Rick Hunter of Hunter Cycles got together with Nitto via SimWorks on an idea for a better handle bar. A little sweep here, a little rise there, and we’ve got a fresh handlebar to talk about. Adding one smart bike guy with an iconic brand from Japan yields positive results. This handlebar is a testament to that. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk with Mr. Hunter about the bar, but I’ve surmised that the new cockpit option he has assimilated with these bars are for dirt jumpers, enduro-woodsie riders, and straight up cross country kooks. Three bars and three different rises to choose from.
I picked the middle one. My bike is a little strange anyways and i wanted a little more up right and commanding position (not overly stretched out) for going up and down stuff. Stuff being steep chutes on the trail, ledge rocks (up or down), and berms and such that are smattered around trails these days. I’ve yet to be disappointed by the wrist angle and the rise. With a mechanical seat adjuster (Dropper post) i can get into a dirt jumping/trials position that enables me to tech-geek-out a course and hit groomers with confidence. Wheelies, bunny-hops, and manuals are coming along nicely with the more upright and less leaned over “cross-country-oxygen-debt-drooling-position”.
Here is the deal though. I can’t read Japanese so I contacted the Monkey Wrench Cycles gang out of Lincoln, NE to get one. I’m not sure if they can read Japanese either, but they had the bar in stock. They are pretty good at getting the tough to get parts that are rad before they are RAD! Call and ask for Carl and tell him Large Marge sent yah.
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