Sam Hill Signature Nukeproof Stem, Grips & Handguards - Core Bike 2019

Jan 27, 2019
by James Smurthwaite  
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Sam Hill has added to his signature Nukeproof component line with a new stem, some softer grips and branded hand guards that were all revealed at Core Bike Show today.

Stem

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Sam has been using Nukeproof's Horizon stem all year so it was time for him to get his own signature model. The stem uses Ti bolts which saves about ten per cent weight over the standard Horizon stem. The stem is available in 35mm, 50mm and 65mm versions, of which Sam shoots down the middle with 50mm on his race bike.

Price: £79.99

Grips

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Nukeproof has had a pair of Sam Hill grips in its inventory since 2013 but Core saw the release of a super-soft compound for those looking for even more grip. There's no change in design here but the 15 durometer rubber is replaced with 5 durometer for racers who are after maximum performance but aren't necessarily worries about the longest lasting grip.

Proce: £19.99

Handguards

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Enduro handguards may be opinion splitters but Sam Hill is a full convert and has been racing with them since the last race of the 2016 EWS season. The guards offer the obvious protection for your hands from trailside branches but they also protect your brake levers during a crash - to finish first, first you must finish.

Sam's model is really just a re-sticker job on a pair of AVS handguards, but with AVS only previously being sold on their own website this Nukeproof branded model gives them access to CRC, retailers and a much bigger market. Read our review of them here.

Price: £62.99

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Reviews and Tech Grips Stems Sam Hill Core Bike


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125 Comments
  • 156 25
 Ahahaha 70 quid for two plastic flaps? Sure they'll deflect small branches and twigs and may mitigate a more serious skin graze vs no guards but really? But seventy of your English pounds?

I'm sure at Sam's level with the cliche 'you've got to finish to win' then this sort of gizmo might make a difference but if you actually see someone out on the trails with them, then I'm sure there's a disclaimer that comes with them that says everyone else is going to take the piss. Relentlessly. For ever more.

I guess sticking a pro name on a product literally means you can sell ANYTHING.
  • 38 141
flag Flowcheckers (Jan 27, 2019 at 9:15) (Below Threshold)
 Not just plastic flaps and cheaper than hand surgery or a new brake lever repair. If you're taking real enduro lines these are a necessity.
  • 38 3
 Sam got bills to pay.
  • 21 3
 This is full enduro. Where's Ben stiller when you need him.
  • 19 70
flag bartb (Jan 27, 2019 at 9:20) (Below Threshold)
 When did bikers start becoming such bitches?

Motocross, sure I understand but a bicycle going down a hill? LOL
  • 11 5
 @Flowcheckers: I don't know... If a crash breaks your brake levers it will just as much break these things. And then your hands may be in between.
  • 52 0
 @Flowcheckers: my home trails only have faux enduro lines, do I need these?
  • 24 0
 @Flowcheckers: Uhh, they cost more than a whole new brake lever.
  • 25 2
 My bike gets pretty squirrelly sometimes when free riding through bushes or just taking the "French lines". Bushes will slap my brakes hard enough to lock a wheel for a split second. I would like to try them, but I do agree 70 is too high. I would pay 40.
  • 26 3
 You can find almost exact copys on Aliexpress for about 10€.
Search for pit bike hand guard.
  • 25 4
 @bartb: last time I checked, the guy riding his bike in front of me wasn't kicking up a ton of roost with a 250 4 stroke that wrecked my knuckles.
  • 13 0
 BraapDuro
  • 4 0
 Just need a front fender for the full effect. Joking aside, these would have saved me from a broken finger but I still wont use them.
  • 19 1
 I'm riding those AVS handguards for 9 months now. I was reluctant to ride them: sure your friends can make some bad jokes (or better ones!). I removed them after a week thinking it's super ugly and not the most useful..
Then I put them back when I went to ride a ridge trail here in BC. Overgrown, many trees, branches, etc... It was AMAZING to ride with them. No more branches braking for you. It also cuts the winds when it's cold.

