Removing Grips from Handlebars

[700c]

Does anyone have a good method for
removing grips (specifically Ergon GP1)
from handlebars (specifically Thorn Riser bars)
without damaging the grips?

My grips appear to be welded on!
Thanks chaps.

[Mick F]

Thin screwdriver, and weedle it in as far as you can. Thin knitting needle perhaps?
WD40 with the flexy hose, and squirt some in.
Move the screwdriver a bit, then squirt some more.

It works!
It's amazing what a little squirt will do.

[geocycle]

Tricky! Mick's method works great with flexible 'rubberised' grips but these are solid formed with a hard internal plastic skeleton. I'd try and get as much wd40 as possible under the grip after removing the locking bolt and laying the bike down to use gravity. If that doesn't work then a short sharp shock with a hammer to a lump of wood against the inward end. Good luck!

[Cyril Haearn]

Try heating (or cooling) them gently with water. The metal and rubber parts may expand and contract at different rates.

[horizon]

This was on the Tern website (my emphasis):

Velo Ergonomic LockOn Grips
Be kind to your hands
ErgoLock grips are nice and wide for excellent palm support so your hands can relax during the ride. They also lock in place on the handlebars so they’re always in the correct position, unlike non-locking grips which tend to rotate out of position.

I have this bike but there's no apparent "locking" mechanism so it may be something else.

Obvious points: are you sure your grips are Ergon and have you undone the locking ring if there is one?

[djnotts]

My habitual method is washing up liquid rather than WD40 - and kebab skewer less likely to scratch bars than say a spoke.

[ChrisButch]

A strap wrench like this http://www.tooled-up.com/product/boa-baby-boa-constrictor-strap-wrench-capacity-from-10mm-to-100mm-diameter/136947/usually works.
If you succeed, but then have trouble getting them back on, a little baby powder shaken around inside the grip usually does the trick.

[Dafydd17]

If you have access to an air compressor, you can get them off without damage. If there's a small hole in the end of the grip, press the nozzle of a cleaning jet into this, cover the one at the other end with your finger, and apply pressure. If there's no hole, make a small one in one end to blow the first one off (it'll probably end up the other side of your workshop), the jam some rag round the nozzle to blow the other one.

To refit, I've found the best way is to use tyre fitting lubricant (can be scrounged from your local ATS or whatever) - this eases them on, but then evaporates so they stay put, whereas washing up liquid and the like allows them to twist.

[Mick F]

As a yoof near firework night, I pulled a 'bar grip off and shoved a banger inside my 'bars, than jammed the grip back on.

I never saw either of the grips again!

[landsurfer]

Just cut them off with a stanley knife and fit new ones ... really.
£4.99 from your local bike shop ......
What, you paid £20 for handle bar grips ..... then get your servant to remove them ...surely ...

Just been on Amazon ...£47 ..... Ahhh ... your the ones that can pay £200 for front and rear lights aren't you ..... and £134 for bib tights .... ........

lol

[thirdcrank]

I've found boiling water to be useful for all sorts of jobs like this, but there's the obvious proviso that there's no way of knowing how the material will respond. IME, boiling water slightly softens many plastic items which are a tight fit on metal and on cooling they harden again. If these are described as locked, presumably that could mean "interlocking" with some part of either the bar or the grips projecting into the other. "Locked" doesn't necessarily mean that they are capable of being unlocked.

One clue might be the availability or otherwise of replacements - no replacements probably = not easily removed and replaced.

[tykeboy2003]

Tricky! Mick's method works great with flexible 'rubberised' grips but these are solid formed with a hard internal plastic skeleton. I'd try and get as much wd40 as possible under the grip after removing the locking bolt and laying the bike down to use gravity. If that doesn't work then a short sharp shock with a hammer to a lump of wood against the inward end. Good luck!

I removed some like that and started hacking them to bits only to find that they had a hidden metal clamp with screw.....

[CREPELLO]

Just cut them off with a stanley knife and fit new ones ... really.
£4.99 from your local bike shop ......
What, you paid £20 for handle bar grips ..... then get your servant to remove them ...surely ...

Just been on Amazon ...£47 ..... Ahhh ... your the ones that can pay £200 for front and rear lights aren't you ..... and £134 for bib tights .... ........

lol

How to make friends and influence people...

[Vorpal]

Ergon grips have clamps/lockrings. There are screws front & back on them, and you need to undo both. They are normally not a tight fit, but if you've undone the clamps, and they still don't come off, then I would think that water from a hot kettle and a bit of elbow grease should do it.

Otherwise have a little look on YouTube to see if someone has posted a video for fitting or disassembling them?

[landsurfer]

Just cut them off with a stanley knife and fit new ones ... really.
£4.99 from your local bike shop ......
What, you paid £20 for handle bar grips ..... then get your servant to remove them ...surely ...

Just been on Amazon ...£47 ..... Ahhh ... your the ones that can pay £200 for front and rear lights aren't you ..... and £134 for bib tights .... ........

lol

How to make friends and influence people...

Yes .... not on of my finest moments .... sounded better in my head ,,,,