Brompton handle bar grips.

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rhb123

Regular
I have the standard grips on my bike, but finding my palm is sore after riding. Can anyone suggest the best bar grips, and softest for old folk like myself please?
 

Tenkaykev

Guru
Location
Poole
I have the standard grips on my bike, but finding my palm is sore after riding. Can anyone suggest the best bar grips, and softest for old folk like myself please?

A lot of people ( including myself) swear by Ergon GP1 grips.
 

Kell

Veteran
The standard response will undoubtedly be Ergon GP2, but it always begs the question of why your hands are hurting.

Do you wear gloves and are you sure you are sitting far enough back to unload your weight from your hands.

If the answer to both those q's is yes, then something like Ergons will offer another hand position which just helps you shift the contact points to alleviate the pressure on one spot.

I actually transferred some ergonomic grips over from my Dahon. They're not Ergons, but look essentially the same as the GP1. I also added some MTB bar ends - though I rarely use them.

If I'm going fast (very rare these days) I tend to grip the gear shifters as it makes for a more compact, streamlined shape. And I need all the help I can get as I have all the aerodynamics of a beachball.
 
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Location
Essex
The Ergon GP grips are really comfy. GP1 has no bar end, while GPs 2-5 have varying lengths for even more hand positions. They all have the lovely 'wing' on the back of the grip which gives more of your hand somewhere to rest, spreads the load and opens up more options. You do have to buy the large size and cut them down by about 10mm with either a hacksaw (off the bike!) or Stanley, to ensure the fixing at the outer end has enough bar to grab on to.
 

mitchibob

Über Member
Location
Treorchy, Wales
The Ergon GP grips are really comfy. GP1 has no bar end, while GPs 2-5 have varying lengths for even more hand positions. They all have the lovely 'wing' on the back of the grip which gives more of your hand somewhere to rest, spreads the load and opens up more options. You do have to buy the large size and cut them down by about 10mm with either a hacksaw (off the bike!) or Stanley, to ensure the fixing at the outer end has enough bar to grab on to.

Pretty sure I got the small GP4s and only had to move the brake/shifter a bit, without having to shorten the grip. Both on older and newer M-bars. S bars even easier.
 

berlinonaut

Veteran
Location
Berlin Germany
You do have to buy the large size and cut them down by about 10mm with either a hacksaw (off the bike!) or Stanley, to ensure the fixing at the outer end has enough bar to grab on to.
No. The size refers to the circumference of the grips only, so is totally depended from the size of the hands. You had to cut them a bit on the old (pre-2017) M-bars with the old (pre-2013) brake levers. With the post 2013 Brake levers they are a tight fit but it is possible. With the new M-bars wit underbar-shifters from 2017 onwards there are no issues any more. On S-bars there has never been an issue.

Here's an overview of the Ergon range with the Brompton in mind (it is in German but google translate may help): https://bromptonauten.cc/threads/er...unterschiede-und-welche-nehmen.153/#post-1363
 

Origamist

Legendary Member
I'd second the Ergon range. If you're one of the few people that doesn't like/can't get on with ergonomic grips, you could go for something soft and spongy like the Wolf Tooth Mega Fat Paw. They are silicon and absorb vibrations really well, however, some people find them too chunky...

Hope the palm pain disappears soon.
 
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gom

Über Member
Location
Gloucestershire
I think I have the Ergon GP3. I find them much nicer than the original grips.
Agreed
 

JB052

Well-Known Member
It also depends on how old your Brompton is, as the factory have improved the grips over the years.
 

berlinonaut

Veteran
Location
Berlin Germany
It also depends on how old your Brompton is, as the factory have improved the grips over the years.

Kind of. They went from plastic to foam in 2000, from foam to somewhat thinner foam in about 2008, from thinner glued on foam to screwed on rubber in about 2017 and then to screwed on foam shortly after. They managed to improve from "absolutely catastrophic" to "totally catastropic" in 20 years. The grips are still the worst part of a stock Brompton in my opinion and the only part I exchange immediatly w/o thinking.
 

Kell

Veteran
TBH, I never rode mine with the original grips because I never rode it with the original bars.

I immediately swapped them out for low risers (this was always my plan) and so removed the bars the same weekend I picked it up.

Mine was a 2015 so had the glued-on grips. I think I had to use a Stanley knife to cut them off - so even if i wanted to re-use them, i couldn't. Using glue is a very poor system.
 

tinywheels

Über Member
Location
South of hades
Kind of. They went from plastic to foam in 2000, from foam to somewhat thinner foam in about 2008, from thinner glued on foam to screwed on rubber in about 2017 and then to screwed on foam shortly after. They managed to improve from "absolutely catastrophic" to "totally catastropic" in 20 years. The grips are still the worst part of a stock Brompton in my opinion and the only part I exchange immediatly w/o thinking.

agreed,there are a no of crap bits on a brompton ,but I won't go on!
 

PaulRoberts

Active Member
No. The size refers to the circumference of the grips only, so is totally depended from the size of the hands. You had to cut them a bit on the old (pre-2017) M-bars with the old (pre-2013) brake levers. With the post 2013 Brake levers they are a tight fit but it is possible. With the new M-bars wit underbar-shifters from 2017 onwards there are no issues any more. On S-bars there has never been an issue.

These ones on amazon have the fixing rings on both end unlike the ergons, you only really need fixing rings near the brake levers similarly to the stock grips on a current Brompton, so there is no need to move the levers.

The 2017 onwards the M bar space is only 125 though the grips are 130 long, causing issues with the clamp position with the ergons being on the outside.

Amazon product ASIN B083J5YX59View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083J5YX59/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
 

PeteXXX

Cake or ice cream? The choice is endless ...
Location
Hamtun
I fitted these on my S6L as I found the original ones like textured broom handles and too thin.
They're no longer available, apparently, but if the wear out, I'll definitely get similar ones.

Screenshot_20230406-220440~2.png
 
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