Truvativ Blackbox Danny Hart bars

Another review from ‘Office Padowan’ Dan…

Gold, do do, da da da da da

For years the mysterious Blackbox Labs components were exclusively for pro riders, new for 2013 a wide range of Blackbox products have now been made available to the public. Three sets of signature Blackbox handlebars have been made in conjunction with Stevie Smith (2013 DH world cup overall winner) Jerome Clementz (EWS overall winner) and of course Danny Hart (2011 DH world champion).

His unique way of riding makes him one of the most stylish riders on the circuit, from sick whips to steep smashing gold, and Danny has not disappointed with the design of the bar; a risky colour for some, but for me a really nice component to look at. White graphics on top of a gold base is a simple but effective design and so that’s a thumbs up from me on looks.

The overall feel of the bar is nice, with a medium range rise (25mm) added with a fairly laid 9° back sweep, it should suit any style of rider or track, where a strong and lightweight bar is essential. If you’re not a similar size to the hulk you can cut the bars down from the stock 780mm to a width that suits you; small 5mm grooves down the bar give a useful guide to make the bar feel better suited to your own personal style.

My only criticism is that after cutting the bars down to 760mm, so only minus 20mm, I could only put my shifter so far in board due to where the bar starts to taper; fortunately for me there was still space for my brakes and shifters to fit but only just. If you’re looking for a bar that you’ll want to cut down less than 760mm this probably isn’t the one for you, unless you have rather small hands and have really short lever reach.

Apart from that it’s a really nice looking handle bar, and compared to a lot others it’s on the cheaper side too (which is always nice). A mid range height added with that 9º back sweep enables a comfortable ride feel, but also allows you room to manoeuvre over the bike, and hey who knows it might just let you throw some awesome whips too.

Overall: A really nice looking bar, good value, though maybe not suited for anyone looking to trim the width.