In a world where we see a lot of very similar products, it’s always good to see something different and non-traditional. A few weeks back, when the Nowear crew rolled through Bluff Valley for this years Bluff Valley Jam, I noticed something interesting on Karl Hinkley’s bike, along with a few of his team riders…. Bars that I hadn’t seen before. What are these guys all about? Let’s find out…
In this day and age, bars aren’t exactly the easiest thing to take notice of… I mean, yeah, you’re going to notice when a kid rolls up with a pair of Perfect 10’s or some 4-piece Bob bars, but in general, a lot of the 2-piece bars available will look pretty similar with only a few small degrees or slight size differences varying between them. If they didn’t have stickers I’m sure you would have a hard time guessing what bars you are looking at.
Now, I’m not trying to say that what we have going on with BMX is necessarily a bad thing… It works and it’s what the riders want. But that’s not always the case for every single rider out there. Especially a guy like Karl who runs a setup with plenty of seat post, front brakes and a gyro.
When I was talking with Karl to find out who made the bars he was running, I was surprised to find out that they were something he cooked up with the help of Rick Moliterno and Standard Bikes. Originally, Karl had these bars specifically made for himself as a one off and really didn’t think anything of it, until people started asking him where they could get some. So he got ahold of Rick again and had a small batch made for a few riders that also were looking to get their hands on a pair. As you can imagine, more people saw the bars and more people started wondering where they could get them, so Karl decided it was time to give Rick a call to get another run of the bars done up for people. This time around, he got a large order fired out and has them available to anyone who are looking to get their hands on some now on their website.
The Candybars are made right here in the U.S.A out of the Standard warehouse in Iowa out of 4130 chromoly and come in two versions; 8.5″ rise and 9″ rise. Both sizes come with a width of 28″, 10-degrees of backsweep and 2-degrees of upsweep. They’re currently available in gloss black, translucent red and raw. If those colors aren’t what you’re hoping for, just get ahold of Karl and they can get you a color you want for a little extra money.
The bars are available for $74.99 in the Nowear Webstore or for $73.99 on Dan’s Comp. If you have any questions about the bars or want a custom color, hit up Karl with an email – nowearera@gmail.com.
Also, if you are in the Rockford, Illinois area, you can pick these up at Area 251 Bike Shop.
You can find out more about Nowear by visiting their website or Social Media pages!
Website: NowearBMX.com
Facebook: NoWear Extreme Rider Apparel
Twitter: @NoWearUSA
Instagram: @NoWearExtremeRiderApparel
Team rider, Justin Fenger getting the full use out of the bars.
