Frank Post
Franklin Post was an American professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1978-1981. Early in his career his nickname was "CW Post", a play on his surname of Post which happened to be the same as a famous breakfast cereal manufacturer, C. W. Post. When the BMX bicycle manufacturer, CW Racing became widely known in 1981 this nickname for Frank Post fell into disuse to avoid the implication that Frank Post was a sponsored racer for CW Racing, although he would be later in his career. Also toward the end of the 1970s he was known as "Wild Man" for his controversial actions on the race track. BMX Action publisher and photographer Bob Osborn bestowed this nickname onto him after a photoshoot.
Racing career milestones
Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.Started racing: In 1976 at 14 years old at the McLaren Park Track.
Sanctioning body:
First race bike: An R&R given him by a friend.
First race result: After winning his first moto, he fell in the main.
First win :
Home sanctioning body district: National Bicycle Association District "N" ;
First sponsor:
First National win:
Turned Professional: May 1978 at 16 years of age.
First Professional race* result: Made the 16 Expert* main at the 1978 NBA Grand National in Los Angeles, California but crashed when Brent Patterson landed in front of him after both of them negotiated a jump simultaneously. Ended in last place. In 1978 the pros could race in the 16 Expert amateur class. There was no purse in the 16 Expert class but he raced the likes of Stu Thomsen and Kevin McNeal as well as Brent Patterson-all established pros-in 16 expert. There was a separate special pros only class that was the final of a separate series at the Grand Nationals with David Clinton taking the Lion's share of a US$3000 pro purse.
First Professional win*: In 16 Expert at the National Bicycle Association Spring National in Watsonville, California on May 27, 1979. He was also a pro at the time.*
Retired: He quietly faded out of the race scene after the 1986 season. In 1990 he had himself reclassified as an amateur and raced in the 26-30 class at the ABA winternationals.
Height & weight at height of his career : Ht:5'" Wt:165 lbs.
*At the time there was no separate pro class for pros due to the relatively small number of pros. They raced with the 16 Experts, making it a Pro/Am class essentially. This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional. This practice continued until the NBA's 1979 season in which the pros earned separate pro points and a separate pro plate from the amateurs.
Career factory and major bike shop sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are used.Amateur
- Cycle City West : 1978
Professional
- Hank & Frank Bicycles /Cycle Pro: May 27, 1979-April 3, 1979. This was Post's first sponsor as a pro after racing as a pro totally independent for a full year. A week later Vance Patterson of Patterson Racing offered him a sponsorship. He accepted.
- Patterson Racing Products: April 3, 1979-September 1979. Frank Post left Patterson Racing because he couldn't get to races. Patterson had a told him that if he could get to races, they would pay for them. However, lacking funds and not being able to drive, he couldn't get to races. The Panda Bike Company offered to pay his travel expenses to races. He accepted.
- Panda Bike Company: September 1979-Late 1980. According to the July 1981 issue of BMX Plus! the reason for Post leaving Panda were "unclear" and explanations from either party, Panda or Post was "scarce".
- Wes' BMX : Late 1980-Late December 1980.
- Kuwahara Cycles, Ltd.: Late December 1980-Mid October 1981. After finalizing his deal with Kuwahara, Frank Post received his racing bicycle from the company on Christmas Day 1980, just two days before the JAG World Championships on December 27. Post quit Kuwahara less than a year later because allegedly they didn't follow through on what a major factory sponsor is obliged to do. Excerpt:
"I quit because they did`nt get me a ticket to 81` NBL GRANDS. They did`nt think I would want to go...HELLOOOO!!! Anyway they got me there, but had to pay for everything else w/my own $. in the end I could not get my bike on the plane. No more $, had to leave it in ST.LOUIS at the airport w/cute blonde that rode for Panda. Heavy hittin PP.Can't remember her name.!! Racing: July 8, 1984-Late 1984. This was a factory support sponsorship. "CW", regarding the bicycle manufacturing firm, never stood for "Coast Wheels" as it is widely thought. Coast Wheels was a bike shop that Roger Worsham owned. Custom Works was a completely different and independent company. This is in contrast with JMC which did start out as a bicycle shop and then began manufacturing its own BMX components including entire bicycles.U.S. Boss Racing Products: Late 1984-December 1984JMC Racing Equipment: December 1984-Early/Mid 1985. JMC went out of business in July 1985.Wes' BMX: Early/Mid 1985-Early July 1985U.S. Boss Racing Products: Early July 1985-July 14, 1985 Wes' BMX: July 20, 1985-Late August 1985Livermore Schwinn: Late October 1985-Mid November 1985 He transferred to full factory Schwinn shortly after.Schwinn Bicycle Company: Mid November 1985-MCS Magnum Force :''' Early 1989
Career bicycle motocross titles
Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Only sanctioning bodies active during the racer's career are listed.Amateur
National Bicycle Association
National Bicycle LeagueUnited Bicycle Racers
- None
American Bicycle AssociationInternational Bicycle Motocross Federation
- None
National Bicycle Association
- None
Professional
National Bicycle League
- 1980 Pro Grandnational Champion.
