Ergon GP2 L Grips.

We all know how hard a time the contact points on a bike can give us, from sore bums to painful wrists and ankles. Wrist pains can be particularly nasty it seems, with tingling giving way to numbness for some, and prolonged pain for others that remains very uncomfortable long after a ride ended. 

Curly barred riding folk have lots of options for shifting their hand position around, those poking flat barred mountain bikes and hybrids etc about have little in the way of options straight out of the box.

Bar ends were all the rage back in the mountain biking day, every self respecting mud flinging biker sported a set, but the Fashion Police have deemed them most uncool these days, despite their obvious advantages in varied hand positioning and also for leverage when climbing. Ok, they can snag on passing fauna, dragging you into the Rhubarb but hell, that's just all part of the fun.

Swapping the bars for something rather odd looking but extremely practical is an option. Butterfly bars can be nicked from the round the world touring types and put to use more locally, or the likes of the Jones Loop or H bars offer multiple grabby bits, as well as luggage accommodation into the bargain.

 Jones Loop Bars

But is there anything to be done if none of the above are personally wallet compatible or fail to catch one's eye? 

Well there is, in the shape of Ergon anatomically designed grips (yes, we're back where we started, at last). 

Now I actually don't suffer any wrist issues, but I do like having bar ends on my bikes for when climbing and just a change of position, often when cruising along some straight bit of road, or busting my lungs into the wind. 

When I got the Marin, I hadn't planned on fitting bar ends, wanting to leave the bike looking standardish and handsome. But, every time I came to a hill I immediately wanted to turn my hands 90 degrees and reach for the non existent bar ends. Also, despite being very well made and attractive looking, the standard bar grips were thin and hard as coffin nails to grip.

Having a ton of Rutland Cycling loyalty points at my disposal I ordered up a set of Ergon GP2 grips and tiny bar ends in the large size, and thanks to Rutland's generosity, I didn't pay a penny. Result!

The difference in sizes available relate to hand size and the thickness of the grip around the bar, and although a medium glove size, I like fat grips so plumped for the large, and they are fine for me. The Ergon packaging cleverly allows one to try the grip for size without removing it from the box, so trying before buying to get the right size in the shop is possible.

As you'd expect coming from Germany, these grips are very well designed and made, and are a doddle to install - just slide 'em on and tighten up the allen bolt at the outer end, cunningly hidden on those models with bar ends, a highlighted feature on those without.

Ergon grip sans bar end looks pretty neat with that highlighted end plate surrounding the allen bolt.

On those with bar ends, the angle twixt grip and bar end can be adjusted by simply slackening the allen bolt and rotating the bar end fore or aft, or the grip itself of course. Like a lot of these things, you fit them in your shed/workshop/kitchen, think you've got them bob on, then discover on slinging your leg over and punting the bike up the road, that some tweaks are needed. On my maiden voyage I stopped several times to administer tweakage, starting with the flat, heel area of the grip inclined upwards slightly in line with my arms as it were, but finished with the grips almost level.

New grips lobbed onto the Marin and set for sea trials. There are only two things I'm not so keen on with these grips. One is the inner end of the fat grip just stops, no decorative polished collar or anything, just the end of a fat, black, grip next to thinner bar, making for a join that looks unfinished to my only mildly obsessive aesthetic eye. To combat that, I shunted my shifter and brake brackets along the bar a bit to butt up against the grip ends. Much better.

The second issue is the bar ends aren't really long enough to hang a baseball hat on, but that's a minor issue really, but something I have been known to do on other bikes.

The shape of these grips evenly spread the contact area across the whole palm near enough, avoiding pressure hot spots, and can also reduce the angle of dangle twixt forearm and wrist, the latter being a boon for those with Carpal Tunnel issues I understand.

Grips and bar ends are well made, even sporting softer rubber inserts on the bar ends.

At first experience, these grips seem to lock the hand into one, compact, position, with the outer edge of the hand up against the bar end almost, but in fact of course, there are various options to be had for how you hold the bars. Curl your fingers around them tightly or loosely, or just hold the heel of your hand on the broader pad of the grip and curl your fingers up slightly, or just dangle them in the breeze. Make a fist and just have the outer edge of your wrist in contact with the bar even. All positions still feel comfortable, and importantly, secure and still in control of the bike.

I like to relax when riding, or driving, and clinging on all the time just doesn't cut my mustard. I drive one handed when I'm happy with things on the road ahead, and likewise on a bike, my grip relaxes and I find it entirely natural to be cruising along with my hands just resting on the bars as above. Not possible with the old, narrow grips.

The bar ends themselves are best described as being stubby, or maybe simply as 'prongs.' They might appear to be a bit useless then for grabbing, but the curve of the outer edge of the grip is continued on up the short bar end, in effect, making the grip part of the overall bar end, while still supporting the heel area of the hand. 

Despite the small size, the bar ends combine with the grips to provide all the benefits of the 90 degree angle change, accommodating the whole hand comfortably.

There's no doubt in my mind that these grips enhance the comfort and control of a bike greatly (I have a similar set up on the Jamis, though using Ergon lookey likey grips and normal, stubby, bar ends). They're made of very tacky feeling rubber, so no slipperiness in wet or muddy conditions, provide alternative gripping options and are just far more comfortable than narrow, circular grips. Oh... and I nearly forgot, they reduce road buzz and vibrations through the bars as well.

These GP2 grips and bar ends in large should be around the £30 mark, and in my mind, are well worth the money. For those suffering wrist pain issues, they would seem a 'must try.'

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