2014 PK Ripper 26”
2014 PK Ripper 26” by SE Racing
If you were born between 1965 and 1975, there was a pretty good chance that Bicycle MotoCross and BMX bikes influenced your childhood.
BMX tracks dotted the suburban American landscape, and BMX bikes were displayed front and center in bike shop windows, toy stores displays, department store catalogs and newspaper ad circulars (remember those?).
We can’t be certain what it was about these bikes that was so thrilling. The bikes themselves were angular and rugged looking, juxtaposed against swoopy Schwinn kids’ bikes of the previous era. Perhaps the lure was being encouraged to go fast and take risks (something that children were rarely encouraged to do previously).
Maybe it was because BMX emulated the “grown up” sport of Motocross, which itself was new and flashy entertainment in the 1970’s. Or it may just be that these bikes facilitated movement for thousands of unsupervised latch key kids that roamed American neighborhoods.
New version of the venerable “Mushroom” grip
Just like the original
Aluminum “Looptail” frame
Safe and durable threadless stem made to look like the old style
Three piece cranks!
Saddles have come a long way since 1980
Whatever it was that made these bikes so popular in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s doesn’t matter. The point is that they were, and the kids who rode these bikes became adults who mostly drifted away from a beloved childhood pastime. And then those adults got nostalgic.
The folks at SE Racing have embraced this nostalgia and produced a “retro” line of bikes for the last ten years. Each year it’s a handful of variations based on their most iconic models. Bikes like the P.K. Ripper, the Quadangle and the Floval Flyer. Bikes that today’s adults want because they rode one as a kid, couldn’t afford as a kid but can now, or want because they grew up after the BMX craze of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and feel like they missed out.
This is a P.K. Ripper 26” that was made in 2014. The bigger size fits the grown-up body, and modern updates (like V-brakes and padded seats) mean that the nostalgic adult can recapture some of their youth without crippling themselves.