Revgrips

Find mine useful. But not as useful as the right bars, or tyre, or… fork.

What grips are you using now? If you're using horrible little thin plastic lock-ons you might be able to fit some middle ground.

I ditched lock-ons years ago for the ODI Longnecks that I always had on my BMX as a kid. They massively reduced the finger pain I used to get. There must be something about modern grip technology too or just textured bars but they never slip in bad weather like they used to.

Or try something like this nsmb.com/articles/beauty-stupid-looking-grips/

I have 3" front tyre so this definitely helps but sadly I have a truss fork which is savagely unforgiving. I'd need to change bikes to fit suspension as the MK4 is rigid only. If I can't find some form of mitigation for the wrist pain the bike will go.

Sensus Swayze in lock-on or slide on are well worth a try.

I've got them on a rigid bike and I think they do help.

However, if I were buying again I think I'd get the economy ones, I think they were about £60 Vs £100

Hi everyone.

I’m not here to promote Revgrips, but as the owner of Revgrips UK distributor, Cyclorise I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have about what has become our best selling brand. I do believe answering questions by businesses is allowed, so long as I’m not using the forum to outwardly deliver a hard sell. Moderator, please correct me if I’m wrong 😃

So ask away.

I ditched lock-ons years ago for the ODI Longnecks that I always had on my BMX as a kid. They massively reduced the finger pain I used to get. There must be something about modern grip technology too or just textured bars but they never slip in bad weather like they used to

This is the best thing to try first

I used to suffer with wrist and hand pain using all kinds of lock on grips over the years, they always felt too thin and i guessed that was part of the problem, i tried some DMR Deth grips (thick versions) which improved things

Then i realised that i never suffer any wrist or hand pain when riding the bmx and that ive been running ODI Longnecks (non lock on versions) on the bmx for over 30 years

Put a pair on the mtb using some spray glue and hey presto no more wrist or hand pain and the grips havent moved in two years and the bike is used in all weathers and washed every couple of weeks

I used to use pdw speed grips as I found them most comfy but they are not available in UK now so have gone back to odi longnecks (mushroomgrips) and love em. Wrist/lever position is always my 1st stop to check for hand pain/fatigue btw

I spend a week a year in the alps, used to get really bad arm pump. One of things that changed it were revgrips. Not sure if they are the single solution or not, but I won’t not use them just in case.

As a sufferer of cubital and carpal tunnel syndrome I have some and they do work, particularly at reducing vibration fatigue.

However, the sizes as sold are too small for reducing hand/wrist pain as they promote over gripping. Having spoken to a number of medical specialists about bike grips and what to look for the unanimous verdict is "bigger is better". Unfortunately revgrips don't seem to want to listen, with their largest grip only suited to, at most, size L hands. Maybe the feel that providing a "medical" solution detracts from their desired image. I have xl/xxl hands and the smallest grip that I can use is 35mm dia. At the thinnest point.

Because of this I now use wolftooth mega fat paw silicone grips. They do a great job on the hardtail, better than revgrips at the size available to me.

I have a couple of pairs of them but currently only using them on my hardtail.
They do seem to work damping stuff down on that but the pair that were on my enduro bike have been replaced with something else.
My reason for this is that even in the smallest size they feel a bit big and I don't like the sensation of large grips. Kind of makes me want to grip the bars too hard and gives me a bit of arm pump on long descents.

The damping on them on the hardtail seems worth the negative point so they're staying on that.
On all my full suss bikes the negative is greater than the positive so I've removed them.

If you don't have a problem with larger grips like I do you shouldn't see any negatives.

I'm an XL glove BTW so nothing to do with hand size, just my preference.

Edit.
Just read the post above.
Just shows how different we all are.
The grips I feel give me the least arm pump are 30mm Sensus Disisdaboss

Just realised I posted the wrong link earlier but it's written by the same person who suffers from wrist pain.

https://nsmb.com/articles/the-ergonomic-grip-shootout/

I was going to try some of these on a DH bike for tackling arm pump but I don't have a DH bike anymore.

