Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Ergon Grips


I bought a set of Ergon Grips for a different bike and had them laying around my office waiting to be installed. During this time it occurred to me that I loved the grips on my Tikit least of all the handle bar interfaces I own. So I threw the Ergon Grips on my Tikit instead. Having used them for a couple weeks now they get a hearty thumbs up. They are much more comfortable then the stock grips. Their claim to fame is that they give your hand a much larger surface area to spread the weight of your upper body and thus reduce the pressure on any one spot. I can report that they do indeed do this effectively. They also don't interfere with folding the bike.

You can get them in small and large sizes depending on what diameter grip you'd like. You can get a version specifically made to work with gripshifters and they also offer a version with an integrated bar end.

The only negative review I've heard so far mentioned they fade quickly in harsh UV conditions - think So Cal or Baja, but I don't think that affected their functionality - just their appearance. I liked them so much I bought a second set for another bike.

4 comments:

doc said...

During toronto's March 8th blizzard I bought the Tikit I've been riding since. At LBS spring mega sale last week I added Ergon grips and those same super blinkies .Convergent evolution?

Vik said...

Great minds think alike?...hahahaha!

Would you mind sending me a couple pics of your Tikit and short write up of why you bought it and your initial impressions? I'll post it and it will be helpful for potential Tikit owners to get some different view points on the bike.

Anonymous said...

Vik, I have ordered a stock tikit2ride (large) and would like add the Ergon grips you have on yours. I was wondering which version I should order when I contact a reseller: (a) GP1 Gripshift® compatible or (b) GP1 Rohloff®/Nexus® compatible? Also, I want to thank you for sharing your experiences via this blog. It has helped me in my decision to buy the Tikit!

Vik said...

Hey Eric,

That's great. I'm glad I could be of help in making your Tikit decsion. You'll really enjoy your new bike. It's amazing how much fun and how useful the Tikit is.

Get the Ergon grips for Gripshift - although I've seen the ones for Rohloff and they look like they'd work as well. I haven't seen any specs online that show what the difference is. When you go to mount them you'll need to move you controls towards the centre of the bar a bit. This is easy just loosen the shifter and brake levers, fit the Ergons and then adjust/tighten everything up. The Ergons make a huge difference - you'll love them.

Enjoy the new ride and send me some pics and a short write up of your first impressions for my blog.