Charlie Crumlish: S&M Fu-Bar

Charlie has influenced BMX from both sides of the camera. His technical riding is strange, clever and properly difficult, while his video work has helped countless other riders get seen. He understands BMX as both a rider and a storyteller. BMX moves quickly and has never been especially good at sitting still, but that does not mean every old idea needs replacing. Some riders leave a mark because the riding, the bike setup or the way they carried themselves became part of how BMX looked for everyone after them. That sort of influence is hard to measure with a contest result. It shows up years later in the bars people choose, the lines they try and the clips they still go back to watch. Keeping those names and products around is not about pretending nothing has changed. It is about recognising where the good stuff came from and why riders still care about it now. For us, that is what makes Charlie Crumlish worth a proper feature instead of a product caption. The signature gear is part of the story, but the riding comes first. If the clips do not make you want to grab the bike and go for a roll, a long list of specifications is not going to save it.

S&M Fu-Bar. Charlie's signature four-piece bar comes in a stack of rises, right up to 10.5 inches. 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. At Blue Groove, we would rather talk through what you ride than tell you to copy a pro bike from the tyres up. Use the linked setup as a starting point. If the geometry and feel suit you, great. If not, there is nothing wrong with keeping the bike you already know. The bigger point is that Charlie Crumlish has put enough time into BMX for those preferences to mean something. The setup has been tested through actual sessions, travel, filming and the ordinary missed attempts that never make an edit. That background is what gives a signature product some weight. Watch: This Is Not a Bar Promo Hero image: S&M Fu-Bar video still.