I’m always aiming to progress with every session… it doesn’t always happen, a lot of the time I’m just playing catch up, trying to relearn stuff I lost the week before…
David McFadden
Age?
44
Location?
I’m from Kirkby, Liverpool.
Bike?
My bike is tiny… 20.0″ Total Hangover frame & Colony forks, 48 mm Profile stem & 8.25” Whiskey Bars (cut down to 26” wide), Profile cranks & Sprocket (had the same cranks for 12 years!), the wheels are Halo MXF/ MXR hubs with Ti Spokes, Alienation Rims & Halo MXR White wall tyres… gotta love white wall tyres!
Where do you ride?
I ride at Rampworx Skatepark, it’s only a 5 minute ride from our shop, so it’s in the perfect location for me.
What’s the scene like there?
It’s pretty good… we have some really good sessions there, but it’s not like it used to be, at one time there would be like 30+ riders each session and they were always mad sessions! It had just started to get busier again over the last couple of months with a lot more riders turning up, be good to see a few more riders get in on the sessions!
I ride with Leon Perkins, Marc Houston, Chaz Craven & John Farrow, Faz always makes the trip up for a Sunday Session… It’s always a Good Session on a Sunday!
Tell us little about your riding days in the 80’s?
I got into BMX around 1981-82… I got a 16” Iron Horse Savage for Xmas, I loved it! I got in to racing a few years later… The local Sports Centre in Kirkby had built a 150 ft Outdoor Dry Ski Slope in the 70’s which had been built the wrong way round, so it could never be used… it was bulldozed in the early 80’s and turned into BMX track! Best thing that ever happened! I raced there until around 86-87.
Sandra Swallow (RIP), who ran the local BMX club with Mike (The Bike) Organ (RIP) and Derek Hyamson, asked me at one of the race meets to come to the Freestyle club they ran at the stadium… I went the following weekend and absolutely loved it!
That’s where I met Jay Kay, Simon Tabron, Dave Blundell, Tony Puddifer and Ken & Jay Swallow, they’d all been riding there for a few years… I later met Jay Hobson & Mark Egan there too. They had a 6 ft x 4ft wide wooded quarter pipe, it was the first ‘proper’ quarter pipe I’d ever ridden (I think Simon’s Dad may have built it) and Simon actually taught me how to ride it!
I rode my first UKBFA comp in about 88 at Alfreton, I must have been about 12 years old… Mike the Bike had sourced a Rebel Freestyler Frame & Forks for my Mum & Dad as a surprise, he built it up himself so I could ride the comp! I was completely blown away be the riding at that comp!! Des took us to almost every BFA comp after that.
The BMX club was eventually moved to a school sports hall in Fazakerley (The Fazak), a few more riders joined the Sunday Sessions… Mark Theaker (I have footage of Theaker learning flairs there!), Scott (and occasionally Eric) Steel, Simon Birtles, Paul Wharton and Chris Usher (Sonny), he was a really good rider, I liked riding with Sonny! Most of us rode against each other in most of the BFA comps as we were similar ages…
Did you ride BFA comps until they ended?
I think the last comp I rode at may have been the KOC at Southsea in 1993 or 94 was it? (I’m probably way out on the years)… It was when Dave Mirra came over! Myself, Mark Egan, Scott Steel & Simon Birtles made the trip down from Liverpool, I think it was a last minute decision to go and we ended up sleeping rough for the weekend… that was a Mad, Mad weekend that! Probably one of the best BMX weekends I’ve ever experienced!
We even got to ride a bit of street with Mirra… from what I can remember there was about 40 riders out on the streets that night!
How did you feel when BMX went through significant changes during the early 90s?
I think I was a bit out of the loop with the whole BMX scene at that time, but from around 1994 onwards from what I can remember a lot of the lads who I rode with had stopped riding… the race tracks local to me were being bulldozed, most outdoor ramps in Liverpool were being removed at that time too…
I remember when the ramps at Rathbone Skatepark were taken down, I heard that a kid had sliced his leg open pretty badly while using the 12ft metal quarter as a ‘slide’… so the local council just it ripped down! I was running out of places to ride and people to ride with… I was riding less & less each week!
