13 Days until Hoffman Bikes 25th Anniversary

Mat was going through bars daily and needed something that was indestructible, so late one night back in 1994, welder Shane Kinsley was welding up some some Hoffman products when a design popped into his head. Like a mad scientist, he took some Big Daddy fork legs, seat post and a few other chromoly pieces and started cutting and welding away. After hours of continuous work, he appeared with a new handle bar concept. These bars used larger diameter uprights and crossbars and featured removable grip-ends that could be replaced if bent.

Shane welded up a few proto-types for several of the Hoffman riders to test. After some design tweaks and gaining attention with other bmxers, The new Hoffman Bikes handle bar design was named “Love Handles” and added to the Hoffman Bikes production line in the summer of 1995. The Love Handle Bars’ unique 10pcs design became one of those products that everyone wanted and needed.

Over the course of several years, the Love Handles got fatter with additions of gussets and 1” Grip-ends. After gaining too much weight, the Love Handles were retired after the 2002 product year.  It’s now evolved into the Low Drag and re released in 2015 as the Low Drag 4.3.  To this day, Shane’s design still is revered as one of the best handle bar designs.

Thanks to Zack Beckerly, Adam Dawson and Kris Gack for providing some of the photos below.