Ken Block likes his toys, and it’s no secret bicycles have a special place in his garage. Specialized stepped up once again and came up with a turbo powered sidehack with some trick features and a custom paint job fitting for the Hoonigan.
Monkey past the break and check out the details on what had to be rad project to work on…
There is a strong crossover of power-sports professionals using bicycles for training (and surely fun), and Specialized who recently presented Ken Block with a custom S-Works Demo just delivered this gem. Sidehacks were, (are), one of BMX’s niche events that teamed the rider with a “monkey” that rode shotgun and was responsible for a bobsled style start, shifting their weight to assist in each turn, and holding on for dear life. Though that is not the intent here, this thing looks extremely fun!
To make being the monkey a little more interesting, Specialized fabricated this sweet custom hand brake that operates the disc brake on the third wheel to aid in whipping the bike around in a turn. Three wheel. Fat bike. Drifting.
And what would anything Ken Block owns be without a custom paint job be? This one is the work of Specialized’s Brian Szykowny.
Given the fact this is a heavy 3-wheeled fatbike made to haul another person around, nothing is more fitting than having Specialized’s Turbo power-assist E-bike system integrated into it. Though Ken may not smoke the 26 x 4 inch rear tire, (I’m sure he’s tried…. and likely succeeded), having the power assist makes it that much more useful and fun…. for the pilot. The Sidehack seems to be attached via front and rear couplings so riding hackless looks to be a possibility.
In the words of Mr. Block:
“While the guys from Specialized Bicycles were out here in Utah last week, they gave me this AWESOME project bike they’ve been working on for a while: the slidehack! Three wheels, electric power assist, and a HANDBRAKE. Yup, a custom handbrake that locks the sidehack wheel. How rad is that? Can’t wait to cruise down the Park City streets with my kids/dogs riding alongside me in this thing. Ha. THANK YOU Specialized!
For more photos of the wild ride check out Block’s Facebook page.
Photos provided by Specialized