I never removed them. Sure the price is a different topic!
  • 8 0
 I cracked my hand on a nasty, oversized yucca plant here in SoCal. It felt like I broke something and almost sent me over the bars. I don’t run them but I can say at that moment (and others) I was wishing I did.
  • 3 5
 @akamera: my old snowmobile had them. new sled doesn’t and I finally took it out yesterday and have sore knuckles.
  • 14 10
 @freddiehg: My enduro line comment was sarcasm.
If Gwin had these maybe he doesn't hurt his hand and Yt renews his million dollar contract last year and he doesn't have to become a team manager.
That was more sarcasm.
  • 3 6
 Exactly! Going from experience from using better ones than these on the SM - that proper ones won’t save fingers from being broken.

Absolute gimmick!
  • 6 1
 Agree if you're a normal dude riding a groomed trail. That being said, I took my SC Nomad on an adventure day yesterday in Washington in Jan involving creek crossings and blackberry bushes. These would have been amazing in a situation like that. with freezing weather and prickleys Obviously not what they're marketing but.. #20roundswithRockyBalbBusha
  • 12 1
 In mediterranean areas difficult to ride without themm... Trails are just open lines into bushes...
  • 8 0
 If I was racing blind on overgrown trails regularly — I’d definitey consider them.
  • 4 1
 I was riding Hiline in Sedona and my left pinky got sliced pretty badly by a thorny branch next to the main line into a corner. Also lots of thorny bushes and cactus trees right along the apex of corners out in the desert. Handguards would've prevented my injury for sure so I'll be looking into a set for desert riding!
  • 3 0
 I have a set of those. From Megavalanche. Quite useful on mass start. Also working ok in overgrown single tracks in Surrey Alps. ???????????? you can stick whathever you want on them. Fully customised
  • 7 0
 I bought a set of Mini MX (pitbike) handguards on eBay for £7.80 then 3D printed some brackets to replicate the AVS's for less than a tenner!
  • 4 1
 But they'll look Sic AF with my Aaron Gwin number plate....
  • 2 2
 @IllestT: will a 250 4 stroke throw roost ?
  • 3 2
 they look cheap even though the steep price , those carbon look decals on it are pointless , make them carbon and the price would make sense , In my opinion still look like a Tumour on your handlebars , it should not be there and doesnt look good either ,
  • 1 0
 @l0key: no brunch, no brunch!
  • 1 0
 I did get ripped off the bike from my hands getting shredded at 30mph from brambles .... once ... Was a hard once so if it wasn't 70 sheets I'd be tempted.
  • 1 0
 @watchtower: not if it's a four stroke
  • 4 1
 But you'll look like Sam HIll tho. What's not to like?
  • 5 0
 @Diesel-Powered: actual carbon or just carbon stickers.... They both make you faster
  • 1 8
flag GatoGordo (Jan 27, 2019 at 17:03) (Below Threshold)
 If you gotta ask or talk about the price You Can’t afforded. @veero
  • 1 8
flag GatoGordo (Jan 27, 2019 at 17:08) (Below Threshold)
 We’re all bitches because we’re tired from pounding your Mom. @bartb:
  • 5 0
 @akamera:

“cuts the wind when it’s cold” — number one reason to run the hand guards imo. Had a long, wet winter decent last year and my hands got frigid and numb half way through.

I put hand guards on my dirt bike and didn’t think much of it. Then I crashed and the left guard flipped up and I couldn’t fix it on the trail. Rode back to the truck and then realized how much the guards deflect the wind to keep your hands warm, because my left hand was super cold from the wind since the guard was out of position.

It got me thinking back to that cold hands mtb descent and of hand guards were the answer. Or winter riding gloves.
  • 1 0
 @WRainey88: I also have Raynauds... so every bit helps me to keep riding! Wind and branches are 2 strong arguments for me. But sure if you ride the desert with no trees.. well it's not the most useful thing to have!

It's only when we don't have something anymore that we can miss it and see how important it was!
  • 1 0
 @WRainey88: I had not even considered this...
  • 2 1
 @GatoGordo: Au contraire, these aren't carbon so I'm simply not interested. Who in their right mind would pay that price for guards made from such a commoner material?!

