How to choose the right scooter bar
What is a scooter bar?
Going right back to the basics, a scooter bar is the handle bar of the scooter that connects to the deck with a fork and clamp. It’s essentially the part of the scooter that gives you the ability to manoeuvre and ‘drive’. When it comes to stunts and your overall riding experience, choosing the right scooter bar can ultimately impact your performance, comfort, and safety.
There are many scooter bars on the market and are all designed in ways to suit different riding styles, individual preferences, and aesthetics. Pro scooter bars come in various materials, sizes, and designs, meaning the best kind of bars out there will depend on a range of different factors to suit your needs. Whether you’re a beginner or advanced rider, or even if you’re considering a complete scooter over an individual handle bar, you’ll need to consider these factors first. This guide will help you choose the best scooter bar for you.
1. Bar size
Scooter bars come in many different sizes, including various heights and diameters/widths. This is an important factor to consider – choosing a bar size that’s too short may put too much strain on your back and ruin your overall riding experience. In turn, a bar that’s too tall or narrow may affect your performance, so it all really depends on your riding preferences and measurements to determine a good fit.
• Height
A good scooter bar height should sit around the top of your thigh and hip. Ideally, you want to figure out this measurement before choosing a handle bar, so that you’re starting out with a good scooter bar height that’s right for you.
• Width
You’ll want to consider which width size is going to be best for you and your riding preferences. As a general rule of thumb, the width of your scooter bar should be similar to your shoulder width. We recommend you measure your shoulder width to determine this and give you the most comfortable riding experience.
When it comes to stunts and tricks, a wider bar will give you more stability and will be easier to catch. A narrower bar will be easier to spin.
2. Rider Preferences
An important factor to consider is how and where you ride. Your own riding style, capabilities, and aesthetic preferences will contribute to the pro scooter bar you end up choosing.
• Street Riding
Try opting for a sturdy bar that will absorb shock well and give you a smoother ride over uneven surfaces. Generally, chromoly bars are the sturdiest scooter bars out there and provide maximum strength. Street riders usually prefer strength over lightness and tend to choose these types of bars.
• Freestyle Riding
Choose a bar that is lightweight, such as aluminium or titanium bars. Lightweight scooter bars are more agile and ideal for manoeuvrability during tricks and stunts. Freestyle riders at an intermediate to advanced level usually prefer these options.
3. Design and Construction
Scooter bars come in a variety of materials, so it’s important that you choose the right one for you. The three main bar materials include:
Aluminium bars are known for their high-performing combination of lightness and sturdiness. These types of bars are best suited to riders who prefer a lightweight option.
• Chromoly
Unique for their strength-to-weight ratio, chromoly bars are an excellent starting point for a beginner rider due to their solid strength.
• Titanium
Titanium bars are generally the preferred bar-of-choice of professional riders. These scooter bars combine lightness and strength at an exceptional standard. As they tend to be more expensive than other pro bars and are recommended to advanced riders.
4. Budget
Though you shouldn’t compromise on the quality of your bar, it’s important to weigh up the costs of each option within your budget. Blunt Envy has an extensive range of pro scooter bars to suit every rider’s budget.
5. Compatibility
It’s important to choose a bar that’s compatible with the rest of your scooter. Our product compatibility guide will assist with finding a bar that’s best for your scooter.
You’ll need to consider:
• Bar diameter size
Depending on your set-up, you’ll need to consider whether an Oversized or Standard bar diameter will be compatible (check out our Scooter Bar: FAQs blog for more info). Bar diameters differ a lot, so it’s important to choose the right diameter size to fit with your clamp and compression system.
• Compression System
The compression system you run (learn more about the difference between IHC, HIC, and SCS) will determine the best scooter bar for your set-up.