Just remembered I had these on my DJ bike when it was nicked and I need another pair...

https://www.sandmbikes.com/product/hardgoods/rubber/hoder-grips/

Made by ODI and very slightly bigger and softer than a Longneck. Loved them for hanging up on jumps and crashing into backsides.

Been running them for a couple of years now and love them. Used to regularly stop on long runs with arm pain, but they sorted it completely.

My experience of wrist pain is that the grips aren’t the primary issue. Bar sweep is more important. Getting more back sweep and the right width helped me considerably.

As a rider of a Mk4 Stooge (but not a truss fork) I settled on the DMR Deathgrips soft & thick as the best comfort-wise.

Made a big difference over previous grips 👍

My experience of wrist pain is that the grips aren’t the primary issue. Bar sweep is more important. Getting more back sweep and the right width helped me considerably.

I'll second this especially on a rigid.

I settled on 12° after try a few

My experience of wrist pain is that the grips aren’t the primary issue. Bar sweep is more important

That's true. I'm going to try SQ Labs bars at some point.

Grips are cheap and easy to experiment with. Unless you buy Revgrips of course.

With bars I found that the Sqlab 12x worked well but felt odd when used in a position other than the one you set out up for. It either felt comfy sat down, climbing or stood up, never all 3. Found them much more suited to xc/ht style riding as a result but they did help.

Regarding ssstu above, if you don't have hand/wrist problems then grip size is a personal choice. If you do have problems, medical consensus is that large grips allow for a relaxed hold (once you are used to them) and therefore prevent rigidification of the elbow and wrist, allowing for more mobility and less impact and vibrational damage. Narrow grips promote over gripping which tenses all of the muscles in the hands, wrist and forearm leading to limited "give" and vibrational damage. I did find that initially larger grips than I used to use felt insecure due to their size but this feeling disappeared after an hour or two my grip style adjusted.

I did find that initially larger grips than I used to use felt insecure due to their size but this feeling disappeared after an hour or two my grip style adjusted.

I have tried larger grip on several occasions for a fair amount of time but always have the same results.
I just end up gripping too hard and arm pump type feelings.
I never get hand pain or any type of other problems from the narrowest most worn out grips.

I might try going back to push ons though as I can get them to go really thin by stretching and glueing them on.

Shackleton

Revgrips now does a 35mm grip sleeve. It’s called the ‘RG7’.

Regarding your comment of “bigger the better” when it comes to medical professionals, are these medical professionals riding bike parks or alpine length descents? I ask because there IS an issue with going ‘too’ big.

I’ve helped hundreds of riders fix the size of their grips because DEPENDING ON THE KIND OF RIDING THEY DO, there absolutely is a problem with going too big.

For example, when gripping the bars tightly and pulling hard on the brakes for long periods of time, such as fun and left hot doe hills or more technical trails, the larger the grip is, the harder your fingers have to work to hold on to the grip. With the way MTBers use one or maybe two fingers on the brake, having a grip that’s too large for them can cause significant pain in the outside two fingers and up the outside of the hand. If anyone reading this has experienced that pain, it’s typically because grips are too big. By going slimmer for the more technically oriented riders, you can save a lot of hand discomfort.

That all being said, if you’re the kind of rider to shy away from the fast and steep stuff and prefer a weekend on the Moors or getting lost in the Welsh outback, then really there isn’t a grip sleeve too large. For ‘general riding’, those medical professionals might be right. But for more capable riders who like downhills and tech trails, a slimmer grip will be more comfortable.

I first experienced this when at Dirt Farm and using the 34mm Large Revgrips. My fingers and hand hurt which I was surprised about having had two years of happy Revgrips use. But when sizing back down to 32.5mm, those pains vanished. Indeed, I ended up going to 31mm in the end and find that a perfect fit for my riding style and my XL gloved hands.

So, I’d recommend never broadstroke advising larger grips without understanding an individual riders’ needs.

I use their thinnest size… the thicknesses on offer are pretty sorted for mountain biking of all kinds, in my non-professional opinion.

Bar sweep is more important.

Absolutely.

Bars, tyres, forks, and only then RevGrips… but they do help, and they are a genuinely useful extra tool once everything else is as “right” as possible.

