regfman

I have a Dahon folding bike. I bought a pair of BioLogic Arx grips to replace the standard grips. The standard ones are a softer rubber and were nicely grabbing the handlebars so it took some force, a little alchohol, and wiggling to get them off. The new grips are a harder plastic on the inside and easily slide onto the handle bars. They need some sort of adhesive to hold them in place and not rotate.

I've read a few different suggestions. I've tried lightly coating the handle bars with white bathroom caulking and it isn't setting up. I've had it on for 36 hours and it has not set the grips. Temperature is about 62F.

Should I pull off the grips, clean the handlebars and inside of the grips, and then try something else? Superglue?

gsa103

Hairspray is the traditional solution.

canklecat

Nothing I tried worked to retain friction fit rubber ergo palm shelf grips to my hybrid's chrome handlebar: hair spray, double stick tape, adhesives. Nothing worked.

Eventually I swapped the chrome riser bar from a hybrid with the black flat bar from a mountain bike, just for comfort (both bars are now slightly above saddle height and have similar reach). I then returned the rubber ergo grips to the hybrid, now on the black finish flat bar. Used isopropyl alcohol to clean the bar and reduce the friction while sliding on the grips. After the alcohol dried the grips stayed put. Finally. No hair spray, tape or glue.

Now, to my fingers, the black finished bar feels just as slick as the chromed bar. Both are the same diameter. But something about the black finish gives the grips something to hold.

And the plain round rubber grips on the mountain bike also stay put on the chrome bars swapped over from the hybrid. Go figure.

So, if I wanted non-locking friction fit rubber ergo grips to stay put on a chrome bar, I'd try sanding the bar where the grips would go, spray on some self-etching primer, and see if that worked.

Or replace the chromed bar with black, unless it's a proprietary bar that isn't easily replaced --- which is possible with a folding bike. So the sanding and etching primer trick might work.

Or buy locking grips. I think there's at least one brand with a locking collar around the end of the grip that faces inward toward the stem, and another locking wedge on the outside end of the grip that fits inside the hollow bar.

blakcloud

I have used Shoe Goo with great success on keeping grips on bars so much so, they had to be cut into pieces when I needed to remove them.

JonathanGennick 

I've some motorcycle grip glue that I use on rare occasions. Any motorcycle shop will likely have some.

Retro Grouch 

Yup. The nice thing about hair spray is that you can get the grip off relatively easily: Just stick a screwdriver under the grip and spray in a little bit more hairspray - the grip will slide right off.

regfman

The bathroom caulking still hadn't shown any signs of setting up after 48 hours so I pulled the grips off and cleaned off the caulking from the handlebars and from the inside of the grips. And then applied hair spray. Let's see how that works. If that doesn't do it I will move on to shoe goo or gorilla glue.

SquidPuppet

This is the BEST grip glue. It's incredible. Easy to use. Cleanup is effortless. It holds the grips on rock solid. Cheap. Any motorcycle shop will have it. I think Amazon has it too.

djb

this topic certainly shows from my experience that its worth getting grips that have the locking mechanism with teh itsy bitsy 2.5 allen key bolt. There are inexpensive ones on the market that I've used on bikes in the family, and its nice to be able to make fine rotations to get the angle of the grip that you prefer and for them not to rotate with time sometimes.

canklecat

Thanks, I put that on my Amazon list to order. I've seen a couple of grips I like but they lack the locking collars. It'll be good if the collars aren't essential.

SquidPuppet

You are welcome.

I can't overstate how solidly it holds. I used it for a long time on racing motorcycles. And as you can imagine, those grips get yanked and twisted aggressively the entire time the bike is ridden. NO movement.

I also can't overstate how wonderful working with it is and how easy cleanup is. Glue is glue, right? It's sticky. When it gets on a surface that you don't want it on, it's usually a challenge against time. Not this stuff. Wipe it off with your finger, or a paper towel, or a rag, or a sponge, it doesn't matter. It doesn't make "Spider Webs" and fuzz from paper towels and rags doesn't get globbed up. It's almost like water, until it dries, then it's tenacious.

canklecat

Sounds great. Nothing else I tried that I already had at home worked. Worth a couple of bucks for a small tube to give it a try.

Grand Bois

A slipping grip can cause a crash. I use 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. I spray it inside the grip, twist it on and leave it alone overnight. The only drawback is that the only way to get the grip off is to cut it.

regfman

Thanks for the suggestions. After the bathroom caulking failed to harden I cleaned that off the bar and inside of the grips and tried hair spray. Maybe good for other grip/handlebar combinations but not for my BioLogic/Dahon set. I am now trying Goop. Yesterday I used it and one side set up well but the other one didn't harden today. I took that side off, cleaned it up again and am trying today and will give it more like 48 hours to harden. I think it is going to work.

lennyk

Hairspray was the choice for Oakley bmx grips back in the day before sunglasses were in style

Crankycrank

regfman, it looks like these grips have some sort of locking mechanism. Are you using this correctly?

SquidPuppet

Spinning your wheels.... It may or may not "set". And if it does, it may not remain set.

Use the glue I posted in post number eight. It's designed specifically for GRIPS to adhere to metal, chromed, anodized or painted handle bars. Clean the grip and bar with rubbing alcohol first. Dries in a couple hours.

We like to think, "Glue is glue, product X should be fine". Chemistry doesn't work that way.

Leisesturm

Hairspray is a lubricant! It does not work for grips that are too loose in the first place! Locking grips. I love them. Ergon's if anatomic, Controltech (among others) if not.

Leisesturm

It would appear you are correct. WTF?

Arx? Grips with T-Tool | BioLogic Bicycle Accessories and Bike Gear

regfman

The Arx grip has a tool built into the end cap. Pretty much a gimmick. I didn't buy it for that reason. I bought those grips, buying the brand because I have another bike that I bought used and it has those grips and I like them.

Anyway, I ended up using Goop. Which seems to work. Squidpuppet, I do take the point that all glue is not the same and some are going to work better in some situations, but I have this stuff lying around.

SquidPuppet

Hey, if it's holding, that's all that matters.

robert schlatte

+1