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Weird. That's the nutshell version of this review. Love or hate the
feel of this bar/stem combo there's no escaping the fact that these
bars defy convention and look somewhat alien on the modern flatland
landscape.
First things first- this is an ultra-minimal offset combo. To give it
a fair chance you need to use a super minimal offset or zero offset
fork. The lower part of the bars are offset by about 10mm but they are
tilted forward about 3 degrees. This odd combination makes it
astonishingly easy to push the bike up into hang 5's, dave dusters and
steamrollers. This would be a great feature for beginners if it wasn't
for the inherent squirliness that comes with minimal offset. That is
to say that the setup is easy to control forward to back but less
stable side to side.
The ultra minimal setup made for the easiest front wheel turbines I've
ever felt. The problem (for me at least) was controlling this wildly
spinning machine once it got going. After years growing accustomed to
minimal offset I hadn't expected a few millimeters change to be so
difficult to deal with.
Hitchikers and backpackers were a bit easier since the bars were
noticeably further away from the ground. Over the bar tricks were also
made less difficult by the low crossbar. Be warned though the jump
space is very narrow so jumping both feet through at the same time is
pretty scary.
Riding wise the ultra minimal set up just didn't jive with my aging
reflexes. Everything just happens so quickly with them. I decided
after about 6 weeks to let someone with a more modern style of riding
try them out. Jeff Neal was happy to help. Jeff was already
accustomed to zero rake forks and had a history of riding zero offset
bars too. I figured he could give a more objective opinion on how
useful the bars are.
As a new-school weight freak he loved them. As far as I know they're
lighter than any traditional handlebar/setm combination. Riding wise
he adapted quickly and loved the feel. He liked the fact that you
could "buy and sell" reach by turning the bars around as with a
traditional setup but he didn't have to make sizable balance
adjustments to do a trick with bars forward or backward. Unfortunately
the new school performance came at a price- blood.
If you are long legged the K-style combo is tough on the knees. I
suspect this is common with a Mike S. setup too but the problem is
exacerbated by the square tubing and unbeveled edges found on the
K-styles. Both myself and Jeff cut our knees on sharp edges with
quotidian regularity.
There are a few things you should know about compatibility with the
k-styles as well. Fist and foremost your fork should have 10mm or less
of offset. The grip tubes are 1" so you may need to buy new levers and
bar ends. Another unexpected compatibility problem is that you need to
use a very small compression device. A large screw cap like the ones
on EP forks will not fit between the narrow uprights of the K-styles.
On the plus side the stem portion has a super low stack height of about
1.5" so if you have a long steerer tube you can adjust the rise of your
bars from as little as 7" to as much as 8". Another nice feature is
that you can cut the bars super narrow and still run levers due to the
deceptively narrow base. Depending on the size of your hands you could
run the bars down to 21" and still use levers.
Though few people will, it IS possible to run a gyro with the K-styles.
You'll need to put a 1/4" spacer between the stem and gyro plate and
you'll need to take the lock nuts off of your barrel adjusters.
The combo is made of aluminum so it's hard to speculate on the
longevity of the product. I can say that we have abused them for about
5 months and they do not show any signs of cracking yet.
All in all I have to commend KHE for taking a chance by creating an
anomalous product that will appeal to a small sub-group of an already
small flatland population. It can certainly be said that you've never
ridden anything quite like this. If you are a tall rider who's rooted
in the past (me) then these are probably not for you. If you're
interested in experimenting and you like your bike to be a quick as
possible it's hard to get a faster set up than the k-styles... but for
God's sake- buy a stem pad. Your knees will thank you.
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