In '78, you were definitely a nobody unless you had a pair of Red Line V bars clamped to your stem. Your stem was probably an Ashtabula (if you were short on cash), or a Mongoose or Cook Bros. (if you were rich). Still, no matter what your cash flow was, Red Line V's were HOT items.
Linn Kastan, www.vintagebmx.com: The problem with the handle bars were was that the kids would break them off right where the crossbar welded. I put the bend in them so that they had a bit of spring to them; it put a little flex in the bar because with a straight crossbar. It had no flex in it at all. With a bent one, it was like a spring.
Ad in BMX Action september 1984: Bob Haro signature (8") available in chrome or white.
BMX Plus! december 1986: The Laser adjustable-bend bars seemed to be a good idea. Unfortunately, they broke off before the bike ever hit the track! Fortunately, they won't be coming on production bikes.
Freestylin december 1986: Here they be. The all-new, ready to shred, build to last, amazingly neat (drumroll please)... Dyno handlebars. Check how the crossbar support the upper part of the handlebars... say goodbye to bending.
BMX Action november 1987: The most distinctive bars on the market. You can spot'em from miles away. They will make you a stand out of any crowd! If you're a dull dude, you need thes bars.
Haro introduced their Kneesaver handlebar.
Richard Zabzdyr of Poway, CA. has come up with a handlebar available without sweepback or minimum sweep. They are made of 4130 chromoly wich has been heat-treated three times for additional strength.
www.macneilbmx.com, february 2006: Here's a new product that we've been working on for a while now, and have had some of the guys running them for a few months. Take our normal 9-Butted Light bars, add a few more butted sections (for a total of 13), and drill out 12 holes on each side where the grips go – and you've got our new Silencer bars. The main reason for doing this is that the rubber from your grips catches the edges of the holes, locking your grips in place, so no more throttle grip. Combine the holes with the extra butting, and you've just made some light bars even lighter. Total weight of the 13-Butted Silencer bars is 1.38 lbs (0.62 Kg). We used our regular hydraulic load testing to see what effect the holes might have on the stength, and we found there's no difference between these bars and our existing bars. You can expect to see them going into production pretty soon, and be out later in the spring.
