What trick defines flatland

[ARTUR]

Bar ride or Miami hopper

[It's like that]

Hitchhiker for sure

[EZChris]

You are all forgetting framestands and funky chickens.

Where would we be without framestands and funky chickens, oh the agony, the anguish!

[SIN]

1.) Wheelie
2.) Endo
3.) Tail Whip
4.) Boomerang

If I had to choose one, I would pick the ENDO....

[katobmx]

Those tricks are really the original bmx tricks which all other tricks stem from, but I would go with the hiker

[Oltorf]

wheelie

[RafaelVargas]

id have to agree with everyone that is saying endo. just because of how many oldschool photos ive seen of this trick. Nowadays flatland  defining trick is the halfpacker. everyone throws one in their run. i guess that makes it a staple move though, not defining. damn i need to get off global...

[condemned bmx]

bar ride/ decade

[bloody flat]

Decade defines Oldschool.....definetly

But the trick,defining modern flatland  in it's complexity and style, is the Steamroller and it's variations.

[HeavenlyGrippingBeast]

Hang Five.

As simple as it is, it's a wierd, complex trick that can either take 15 min. or a year to learn. It also will beat the hell out of you flipping forward trying to learn them. Any other trick is an easy bail out that you can just toss the bike and walk away. A hang 5 is not like that.

*EDIT*

On second thought...

The trick that defines flatland is the basic endo. The purest and rawest form of flatland known... even simpler than a trackstand or a wheelie. If you have a foot or a front brake you can do an endo, on just about any bike. Little kids do endos on junk bikes in third world countries. It's what everybody learns and it's accessible flatland for everyone.

Yeah then... The Endo was pretty much the beginning of all flatland as we know it so I agree with the hang-five or endo  being the all time distinguishing silhouette

[ntrikat]

1.) Wheelie
2.) Endo
3.) Tail Whip
4.) Boomerang

just my opinion.
these tricks opened many doors.
hard to choose just one though.

only reason why i didnt include wheelie and endo  was because they can both be done on almost any vehicle and accdentally as well.  They are tricks indeed but flatland? To me flatland is the evolution of the tricks.  So in laymans terms, yes there were bike tricks before flatland, but it wasnt "FLATLAND" until i saw my first tail whip. And no, it wasnt a controlled accident, it was  an outside the box expression of style.

great points. makes me think about it a little more.
wheelies and endos are common in other sports/activities,
even boomerangs aren't specific to flatland or bmx.
it seems a tail whip may be the defining flatland trick.
it evolved from an endo, it opened the door for steam rollers and eventually hitch hikers.
tail whip can be stalled, hopped, squeaked, scuffed, and glided.
i doubt you'll see moto-x or artistic fixies or many other sports doing them (scooters and mountain bikers got the bunny hop version).
tail whip definitely originated from bmx though.
thank you brian blyther and mike dominguez.

[edwardjay]

hang 5

[midwestside]

From my perspective, wheelies and endos were being done off to the side of bmx racing tracks, just passin time between heats along with rock walks.
Not truly flatland yet.

Born from there came Pogos,Framestands, Sliders and Kick turns on wedge ramps.
BMX Action used to have some spreads called "Trick Riding".
Haro,RL and Mike Buff divorced from the racing scene, just kickin it in a parkinglot.
Although flatland tricks were cropping up in this "Trick Riding", A rider seemed to need a wedge ramp and a quarter pipe while perfoming these stunts in public shows. You had to be double or triple duty.

Personally for me a magazine called "Super BMX" showcased alot of seperated out content.
They would have the Pro vert guys in sections,  And Woody Itson and Martin Aparijo being dedicated to doing lots of flat how tos in "ground riding".  I.E.  lawnmowers,front peg hop tailwhips, etc.
To me in a way, ground riding as we called, was being showcased by this mag as its own thing, pre Freestylin Magazine.

To deal with the "defining" trick, I'll go with the Cowboy. Its a no handed bar endo with both feet on the front tire.

[AK]

 Not a trick, but frame standing platforms...used to...just scream flatland..Frames looked weird as hell when they started coming without platforms

[Brickhead]

Backside Walkaround