OK, so today I wanted to help you out on your choice of grips.
It might not seem like much, but it usually takes a lot of tries and fails to find what you really like as far as grip preferences. Also, even though grips might look insignificant on your set-up, as with the griptape, they're the parts that you directly touch and feel when riding, so don't think too lightly of them. They make a good difference.
I tried to break down the choice of grips to a few key points, let's check it out!
Length
Grips are getting longer and longer these days and there's a reason for that. It will give you more latitude to land your barspins or just to handle your ride.
I think we've reached a good compromise in length with sizes around 160mm - 170mm. Most of the new models being introduced these days will have sizes around there.
Why not bigger? Well, if you have even longer grips and tend to ride with your hands towards the inside of the grips, you would be so far from the edges of the bars that you might be better off getting smaller grips and cutting the bars down a bit...
Why not smaller? Maybe you like riding with your index outside the grips (on your bars), in which case a smaller grip would make sense. It would also be lighter, maybe it's worth it...
Thickness
Thickness wise, it would be more about preferences. Normally, the smaller the hands, the thinner the grips and vice versa. It wouldn't make sense for a 6 years old to ride a super thick grips where his hand wouldn't even go around.
Still, by popular demand, the new models of grips these days are getting a bit thicker than before. So if you're trendy, you'll go thicker.
Softness
There's no real choice here but to try different grips to get the feel you really like. But there's 3 things that I can help you with here:
1. Softer grips will be more comfortable but will wear down faster (Envy, Fasen)
2. Harder grips will be less comfortable but will last longer (Hella,
3. ODI will make the best softness / durability grips out there! It's the only manufacturer in the USA and they're making grips for a couple of other brands to! (ODI, S&M, TIlt)
Patterns
Ever got a pair of grips with super nice patterns on it and they disappear after 5 rides? Well that's usually normal.
When you've got side patterns on your grips, it will tend to use a lot faster because your hand movements are working against those lines.That's why the manufacturers doing those will have thicker side lines then the others. Otherwise, when you've got a ribbed pattern grip (ish), it will tend to last longer because you hands are working alongside the thread. That's why that majority of grips will have ribbed or similar pattern.
Also, the thinner the pattern, usually the better the feel will be for equivalent softness, but it will use way faster. The opposite is true, thicker the pattern, the harder the feel but it will last longer.
Bar-Ends
Too often forgotten, those 2 little parts on your scooter are actually of huge importance and should not be chosen lightly. Those are there to protect you from the opening of your bars. If they're not there, the bar will slowly use and chip, creating a cutting edge that, if you fall on, could cause serious injury.
Not all bar ends are equal, but I'll try to simplify things here with 3 categories.
Soft plastic bar ends are those that will usually come stock on scooters and aftermarket grips. There's different qualities in there, but not worth mentioning. Those will use and break the fastest, but will do the trick for a while.
Hard plastic bar ends are few, but quality / price wise are the best choice. All of Odyssey's grips are coming with those and UrbanArtt grips too (even comes with a version for aluminium bars). Those hard plastic bar ends will last for a long time and if found after market, will not break the bank (Odyssey Par Ends).
Aluminium bar ends will last for almost a lifetime... Those will come with different tightening devices, but will all have in common that you'll ether have to change 20 pairs of grips before getting rid of them or just lose them... They're more expensive, but the investment will last!
Link to the bar ends post
Foam grips
Those are back in the limelight because of their cheap price (usually) and because of their lightweight (yeah...).
There's some high end foam grips out there made by ODI, but you'll rarely see those on a scooter, what you'll usually see are the Ethic DTC foam grips. Those grips tend to absorb less sweat (so slide more) and do not stick as good on bars so will slide there also. But at 5$, you can try them out for yourself to see if you like the feeling.
In Conclusion,
Grips are really all about personal choice and when you find the perfect fit for you, you'll stick with them!
Here's some of our top choices
Best grips ever for GAB:
S&M Hoder Grips (made by ODI, soft, thick and long)
Best funky color choices:
Stricker Logo grips (soft, thick to much color for me...)
Best bar ends choices:
UrbanArtt grips (medium softness, thick, 2 types of hard PC bar ends)
People choice:
Ethic DTC grips (Long, Soft, really thick)
All time winner of grips:
ODI longneck sl (Soft, short, thin)
ODI longneck slx (Soft, longer, thin)
