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 designed the first one in 1989, out of Stanton, California, and never really stopped. Who actually welded those frames moved around for years before it settled, and Bill has since laid that chain out himself — it starts in a garage in Buena Park. 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. So Bill built the brand instead, running it out of Stanton, not far from Power Plus Cycles, the shop he already owned. Who welded the frames was a separate question, and it took years to answer for good.

The shop is worth setting out, because this chapter has always treated it as background. Power Plus Cycles opened in Stanton two weeks after La Palma Cycle Center — the shop Bill had worked at as an employee, for owners Turnell "Tuni" Henry and Richard Schaeffer — shut down (Bill Ryan, firsthand, 2026). That two-week gap is the firm part of the record. The year is not. Bill recalls 1986 and says he may have been off on the year, so no year is settled here. What this chapter can fix is the other end of it: Supercross began in 1989 and Bill already owned Power Plus by then, which means Power Plus opened in or before 1989, and La Palma closed in or before 1989. That is a ceiling, not a date. Either way the counter came first and the brand came out of it — the ordinary shop-to-brand pattern this library keeps finding, and Supercross is one more case of it.

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.

Who actually built the frames

Bill designed the frame. Getting it built was a separate problem, and the answer changed more than once over the years that followed. Bill laid the chain out himself in 2026, and it does not run the way the short version of the story usually gets told.

The very first Supercross frame was built by Brent Shoup at Free Agent, back when Free Agent was still being run out of a garage in Buena Park. Brad and Yvonne Shoup had started Free Agent in 1984, so by the end of the decade it was five years into its own run and still a garage operation — small enough to weld up a frame for somebody else's brand-new one.

Brad and Yvonne Shoup were husband and wife, and they founded Free Agent. Brent was their son, and Brent was the welder — the early Free Agent frames in those garage days, and the first Supercross frame in 1989. Bill Ryan gives that build firsthand, in 2026, and this library's Free Agent chapter carries the same account.

From there it moved. John Severin was introduced to Bill as a builder, and built a few. Then Bill took the work on himself, building frames in a workshop in San Fernando. That stretch — Bill welding his own frames — is a real part of the story. It just comes after those first two builders, not before them.

The work got to be too much for one man, and Bill reached out to B&E, a Southern California shop formerly known as Bassett Headers and long closed now. B&E made frames for a period. Frames came back at different dimensions and had to be made over. B&E worked from adjustable fixtures rather than dedicated fixed ones — ordinary practice for small builders of that era, where one shop handles many customers and many geometries off a single setup. Adjustable fixtures have to be reset for each job, and a reset is where dimensions can move. The work went back to John Severin.

Then Severin broke his wrist. Frame building moved in house, and it stayed in house for years — Supercross welding its own frames, on its own fixtures. That held until Easton moved tube production overseas to Taiwan. Easton introduced Supercross to a hand welding shop that was one of only three qualified to weld Easton tubing, and that is where the chain Bill lays out comes to rest.

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.

First big magazine exposure

Supercross's first big magazine exposure came from a rider who never raced for the team on paper: Todd Lyons. A magazine ran a two-page color spread of Lyons riding Sheep Hills on a red Supercross frame — the first time the brand landed that kind of magazine space. The exact issue and date aren't confirmed; Bill Ryan's own archive holds the scan. Lyons went on to a three-time World Championship racing career and later took over running SE Bikes. He and Bill are still friends today.

Māris Štrombergs — the rider who finished his career on a Supercross

This chapter has been missing something that belongs in it, and it needs handling carefully, because it is a claim that flatters Bill Ryan's own brand and the source for it is Bill Ryan.

Māris Štrombergs of Latvia won the first Olympic BMX gold medal ever awarded, in Beijing in 2008, and won it again in London in 2012 — the only rider to take both of the first two. He was UCI Elite Men world champion in 2008 and again in 2010, with elite world silver in 2011. Those are three separate kinds of result and this page keeps them apart: two Olympic golds, two UCI world titles, one world silver.

He won all of it on Free Agent, riding the Free Agent Bicycles World Team, a division of KHS. What came after is Bill's account, given firsthand: Štrombergs rode for Supercross after he left Free Agent, and he finished his career on a Supercross (Bill Ryan, firsthand, 2026). Štrombergs retired from racing on November 13, 2018, so the Supercross years run up to that date. Bill gave no start year and none is asserted here, and no period team announcement, catalog, results sheet or outside press release placing him on a Supercross has been located.

Bill also gives this, and it is worth being exact about what it is: after the Hall of Fame induction, in Bill's telling, Štrombergs came back and said he wants to make Supercross huge. Bill named no hall of fame and gave no date for the remark. It is a warm line about a brand, from a rider, reported by the man who owns the brand and edits this library — not a business arrangement, not a signed commitment, not a current endorsement. What is documented independently is the USA BMX Hall of Fame's Class of 2024 induction, and the Supercross press release of November 14, 2024 naming Štrombergs Factory Team Captain alongside Bubba Harris. His full record is in his own chapter.

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.

