If you have been keeping up with the site lately, there’s a good chance you caught one of the videos or photos we posted of the new bars that Nowear BMX had fabricated up for this years Cornhuckit Jam! These bars aren’t your typical BMX handlebar… In fact, they make the Perfect 10’s look pretty small. We were super curious just what the story was behind these handlebars turned sub rail were, so we got ahold of the man in charge, Karl Hinkley to find out just what it took to get these bars made and what the plan for this years Cornhuckit Jam that is going down August 8th in Nebraska! Let’s see what he had to say!
Karl! How’s it going? I’d imagine it’s been hectic getting the Nowear Compound dialed in for the Cornhuckit Jam!
Going well and already feeling overwhelmed at the thought of all their is to do in preperation but equally as excited for things to go down.
So, the other week we got a glimpse at a special feature you’ll be adding to the ramp setup, the largest BMX bars ever. How did this idea all come about and how long did it take for it to become a reality?
The idea started roughly 2 years ago and was just finished a few weeks back. I wanted to make some sort of symbol that really stood out of at the Nowear Compound. Initially the bars were to be a hitching post but there was concern of how to make it strong enough. We later decided to mount them where we couple add backing braces.
Obviously something like this requires some heavy fabrication skills. Who did you have build these bars for you? What kind of materials and time did it take to build these bad boys?
Heavy fab is correct and it took way more than I thought it was going to. At first I contacted a buddy that did some welding on the side and said, “hey dude wanna take some extra coping, bend and weld it to look like giant handlebars?” I think I was a little naive as to exactly what it would take to make such a thing. Sounded like it was a job for a big shop and due to a limited budget I sidelined the project. A few months later I was talking with an oldshool, bmx friend of mine Todd Blacksher. Todd worked for a huge metal business called TMCO in Lincoln, NE. I told Todd my idea and immediately the wheels in his headed started spinning. Todd is a great dude and put way more hours into this project than I could ever count or thank him enough for.
We were a little surprised you didn’t go with the Candybar design for these. What are the dimensions and details for these bars? Rise, width, backsweep, upsweep, weight? Any special heat-treating, butting or fancy stuff in these?
As cool as Cabdybars would have been they wouldn’t have been as much fun to ride. Since day one all I could picture was sunset shots with BMXer’s stalled out on the crossbar, the candy bar bend would not have been friendly. The bars measure 139” wide, the cross bar is 56” wide, top of cross bar from the deck is 46.5”, 0 back sweep with some upsweep I’m not sure how much. The cross bar is 2.5” O.D. coping just over 1/8” thick, the 2-piece part of the bar is 3.5” O.D. and over 1/4” thick. These were built to last forever and were an incredible pain to have bent. TMCO didn’t have equipment to bend the 1/4” tubing so they had to explore other local fab shops. Bison manufacturing in Lincoln had equipment built to bend goal post tubing which essentially is what our steel was needing bent. TMCO had to cut the pipe into several pieces, the 2 piece design is 4 pieces cut, all bent the welded back together and cleaned up. Because of the uniqueness of this project nothing was ever exact and Todd had to work the bends to what he thought looked best.
We would imagine these bars are a little more expensive than other bars like the Candybars? Any rough estimate on the total cost it took to make this?
I was told $5K is the MSRP tag if someone wanted these done. Thankfully the owner of TMCO is a very giving person and when he heard that Nowear helps kids he gladly jumped on board to help us out. Bison manufacturing donated the labor and bends they did as well.
Do you have an official name for the bars or are you just sticking with the Biggest BMX Bars title?
I honestly hadn’t thought about naming the bars themselves I just wanted The Nowear Compound to have a symbol and something that was totally unique to us. For now the worlds largest BMX bars seems suiting. We did want to apply for Guinness book of world records but it’s around $1400 to have someone come out.
We’ve seen a few things go down on the rail since you had it installed the other week from a few sneak peek clips you released online. What’s the wildest thing you have seen go down on this so far?
