Bars
Browse used BMX bars for sale from riders across the UK. Most 20in bars sit between 8in and 10in of rise and around 29in to 30in wide, with 11 to 13 degrees of backsweep, and they are the part that sets how tall and how far back your riding position feels. This category covers four-piece and two-piece chromoly bars for street, park, trails and race.
What size BMX bars should I run?
Bars are described by four numbers: rise, width, backsweep and upsweep. Taller riders and street riders tend towards 9in to 10in of rise and the full 30in width, while race riders usually run lower and narrower for a flatter position over the front end. Four-piece chromoly bars, built from two uprights, a crossbar and a centre section, are the standard street and park choice from Fiend, Cult and Federal; two-piece bars use a single bent tube with a crossbar and are lighter.
Should I buy new bars or a new stem?
If your hands feel too far forward or too close, that is reach, and reach lives in the stem — front-loaders push the bars out, top-loaders keep them back and add a little height. If the bars feel too low, or the sweep has your wrists at an angle you cannot settle into, that is the bars. Changing bars can also change the plugs you need, since a cut-down bar leaves a different wall thickness at the bar ends.
What should I check on used BMX bars?
Sight down each upright against a straight edge, because a bar pushed forward in a slam will not show in a photo. Look hard at the welds where the crossbar meets the uprights and where the uprights meet the centre section, since that is where fatigued chromoly cracks, and treat paint lifting at a weld as a reason to walk away. Then check the clamp area for deep gouges or a flat spot from an over-torqued stem, check inside the open ends for rust, and measure the width in case a previous owner cut them down.
Is it safe to buy used bars?
Bars are a part that hurts when it fails, and chromoly fatigues quietly rather than giving warning. Buy from a seller who can say how long they rode them and whether the bike went down hard, and be more cautious with bars off a street bike than off a race bike that has only seen gates. A new set is not a large outlay measured against the alternative.
What are used BMX bars worth?
A sound pair generally sits well under half of new, with money coming off for scratched knurling in the clamp area, a cut width or a colour that has been out of production for years. Bars stripped off a whole bike and listed with the rest of the components usually go cheaper than a standalone listing, and buying two or three parts from one seller saves on postage for something this awkward to box.