Where the record runs thin

The order of the build chain comes straight from Bill Ryan, firsthand. The dates inside it do not. What is still open:

  • When each handover happened. There are no confirmed dates for the move from Brent Shoup to John Severin, from Severin to Bill's own workshop in San Fernando, from there to B&E, or from B&E back to Severin.
  • How many frames John Severin built, in either of his two stretches. Bill's account puts the first one at a few.
  • Which years Supercross was welding in house, and when that run started and ended.
  • When Easton moved tube production to Taiwan, and when the hand welding shop picked up the work.
  • When Power Plus Cycles closed. Its opening is fixed only by its gap from La Palma Cycle Center — two weeks — and its closing year is not on the record anywhere in this library, only that the shop had closed before Bill took the Leeworld job.
  • When La Palma Cycle Center shut down, and therefore what year Power Plus Cycles opened. The gap is firm and firsthand from Bill Ryan: La Palma closed, and Power Plus opened two weeks later. The year is open, and three things bear on it that do not all agree. Bill recalls 1986 and says he may have been off on the year, so 1986 is his recollection and not a settled date. This library elsewhere dates La Palma's run to 1987 through 1989, sourced to BlackCycling — the same secondary source that wrongly made Bill a co-owner of La Palma, so its reliability on this shop is already poor and it is not weighed equally here. And this chapter sets a ceiling: Supercross began in 1989 with Bill already running Power Plus, so Power Plus opened in or before 1989 and La Palma closed in or before 1989. No year is picked here, and no closing date or cause for La Palma is on the record.
  • When Māris Štrombergs rode for Supercross. Bill Ryan gives the ride and the ending firsthand — after Free Agent, and finishing his career on a Supercross before his November 13, 2018 retirement — but gave no start year, and none is asserted. No period team announcement, catalog, results sheet or outside press release of it has been found. When and why he left Free Agent, and whether the two rides overlapped, are also open.
  • The remark that Štrombergs wants to make Supercross huge. Bill named no hall of fame and gave no date for it, and no published source records it. It is his account of something a rider said to him, nothing more.

Anyone holding shop records, dated invoices, or frames with build marks from these periods can help close the gaps. A dated record of La Palma Cycle Center's last day would settle the Power Plus opening date with it. A team announcement, race program or dated photograph placing Štrombergs on a Supercross would close the other one.

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.

Did Bill Ryan own a bike shop before he founded Supercross BMX?

Yes — Power Plus Cycles, in Stanton, California, and he still owned it when Supercross started in 1989. The firm point on its opening is the gap, not the year: it opened two weeks after La Palma Cycle Center shut down, the shop where he had worked as an employee for owners Turnell "Tuni" Henry and Richard Schaeffer (Bill Ryan, firsthand, 2026). Bill recalls the year as 1986 and says he may have been off on the year, so no year is settled here. Supercross starting in 1989 does set a ceiling: Power Plus opened in or before 1989, so La Palma closed in or before 1989.

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 built the first Supercross frame?

Bill Ryan designed it. The first one was built by Brent Shoup at Free Agent in Buena Park, when Free Agent was still being run out of a garage. Brent Shoup was the son of Free Agent founders Brad and Yvonne Shoup, and the man welding the brand's early frames. Frame building then moved to John Severin, to Bill's own workshop in San Fernando, to B&E in Southern California, back to Severin, then in house for years, and finally to a hand welding shop Easton introduced them to — one of only three qualified to weld Easton tubing.

Who turned pro on the first Supercross team?

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

Did an Olympic champion race for Supercross BMX?

Māris Štrombergs, the two-time Olympic BMX champion, finished his racing career on a Supercross frame. He won both golds and both UCI elite world titles on Free Agent, a KHS division. Bill Ryan gives it firsthand that Štrombergs rode for Supercross after leaving Free Agent and finished his career there; Štrombergs retired on November 13, 2018. No start year for the ride is asserted, and no independent period announcement of it has been located.

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, the TECH Racing Team roster, and the full frame-building chain from Brent Shoup at Free Agent through to the hand welding shop working from Easton tubing, given firsthand in 2026. Bill Ryan, firsthand, September 2026 — that Power Plus Cycles opened two weeks after La Palma Cycle Center shut down, which is the firm point; that the year is his recollection of 1986, which he says he may have been off on, rather than an established date; and that La Palma Cycle Center was owned by Turnell "Tuni" Henry and Richard Schaeffer, with Bill an employee there and never a partner or co-owner. That is the source for how this page dates the shop, which previously carried it with no origin date at all and then carried a flat 1986. Bill Ryan, firsthand, September 9, 2026 — that Māris Štrombergs rode for Supercross after leaving Free Agent, that he finished his career on a Supercross, and that after his Hall of Fame induction he came back and said he wants to make Supercross huge. Bill gave no start year for the ride, named no hall of fame and gave no date for the remark, and none of those has been supplied here. Štrombergs's Olympic, UCI and retirement record, and his Free Agent years, are carried in his own chapter and in the KHS and Free Agent chapters. Builder name: Bill Ryan's original message rendered the name as “Brent Should.” A first pass read it as Brent Shoup; a later message from Bill gave it as Brad Shoup; a further message settled it as Brent Shoup and set out the family — Brad and Yvonne Shoup were married and founded Free Agent, Brent was their son, and Brent did the welding. That last account, given firsthand in 2026, is what this chapter follows, and this library's Free Agent chapter follows it too. John Severin's surname also appears as Sevrin in the source account, and we have used Severin. The hand welding shop at the end of the chain is not named — it is a current manufacturing relationship. Company history is also published at supercrossbmx.com, including The History of the Supercross BMX Race Team; that is the brand writing about itself and is not treated here as independent. 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.

Conflict of interest. Supercross BMX is owned by Bill Ryan, who also publishes this library. Every claim on this page that rests on his testimony or on Supercross's own published material is labeled as such, and none of it has been independently corroborated. The standard is set out in How This Library Is Made.