Lightweight lock - on grips.

Ferrals

Need to get some new lock on grips. Any recommendations? I want a pair of lightweight ones but I'm not sure what lightweight is when it comes to grips! I was initially looking at the hope ones for a bit of bling but they get mixed reviews and are 93g, I have a feeling I should be able to get lighter ones - although if super light=naff then i wont worry about a few grams.

poah

crankbros cobalt lockons ~65g but they are foam and foam is shit

cooldad

POAH wrote:

crankbros cobalt lockons ~65g but they are Crank Bros and Crank Bros is shoot

FTFY

poah

cooldad wrote:

POAH wrote:

crankbros cobalt lockons ~65g but they are Crank Bros and Crank Bros is shoot

FTFY

out of interest how many CB products have you actually owned?

cooldad

Personally, none because I am not stupid/pretentious/ostentatious.
Friends - plenty. Mostly with regret.

cooldad

I have also never owned a llama or any of these things. Although the jury is out on the dental floss.

njee20

Meh, foam grips can be pretty solid, add the 'core' for a lock on and they're unlikely to improve much.

If you want light get foam (Bontrager XXX Lites are decent), or get lockons. I'm now using ESI Chunky, whilst they're not that light they're not as slippery as foam when wet, and significantly more comfy.

Most CB products are shite, CD's right. Form over function.

The Rookie

Bit like Hope QR seat clamps, I've seen enough stuffed not to buy one.......

Not form over function, marketing over everything!

Long_Time_Lurker

Wouldn't worry about weight.
Wheel sets, and even tyres, I can understand as you can lose quite a bit from heaviest to lightest.
Even pedals, as a heavy pedal smashing into my shin hurts a lot more than a light one. :x

I use Renthal Kevlar lock-ons . Great grip (even in the mud/wet) and comfortable. Had them for 7 months with little/no wear and tear. Come in at 114g.
Tried a few grips that are cheaper, but they have never lasted very long.

The Rookie

I have used Avenir foam on my commuter for 3 1/2 years, one set.

With the right assembly solution, locks ons are unnecessary, I use a rubber assembly emulsion but natural soap works very nearly as well, sets like glue and releases with water and then refit with the solution again.

njee20

Wouldn't worry about weight.
Wheel sets, and even tyres, I can understand as you can lose quite a bit from heaviest to lightest.
Even pedals, as a heavy pedal smashing into my shin hurts a lot more than a light one.

Devil's in the detail on a light bike, sticking some light-ish wheels and pedals on a heavy bike won't make any difference. You can lose 100g on grips for £10. That's probably the best value weight saving for most!

poah

tried kcnc grips and they were shite, I'd rather have the 100g and pain free hands

njee20

I tried some Panaracer Trail Blasters once. They were crap. Ergo all rubber tyres are crap :roll:

I like the Bontrager grips - Race X Lites for fat and Race XXX Lites for thin ones, I also didn't really like the Titec Pork Rinds (which are the same as the KCNC, Avenir etc), found them too narrow.

lawman

ESI chunkys are great, I've got a pair and like them but a little inconvenient to remove. Race face half nelsons are pretty light and get very good reviews

The Rookie

POAH wrote:

tried kcnc grips and they were shite, I'd rather have the 100g and pain free hands

I have KCNC on my MTB and have no issues at all, so it's not that they are foam its just that the shape doesn't suite YOUR hands.....which could apply to any grip at all!

Ferrals

Cheers for all the recommendations, i'll have a look at all of them.

Re. weight, as I'm starting to upgrade from stock components, and I have mild xc racing aspirations I'm keen where possible to save weight.. count the grams and the kilos look after themselves etc. Also as I'm injured and off the bike I've naff all else to do but get OCD on the detail of the next bits of bike I need (want) to buy :oops:

I was going to go hope grips to match a hope stem I was planning on buying, but now I'm leaning towards an easton stem thats less relevant!

Chunkers1980

If you're an aspiring weight weenie then steer clear of Hope! Your own statement 'count the grams and the kilos look after themselves' actually works. But you need to look at every single component on its own and do a £/g analysis

poah

The Rookie wrote:

POAH wrote:

tried kcnc grips and they were shite, I'd rather have the 100g and pain free hands

I have KCNC on my MTB and have no issues at all, so it's not that they are foam its just that the shape doesn't suite YOUR hands.....which could apply to any grip at all!

foam is fine when new thats it, soon as it gets wet its hard and crap

njee20

If you're an aspiring weight weenie then steer clear of Hope! Your own statement 'count the grams and the kilos look after themselves' actually works. But you need to look at every single component on its own and do a £/g analysis

Agree, Hope stuff isn't light. KCNC, New Ultimate or CarbonCycles for stems - latter if you're on a budget. Even Bontrager are pretty light, the RXL variant notably.

