Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Healing Freestyler

Healing Freestyler

If you’re like me and think BMX Bandits is still Nicole Kidman’s best work, you’ll also appreciate this Healing Freestyler. Healing was New Zealand’s sister company to Australia’s Malvern Star — manufacturer of virtually every Aussie’s first bike and the bike that got Nicole’s career rolling.

Alex ‘Lix’ Bacskay was given a Healing Freestyler for her 8th birthday in December 1986. Lix is a highly talented artist and designer and musician and passionate fan of old school BMX. She recently completed a painstaking process of locating and restoring a Freestyler to the exact form of her beloved bike. The frame and forks were rescued in New Zealand, where they had been recommissioned as a low rider. Parts were sourced from all over the world and the internet, before being resprayed according to the original Healing colorway. Lix utilized her design skills to recreate the original decals (and a few of her own design), as well as a matching top tube pad made with nylon from a local sail maker.

Lixy’s Healing Freestyler is now virtually identical to the bike she remembered so well from her youth. I would even go so far as to say it’s even better than original, a credit to Lixy’s dedication to her passion and attention to detail. Make sure you check out the full build process and parts list on her website, lixbmx.com. Her portfolio website, Wealth & Hellbeing, is equally as spectacular, featuring album artwork adorned with her ultra-realistic paintings.

Healing Freestyler
Healing Freestyler
Healing Freestyler
Healing Freestyler
Healing Freestyler
Healing Freestyler
Healing Freestyler