Seriously though there have been some fairly good arguments for hand guards on here. But THESE guards just don't seem to cut it for me. Only being mounted inboard if you hit something really hefty they're going to bend and you'll probably still break your lever and fingers. Otherwise they would need to be so stiff they would just snap off.

Sure there's a whole host of stuff they would deflect but in my 20 years riding I've never thought 'you know what I really need is a set of flimsy AF looking plastic panty wings on my bars which cost nearly as much as my cranks'.

In the UK we generally ride in shit weather most of the time, we don't have cold crisp winters, it's wet. All. The. Damn. Time. I doubt these guards would keep sufficient water off your hands to keep them from getting cold. Just get on with it.

Also they really missed an opportunity. Surely a set of these integrated into the super soft grips with a support at the end of the bar as well they could have sold for £120+? Sign me the F up for your bad boys!
  • 1 0
 + 5 p+p?
  • 1 2
 You do realise there will now be a day sometime in the future when on a ride you will twat one of your pinkys on a tight tree and it will rip off in a bloody mess , you will cry like a baby and that my friend will be karma.
However , I agree they should be about £15!!
  • 1 0
 @akamera: get the Inside line !!
no more cold hands ???

=> french lines!!
  • 1 3
 Don’t buy them then jackass
  • 6 0
 @GatoGordo: wow, people still use mom disses?

What are you? 13? Creative...
  • 1 0
 @jzPV: Thats actually a valid concern. If you look at most motorcycle levers, you'll see a notch to allow it to break in the event of a crash. There is a real risk of getting your fingers stuck between the lever and bar. With hand guards it may be similar. And I dont see a break notch on mtn levers...
  • 1 0
 @Poulsbojohnny: because they simply bend... If you hit a tree with your pinky, those won't protect it.. you'll have pain on your fingers and leave a trace on the trees! those don't help you to ride and punch trees Big Grin
  • 1 0
 @nobrain: ahah, you're everywhere! Big Grin
Frenchlines, always!! all the time.

I still have cold hands, they're not magic, but it helps to have them less cold.. or it takes a bit more time to have them cold Big Grin

