Davin “Psycho” Hallford had already made waves around the Oklahoma and Texas scenes during the Central States Freestyle and AFA days of the late 80s, but he was introduced to the BMX world at large through Eddie Roman’s pivotal video, “Headfirst,” in 1991. I met Davin a year later at Mat Hoffman’s inaugural Bicycle Stunts contest in Dallas just after he smashed through one of the Club Homeless guy’s video cameras whilst trying a ramp-to-ramp transfer. Even though I was a wide-eyed 15-year-old nobody, and my riding skills were way below-average, Davin was totally down to session the skatepark with me, and I found his demeanor to be personable, polite, and helpful.
A few years later, after I moved to Oklahoma City to attend college, we had the opportunity to ride together more frequently and became friends. At the time, Davin was sort of a mythical figure, even around the Hoffman Bikes offices, where a Polaroid of him sprocket grinding the hood of a car was prominently displayed on the wall. He would often show up out of the blue, just annihilate whatever ramps were in front of him, and then disappear just as suddenly and as nonchalantly as he had arrived.
Steve Swope once told me about an old AFA 8-foot quarter-pipe contest where Davin was doing 6-foot airs off the side of the ramp straight to flat during his run. I guess that is partly the reason why whenever Mat and Steve had prototype parts to test they ended up on Psycho’s bike. He had an unconventional style and was never afraid to go big or put his bike and body through the wringer.
Davin possesses a unique freestyle spirit, and I am always stoked to see him. Over the years, I learned that he not only killed it on a BMX, but he was an amazing artist as well as a talented musician. He was never about following trends, but about having fun on bikes and being true to his vision…and to put it simply, his visions were RAD to behold. Here’s a little glimpse into BMX legend, Davin Hallford’s world in the mid-90s. Enjoy!
Filmed and edited by Paul Covey
Additional footage from CMC and Greg Potter
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.