Associated learning page: https://sites.google.com/view/lititzbmxinventorylist/learning-resources/quizzes/1979-bmx-history-quiz
Source: BMX Action, December 1986, pp. 34–35
Transcription basis: Supplied two-page magazine spread
Archive package version: 1.0
Prepared: July 19, 2026
Original headings, quotations, names, colloquial wording, and visible punctuation are preserved as closely as the supplied image permits. Editorial navigation headings are placed in brackets where the printed article has no separate heading.
It raged on for over a year. Letters kept pouring in by the mail-truck full. The So. Cal. guys wanted ’em. The Michiganders detested the idea. Everyone in between felt differently. The subject at hand? Cruisers. 26 inch beach cruisers. Balloon bikes. Tankers.
Were cruisers BMX’ish? Were they better than the twenty inchers? Could they go faster? Were they too heavy? Could cruisers be raced on a BMX track? Should they be raced? And, would the manufacturers start making them?
“Cruisers, being as heavy as a ’52 Buick, are not as jammable as 20-inch BMX bikes, but every once in awhile you’ll find a few gnarly dudes who want to try ’em on.”
BMX ACTION, September 1979.
As it turned out, the East coast guys lost or gave in. The Cal Boys knew what was hot, and one year down the road, as soon as most every manufacturer came out with a 26 inch race frame, a new class was born.
As of May, 1979, BMX ACTION was a mighty monthly mag (that’s why you’ll only count ten ’79 issues on this month’s cover).
THE YEAR OF THE CRUISER CONTROVERSY, HARO NUMBER PLATES, TIMMY JUDGE’S ONE FOOTER JUMP, THE FIRST FREESTYLE TRICK EVER, INDOOR NATIONALS, AND THE AWESOME RED LINE TEAM.
Main race photograph caption:
“Corona raceway was the BEST. The tight competition between Lee Medlin (No. 354 and the original GT rider), Eddy King (still on Torker), and Chris Hopkins (back there in the Jag outfit) was also.”
The second generation DG team was formed. Rich Osborne was behind the DG desk, signing Clint Miller (a hot up-and-comer), Sal Zuener (the hottest dude back east—NBL Nat. No. 1), and Kyle Fleming (one of the fastest lil’ twirps EVER and ABA Nat. No. 1 amateur). Toby Henderson hooked a ride with DG towards the middle of the year, and Jeff Bottema was still the main man. Do you see any connection there?
Yup . . . later that year, Toby and Jeff parted company with DG, only to get an offer from Raleigh one month later. The terrible twosome of the “Coca-Cola Cowboy” and Bottema became two of the first BMX’ers to tour and travel all over Europe on a bicycle company’s tab.
The hottest amateurs to bout it out on the track were 13-year-olds Eddy King (Torker), Chris Hopkins (Jag), and Lee Medlin (GT). These three diced and sliced the whole year for No. 1.
Richie Anderson (Patterson Racing) and Jason Jenson (Torker) were annihilating their competition, too. Oh, . . . they had been doing that for the last coupla years, but their time was finally coming around.
The first Haro plate to appear on the cover of BMXA was December 1978, with Brent Patterson. It blew minds. It looked hot. Everyone had to have one. NOW.
At that time, Bob was still making them in his bedroom, hand-bending them over the oven and using his trusty X-acto knife to cut ’em out. At first, real Factory Plates were rare, so copies and fakes were in abundance. But . . . there was nothing like the real thing!
John Crews photograph caption:
“If we were to take a vote as to who the raddest and smoothest jumper was since day one, John Crews would probably win by a landslide. Style for miles!”
May 1979 issue, the one with the Red Baron and Kornuts jumpin’ in front of thousands of football fans, also featured a small pictorial on Timmy Judge.
“The Judge,” who had some pretty hefty NBL titles from back east and was full-factory Thruster, did the unthinkable. Well, maybe thinkable, but never done before—a one-footer. Fiola and you guys . . . you know who to thank.
’79 could unofficially be the year of Bob Haro too. As we mentioned, he came out with his revolutionary number plate and also started copying skateboard tricks on his bikes. And from doing that first rock walk in the Jan./Feb. issue, Bob started off a million dollar industry called freestyle.
Just for the record, Stu Thomsen was featured in the Mar./Apr. issue doing (OH, my-gawd!) AERIALS! Stu was getting about one foot out, and was said to be pulling one-hander/one-footers too, but we never got a photo to verify that much insanity.
Harry Leary photograph caption:
“Dive bombing during practice for one of many football halftime races. It’s hard to believe Harry’s going to land on flat ground, isn’t it?”
Stu Thomsen photograph caption:
“And here he is, folks . . . Stompin’ Stu, doing his best imitation of a bowling ball. At first, everyone thought that it was absolutely necessary to NOT use a visor because it blocked your view. Can you see Fiola or Dominguez lookin’ like this now?”
Jag BMX, under the direction of the “fearless and flawless” Renny Roker (well, one out of two ain’t bad), sponsored and put on the first ever Jag World Championships in Indianapolis. This was later to become a short tradition and always a question of whether or not the title, “World Championships,” fitted.
The first W.C., which was actually at the end of 1978 (we’ll call it the beginning of ’79), had a $2500 pro purse, and was also the biggest race to date. Scott Clark took the cold hard cash here.
Races of this nature brought a whole new concept to BMX racing. Was indoor racing “Real BMX” without dirt? That question was asked over and over for the next few years, and since they don’t do it anymore, I think it was finally answered.
Red Line team photograph caption:
“Some of the heaviest of the heavies, all on one team! (Left to right) The young pro, Greg Hill, the legendary and newly bearded David Clinton, and the quickest dude to ever come from Oklahoma, Jeff Ruminer. Add Dennis Dain, Mike Bush, and Bob Hadley to the team and we’re talkin’ world domination!”
Imagine having a team right now, consisting of Pete, Ronnie, Tommy, and Ellis. It’d be the baddest, wouldn’t it? Well, the Red Line Team was comparable to that in 1979.
Stuffed inside the Red Line motorhome during that summer were Dave Clinton, Jeff Ruminer, Bob Hadley, Dennis Dain, and Greg Hill. AWESOME. You probably could guess that Red Line RULED BMX racing this year.