Thanks for the info all. I think the comment regarding bars is a good call and something I might consider along with getting some revgrips as my wrists are in a grim state. I might just bike tour and ride bridal way stuff nowadays anyway and stay away from harsh off-road riding.

Revgrips now does a 35mm grip sleeve. It’s called the ‘RG7’.

Maybe my hands are bigger than I think then as the thinnest grips that feel secure for me are Odi rogues at 33mm(?). [edit - Just checked gloves and endura xxl and Tld xxl/xxxl, so aparently larger than I thought!] . I have the RG7 and they still feel too small due to the taper at each end. The bi-taper also means that where you hold them is restricted. Until they make straight sleeve 35mm I'll keep using my sensus meaty paws or wolftooth mega fat grips to provide sufficient grip to hold on to.

At the end of the day though, revgrips do help if you have hand issues related to nerve and/or vibration damage, grip size is personal!

I began suffering with terrible nerve pain and tendinitis in both my hands a few years ago, it got so bad, I genuinely thought I may have to hang up the bike for a while. Thankfully, I took a punt on a pair of Revgrips, the cheaper 'Race' version is less eye-watering at 60ish quid a pair. The grip sleeves themselves are around 25 quid so similar to many other throwaway lock ons. They worked a treat for me, allowing me to keep riding with my hand pain clearing up within a couple of weeks! They work at their best when charging long rough laps all day, allowing for much fresher mitts at the end of the day , but if you have genuine wrist issues that are inhibiting your riding, then 60 bucks is a small price to pay surely? I now use odi elite pros or similar for day to day riding, but keep the Revs for bike park days or if I ever have a flare up again.

UNPOPULAR OPINION

If you like your Revgrips, have tried bar angle, brake lever angle, tyre pressures, suspension etc… Fasst Company suspension bars are the real deal. Eye watering in terms of price point, but they so do work well.

With the way MTBers use one or maybe two fingers on the brake, having a grip that’s too large for them can cause significant pain in the outside two fingers and up the outside of the hand.

this is certainly my experience with hand pain.

i have rev grips. they weren’t night and day for me, but i got the cheaper option that only comes with one set of elastomers. if the local shop that sells rev grips gets has in them, i’ll try a softer setup. i should have ordered a set from the local distributor when i got some other bits, but it slipped my mind.

TBH I'm not sure anyone's experience is that useful for other people- ideas to try but no great likelihood of it working...

Having said that- if you can track down the Crank Bros Cobalt 11 carbon bars, the 780mm ones, they are amazing. Nice amount of sweep, but more importantly they're downright bendy, you can bounce on the front and see them flex. It should be horrible, but they literally took me from having hand pain and grip issues after a 2 minute descent on my rigid bike, to soloing a 7 hour race with almost zero discomfort, just like that. I'd not believe it if I'd not done it.

I use Ergon GA3 on my rigid singlespeed and they have virtually eliminated wrist pain on rougher trails - the 'wing' part really helps to get your arm/wrist in a good position and also allows better weight distribution across your palm.

I have ergon grips too, can’t ride either of my flat bar bikes without them.
They were quite a lot less than £100 too.

I use Ergon GA3 on my rigid

Me too. Had a lot of wrist issues for a while, potentially related to work.
These helped quite a lot for me and I now have them on 3 bikes.

As we've moved on to bars as well, I got the 35mm OneUp bars for my rigid singlespeed. Rigid in all the right places which is important on singlespeed, but a squished profile gives them vertical flex.

I think they make quite a difference. Carbon bars plus Revgrips are still loads lighter and cheaper than suspension forks 🙂

i have rev grips. they weren’t night and day for me, but i got the cheaper option that only comes with one set of elastomers. if the local shop that sells rev grips gets has in them, i’ll try a softer setup.

I tried all three settings and opted for softest, but I don't think there is that much difference really. Cyclorise has a good return policy so when I realised the green colour I chose was gopping and I wasn't convinced about the choice of grip I'd ordered, they just said to order a complete new pair, mix and match what I wanted and return the other set. The second set came with the new style rubber shock absorbers that don't need chopping up, they seemed to be quite a bit firmer than the old style that get put in individually.