you’ll be ready to roll. Maybe some new/used tubes. Oh, and some used metal pedals. That means you’ve got a rideable bike for $50 (+ some sweat equity) + $8 for used parts, leaving $22 on your gift cert.
BETTER: Same as above but track down some new tires or some lightly used tires The original had some square knobby tires and tan side walls. Use your gift cert for another $20 in used parts and still have $2 remaining.
BEST (because why not): Ok, go to Porkchopbmx.com and find those square block tan wall tires, maybe track down some yellow or gold pedals, and watch BBP’s wheel selection for some yellow Mag Wheels. Now you’re riding something special!
BICYCLE HISTORY:
My guess is that this was manufactured in one of Huffy’s or Murray’s US factories. It was sold at a Coast to Coast Hardware store. And since I remember going to a Coast to Coast Hardware store when I was a child in Emmett, Idaho, I’m going to claim, with no evidence, that it was purchased at that exact store. That means it’s been popping wheelies and catch air in Idaho for 40 years!