Rockville, 1984
Last night I noticed a sticker on the side of my toolbox (which I’ve had since the ’80s)… Rockville BMX. If you rode BMX in the 80s, Rockville was THE bike/mailorder shop, and its catalog was your bible. Twice a year I’d await the latest Rockville catalog to arrive in the mail, much as I would the latest Freestylin’ or BMX Action Magazine.
Rockville was the ultimate shop. Every summer the big companies like Haro, Hutch and GT would send out touring Freestyle teams, and I remember seeing photos from the demos at Rockville with seas of people. Just about every Pro rider backed Rockville, and couldn’t wait to do a show there. The DC suburb of Rockville, Maryland was like Mecca for BMX kids around the globe. The scene surrounding the shop bred eventual legends like the Alder Brothers and a scrawny kid working behind the counter who would ultimately take over Hollywood, Spike Jonze.
Staff moved on, more mailorders and local shops sprung up, and today, 817 Hugerford Drive, is home to a computer shop, a far cry from the thousands of screaming kids who’d crowd its parking lot every summer. Today there are a whole host of reputable endemic mailorders like Goods, Empire, Staff, Albe’s. Just about every large BMX scene has a decent shop, some of them rider owned and operated.
Fortunately, I held onto a Rockville catalog from 1984, the only one still in my collection. Later used moved onto color printing, but ‘84 was black and white in all its glory. I’ve included some photos…
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Comments ( 4 )
[...] Rockville 1984 Last night I noticed a sticker on the side of my toolbox (which I’ve had since the ’80s)… Rockville BMX. If you rode BMX in the 80s, Rockville was THE bike/mailorder shop, and its catalog was your bible. Twice a year I’d await the latest Rockville catalog to arrive in the mail, much as I would the latest Freestylin’ or BMX Action Magazine…- More at JaredSouney.com [...]
BMX Party Time! (BETA) » Blog Archive » www.jaredsouney.com added this brilliant insight on Oct 25 08 at 3:34 pmTodd Seligman added this brilliant insight on Oct 25 08 at 12:55 pmRockville was a mecca for my friends and I. They were also my first sponsor. Had it not been for Rockville I would not have ever been exposed to the national (and international) BMX scene and who knows what path my life may have taken.
Spike built my first set of custom wheels (White ACS Z-Rims drilled for 48 spokes, twist laced with a Freecoaster! Sweet!).
The shows there were legend. A few thousand kids would show up for a parking lot demo.
In 1988 with a sponsorship from Rockville my dad and I brought the King of Vert to DC and we sold out the Washington DC convention center. I don’t know if that was possible in any other city at the time. The scene was beyond epic.
Thanks for reminding me of some great memories.
monika added this brilliant insight on Nov 15 08 at 5:29 pmHi! Indeed, tons of memories from Rockville BMX!! Do you have any idea what happened to Jay Metzler, the owner? Last time I saw him was around 1990 or so when he came over to catch up. If I remember correctly, he was in the Chigago area, but I can’t be sure. I’d love to catch up with him sometime.
jsouney added this brilliant insight on Nov 16 08 at 2:57 pmNo idea what became of Jay. There was a thread on the vintagebmx.com forums a while back asking the same question, and I don’t think it ever got answered, but you could check there.
