Ideas for BMX Ramps

There are a wide variety of BMX ramps that allow different tricks to be performed.bmx image by claude wolf from Fotolia.com

BMX is an extreme recreational sport which entails riding bikes at high speeds over ramps, allowing riders to do jumps and tricks while in the air. There are many different shapes of these ramps that will launch the bike and its rider into the air in a variety of ways, allowing different tricks to be performed. Knowing how to make a variety of these ramps will help you to build a well rounded BMX course.

Interlocking Pyramid Skate Ramps

If there is a large amount of room to build ramps, four ramps which are all built at about 25- to 35-degree angles can all be built together, meeting at the top and creating a large flat area. These ramps are often built in a large BMX park and made of either cement of dirt. Riders will ride over them on their way to more vertical ramps on the edge of the park, helping them to gain speed or allowing them to pause in the middle to catch their breath.

Quarter pipe ramps are much more vertical ramps which can be installed along the edges of a BMX and skate park, like the edge of a very large swimming pool. These ramps allow riders with enough speed to fly high in the air, allowing them to do tricks as they complete their arc---if they get high enough---before landing in the same place. These ramps can be made out of dirt, cement or plastic but are most often made out of cement, so that they won't break down in the event of weather or constant use. These quarter pipe ramps can also be located in the middle of the park, allowing riders to launch themselves higher in the air to try and gain distance as well as height.

Wave ramps get their names based on the fact that they look like waves cresting on the ocean, as they are bowed together slightly with a sharp point on the top. These ramps allow BMX bikers to get a large amount of air if they hit the ramp with the right amount of speed, as the top of the ramp angles upwards but is not steep enough to slow the bike's momentum. The taller these ramps, the more air a BMX biker will get, especially when these ramps are built one after the next in a row. These wave ramps are often built out of cement or dirt, which is compacted together to create an incredibly hard surface.