It seems the down turn in MX is nation wide.

I always love to read threads like this , because sometimes there are some good ideas tossed about and I'm always looking for better ways to improve our set up . So far I think for the most part (other than the over saturation of tracks for what's left of the rider base) your all missing the biggest problem with mx . This is and always will be a blue collar sport ,and it has priced itself right out of the market . Not only that but we have lost literally millions of blue collar jobs and people in our market area. What's left is
mostly a job market and population that is for the most part medical , tech ,and education .
We no longer have the neighborhood motor heads running around , or even the backyard and weekend mechanics who have racing in their blood and raising those blue collar kids that love the sport too ! The kids growing up today are inside children raised in front of the tv and their tech devices they don't even talk to each other they text . Mothers don't even have to wash clothes anymore because they don't get them dirty . We live in a different day and time and the millions of blue collar work hard play hard people have left our area . That's where all the mx riders have gone. Just talk to the dealers(the few that are left)they just don't sell mx bikes like they used too ,the market isn't there anymore !
 
PYMATUNINGMX said:
The kids growing up today are inside children raised in front of the tv and their tech devices they don't even talk to each other they text
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I've witnessed my son and his idiot friends on the couch texting each other. Aside from dirt bikes, me and my crew had about a 2-3 mile radius we could hit on our bmx bikes. Once we all turned 13-14 we all had mopeds and our radius was the whole town. Kids these days can't even make it out of their own driveway let alone tell you the street names of the neighborhood.
 
day181 said:
I've witnessed my son and his idiot friends on the couch texting each other. Aside from dirt bikes, me and my crew had about a 2-3 mile radius we could hit on our bmx bikes. Once we all turned 13-14 we all had mopeds and our radius was the whole town. Kids these days can't even make it out of their own driveway let alone tell you the street names of the neighborhood.
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day181, are you referring to the BMX track over near Alpine Park, basically off of easton? If so, it is still there and my son rides there all the time. Just curious. Also, there use to be a track near the N. Canton YMCA that, I use to go to but it has been gone for a long time.
 
Lilly are you talking about all the dirt jumps back in the woods at the dead end.. Last or lost was what we called that back when i rode their if its the same place.

Been around a long time. At one point it was almost depleted and a few buddies i kno and their friends spent a whole summer rebuilding them
 
PYMATUNINGMX said:
I always love to read threads like this , because sometimes there are some good ideas tossed about and I'm always looking for better ways to improve our set up . So far I think for the most part (other than the over saturation of tracks for what's left of the rider base) your all missing the biggest problem with mx . This is and always will be a blue collar sport ,and it has priced itself right out of the market . Not only that but we have lost literally millions of blue collar jobs and people in our market area. What's left is
mostly a job market and population that is for the most part medical , tech ,and education .
We no longer have the neighborhood motor heads running around , or even the backyard and weekend mechanics who have racing in their blood and raising those blue collar kids that love the sport too ! The kids growing up today are inside children raised in front of the tv and their tech devices they don't even talk to each other they text . Mothers don't even have to wash clothes anymore because they don't get them dirty . We live in a different day and time and the millions of blue collar work hard play hard people have left our area . That's where all the mx riders have gone. Just talk to the dealers(the few that are left)they just don't sell mx bikes like they used too ,the market isn't there anymore !
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I completely agree with you. The blue collar jobs are gone and the jobs that supposedly replaced them don't pay close to what those old factory jobs payed. Also, the bikes, parts and everything that has to do with this sport is very expensive and that right there eliminates a ton of people from even getting into the sport. For those of use that are in the sport we all have different perspectives of how much to spend in order to stay in the sport. For example, I believe that putting away money for retirement and college is more important than racing is or will ever be but other may find no need for that and might even miss a house payment, car payment or spend their inheritance, to stay racing but that is their call. So, whats my point, its that we all have money to spend but with the high cost of this sport we all have a point where we can't or aren't willing to spend anymore. True, their is still a core group of riders for this sport but it has shrunk and I don't see an influx of new riders any time soon. So, the pie isn't getting any bigger but everyones piece is a bit smaller. The other issue is with having the two current organizations that basically over lap each other, this has caused, "in most cases," the rider turn out to be down, understandably. Again, until there is a collapse of one of these organizations or some kind of merger, I don't see the rider turnout getting any better. If it does get better for some that is just an indication that they are doing something or things right and are increasing the piece of there pie and reducing the other guys piece. Happens in my business all the time, the only way to grow is to eat out of someone else's bowl. If the market isn't growing then the only way to grow it, is by taking it from someone else.
 
SCHAFFERNOCKER said:
Lilly are you talking about all the dirt jumps back in the woods at the dead end.. Last or lost was what we called that back when i rode their if its the same place.

Been around a long time. At one point it was almost depleted and a few buddies i kno and their friends spent a whole summer rebuilding them
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Yes, I am talking about last. Someone has kept it going and the jumps are amazing. Jonathan and Trevor Maley ride there a lot and I love it because it gets Jonathan out of the house. Really neat place.
 
Thats awesome. Its cool to me to hear kids still going there. People being so lawsuit happy these days i figured that would be gone by now. Im gonna have to go check it out again. Last time i went there was around 12 yrs ago.
 
john lilly said:
Yes, I am talking about last. Someone has kept it going and the jumps are amazing. Jonathan and Trevor Maley ride there a lot and I love it because it gets Jonathan out of the house. Really neat place.
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Can you give me directions to the place? Junior has been wanting a BMX bike. I could justify buying one if he has a place to ride it. You can PM if you want. Thanks.
 
I think one of the best ways for track promoters and the AMA to get feed back from the consumers would be for them to send out a survey type, post card that they could ask for feed back on how to improve their tracks, facilities or program set up and truly drill down to what needs to be changed or what could just stay the same. Yes, it could be done on fb or here but a post card can also do the job. It could be done directly by them and that way it isn't posted all over social media. Just a thought.
 
john lilly said:
ay181, are you referring to the BMX track over near Alpine Park, basically off of easton? If so, it is still there and my son rides there all the time. Just curious. Also, there use to be a track near the N. Canton YMCA that, I use to go to but it has been gone for a long time.
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Nope we just used any ditch or hill we could find. There was a BMX track along 77 we went to. Our junkyard homemade bikes got owned by those fancy rich kids bikes with something called "gears" and "suspension"....and "brakes" lol
 
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