How are your French lines? any?!
  • 1 0
 Don't tighten your brake lever too much and they'll just swivel out of harms way in case of impact. Branches and thorns may cut your hands but then again I'm already wearing gloves whereas my lower arms are usually all cut up from branches and thorns. Fair enough though cuts in your hands are more annoying than cuts in your lower arms. Except when my elbow pads pick up debris and it rubs my skin away. But that's a different story. At then end of the day, if you feel you would like more coverage for your hands this may be an interesting product. The carbon stickers are a great touch. It suits the retro/moto style really well.
  • 1 0
 If they can stop a bramble and a nettle they might be worth the mocking. My knuckles and arms get shredded in the summer.
  • 50 5
 Poor guy... 75° seat angle, 65° Head angle.... Suprised hes done so Well at the EWS with those numbers.
  • 26 0
 Ha. And what about the chainstay lengths and fork offset numbers??! Won’t SOMEBODY please think of the children!!
  • 20 8
 We’ll see what Gee and Rach will be running since they will go 100% custom of what suits them. If Gees bike will be shorter than Pole Machine I will open my finest bottle of vodka and listen to Agnus Dei...
  • 6 0
 Not to mention a 50mm stem! It's a wonder he gets around any corners
  • 12 1
 @Vulhelm: that is why he goes for the insides, cannot turn too much.
  • 4 0
 Totally unrideable. Might as well ride a cyclocross bike.
  • 24 1
 Now i can finally show those birds what a hardcore biker i am when i order that vanilla gelatto. With a swift gaze on my Bike "thats right, hand guards. Contain your orgasms."
  • 23 1
 Is it hairs from hitting dogs on the guards?
  • 15 0
 He's been chasing the GOAT. Catching up too, I reckon.
  • 1 0
 Rush job getting them re-stickered I reckon. Caught a few hairs off his pup!
  • 6 1
 @gabriel-mission9: funny all the moto stuff has been always so well wellcomed on Mtb fasion trends except this one...I gues his capital sin has been to not have born in some Santacruz headquarter...
  • 19 0
 this may be my "cactus protection plan". I cant tell you how many times Ive wacked my hands on some low cactus out here in the desert switchbacks we have at my local trails.
  • 5 0
 I got a mesquite thorn stuck in a finger. Didn't realize what it was until the next day when it got inflamed. Better line would have helped, but these might be a easier thing to do for those particular trails.
  • 7 0
 Southern Colorado checking in. Punched a cactus going around a blind corner once. Had to pull a few spikes out with pliers and took three months to fully heal afterwards.
  • 18 0
 £70!
  • 14 0
 hand guard cost more than the stem :-) LOL
that's ridiculous
  • 10 2
 Hand guards. It might reduce impact on a tree or stone but fingers will still get broken.
Why not make them fully rigid, double mounted around the grip? - > If you catch a tree with your bar, you will still crash. But it might keep your fingers from getting smashed, sidelining you for 3 months.
  • 16 2
 Because if you go OTB you might rip your fingers off.
  • 3 1
 these are definitey rigid enough to keep your fingers from getting smashed. Your bars are going to turn immediately if you hit something, deflecting the impact. If you hit something hard enough to need an outer strut to save your fingers youre probably going to shatter your whole arm or worse so who cares at that point
  • 6 4
 Considering how much skin I lost on my fingers this season, I am interested. I have deep burn marks on my knuckles after my front wheel washed out. Now even a stupid small crash rips the chunk of previously damaged skin off.
  • 2 0
 I think they would be better in places with vines that hang down, I've got scars all over my knuckles from vines cutting my hands up as i ride down a trail, having hand-guards they would just be brushed aside instead of digging into your knuckles.
  • 3 0
 I've run this open ended kind of guard on my enduro motorcycle as well as the full metal wraparound ones. If you tag a tree with the metal ones it saves your fingers but jams your wrist; if you tag a tree with the plastic ones, it bends, your bars deflect a little and you slide on by without squashing any fingers. Results may vary, of course...and the open ended ones don't do a damn thing to protect your levers in a crash.
  • 7 1
 they help a lot when you rush trough trails with lots of vegetation nearby. Bushes can tap your brakes and cause horrible crashes. A special enduro problem.

Still disappointed he didn’t come out with his own frame company though. He’s a robot as well, so...
  • 9 1
 Those hand guards can get you out of some hairy situations!
  • 3 0
 I’ll take a pair with the extra DNA sample please.
  • 10 5
 I like that stem and I would buy these guards only to piss people off. In dorky terms that’s not even close to saddle bag Jerry or safety first kind of Jerry, XC ride in full body armor and Bell Super helmet.
  • 10 0
 This is the most agreeable to my own Logic I’ve seen from you.
  • 4 0
 While these hand guards are expensive, they are cheaper than the hospital bill that I received last year to surgically remove a cactus needle embedded in my knuckle from a tight cactus lines single track here in AZ!
  • 1 1
 Coming from a citizen with free health insurance- How much did you pay? Generously interested- Hospital bills are insane.
  • 3 1
 Coming from the moto side, all my Moto’s have full wrap bark busters. Saves me every ride. I think these will help immensely here in the PNW on our back country stuff that rarely gets brushed out. If you can’t afford $60 USD I don’t know how u guys afford the ER after a crash. You must charge it or better yet you guys don’t have health care.
  • 9 0
 We have public health care, at least the civilised countries. Big Grin
  • 2 2
 @Lennypl: And you have a tiny population of people that having been living in the same country for thousands of years, try universal healthcare for a couple hundred million people buddy
  • 5 0
 @mkotowski1: lol the same tired excuse. Imagine if they didn't spend all your tax dollars on military spending? Just imagine!
  • 2 1
 @Jokesterwild: then who would keep Russia and China from face rolling Eastern Europe?
  • 3 0
 Hey man I wish we had universal healthcare I can barely afford the worst coverage here but living in the US, I also realize how monumental of a task it is to shift a nations entire healthcare system.

