Cycling UK Forum

I've just had a look at a pair or Ergon grips/integrated bar ends, and they look lik e a great bit of kit for my mtb tourer. But the price tag is pretty hefty, compared to a pair or 'normal' grips and bar ends. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative, or are the Ergons really worth paying the extra for? I could justify the price, providing they last a long time. Any opinions from satisfied users?

I bought a pair of Ergon style grips from Lidl last year. problem is you don't know when these will turn up again butthey should be selling cycling stuff in the next few weeks.
use them on my shopping bike cost £7

I've got some Ergon GP2s on my Brompton, and they were worth every penny.

About 5 years ago I bought a pair of GP1s for my Nexus hub gear bike, impressed by the fact that they sold them in the suitable combination for a twist grip on one side only, but feeling rather guilty about the cost. I don't feel guilty any more as not only are they fabulously comfortable, they show no signs of wearing out any time soon after easily 10,000 miles. They are also dead easy to remove and replace should you need to. Maybe the Lidl ones are as comfortable, but do they last as well?

I've got a pair of flared grips made by Specialized, which cost £17 from Wiggle. I've had them on for approximately five years and they're still going strong. My bike was unrideable when I bought it - the straight steel forks killed my hands in less than an hour. These things transformed it so that I can ride all day in comfort.

I've also got the Lidl ones on my pub bike. They don't feel as nice - the design seems closer to the Ergon ones, but I think the profile on the Specialized ones works much better. However, they are incredible value for money, and if anything I suspect they'll be more hard-wearing than the Specialized ones.

DevonDamo wrote:I've got a pair of flared grips made by Specialized, which cost £17 from Wiggle. I've had them on for approximately five years and they're still going strong. My bike was unrideable when I bought it - the straight steel forks killed my hands in less than an hour. These things transformed it so that I can ride all day in comfort.

I've also got the Lidl ones on my pub bike. They don't feel as nice - the design seems closer to the Ergon ones, but I think the profile on the Specialized ones works much better. However, they are incredible value for money, and if anything I suspect they'll be more hard-wearing than the Specialized ones.

+1 for the Specialized grips - just be careful with the locking cap screws which have heads made of cheese. (I replaced the screws with some made of decent material.)

niggle wrote:About 5 years ago I bought a pair of GP1s for my Nexus hub gear bike, impressed by the fact that they sold them in the suitable combination for a twist grip on one side only, but feeling rather guilty about the cost. I don't feel guilty any more as not only are they fabulously comfortable, they show no signs of wearing out any time soon after easily 10,000 miles. They are also dead easy to remove and replace should you need to. Maybe the Lidl ones are as comfortable, but do they last as well?

Dunno but they do come with a 3 year warranty. Mine are a couple of years old and show no sign of wear yet. They don't come with a twist grip length on the right so I did have to buy a Sturmey Archer Sls30 thumb shifter for the Nexus 3 speed. It cost an extra tenner but is worth that for the vastly improved shifting.
Grips and news shifter were £14.99 in total.

I have used these cheap Velo Ergogel grips for several years on my hybrid bike. They cost only £6 from my LBS but they have lasted very well and are very comfortable. They don't have integrated bar ends but you can fit them further along the handlebar and then add ends of your choice.

Edinburgh Cycle Co-Op have some own brand ergonomic grips. I have a pair of these and find them very good.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... grips-tape

Galloper wrote:Edinburgh Cycle Co-Op have some own brand ergonomic grips. I have a pair of these and find them very good.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... grips-tape

I see they also do a version with integrated bar ends http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-contact-ergo-grips?bct=browse%2faccessories%2fhandlebars-stems-grips-tape%2fhandlebar-grips-tape

The problem with one piece integrated (paddle style) grips/bar ends is that they offer no independent adjustment to each other, which is rather important to get the most ergonomic set up. Get the bar end at the right angle and you could find that the 'platform' for your palms is at the wrong angle.

CREPELLO wrote:The problem with one piece integrated (paddle style) grips/bar ends is that they offer no independent adjustment to each other, which is rather important to get the most ergonomic set up. Get the bar end at the right angle and you could find that the 'platform' for your palms is at the wrong angle.

+1 re the need for independent adjustment of angle between palm rest /bar end - you will need it and the lack of it in the Edniburgh bicycle coop product would be a definite no-no for me.

I have the Ergon GC2 (now GP2) on one of my bikes and the palm rest aspect of them suits me well although the bar end bit is a bit small for my liking.

For me, the best combination has been the Ergon grip GC1 with my own choice of bar end grip.

CREPELLO wrote:The problem with one piece integrated (paddle style) grips/bar ends is that they offer no independent adjustment to each other, which is rather important to get the most ergonomic set up. Get the bar end at the right angle and you could find that the 'platform' for your palms is at the wrong angle.

Surprisingly the cheap Lidl ones allow independent adjustment and they have allen key tightened alloy bands to hold the grips onto the bars. They also come with caps in case you don't want to fit the bar ends. All this for £4.99.

Thanks for the replies folks. It sounds like, unless I can get lucky at Lidl, the Ergons might be a worthwhile investment. I like the 'hoods' position on my distance bike. I suppose to replicate this on my mtb, it would mean new bars, levers, shifters, cable disc brakes and maybe even a new stem. Adding all that up makes the Ergon Gp5s seem like a more prudent choice. And it would mean a simpler conversion back to mtb setup. I'll give them a go, but just won't look at the price too closely!

Have a look at Rose Bikes handlebar accessories... http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products/bik ... r_products
...there's a huge range of grips and bar ends.