How did you feel things had changed in BMX?
I was barely riding by 95, I missed a lot of the comps & jams that were happening at that time. It was around 2005 that I started riding again, I hadn’t realised just how much things had changed (bikes & parts wise) until I went to Winstanleys to buy a new bike… I didn’t even know what to ask for!
I ordered a 06 Hoffman Condor frame on a whim (which turned out to be a great buy) and a few other bits, I came out with a Primo wheel set with a 16t freewheel and a 44t sprocket! Luckily enough, Jay Hobson (who I hadn’t seen since the early 90’s) was working there at the time had noticed my name on the frame order, so he gave me a call and helped me out with the rest of the bike! We started riding Rampworx together after that.
I got laughed at in Rampworx for the 44t Sprocket though! ‘Dinner Plate’ the kids called it! Haha!
When and how did you decide to get into the BMX shop business?
Me and Jay (Hobson) had been riding together for a few years… around 2008 Jay said he was thinking about opening a bike shop… I was working on a permanent night shift at a warehouse at the time as a forklift operator, I’d always wanted to do this myself so I jumped at the chance, I left my job at the end of 2008 and we opened Hobson Cycles in June 2009!
We basically started with nothing, when we opened we had 1 BMX bike on the shop floor and a few KHE tyres under the counter! It started really slow… but the local BMX scene kept us going in the early days and it was thanks to them that we were able to start building up a good bit of stock, but at that point we knew we couldn’t survive on just BMX alone… we pretty much turned into a traditional bike shop and we still are to this day.
I have a Huge Respect for all the BMX only shops out there!
Tell us a little about your business?
Hobson Cycles is a traditional Bike Shop for sales, service and repairs! We try to cater for everyone… BMX, Mountain Bikes, Road Bikes, E-Bikes, Kids Bikes and all the parts & accessories that go with it! We’ve become a bit more of a service and repair centre over the past couple of years…
How is business at present?
We’ve been doing alright this year, we’ve managed to build up a pretty good reputation in the local area over the years and the locals seem happy enough to keep using us, we’ve become quite busy on the service & repair side of the business… in fact, right now with everything that’s happening in the UK, we have never been busier! We’ve been slammed busy! It’s crazy!
Who are you customers? Locals or online?
We do a bit of sales online but I’d say a large percentage of our customers are definitely the locals… we’re situated on one of the busiest roads that runs through a major cycle route in the city, so we get a lot of commuters in… They’re probably our largest customers! Rampworx is just down the road too so we get a few riders calling in from there!
What’s your biggest challenge business wise?
It’s probably competing with the bigger stores, the bigger online stores specifically… it’s so hard trying to compete with those stores that can sell bikes & parts with massive discounts… we’ve had people asking to price match with stores that sell some items for cheaper than the trade prices!
How often do you ride?
I try to ride at least twice a week and probably every other Sunday… I’m always thinking that I should be riding more… I actually really should be riding more!
How do you approach riding these days? Do you still aim to progress?
Yeah, definitely, I’m always aiming to progress with every session… it doesn’t always happen, a lot of the time I’m just playing catch up, trying to relearn stuff I lost the week before…
But it’s always good to try to push yourself and have something to aim for I think… I like riding like that, I think I’ve always tried to ride like that!
What’s the story for you and injuries now that you’re an older dude?
I’ve had a good few injuries over the years, I’ve dislocated my shoulder a couple of times and a good few knee & ankle injuries which still affect me a little now… if I have a heavy session I really feel it in my knees afterwards!
Crashing definitely hurts a lot more when you’re older, I suppose I’ve been lucky… But it’s always the silly things for me…
I once rolled my ankle carrying my bike up the steps into Rampworx!
