MEATengines

Monday Musings No.17 – Bar Roll, OneUp, & The Hunter Smooth Move

What do Squamish-based OneUp components have to do with my Nitto-Japan-made Hunter Smooth Move bar? Well, it all comes down to philosophy. Religion even. When a time-honoured practice isn’t working, folks go seeking some new balm for their soul. 

In my case, it’s been the battle to experience what other folks love-love-love about the Smooth Move. I mean, on paper, the numbers work for me – sweeps and rise – and on my bikes the handlebar has been good. And, it looks incredible. But where, for example, the Stooge Moto Bar just belongs on my Walt(x)WZRD V2 and the Soma Dream Lowdown owns its perch on my Waltworks V1, the Hunter hasn’t previously felt entirely like home. 

Hunter Smooth Move. Made in Japan with that timeless Nitto shape and finish. Design by Hunter with the classic Renthal Baja-bend in mind.
Hunter Smooth Move. Made in Japan with that timeless Nitto shape and finish. Design by Hunter with the classic Renthal Baja-bend in mind.
Even with the short Chromag head tube the 170mm DVO Onyx 38 SL and 75mm Hunter riser bar make for tall setup on my Will's Arctuhawk.
Even with the short Chromag head tube the 170mm DVO Onyx 38 SL and 75mm Hunter riser bar make for tall setup on my Will’s Arctuhawk.

Originally this little bit of musing on a Monday was going to center around the age-old handlebar question of “How high, is too high?” On the one hand, World Cup XC racers are still running flat bars and massively negative rise stems to get their bars low-low-low. On the other hand, World Cup DH racers are running upper crowns, stem risers, and massive riser bars as part of an up & slack setup suited to the steepest tracks. How best then to find a happy place for punting around in the woods?

As part of my ‘HHITH?’ journey, I swapped out the 30, 40, & 50mm riser bars I’ve been rotating through on the Arctuhawk and installed the Nitto-made 75mm rise Hunter Smooth Move bars. These have a 15° backsweep, a 5° upsweep, and a whole lotta rise. In fact, they’re by far the tallest bars I’ve run on this bike which already has a reasonably tall front end thanks to the 170mm DVO Onyx D1. Definitely too high!?!

If this was my fork I could certainly lose a couple centimetres off the steerer tube. Thanks to SuspensionWerx and DVO for the long-term test-writing loan.
If this was my fork I could certainly lose a couple centimetres off the steerer tube. Thanks to SuspensionWerx and DVO for the long-term test-writing loan.
Not the best going flat-out through flat corners but for the steep and deep trails of the North Shore I find the taller bar beneficial. (Photo: Penny)
Not the best going flat-out through flat corners but for the steep and deep trails of the North Shore I find the taller bar beneficial. (Photo: Penny)

{Above photo: Penny}

I was chatting with a friend about their new OneUp bar and how all their claims of compliance were bullshit, which hasn’t been true in my experience. The secret – or actually, it’s part of the setup – with their bars, while certainly the shape and sweep don’t work for everyone, is to align them with the head angle of your bike so that, pardon the foreshadowing, the smooth movement is inline with forces acting on the front wheel and suspension. They even put HTA-related markings on the bars.

That thundered around in my head for the rest of the day and when I arrived home I abandoned my standard practice for handlebar setup {close your eyes and cut/rotate your bar} and instead started from a point where the rise of the Smooth Move was more or less inline with the stanchions of my fork {but not the head tube, since I’m running a -2° WTC GeoShift headset}.

I’ve since wiggled the bar in either direction, but this position, which is rolled significantly rearward from where I had the bar before, is working beautifully. Beautifully. Up and down. Zero motivation to try something different on my Chromag. 

Most my hours on the Hunter Smooth Move have been on my V2, and the setup was good. But I love the bars on my Will’s Arcturian.
It's A Lot of rise. And, perfect. Accentuated by that Nitto shaping at the stem clamp.
It’s A Lot of rise. And, perfect. Accentuated by that Nitto shaping at the stem clamp.

I have had a half-dozen rides on the Arctuhawk since I rolled the Hunter Smooth Move to its sweet spot {for me}. Sometimes I’d like my bar a bit lower. Sometimes I’d like my bar a bit higher, but most of the time it’s perfect. I’m so happy with the position of everything that I’d cut the steerer tube tomorrow if this Onyx 38 SL didn’t belong to SuspensionWerx & DVO {I really should finish my review and return it?! Hahahahaha}.

And there you go. If your handlebar position works for you then rad. And if it doesn’t, maybe an alt-bar with more backsweep, like the Smooth Move, would work for you like it’s worked for my tired hands, elbows, and arms in general. Or maybe, just maybe, the OneUp method of bar setup is right for any steer-stick on the market? I mean, there won’t be any markings on the bar, but it isn’t exactly rocket surgery to line up the plane of the bar rise with the plane of the fork. 

And there you go, Hunter Smooth Move, not just another beautiful Nitto-made handlebar but a rad alt-bar option for the off-road crowd and the perfect choice for maneuvering my multi-speed rig. High rise and all. 

The Hunter Smooth Move, High Rise, Bar. 

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