In sum, these facilities serve two different, though overlapping, groups. There is no study showing that BMX use will lead to greater wear than skates on a properly built skatepark. Concrete skateparks are now being built very sturdily and there is no proof of additional wear from BMX bikes. The myth that bicycles destroy skateparks may have started back in the days when ramps were sketchy wooden shanties with thin sheeting and inadequate bracing. Southsea and Romford, which are public skateparks in England, have over 15 years experience with BMX in their parks and have always remained open to all sports.
Contests run separately, of course.
Bikes have never affected the maintenance of the park. Bicycles spend almost all of their time on rubber tires and only occasionally strike the surface with their pegs or handle bar ends. The manufacturer of SkateLite, the leading ramp surfacing product, has endorsed this product for BMX use. It is important to remember that cement is far stronger than wood or SkateLite. BMX, Skateboarding and Inline, like all sports, can be dangerous.