When I first saw a pair of Ergon GC2 grips at my local bike shop I didn’t think they would turn out to be the most comfortable grips I would ever use. Nor did I think they were worth $42, a mighty sum for a pair of lock on grips. Frankly I figured that I’d be laughed off the trail by my friends if I ever wound up with a pair of these grips.
In the end I was right, and my friends laughed me off the trail…until they jumped on my bike and gave them a try. Simply put, these grips have added a whole new dimension of comfort to my mountain bike. With a strange looking flange on the back of the grip, Ergon has decided to let form follow function.
The Nuts and Bolts
Ergon makes their grips with a few different variations. Ergon’s GC2 is the specific model that is being reviewed here, which has a small aluminum bar end. Ergon also makes this grip with larger bar ends, or without any bar ends at all. Additionally, there are versions that have the bar ends made out of carbon fiber, and even an all mountain model that does not feature the signature flange that Ergon grips are known for. All the grips that Ergon is producing are lock on style grips.
Sir Isaac Newton on the trail
To understand why these grips work, we need to first have a discussion with Sir Isaac Newton. When we’re out riding our bikes, we’ve got our weight sitting on a few select spots. These are, very obviously, the places that your body contacts the bike; grips, saddle and pedals. All of your weight, in my case about 165 pounds, is distributed over these three small areas. With that, two things will determine the amount of force (pressure) that you feel on each of these parts of your body; weight, and the amount of surface area you disperse that weight over.
As you can imagine, if you have a large amount of weight distributed over a small area, you’re going to “feel” a lot more force. As an example, imagine if you didn’t have a saddle and had to sit on your seat post. That’s a lot of weight in one small area, and it would probably hurt a lot. This is the reason we have saddles, so that we can distribute our weight over a larger area instead of that little post.
Just as with your saddle, grips work the same way. As you lean forward and rest your hands on the grips of your bike, you’re going to feel all of that weight localized into the places where your hand rests on the grip. If you have a small grip, the force that you feel will be greater, and hence you’ve got the opportunity to feel more pain. But imagine if you were to put a larger area, like your saddle, on your grips. This is exactly what Ergon has done.
The large flange that you see coming off the back of the grip allows you to rest your entire palm on the grip instead of a small area right smack in the middle of your hand like you do with a traditional grip. By doing this, you’re decreasing the amount of force you feel on your hands by distributing that weight over a larger area than a traditional grip. This allows for increased comfort, which is especially important to somebody like me who has tendonitis in their wrists, where any increase in comfort is welcomed.
The good and the bad
Before these grips, I had experienced a good deal of pain and occasional numbness in my hands after riding for more than about an hour. I also found I would put an absolute death grip on my bike when I got into a situations where I saw myself falling off my bike in the not so distant future. In addition to allowing weight to be dispersed over my entire palm, these grips have forced me to keep a gentle grip on my bike, thus breaking this bad habit.
When I first rode with these grips, I wasn’t so sure how I felt about that idea. To me, I was losing a perceived safety net in being able to hold onto the bike like my life depended on it. But the truth of the matter is that this is a bad technique to have, and getting rid of it has allowed my bike handling improve significantly.
Finally, the biggest impact you will see with these grips is with longer rides. I’ve found that I’m able to ride longer periods of time, more comfortably than I was before. This was especially true on a 40 mile road ride I did on my mountain bike recently. With my old, stock grips, my hands would have been killing me by the end of the ride, but I walked away from that ride with very little fatigue in my hands.
Of course, there are drawbacks to any product. If you’re doing any all mountain or downhill riding, these grips are not for you. Ergon GC2’s simply don’t allow for the ability to move your hand around on the grip, so if you need to make radical changes in riding posture, the flange on the back of these grips are going to become your nemesis as they get in the way.
Another drawback to these grips is the amount of time it takes to get them setup. Because your hand is resting on top of the grip instead of wrapping your hand around it, there is a period of time where you will figure out the exact angle the grips need to be at to work for you. If the flange is too low, your hand will be turned up and vise versa. It only took me an hour or two to get things dialed in right where I wanted them, but be warned you need to take a wrench with you on your first few rides to get these grips dialed in properly.
The Verdict
Ergon’s GC2 grip is made for cross country riding without extended downhill sections. The thing that makes this grip so comfortable is the same thing that ruins its ability to be a great all around grip. These grips are also a bit spendy when compared to a typical lock on grip, but if you consider that they come with a set of bar ends, it makes justifying the cost a little easier. In the end, these grips are something that you simply need to try and see if you like. If you do, you’ll never want to give them up. If you’re not sure that you’ll love these grips, consider purchasing them from a store with a good return policy.