Free healthcare sounds great but you and me can’t implement change that easily and it is undeniable that it is easier to implement anything on a smaller scale, aka a smaller country
  • 2 0
 The grips are really low quality.I had one pair and they were too expensive if you ask me ( 50 BGN which is 25 euro and that is 30 US dollars ).But I decidet to give them a try.Well the little bolts are as far as I remmeber 4mm hex key and the screw of the blots is 3mm,they snaped pretty fast and of the caps on the grips fell of the grip while I was ridding ( didnt find it ) I found a replacement ( darthmoor caps).But the grips were not soft at all,and they woe down pretty fast.I dont recomment them at all.Sorry Sam.
  • 5 0
 The tires are upside down!
  • 1 0
 Wheels rotate! Nah, I've not seen logo's like that before either.
  • 26 0
 NI˥ƎHƆIW
  • 1 0
 @colincolin: I had to turn my head upside down
  • 2 1
 I can definitely see the advantages of running hand-guards, especially in really tight, steep tracks are in the middle of the rain forest, vines that will rip your hands to shreds are common and will hang over the track waiting for you to ride into them ripping your hands up, instead of digging thorns out of your knuckles the vine would just be brushed aside. However I don't think they would be of any use on bike park style of trails where there is almost never anything hanging over because the trail is wide and maintained regularly.
  • 4 0
 Next year: Bold new graphics LTD edition.
  • 2 0
 Isn’t an engineer supposed to be pointing out the machining marks in the stem and talk about fatigue or mismatches or something?
  • 1 1
 Are those handguards real necessary for anything? I ride about 11 years and never had any problem with branches, twigs or vines twining my hands... And I'm almost a Tarzan here in Brazilian trails... They looks like 'Okay looser... Here I am, look my handguards, you havent't it'.
  • 1 0
 I think they would help deflect an impact when they bend , although they will squish your fingers , I still think you’d be better off than direct finger to tree impact. That said, I have no need for them
  • 1 0
 I was under the impression the main reason Sam uses the handguards is to stop accidental braking, with the protection a secondary factor.
  • 2 0
 Wish I had those hand guards when I clipped that tree last summer. Pinky finger is healed but crooked and shaky.
  • 2 0
 Watch the report from EWS Madeira and you'll see plenty of reasons to use handguards.
  • 2 0
 You can buy these plastic flaps from china for 10 pounds.
  • 1 0
 Mount them on the outboard side and you could use them for bar ends while still looking enduro af
  • 1 0
 Its hard to make fun of Sam Hill but those are not handguards, its just another place to slap stickers.
  • 2 1
 The stem is pretty sweet. What are his pedals like? I nearly got some, but went for Burgtecs instead.
  • 3 3
 They are more expensive than Superstars so how would I know...
  • 4 0
 Close the door on your way out PLEASE COLIN.
  • 2 0
 What! No video about how they came up with that Sam Hill logo on the stem?
  • 1 0
 The piece of metal for the hand guard should have a U-Bend on the other end that gets inserted into the handlebar
  • 1 0
 hey look...I have MX style bash guards on my bike.......I have nipples Greg, could you milk me?
  • 1 0
 These handguards have been a huge hit on all the Walmart high-end builds for years
  • 1 0
 5 Durometer? 15 durometer? You need a letter to show what scale you mean, otherswise that's a word salad.
  • 4 2
 Dope
  • 1 0
 Core bike = HOPE SB130 launch
  • 1 0
 Nice and reasonably priced stem
  • 1 0
 I thought it was a team announcement starting with "Sam Hill..." whew Smile
  • 1 0
 why is Sam Hill just so COOL?
  • 1 0
 nukeproof samhill edition?
  • 2 1
 £70.. Dream on my son..
  • 1 0
 Very cool !!!
  • 1 2
 HAHAHAHAHAHA £70! #handguardswinmedals
  • 1 1
 Nooo handguards again !
  • 5 8
 Handguards. Do they come with nail polish for your princess hands?
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