Ergon GP1-L and -S

Sometimes you need a bandaid. Let’s say you got a splinter from trying to carve an artisan toothpick, or you cut your finger on an envelope when you were trying to mail in your 5256 Mallo Cup points to finally get that sweet, sweet Mallo Cup T shirt (sorry dude, they went outta business in 1993, and all of the Mallo Cups out there today are just new old stock). Or you are starting a career in as an R+B singer, and you need a signature look, so you stick a bandaid on your face. It’s a look that says: dangerous... but mostly to myself.

Anyway, I see bandaids used in bike fit all the time. Saddles pointed down, saddles slammed forward or back, bar ends sticking straight up, stem extenders. Usually the bandaid is actually making something ELSE worse. Saddles pointing down mean more hand pressure. Gel saddles mean more soft tissue pressure. Not good. However, sometimes a bandaid is just what you need.

Let me give a concrete example. You have a bike, like a hybrid or a commuter. It has flat bars, and darn-it-all if they don’t make your hands hurt and your pinkie pull a Rip Van Winkle. The best solution is to mount a set of Albatross bars or, at the very least, a Jones bar or Moloko. The former is probably gunna require all new cables and maybe a different stem, and the latter is gunna at least require the new bars. That’s a bunch of money no matter how you cut it.

These grips won’t 100% solve the issue, but they’ll be way way better than not doing anything at all. The big paddle on the back spreads out pressure on your Ulnar nerve, so your hands don’t go to sleep (at least as fast as they used to) or hurt (as much as they used to). The big paddle really works, but don’t think it’s a magic bullet. If you can afford the fancy new bars, get those instead. You can combine these grips with the better bars, a taller and shorter reach stem, and really get cooking. That’s a fine way to go if you have serious hand pressure issues, or if you’re worried about your hands because you work with them, etc.

If you wear size medium fella’s gloves or bigger, get the Large grips. If you wear smaller gloves, get the Smalls.

Why get these and not some knock off? Bigger beefier bar clamp. It’s strong and aluminum and you can use a big 4mm hex key on it. Lots of generic versions of these grips use tiny bolts, often in plastic clamps. Those are easy to strip and don’t grip as well. Some cheapo ergonomic grips don’t even have a clamp. This is crazy town, because the added leverage of that canoe paddle on the back makes these grips wanna spin on the bars like a gymnast. You need a clamp to immobilize the grip. Lastly, these particular grips are some sort of weird cork/rubber combo, and they feel pretty good in the hand. Not squishy, pretty firm. They look about as nice as an ergonomic grip can look, but no ergonomic grip is going to be the envy of the NAHBS crowd…