Get a grip

[Gtpulse]

I just use water spray to remove grips - unless someone has used some sort of adhesive in which case some sort of solvent sprayed as above through a straw.

Tesco value hairspray is my go to for refitting, a squirt of that is enough to get them on and it dries overnight, is water soluble if I ever want to remove them.

I recently bought a set of Amé waffle grips for a GT build but they turned out to be BMX style. I had some success cutting most of the flange disc off (is that what it’s called??!) with tin snips, then spun them up on a bar fitted in a drill chuck, smoothing the cut part down with sandpaper. They aren’t perfect but you would only be able to tell under close scrutiny.

Most comfy grips I’ve got on a bike are Selle Bassano don’t know where they came from but are kind of a very dense foam/rubber combo with a a hexagonal profile.

 

[2manyoranges]

I liked the failures - when young and learning it seemed really sensible to use washing up liquid to put grips on. Easy on, and then it set nicely. Solid grips. Until it rained. Then I experienced a hilarious mass of foam and highly lubricated grips. Last time I did that.

Next approach - hairspray. Easy on. Sets nicely. Then a hernia-induced wrestle to remove them when I wanted to change levers. Yank, pull, curse, move one end by 1mm and then try to squeeze the excess along. Fall over backwards. Drop bike. Use up an entire year’s bank of expletives. Last time I did that.

Next approach - tiny amount of GT85 when installing. Easy on. Decomposes rubber enough to get it stuck on nicely. Then use thin screwdriver around inside grip to remove. Manage to scratch bars. Then manage to poke screwdriver through grip (as post above). Then managed to skewer first finger of left hand in the really fleshy lower part of the finger, which of course is well vasculated and so a constant stream of blood now courses onto the grip, bike and workshop floor. That’s gonna hurt when I ride. And it did. Last time I do that.

Next approach - spit in the grip. Just a bit. Easy on. And they stick nicely a few hours later when dry. Stable in rain, and easy to get off with a tiny bit of GT85 squirted in using the long red tube. Hurrah.

Worst retro grips? Actually good for a while Oxford foam road cut to MTB sections. Soft, grippy, light. But then they start to decompose. First a few grains, then colour all over mitts, then every ride a covering of tiny globules of foam all over gloves, then they look like they have been chewed by mice. Last time I use them.

Best retro grips? ODI Attacks. And were they not originally Attacs and not Attacks? Love em. On the jump bikes….ODI flange. Best contemporary grips? DMR Death GrIps thick Soft.