Believe it or not, a very commonly asked question is “can I ride my BMX on mountain bike trails?” So Seth Alvo decided to give it a go. This vid is his experience.

If the name (or his voice) sounds familiar, you’ve probably seen Seth’s ‘Will this £130 supermarket bike survive a DH course?‘ video. If you haven’t seen that by the way, watch it.

Those of you of a certain age (ahem) will probably have BMXed off-road in the past. There was a time when more kids had BMXs than had access to expensive mountain bikes. If you are 40+ then this video will really light up your rose-tinted (prescription) spectacles.

>>> 11 veteran riders who can still shred with the best of ’em

So what does Seth think? Well, truth be told, the BMX does pretty well. It’s nimble, it’s indestructible and the trail Seth rides on is rather manmade and lacking in the ruts and rocks of our trad UK bridleways. The BMX is brakeless which does wonders for line choice and keeping the flow. It helps that Seth is a skilled bike rider, it has to be said.

The key problem really is one of exhaustion. The BMX is designed for runs up to obstacles ie. jumps and gaps etc. Trying to pedal one around, permanently out of the saddle, for over three minutes is a bit of a leg and lung killer.

Despite the exhaustion and calf burn, Seth is clearly rather enjoying razzing around on a brakeless 20 incher. He willingly goes out for a second lap of the test track.

And then the crashes start (at 4min 20secs mark).

>>> Cody Gessel rides massive trails… brakeless

Be warned: this video will make you want a BMX more than you already do.