Revgrips Handguards review

Very tempted by these - I've started to see more people riding with them.

My main questions, how likely are you to injure yourself on the guards themselves?  You've now got a quite square edged piece of ally sitting up above the bars and a piece of polycarbonate out front.  One of the worst injuries I've ever had in a stack was from a light bracket as I went OTB.  These look like they could do you some damages - either from the metal or the edges of the guards.

How much?!?!

Without actually seeing what it takes to break them (big crash, small drop, unbreakable?) and what sort of sharp edges, alloy spikes, etc. would result from them breaking and whether this presents any risk, this review is pretty limited. Yes, obviously these can fend off nettles, thanks for that insight. Without demonstrating how these would stand up to everyday impacts with the ground or substantial branches/rocks this is just an advert for some overpriced, ugly bits of plastic. To present a useful review, why not go out and actually break those nice free hand guards that you've been given and let us know how you get on.

So should Benji orchestrate one really big crash, or just a series of lots of small crashes? Broken fingers, or just a few minor lacerations?

I wonder how you generally feel about helmet reviews...

How much?!?!

MTB tax has been applied

MTB tax has been applied

Followed by Revgrips tax.

So £80 to fend off a few nettles (my gloves do that) and wear trousers (in summer).

And the "pros":

Greatly reduces summer overgrowth damage (and stings) to hands - don't anything but the most lightweigh gloves do the same?
Relative quick ‘n’ easy to swap between multiple bikes - is that genuinely a pro or just an expected design? You can quickly swap a seat between multiple bikes but I never see it as a pro on reviews?
Works with any brake/dropper/shifter/e-remote clamp - as above, isn't that just an expected design? I would expect them to work like that?

Never in 25+ years of riding mountain bikes have I thought I'd need something like this...

Swap them left for right and you have a handy place for a different hand position on long rides!

I'm sorry but no. I can understand people who like to ride without gloves will find handguards useful but £80 versus £30 for a decent pair of gloves? I'm a naysayer and proud. Perhaps if I was an elite level enduro rider or mountain bike journo riding everyday for a living I might think diferently but as I'm not I think handgrips are an "innovation" that answers a problem that I don't have.

It's not my hands that suffer from brambles, decent gloves will fend off the worst anyway. The worst injuries are from when they drag over my arms and shoulders snagging and scratching along the way. Can't see that a couple of square inches of plastic in front of my grips will change that.

🤔 a ‘pass’ from me. Gloves work OK for my trail bimbling. Though I did only commit to mtb mudguards about 3 years ago so maybe in due course…

I predict that sram will be making these as a fitted add-on on their levers within 2 years, so standard spec on most complete bikes and all the poo poo'ers will be... not won over and still poo poo'ing.

I use this sort of thing on my offroad motorbike, with a full metal wrap around, plus the plastic guard.  That may well become standard for the downhillers as it prevents lever breakage, and knuckle impacts.

An expensive solution to a problem I have never had.

*Insert Duncan Bannatyne "I'm oot" meme here*

So should Benji orchestrate one really big crash, or just a series of lots of small crashes? Broken fingers, or just a few minor lacerations?

Im sure the combined wisdom of the testers could come up with a way of testing them that doesn’t involve broken fingers. A starter for 10 could be hitting them with a big stick to see how they react to the impact. Film it on a phone and see what happens. Do they bend or shatter? If they bend are they likely to squash your hand anyway. I’m sure there are many more scientific ways you could do this

An expensive solution to a problem I have never had.

X 1 million.

I predict that sram will be making these as a fitted add-on on their levers within 2 years

I predict they won't be...

I had something similar on my first ever mountain bike - Huffy "White Heat."

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UOvQiVrWgXM

Here is a £22 hand guard solution that I use, perhaps someone else may find of interest

Use it, don’t use it, whatever adds to your enjoyment whilst actually cycling is a plus

I like nice thin gloves in summer and like the idea of these a lot but I'll put up with a lot of scratches and stings (they're good for you right?) for the sake of £80.  Not saying I'm out but short of a windfall, I'll probably not be buying any.

I fitted an old pair off my moto enduro years ago. I suffer from Reynauds and they really help keep the wind and rain off on fast descents. Also where I ride in the U.K. there is a lot of dense gorse and they help there too. Regarding crashes, I have a massive one two weeks ago in Leogang into some woodwork. Lost a bar end and my new grips took a beating, the brakes were fine so it looks like the hand guards helped protect them.

Not the clearest photo, they look a bit weird but they work for me.

Charlie Farley showing off with the the Gucci £23 jobs. 😉

These ones are £12!

JFGRACING Universal Hand Guards Brush Bar For off Road ATV Motorcycle Pit Dirt Bike - Black https://amzn.eu/d/h4hqCC6

To be honest I was thinking that some made from the same stuff as the ass saver style mudguards would be enough to keep brambles off. These cheap ones might do and provide the tricky bit, the mounts!

This is August, April the first has long past.

Everyone mentions them

Yes, they point and laugh.

To be honest I was thinking that some made from the same stuff as the ass saver

Pfft, get creative with a couple of 2l milk cartons, some zip ties and a pair of scissors.

I’ve a feeling these hand guards are something you don’t get until you’ve tried them. A chap in FoD was raving about his but I’m not seeing the appeal.

After my ride at the weekend, adding some sort of fairing like you get on mopeds would help with all of the shin height brambles. Would also look terrible.

Jesus wept...we really have gone so far up ourselves now with those, haven't we?

Clearly not for me...I've been lucky enough not to see any of these in real life.

Just. No.

