Mike Aitken: Odyssey Aitken Tyre

Mike helped define what good BMX style looked like for an entire generation. His riding had speed, height and a relaxed shape that riders still study now. Very few people have influenced dirt, park and all-round BMX riding as deeply as Aitken. Proper trail riding exposes everything. You need enough speed, good timing and the confidence to let the bike move without trying to correct every little thing in the air. The jumps only work because people have spent time digging, watering and keeping the line alive, so the riding and the work around it are tied together. A good trails rider makes all of that look simple. The shape is right, the bike stays calm and the whole line carries on instead of becoming one trick followed by a panic pedal. That style never really dates. BMX changes, bikes change and tricks get bigger, but someone flowing through a good set of jumps will always be worth watching. You can pull the riding apart and talk about difficulty all day, but the simple version is better: Mike Aitken makes BMX look good. Not polished for the sake of it and not serious for no reason. Just confident riding with enough personality that the clips still feel like somebody, not everybody.

Odyssey Aitken Tyre. Low-profile tread, micro-knurling and a shape that works across dirt, park and street without turning the bike into a tractor. More of the setup: Odyssey Aitken Dirt Tyre, Odyssey Aitken K/Lyte Tyre, Odyssey Aitken Pivotal Seat, Odyssey Aitken Railed Seat, Fit Bike Co. Aitken Stem, and Odyssey Nightwolf Skateboard Deck. Tyres change more of the bike than people give them credit for. Width, casing, tread and pressure all affect grip, speed and how harsh the ground feels. A smooth park tyre, a dirt-focused tread and a big street tyre can all be good, just for different jobs. The useful part of a signature tyre is seeing what the rider needed from that contact patch. It might be predictable grip, lower rolling resistance or enough volume to take the edge off rough spots. The sensible move is still to match the tyre to where you ride, check the clearance on your frame and fork, and run a pressure that suits the surface. This is the good version of signature gear: a rider has a clear preference, the brand turns that preference into a real part and the rest of us can decide whether it fits our own riding. No magic, no automatic upgrade and no need to rebuild a perfectly good bike just because a new colour landed. Watch: Mike Aitken - F-It Hero image: DIG BMX / Anthem II.