Mountain Biking - Putting grips on

Changing the grips troubled me for hours and I'm very frustrated. Is there any tips on putting the grips on/off? I'm trying to change my grips and I ended up cutting the grips off because it literatly glued onto my handlebar. I've tried twisting it, pulling it, pushing it, and it still wont budge going in further after it got in a little more than half way.

Mucho gracias

Spray the inside with hairspray.

Spray the inside with hairspray.

Are you serious? If so, please elaborate. Thanks!

Compressed air works best. If you don't have that available then alchohol works great since it will go away on it's own. Hairspray works pretty well also. Just spray it on the inside of the grip then slide it on.

Awesome! Thanks for the super duper fast replies. Just one question about the compressed air. How does that work? Oh.. and... what is the best way to take the grips off other than cutting it open like I did out of frustration =P


I love this forum! GROUP HUG!!

To get them off...put a small hole on the end and pump air into it and one side will pop off (I think thats what LowCel was getting at). What I do to get them on is just breath on the bars a bit till you see a bit on condensation then they slide on pretty easily and dry pretty quickly.

Water also works.

I've found that a 2mm hew wrecnh is the best way of putting them on/off:

http://www.odigrips.com/

I haven't used my compressor for grips applications for years...


Yea, the lock-ons are easy, but I find the Race Face to be very comfortable
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/GR707A15-Race+Face+Good+N+Evil+Grips.aspx

Soapy water works too.

Off- air compressor

On- air compressor or Clean Streak or rubbing alcohol

And for those that don't keep a coompressor in their back pocket, hairspray is still a gerat choice. I scored 14 pairs of lock-ons below dealer cost, so I haven't had to deal with this issue for while.

I've found that a 2mm hew wrecnh is the best way of putting them on/off:

http://www.odigrips.com/

I haven't used my compressor for grips applications for years...

Agreed...odi's are amongst the best things to hit bikes since ... rubber :D

Which odis do you like the best? I don't know which would feel the best on the hands after a long ride on the mtb...

In any case, next replacement of grips I do will be their Lock-Ons.

Agreed...odi's are amongst the best things to hit bikes since ... rubber :D

agreed. got a nice set of lock ons from salsa.

Soapy water works too.

In my opinion soap is the absolute worst thing you can use to put grips on. When you use soap they will usually slip anytime it rains or you get moisture in or around the grip area. That is just the experience I have had with soap and what I have heard from everyone else that has used soap.

I agree with the ODI's I love them!

If you're still taking grips off with hair spray, the best way to do it is to put a thin bladed screw driver between the grip and the handlebar. Lay the bike over, and lift the screwdriver, spray in between the grip and the bar.

Then slide the screwdriver out!

Take a towel and wrap around the grip and twist it like a throttle. The liquid hair spray will break the grip free. Then slide it off!

Inserting them is even easier. Spray inside of grip, slide them on, leave them to dry overnight!

By the way, the cheapest hair spray works best! Aqua Net is my recommendation. Go to Target or Wal-Mart and find the travel section by the Pharmacy. A small can will last for years.

Just a quick note on the screwdriver method. Be very careful doing this if using carbon bars. It can still be done, just use a little extra caution.

Awesome! Thanks for the super duper fast replies. Just one question about the compressed air. How does that work? Oh.. and... what is the best way to take the grips off other than cutting it open like I did out of frustration =P


I love this forum! GROUP HUG!!


The air method works byBernoulli's Principle (http://home.earthlink.net/~mmc1919/venturi.html).

Take them off by injecting water under the grip and working it around. They will loosen right up.

I've found that a 2mm hew wrecnh is the best way of putting them on/off:

http://www.odigrips.com/

I haven't used my compressor for grips applications for years...
agreed but I use these
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=20412&subcategory_ID=5251 because they are more comfortable on long rides
if lock ons are not an option and you dont a way to get to Target a couple drops of spit works well too.
small screwdriver as far as you can and a drop of spit between the driver and bar along with a twist of the grip after removing the driver will get the old one off and the new one will slide right on and you dont have to wait all night for the water to dry

In my opinion soap is the absolute worst thing you can use to put grips on. When you use soap they will usually slip anytime it rains or you get moisture in or around the grip area. That is just the experience I have had with soap and what I have heard from everyone else that has used soap.


Didn't have an air compressor or hairspray around. Used some soapy water and they haven't come close to budging since including during plenty of wet commutes. I didn't use a whole lot of soap. Maybe that's the difference.

agreed but I use these
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=20412&subcategory_ID=5251 because they are more comfortable on long rides

What happens if you don't use those Flying Nun grips on a long ride.

As mentioned,

On - hair spray, water, wd40 (just kidding about that last one:p )
and if you do not have acces to any of the above, just spit on the bars. Yes it does work.

Off - Lay the bike on its side, lift up one edge of the grip and spray some window cleaner or any soapy spray between the grips and the bar. If you do not have any cleaning spray, again, just use a bit of spit. If your grips have open ends on both sides then spray inside both ends. Then slowly rotate the grips while pulling them off, this may take a few minutes but it works.

Now you can use window cleaner to get the grips on as well but be very sure it dries compleatly before riding:rolleyes:

MSF:beer:

What happens if you don't use those Flying Nun grips on a long ride.
dont knock 'em 'till you try 'em. you'd be amazed at the increase in climbing efficiency from catching a good tail wind.

dont knock 'em 'till you try 'em. you'd be amazed at the increase in climbing efficiency from catching a good tail wind.

That doesn't answer the question, does it?

What happens if you don't use those grips on a long ride?