This:

if I was a.. mountain bike journo riding everyday

It's what orginally frustrated me about ST reviews - and still does TBH. A magazine with fantastic potential, but in reviews and other areas - their approach sees mountain biking through a very narrow lens, one I doubt many riders en masse can generally relate to.

I haven't even seen a nettle or bramble while riding for the last 5 years, since I moved to NZ. Anyone with these on their bike would simply get laughed at here. There are many other parts of the world where nettles and brambles aren't a problem. To be honest, having ridden much of the UK for 30 years, there are plently of parts of the UK where nettles and brambles are not really too much of an issue.

This is a very ugly solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Unless you happen to be a bike journo living in Calderdale.

£30 for a decent pair of gloves

HOW MUCH???

Would like to try handguards TBF. Deffo not paying £80 for the privilege though.

Anyone with these on their bike would simply get laughed at here

Maybe. But Sam Hill was an early adopter and Enduro MTB with their more European bias liked another brand

https://enduro-mtb.com/en/avs-racing-hand-guards-review-sensible-bit-protective-kit/

And Pinkbike, more Canada way, reviewed a few and saw the merit

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-3-handguards-ridden-and-rated-2022.html

Aside from downhill racing, they'd probably be more use fending off the cold & rain in the UK

Here's a thought - Why not instead invest the money you would have spent on overpriced hand guards on trail tools to help cut back the overgrowth that happens every year, or failing that donate to your local trail organisation to help maintain the trails instead of ignoring the actual issue which is lack of trail maintenance!

Whilst I could see your point if this was someone reviewing a very niche product that deals with very extreme circumstances, I think you're being a picky bugger on this one...

ST is a predominantly UK-based mag and I'm assuming (for the print mag) a mainly UK based readership. I am sure I saw Mark post elsewhere that just over 50% of all readership is from the UK. Any help at all with nettles and brambles in Summer is welcome

FWIW, I'm not a fan of the looks of handguards and think they're an overkill solution for trail riding... just wear some gloves! If it's protection from bashing bar ends or hands on trees, I think the counterpunch is a slicker looking solution --> https://www.loamlab.bike/products/counterpunch

Handguard convert here! Yep, in general, they are waayyyy overpriced, but for me, they do exactly the job I wanted them to do and were worth the (slightly reduced in a sale) price I got my Sendhit guards for.  And that's all that matters.

how about:

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-bicycle-Handguards.html?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20230823092516&SearchText=bicycle+Handguards&spm=a2g0o.productlist.1000002.0

what have we become.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

@orena45 - what job did you buy them for? Great they do the job, but it depends on what it is...(being cheeky, I'd suggest the ideal job for those is to look absolutely ridiculous and serve no real benefit other than emptying wallets).

Sponsored riders don't really have an option as they get given products to use as part of their sponsorship.

Going by personal experience - brambles, gorse and anything else spikey tends to be flexible enough to whip over a shape and then catch the inside - I'm fine with gloves on and accept the nippy scratches on arms and legs, but I seem to get caught with a bit of regularity with my glasses...I've been lucky enough for it to be small branches rather than spikey things, but having scratched my eyeballs several times due to this, I'm really not convinced these will do anything other than allow other people to mock the rider.

barneyFree Member
"So should Benji orchestrate one really big crash, or just a series of lots of small crashes? Broken fingers, or just a few minor lacerations?"

Yeh, because it's almost impossible to think of a way to see what it takes to break these apart from actually crashing while riding!

All helmets are tested to destruction by manufactures to industry standards (and subsequently certified to that standard) , and none of them are likely to leave an aluminium spike (possibly with sharp plastic remnants) sticking up from the handlebars, in front of your chest and face following failure. The 'review' makes no mention of whether these subscribe to any safety standard, rather important information I feel. A quick email to the manufacturer from a competent reviewer might have gained some valuable information, but even better to break them and see what it takes.

I’ve got a set of the Sendhit guards. Yes they look a bit questionable and if you’re on bike parks useless, but here we have a lot of gorse bushes that grow over trails. When you’re pulling out your sixth 4mm gorse thorn from your knuckle in a week, you quickly see the appeal. And we’re not allowed to do trail maintenance where I live.

Niche yes - but definitely not useless.

Very good point on the gorse spikes - I can't argue against that one.

Trail maintenance isn't always allowed, but doing it on the quiet, little by little, bit by bit and it can help a lot. Not that I'm suggestion you flaunt the law, but there are ways things can be aided.

This is a very ugly solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Unless you happen to be a bike journo living in Calderdale.

I'm not sure where you ride but it's definitely a problem all the places I ride in the UK in the second half of summer. None of the gloves I've tried are effective against brambles or gorse (more so against ferns)

I'm a convert and have a set of AVS guards that get used for a few months a year, just for local trails.

Bad:
- they look dumb, some way more than others. AVS were the least offensive I could find
- most are stupidly expensive

Good:
- they work, I've never worn gloves, these stop 99% of bramble/gorse/nettles
- I'm sure they've saved me from broken pinky fingers and crashing when tagging trees

Defo not for everyone but if you don't wear gloves and ride somewhere that gets overgrown (even with a team of us on the tools!) then they're a useful if fugly thing to attach to your bike.

I have just had a really nostalgic feeling. This feels like the 90's again. Just like gazing upon the first crud catcher.

So having cleaned up our cockpits by getting rid of the LH shifter we're going back to strapping things on to ugly up our bikes again?

next up, chainring bash guards and derailleur protectors

next up, chainring bash guards and derailleur protectors

Please do keep up, Sram’s new ‘Transmission’ already has those covered