Nic Bonner, Riley Sims and Noah Sorenson are the only 3 dudes to hit the bars so far and Nic’s over tooth is by far the most ridiculous so far. The powder coat on the bars was to slick for Nic to properly execute the trick, after 50 or so tries and crashes, we added some Duct tape on the bars to give Nic just enough stick to pull it out.
Any predictions or tricks you want to call out for the Cornhuckit jam?
Lots of riders have been telling me the things they are planning on doing when they come for our Cornhuckit jam. Examples: Dan Nielsen plans on foot jamming the crossbar among other things, Andy Seehausen is calling out a Rueben wall ride over the bars when he visits next. Myself, I want to Abubaca them. I’m confident when we get as many pros as predicted that things are going to get pretty crazy here!
What’s the plan for the bars? Will there be a best trick on it or will it be apart of the whole day?
The Cornhuckit Jam is a weekend of enjoying BMX with family and friends. Bikers are allowed to ride freely around the grounds all weekend, camp etc. We do several fun side things that Saturday and we will be holding a best trick mini comp on the bars presented by Standard Byke Company.
Speaking on the Cornhuckit jam, what’s the details on that? Can you give us the full scoop, when, where, time, cost, etc?
August 8th from noon til super crazy late. It’s very relaxed and bikers are welcome to come set up tents, etc. all weekend if they’d like. We require donation of $5 spectator, $10 rider for the weekend to help us cover costs of holding the jam. We do our awards ceremony for the BYOB contest series, hold mini comps, jam out riding bikes all weekend on our indoor park, outdoor park, several trail spots, etc. Our Friends “The Killigans’ come play live while we ride which is a huge honor to have such an amazing band at the Compound. We also have venders set up all day including a full fledge BMX shop, “Larson’s Mudslingers.” Other BMX product and apparel venders as well: Tree Bicycle Co, XS energy, PHV clothing, NOWEAR & Standard Byke Company are a few that have set up at past events and look forward to this year as well. Food is amazing with not only general concessions but a place called “Crave” comes out to do burgers with their own locally grass fed meat. It’s my personal favorite hamburgers.
There’s rumors floating around that Matt Beringer might be making an appearance at this years jam. Can you confirm or deny this?
I will tell you what I know. Matt Beringer is a huge inspiration to me, not only as a rider but for what he has done for BMX. I always admired how Matt built crazy amounts of awesome BMX stuff at his own home and opened it to any BMX around the world to enjoy. I have modeled the Nowear Compound after what Matt did. We are smack dabb in the middle of the country and only 30 min off 1-80 the longest interstate in the U.S. We wanted to make a place for any rider of any skill level to stop and enjoy while on their travels. I messaged Matt a couple months ago and told him what we were doing and about our jam August 8th. I received a reply a few days ago from him that said “We’re trying to round up a crew, Aug 8?” Needless to say when receiving the message I was beyond stoked. We get amazing riders at the Compound all the time and it’s been a dream to have shared our ramps with so many great dudes. Because of my respect for Matt and what he’s done for riders with his own compound it’s needless to say how honored I would be to have him here.
What’s the plan for the rest of the summer for the Nowear crew? Seems like you guys are always on the move?
We are focusing on doing more stunt shows. Giving local kids the chance to earn a few dollars while entertaining others on their bike is a great opportunity for them. We are always looking for midwest comps that we can round a huge crew up and go support. Having been a park owner I personally know the financial struggles and the importance of these jams and high turn out. I always try to not only sponsor the comps I hear of but bring as many riders to them as well.
How can people keep up with Nowear and keep up with the Cornhuckit jam?
People can follow Nowear on Instagram @nowearbmx or our Facebook page Nowear Extreme Rider Apparel, info for our jams is on our web nowearbmx.com. If any rider has any questions or wants to ride the Compound they can message me through any social media outlet or call me direct at 402-875-3344
Anything we missed you want to say?
I would like to thank you Kurt for your constant support of our company and what we are trying to do for BMX. Nowear is here is help BMX and spread positivity in the scene so it can grow giving more kids the opportunity to be involved.
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