Cruiser or 20"?

[Tully]

I am a 15-year-old downhill mtb racer, and I would like to get into bmx to work on my jumping and bike-handling skills. Right now, I am thinking of getting a cruiser, since the 24" wheels aren't much smaller than my mountain bike. I am concerned that a 20" might be such a huge change that it takes me too long to adapt to it. Which should I get?

[stitch]

Go with the 20" it's a little diffrent but it doesent take long to get used to!

[WillRidesRigid]

I ride a 20"(seat tube) mountain bike for trails(sketchy-ass singletrack).

I bought a bmx for park riding. I'd say I adapted pretty fast.

BMX's are comparatively indestructable. If you wanna ride a skatepark BMX is the only true option. I think a cruiser would be more stable for jumping, but im 6'.

Have you considered putting a suspension fork on a cruiser and running dual 24s? It would be awesome for technical stuff and would probably be a good downhill crosstrainer, for minimum dough.

[skinny]

Originally posted by WillRidesRigid
Have you considered putting a suspension fork on a cruiser and running dual 24s? It would be awesome for technical stuff and would probably be a good downhill crosstrainer, for minimum dough.

If you leave the rigid on there, you'll get a LOT smoother, which will also make you faster when the trail turns down. Just my $.02

[Mudpuppy]

Originally posted by WillRidesRigid

Have you considered putting a suspension fork on a cruiser and running dual 24s? It would be awesome for technical stuff and would probably be a good downhill crosstrainer, for minimum dough.

Cruisers don't work well like that.

1. If you have more than a 3" or so fork the headtube is horribly slack and you get bad wheel flop.

2. There is not enough rear wheel clearance to run a reasonable sized knobby.

That being said, I'm not trying to harsh on your idea. I've run my cruiser with a 3" suspension fork for quite a good length of time. I bent my rigid fork and put on a suspension fork for a few months. I even did trail rides on it. It's better to have a MTB frame with 24's etc. Cruisers are fun but an MTB works better for MTB style riding (not jumps/park/etc)

But really I think many things are worth trying once. So if it catches your fancy, set up a cruiser with a supermonster and cruise down to the grocery store.:cool: