Aryei Levenson: S&M REA Handlebar

Aryei is hard to box into one kind of riding. Street, dirt, bowls and big transition all get the same full-commitment treatment. That willingness to ride everything is a proper BMX trait, and it is why his clips never feel like the same trick repeated on a different obstacle. Proper trail riding exposes everything. You need enough speed, good timing and the confidence to let the bike move without trying to correct every little thing in the air. The jumps only work because people have spent time digging, watering and keeping the line alive, so the riding and the work around it are tied together. A good trails rider makes all of that look simple. The shape is right, the bike stays calm and the whole line carries on instead of becoming one trick followed by a panic pedal. That style never really dates. BMX changes, bikes change and tricks get bigger, but someone flowing through a good set of jumps will always be worth watching. There is no need to turn it into a motivational speech. Aryei Levenson is simply very good at riding a BMX in a way that feels unmistakably personal. That is harder than it sounds. The tricks matter, but the way they are used is what gives the riding a bit of life and keeps people coming back for the next video.

S&M REA Handlebar. Dual-radius bends and proper chromoly construction for the fact he rides everything hard. Bars are a simple-looking part that riders can be unbelievably fussy about. Rise changes the front-end height, width changes leverage and the sweep affects how the wrists and shoulders sit on the bike. Even a small change can make manuals, hops or landings feel different. That is why signature bars are usually more personal than they first appear. The shape reflects what the rider has become comfortable with after years of riding. It is still worth comparing the numbers with your current bars before changing anything. A setup that feels perfect to one rider can feel completely wrong to somebody with a different build or style. There is plenty of marketing rubbish around bike parts, so the useful question is simple: does the product solve something for the rider? Here, it does. The shape, size or construction connects back to the riding. That is a much better reason for a signature part than a fresh logo and a loud launch post. Watch: S&M - AUSSIE RULES Hero image: S&M Aussie Rules video still.