SE Bikes - The Todd Lyons Interview

Hi Todd, You are now the leader of one of the most important brand in the BMX, tell us your story with SE bikes ?

In the late '90s, SE Racing went dormant. During this time, they were not producing bikes and  were basically out of business for about five years. In 2001, Fuji Bikes bought the SE brand. I got sponsored by SE as the only sponsored rider in the end of 2002. During my first year of sponsorship, it was a Fuji road bike guy who was designing the SE BMX bikes and it was the Fuji marketing department that was marketing SE Bikes. So the bikes were weird and the SE brand image was bad. During this time, I gave A LOT of input to them as to how the bikes could be improved and how the brand image could be improved. So after a year and a half, the president of Fuji decided that I would more valuable managing the SE brand instead of just being a sponsored rider. So in 2004, I was officially hired as the SE Brand Manager & SE Product Manager. I was 33 years old at this time and my professional BMX riding career was coming to an end. So the timing was perfect. I have now been with SE for 26 years and it’s been amazing. 
 
What the story behind SE and Scot BREITHAUPT ? You know why and how Scot found SE Racing in '70s ?

In the early '70s, Scot Breithaupt organized & promoted he first-ever BMX races. He traveled around the country promoting the sport of BMX racing. This is why he is considered the “Godfather of BMX”. Then in 1977, he started SE Racing. The “SE” stands for Scot Enterprises. When SE first started, it was a promotional company. And soon after, Scot designed some of the first SE bikes like the STR-1, which later went on to become the Quadangle and the JU-6, which later went on to become the PK Ripper.

At the beginning, the BMX brands was from the motocross industry and then Scot changed it with SE ?

Yeah, SE Racing was one of the first BMX specific companies, along with Redline, GT, and some other legendary BMX brands. Scot was a motocross rider before he started SE Racing. I think he was sponsored by FMF. The FMF colors were a unique red & yellow color. And when Scot started SE Racing, the team uniform was a similar red & yellow color. But soon after, in the early ‘80s, Scot changed the team colors to the legendary blue, brown, and tan.

You know how was the BMX business in the 70's and then in 80's ?

I started racing in 1981 when I was 9 years old, so for the 70’s, I only know what I’ve learned over the years. From what I know, the ‘70s was a BMX exploration phase for the business. Everything was new and there was no right or wrong. In the early ‘80s, BMX racing became REALLY popular in the USA. It was considered “America’s fastest growing youth sport.” The business of BMX was still young and new BMX companies were constantly being created. BMX Racing was on TV and there were many different BMX magazines. So the BMX companies were doing really well. Top pro racers like Stu Thomsen, Greg Hill, Harry Leary, and Perry Kramer were super popular and they were making really good money as pro riders.
 
SE is about innovation since the beginning ? What the best innovations ?

Some of the best innovations from SE’s beginnings are still being used today. The most famous innovation is the “Floval” shape of the frame’s top tube and down tube. The Floval tube shape name is because the tube is flat on the sides and oval on the top and bottom. When you put “flat” and “oval” together, you get “Floval.” This tube shape was first used on frames like the original PK Ripper in the ‘70s. And now in 2026, we still use it on most every aluminum frame that we make.

Another early innovation was the Cr-Mo Quadangle frame design. This is a very unique design with 4 distinct angles and a double downtube. This frame was not produced for over 25 years. But in 2007, for our 30-year anniversary, we re-introduced it and we have been producing it in different wheel sizes every other year or so.
 
The most popular SE bike is the PK RIPPER, you know the story with PERRY KRAMER and SE ? Perry is still in the team for life ?

Yes, the PK Ripper is definitely the most popular SE bike and maybe the most popular BMX bike EVER! The first PK Ripper came out in 1979 and over the past 20 years we have made many different versions of it. We have made the 29” Big Ripper, 29” Fast Ripper, 29”+ Monster Ripper, 27.5” PK Ripper 27.5, 26” PK Ripper,  20” Ripper, 16” LIL’ Ripper, and of course, the legendary 20” PK Ripper Looptail. The PK Ripper is the longest running production bike in the sport of BMX. No other BMX bike that was introduced in the ‘70s still exists today besides the PK Ripper. 

Perry was an SE sponsored pro rider when the brand started in 1977. There was another famous SE racer at the time named Jeff Utterback. In 1978, Jeff had a signature bike called the JU-6 that was out before the PK Ripper. In 1979, Jeff’s dad started his own BMX company, GJS. So when Jeff left SE to ride for GJS, Scot redesigned the JU-6 by adding a gusset at the head tube between the top tube and down tube. This new bike named after Perry and became the famous “PK Ripper”.

Perry has been the Southern California SE sales rep for the pas 10+ years. So he is responsible for selling SE bikes into the So Cal bike shops. It’s pretty awesome to have an SE legend selling SE bikes! About 5 years ago, we designed a new 27.5" Perry Kramer PK Ripper signature bike. So yes, Perry is on the SE team for life!
 
You restarted a new era for SE Bikes ? What problem did you encounter in relaunching the brand ?

When I first started working for SE in the summer of 2004, I did not know anything about the BMX industry and I did not know anything about designing BMX bikes. But soon after, I was taking trips to the SE factories in Taiwan and China. And very quickly I was put in charge of designing every bike. All frame geometry & tubing, every part, every color, EVERYTHING. I was in charge. For the first few years of designing the bikes, I did not make many changes as I was still learning the process. But after I took more trips to the factories, and got more feedback from riders and bike shops, I got more comfortable in my new role and I really started improving the bikes. But for the first 5 years of me being in charge of SE, the sales did not really increase. Our bikes were better and the marketing and brand image was better, but the sales weren’t really that much better. The problem was that we were trying to get a bigger piece of the BMX pie. But the BMX pie was very small and there were many BMX brands also trying to get their own slice.