WindyG

I've been using Ritchey WCS TrueGrip foam grips for the last 18 months on a couple of bikes and they are still going strong with only minimal wear.

Ferrals

I've got it in my head that i should have lock-ons (thanks media brainwash ) so am going down that route. I've been doing some gram based research. The lightest lockons are the crank bros cobalt (63g) but reviews on the web are bad, next is the race face half nelson (92.5g) and then the Hope SLs (93g). These are stated weights. WHile googling it came up that specialized lock ons are 77g but i haven't found a given weight for them.

I'm not going full on weight mad - the concept is a lightweight trail hardtail, if I can shed weight and increase race-worthyness that will be great but not sacrificing performance or 'trail' durability. First steps will be a carbon bar and lighter stem, but the stem wont be super light as a) I want it strong and b) I need a 50-60mm stem and there aren't so many super light versions (though I see KCNC do one), then I will be on a big save to get lighter wheels.

The Rookie

POAH wrote:

foam is fine when new thats it, soon as it gets wet its hard and crap

Apart from the obvious (how can that even happen with closed cell foam?) I've never had it on either of my foam grips, and yes I ride when it's wet! Also not sure why you say fine new and then crap wet....is it a wet/dry issue or an age issue you think?

Some foam grips are crap, maybe yours were knock offs.

poah

The Rookie wrote:

POAH wrote:

foam is fine when new thats it, soon as it gets wet its hard and crap

Apart from the obvious (how can that even happen with closed cell foam?) I've never had it on either of my foam grips, and yes I ride when it's wet! Also not sure why you say fine new and then crap wet....is it a wet/dry issue or an age issue you think?

Some foam grips are crap, maybe yours were knock offs.

same as yours dipshit

The Rookie

I know you said you had KCNC, I didn't ask what you had.......I did ask how (as closed cell foam) they would get hard wet, which would imply they were open cell foam, hence the knock off's comment.

njee20

WHile googling it came up that specialized lock ons are 77g but i haven't found a given weight for them.

Why would you want a manufacturer's claimed weight when you've found a real world one? :?

POAH wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

POAH wrote:

foam is fine when new thats it, soon as it gets wet its hard and crap

Apart from the obvious (how can that even happen with closed cell foam?) I've never had it on either of my foam grips, and yes I ride when it's wet! Also not sure why you say fine new and then crap wet....is it a wet/dry issue or an age issue you think?

Some foam grips are crap, maybe yours were knock offs.

same as yours dipshit

You're a grotty little man aren't you? The Rookie's right, how can a closed cell foam grip get hard in the wet? My complaint of the XXX Lites was that they got slippery in the wet if I didn't wear gloves, so I always wore gloves, not really an issue!

Boromedic

I quite fancy the ESI Chunky's, has anyone compared their silicon based foam to the closed cell Bontrager X Lites or Superstar Foamy's? Can't decide between them online and not near any shops who stock em! The ESI's are currently favorite but I'm willing to be swayed. Cheers

njee20

Yep, used to use Race X Lites and XXX Lites, now have ESIs. I really like the ESIs, they're noticeably squidgier than the Bontys, and grippier when wet. I'll likely get another pair when I replace mine. Worth the small weight penalty.

Boromedic

njee20 wrote:

Yep, used to use Race X Lites and XXX Lites, now have ESIs. I really like the ESIs, they're noticeably squidgier than the Bontys, and grippier when wet. I'll likely get another pair when I replace mine. Worth the small weight penalty.

Cheers mate, think that's sold them for me always happier with a bit o' squidge. (where mtb grips are concerned that is anyway!)

;-)

poah

The Rookie wrote:

I know you said you had KCNC, I didn't ask what you had.......I did ask how (as closed cell foam) they would get hard wet, which would imply they were open cell foam, hence the knock off's comment.

got them in same place as you did.

first ride they were comfy, got wet and muddy during that ride. not as comfy second ride, wet again and third ride they got taken off. I'm just telling my experience with the foam grips.

The Rookie

To correct, you are telling your experience with KCNC, others may be different.

I have to say that is not my experience at all with KCNC, mine still feel exactly the same as they did, and have been wet/muddy, when first fitted.

Closed cell foam shouldn't change after getting wet as water/muck can't get past the very outer foam which is the only bit that can(should) be open. My Avenir which feel/look like the same foam 'material' haven't changed in 4 years and being on a commuter regularly get a soaking.