Supercross BMX — The Story of a Team That Needed a Frame (1989 to Today)

Supercross BMX — The Story of a Team That Needed a Frame (1989 to Today)

A BMXRacingHistory.com chapter · hosted on Legend Bike Co

Supercross BMX did not start as a plan to build a bike company. It started because a team needed frames and nobody could keep them supplied. Founder Bill Ryan built the first one himself in 1989, out of Stanton, California, and never really stopped. Here is how it happened, and where it stands 37 years later.

Where it started — Stanton, California, 1989

By the mid-1980s Bill Ryan was running the TECH Racing Team — Billy Harrison, Brian Lopes, Glenn Pavlosky, Brian "Bogi" Givens, and Kiyomi Waller — sponsored through his apparel brand, TECH BMX Products. When SE Racing tried to restart in the mid-'80s, Bill designed the SE Assassin for them — one of SE's first straight-tube race frames — and asked SE to build Assassins for the whole team. SE could not do it. That gap is the entire reason Supercross exists. Bill built the frames himself instead, running the new brand out of Stanton, not far from the Power Plus Cycles shop he already owned.

The frame that started it — watching gate starts

The first Supercross frame was not planned as a product. Bill designed it because he was watching his riders — Pete Loncarevich, Eric Carter, Kiyomi Waller, Billy Griggs — do gate starts out back of the shop, and watching the rear triangles flex and the chains droop on every launch. As a Ducati motorcycle fan, he pulled from motorcycle engineering: he lowered the seat stays to make the rear triangle more compact, and added secondary seat stays welded where the main stays bent — the spot that later became the cantilever mount points on production frames. The frame ran a 1-3/8" down tube paired with a 1-1/4" top tube at 21-1/4" length. The prototype had a machined head tube; production switched to pressed-on rings that simulated the machined look at a price the team could actually afford.

Brian Lopes turns pro, 1989

Brian Lopes turned pro the same year Supercross launched, riding the new frame. He went on to become a 4x UCI Mountain Bike World Champion and a Hall of Fame inductee in both BMX and mountain biking (2008) — one of the clearest signals of how fast that first small team was actually riding.

37 years, still building

Supercross has run continuously since 1989 — 37+ years now, through the lean stretches of the sport as much as the good ones. Today the brand builds carbon fiber race frames using premium Toray fiber grades, alongside a factory race team that keeps developing riders at the elite level of national and world competition. Full current team bios and results live at supercrossbmx.com, including the team's own history page.

Legend Bike Co and today

Founder Bill Ryan also owns Torker Racing and co-founded Legend Bike Co with Eddie Fiola and Pete Loncarevich — which is why Supercross gets its own chapter in this library alongside the brands that came before it. Bill's full BMX story, from riding the Pit in Torrance at age 7 through founding Supercross at 20, is on his own page.

Frequently asked questions

When and where was Supercross BMX founded?

1989, in Stanton, California, founded by Bill Ryan.

Why did Bill Ryan start Supercross BMX?

SE Racing could not keep up with frame supply for the TECH Racing Team Bill was sponsoring. He designed the SE Assassin for SE first, but when SE couldn't build enough frames for the full team, he built his own brand to do it.

What made the first Supercross frame different?

It came from watching riders flex their rear triangles and drop their chains on gate starts. Bill lowered the seat stays and added secondary seat stays welded at the bend point — the spot that became the cantilever mount points on later production frames.

Who turned pro on the first Supercross team?

Brian Lopes, in 1989, the same year Supercross launched.

Is Supercross BMX connected to Legend Bike Co?

Yes — founder Bill Ryan co-founded Legend Bike Co with Eddie Fiola and Pete Loncarevich.

What does Supercross BMX build today?

Carbon fiber race frames using premium Toray fiber grades, alongside its factory race team, 37+ years after the first frame.

Related Legend Bike Co. chapters

Sources

Primary source: Bill Ryan, founder — firsthand account of the founding story, the frame's design details, and the TECH Racing Team roster. Company history is also published at supercrossbmx.com, including The History of the Supercross BMX Race Team. Current team roster and results were not independently re-verified for this chapter beyond Brian Lopes' 1989 pro debut and career record — see supercrossbmx.com for the current factory team.