What is SE’s history with the big 29” BMX bikes?

I am proud to say that I designed the first-ever 29” BMX bike, the Big Ripper. In 2007 we made our first collaboration bike with DC Shoes, the DC Shoes x PK Ripper. Through that collaboration, I was in contact the DC’s co-founder, Danny Way and also in contact with Rob Dyrdek. At the time in 2008, Rob had a TV show on MTV called “Rob & Big”. The show was based around Rob as a skater and his big black body guard named Big Black. Rob called me on day and asked us to make a unique bike for the show. I thought “Man, let’s make a giant bike for Big Black!” So I worked with the SE factory to make the world’s first 29” BMX bike. I brought 4 bikes back home with me and then took them to Dyrdek’s house to film an episode of “Rob & Big”. -Once the episode was on MTV, everyone saw Rob & Big and riding the bikes. We immediately started receiving calls & emails from people who wanted to order the bike they saw on TV. So we went into production with the 29” Big Ripper in 2009. For the next 9 years, we were the only bike brand in the world making 29” BMX bikes. It wasn’t until 2017 when other BMX brands started to follow the trend that we created.

The “Bike Life” is a part of BMX ? How you see the Bike Life, a brother or a new discipline of BMX, a new way of freestyle bikes ?

Bike Life is definitely different than standard BMX riding. But it has tons of similarities as well. For most everyone riding the big 29” style BMX bikes, whether they are in their ‘50s just pedaling with their friends or whether that are a teenager doing all the wheelie tricks, I do not think that they would be riding riding a standard 20” BMX bike if the big BMX bikes did not exist. So I do not think that bike life is “stealing” riders away from BMX. 
 
Can bike life riders become BMX riders? I heard that bike life today is like early BMX, freedom on the bike without rules, what do you think ?

It has always been one of my goals to get bike life riders to do more BMX stuff on their bikes. I flew to NYC, rented a school bus, and took 40 bike life riders to a BMX track. I have taken SE team riders to BMX tracks, I have taken them to Woodward, I have taken them to downhill mountain bike courses and jump parks in Colorado, but most all bike life riders only love wheelies! Most of them are not interested to jump anything. They are mainly focused on wheelie tricks.

There is a unique freedom in bike life. There are no rules or style police. It is indeed like the early exploration freestyle BMX days. So this is refreshing to see.

And so, how is SE today ? Still a BMX brand ?

Of course SE is still a BMX brand! We make a full line of BMX racing bikes and we still make freestyle bikes. We will never stop making 20” BMX race & freestyle bikes. 
 
Now the industry of BMX racing turns to MTB bikes with carbon frame, do you want to keep the vintage spirit at SE with true BMX bikes ? What do you think of the newschool BMX race bikes ?
I am not a fan of the new style BMX race frames with 3” seat tubes. These bikes are so specific for BMX racing that the bike is not comfortable to ride around the block. And I really hate seeing these same bikes with 3-foot long “cool down” seat posts. And I really don’t like the skin tight BMX uniforms. It seems like the BMX race brands are no longer concerned with the image of BMX racing.

In the next couple of years, we will updated all of our BMX racing bikes and frames. But I do not think we will make a carbon race frame. And for sure I will never wear race pants so tight that you can see the outline of my wiener. Ha ha….

What the future for SE ? Do you have a big project coming up ? Electric bikes ? 

We are surely still innovating. 2027 is our 50 years anniversary and I have already modified nearly every frame for the 2027 line of bikes. I also am working on some new style bike life and retro bikes that have never been available in the market. It’s going to be exciting!

This year we are coming out with two e-bikes. Each one is distinctly different than the other one. One is the 29” Mega Ripper for older guys with a mid-drive motor and pedal assist only with a max speed of 28mph. The other one is the 24” Electric Boogaloo for younger riders with a rear hub motor with pedal assist and a throttle with a max speed of 20mph. We will most likely create at least 3 new SE e-bike models in the next couple of years.

The wheels are now in 32“, you stop here or bigger again ?

Never say never! Ha ha. In 2009 we were the first bike brand to make a 29” BMX bike. In 2017 we were the first bike brand to make a 26” fat BMX bike. In 2026 we were the first bike brand to make a 32” BMX bike. I absolutely love riding the new 32” Colossal Ripper and the 32” Colossal Quadangle. The bigger the wheels, the bigger the fun!
 
The Europe and France count for SE or the US market is enough ?

With our new distributor in Europe (Traffic), we are starting to see SE growth again in all of Europe. Compared to USA, the sales are very small in Europe, but that just means that there is room to grow! I do plan to come to Europe soon and bring the SE bike life team riders with me to do a tour and to promote SE Bikes. 
 
Do you want to add something ? A message for the oldschoolers and fans of SE ?

SE is still here and we are stronger than ever! Hardly any heritage BMX brands from the ’70’s or ‘80s can say the same thing. The old school guys will be happy to know that I am working to develop some new style “old school” SE Racing bikes for our 50 years anniversary. I want to thank to SE fans for supporting the brand. I still love riding and I love everything I do with SE. I love being part of the SE heritage and history. Ride on!