United Bicycle Racers
- None
American Bicycle Association
- 1979 Pro Class and Open Expert Grandnational Champion
- 1979 National No.1 Pro
- 1980 Pro Grandnational Champion
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
- 1980 Pro Grandnational Champion
International Bicycle Motocross Federation
- None
Pro Series Championships and Invitationals
- None
Other titles:*The Mongoose Grand National Championships BMX Superbowl of Motocross International Championship Finals II, despite its all encompassing name was a one off non-sanctioned event with no previous qualifying races. It was created by Jerry Surber, a private promoter. ABA officials helped to organize and run the event but it was not officially sanctioned by the ABA or the NBL. However, it operated using NBL rules. The 1982 addition was held on March 14, 1982. The concept was similar to Renny Roker's JAG World Championships held at the end of December. However unlike with the JAG World Championships the title of "Champion" Richie won at this race was unofficial.
- 1982 "A" Pro Mongoose/GNC BMX International Champion.*
Notable accolades
- Won the 1980 UBR, NBA, and ABA Grand Nationals, the first racer to win the Grand Nationals of three different sanctioning bodies in the same year. Also, he did so without having a major factory sponsor backing him, just a sponsorship from Wes' BMX, a bicycle shop.
Significant injuries
Racing habits and traits
His post racing career seems to match his racing career: Restless. He has been a Culinary Chef, Pool Shark, Machinist and Salesman amongst other things.
- Reportedly he had a reputation of having a temper on the track. Getting in some altercations with racers. One most notable instance was during the 1981 ABA Summernationals in Amarillo, Texas in which Post thought Kevin McNeal had collided deliberately with him in the first turn. They both went down. Post got up and attempted to hit McNeal, connected, knocking McNeal's visor off. ABA track officials stepped in to prevent things from escalating. What had really happened was that Greg Hill attempted to pass McNeal in the first turn when there was limited space between McNeal and the inside line. Hill and McNeal collided instead both went down. In the same instant McNeal had collided with Post, who was on the outside of McNeal, sending him down. From there the misunderstanding ensued. Adding to the incident. The two, McNeal and Post, had reported personality conflicts when they were teammates on Kuwahara. Post received a 30-day suspension for his actions. Ironically, and perhaps contributing to Post's erroneous belief that McNeal rammed him deliberately, in the previous year it was Kevin McNeal who had the bad reputation as an overly aggressive racer, receiving two suspensions from racing from the NBA and the ABA. McNeal soon after cleaned up his act.
Post BMX career
BMX press magazine interviews and articles
Note: Only magazines that were in publication at the time of the racer's career are listed unless specifically noted.
- "Post-Haste" Super BMX August 1980 Vol.7 No.8 pg.10
- "Frank Post" BMX Plus! July 1981 Vol.4 No.7 pg.20
BMX magazine covers
Bicycle Motocross News:Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:
- None
Bicycle Motocross Action & Go
- None
BMX Plus!:
- None
Total BMX:
- April 1980 Vol.3 No.4
- March 1986 Vol.9 No.3 in top insert behind Ronnie Anderson Pete Loncarevich Eddy King Don Johle and Brian Patterson in bottom right insert skateboarder Lester Kasai and in bottom left insert freestyler Mike Dominguez. In main image both Dominguez and Kasai.
Bicycles and Dirt:NBA World & NBmxA World :
- None
Bicycles Today & BMX Today :
ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer :
USBA Racer :