Do you always pad up?
Yeah, always! Knee pads, Shin pads and a full face helmet! Always a full face! I had a pretty bad crash in the early 90’s on the vert ramp at Goshen! I’d learned 540’s a couple of months earlier and was throwing them on the regular and stupidly, I don’t know why… I took my helmet off, had another run, spun another 5 and face planted the flat bottom… My face bounced off the floor! I messed my face pretty bad, knocked a couple of teeth out, split open my gums, lips, chin, nose… my face was messed up for weeks!
I had a bit of a mental block towards riding after that, it took me a long time to get over that!
What part does social media play on your riding and motivation?
I’ve been posting BMX stuff online ever since I was on Myspace in 2006! Haha! I always loved getting clips & photos of the sessions and posting them up. It’s just what everyone did! Every session I have now ends up on Instagram & Facebook!
When ever the camera comes out, the session gets better… you end up pushing yourself a little harder, trying stuff you may not normally try… it’s a great motivational tool. I use YouTube a bit too… I don’t get many views like but its fun creating little riding videos!
I like watching a lot of rider’s videos on Instagram & Facebook… Nick Watts is absolutely amazing! Can’t watch enough of his riding… Alan Sibley too, he’s brilliant to watch! Bags of energy!
What do you love about modern BMX riding?
The progression of modern BMX is insane! Not everything is my cup of tea… but the level of riding now is just unreal! Modern Flatland riding really blows me away, I love watching that… I could watch that all day!
What do you dislike about modern BMX riding?
People who say “Tuck no’s” when they actually mean “No Handers”… I’m sure I’m not alone on this one!
A few years ago I made a Facebook group for a laugh… “I hate New Skool No Handers with a Passion!”… I got some shit from a few of the ‘New School’ riders for that! Haha! They just look terrible… you look like a cocktail umbrella!
That’s it… that’s my only bit of saltiness in BMX… Oh, and I’d really like to see some of the old school variations make a comeback!
Who do you look to for influence these days?
All the lads that I ride with at Rampworx every week are a big influence on me, we’re always pushing each other every session! We always end up having great sessions!
I still watch loads of Dave Mirra videos, Hoffman and old school UK riders like Mike Canning, Lee Reynolds & Carlo Griggs! Growing up, Carlo was a massive inspiration, I’ll sit and watch a bunch of old school videos now and just be itching to ride!
Simon Tabron was always a big influence on me too, I learned a lot from Simon back in the day… I love watching him ride now, he’s one of the best riders on the planet!
What about Eating and Booze? Do you try to watch these so you can keep on riding BMX?
If I was to go out on the booze these days, I wouldn’t be able to ride for at least a week for the hangover! I really do try to eat well too, I should try to eat a lot more healthier though… it does make a big difference on how you ride!!
I’ve always been really keen on going to the gym since I was about 15, I hammered the gym for years… even more so when I got back into riding in 2005 and it really made a massive difference to riding and injury prevention. I’ve really slacked off with it over the last couple of years though, I really need get myself back in there!
I cycle to the shop every day which is about 10 miles all in, so that probably helps me a little!
What do you miss about the BMX scene of times gone by?
I miss the sessions we used to have at a lot of the old places where we used to ride back in the day… We rode Rathbone skatepark a lot back then, I loved that place! There was always a big crew of us riding there! There was a metal quarter pipe which was about 12ft tall with no platform… That ramp was Amazing! We’d ride about 10 miles to get to Rathbone park and we’d end up spending about 10 hours there! I’d love it if someone remade that big old quarter!!
What’s next for you?
I’d really like to film an edit this year if I get the chance… I think it’s been almost 5 years since we filmed the last one, hopefully at some point this year I might be able to get some filming done.
And whips… I have to whip a box before I’m 50!
Any last words?
Yeah, Thanks Neil for creating and running Ride On BMX! I honestly never knew there were so many amazing older riders still Shredding it out there…
