Each part on your bike has different geometry options designed to help your style of riding. Sometimes it’s a steep and responsive geometry and sometimes it’s something a little more mellow. Either way, for decades,rides have been adjusting their geometries to enhance their style on certain types of terrain.
This brings us to a really common question: “Can I ride multiple BMX bikes with different geometries?”
Yes you can have more than one bike and they can vary in geometry. This will make it possible to choose a bike based on the type of riding that you plan to do for the day. However, doing this will make you feel less comfortable on the bike when you switch.
We get used to the type of bike that we primarily ride and we build some kind of “unity” to the bike since we can assume the reaction of the bike based on the input that we give it. Riding the same bike over and over is the only way to feel 100% comfortable on your bike.
Riding Different Bike Geometries
Have you ever bought new handle bars? or forks? or a frame? That bike felt a little funny huh? This is because you changed the way that the bike feels. After you ride it for a while it feels good as new and you are 100% used to it.
Even if it is a minor change, you still feel it. The amount of “turn” when turning your handle bars is different based on the steepness of your front end. Changing fork offset, frame headtube angle, stem reach, can have an effect on your turning.
The amount of “turn” when turning your handle bars is different based on the steepness of your front end.
When you have two bikes with two separate geometries, you are effectively replacing all of the parts on your bike each time you switch to ride the other bike. Your body is not used to it and the bike will react differently.
It is still possible and people definitely do it.
Pros
- Able to tweak different bikes for different riding styles
- Have different parts packages for different styles
- Having more than one bike
Cons
- Geometry is hard to change on a daily or weekly basis
- You will never “feel” used to the bike
Different part packages
Another thing is the part packages and how they are set to make the bike feel. Somepeoeple will ride 30/10 gearing on dirt but go 25/9 for street. Having two different bikes with settings like this is handy but deadly.
You will get used to part package differences easier than geometry differences but they can still feel weird.
If people do decide to build multiple bikes, I always recommend to have multiple bikes with similar geometries but part package variants. Build up two bikes and make one park specific with park tires and a gyro, build a second for street with a freecoaster and 4 pegs. These are vsariances that do not have a huge geometry impact.
