Max Gaertig: Wethepeople Mad Max Bar

Max has been part of Wethepeople for more than two decades, which says plenty on its own. He has stayed involved, kept riding and watched BMX change around him without losing the trail-bike setup he likes. That sort of long-term connection to a brand is worth celebrating. 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. A lot of signature products disappear into the catalogue once the launch clip is done. Max Gaertig's riding gives this one a proper reference point. You can watch the way the bike is used and understand why the setup went in this direction, even if your own bike and riding end up somewhere completely different.

Wethepeople Mad Max Bar. It comes in 10.2 and 11-inch rises, because apparently 8.7 is small now. 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 Max Gaertig 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: Max Gaertig - ETC Full Part Hero photo: Wethepeople / Dave Paterson.