oldngray

Re posted from the Road forum - sorry for those who read both forums for the repeat. I received a few responses regarding Ergon grips, but not the others mentioned below.

I didn't know whether to post this in the road or tandem section. My wife and I ride a flat bar tandem road bike and both have some trouble with numbness and pain in hands/wrists. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with some of the ergonomic grips. I can get the Serfas RX grips and the Specialized BG grips at my LBS, but no one there seems to have used them. If you've used any of these grips, I'd also like to know if you use gloves with them or not. I've done searched the forums and come up empty, so I apologize if this has been discussed already.

Thanks!

woog

Post it in the MTB section. In my experience good gloves make more of a difference than grips as long as your grips are reasonable. I'm a big fan of Ourys. Nice and fat and soft. Also consider bar ends so you can change hand positions.

lmzimmer

I have used cane creek ergo bar end grips and they help give more hand positions. I liked them but am not sure they are a lot better than generic bar ends. I believe they still offer advantages over just using gloves as they offed different hand postitions. I do use gloves with them.

oldngray

Woog - I didn't put the post in the MTB section on purpose becuase I know lots of MTB'rs who bash the ergo grips. Completely different type of riding - I wouldn't want ergo's on my MTB. On the trails, I'm all over the bike and my grippy, round grips are great (and comfy). On the road, I'm in a static position for a long period of time and wanted to get the perspective from fellow road riders.

Thanks for the input, though. I might re-post there if I don't get what I'm looking for.

woog

The folks on the endurance board on mtbr will have some insight for you as well.

zonatandem

For 2007 Ergon is introducing the Ergon R2 Carbon, a lighter/$$ version of their original.
Designed in Sweden by ergonomics engineers.

oldngray

Well, I went ahead and just bought two sets of Sertas RX grips "designed and approved" by some sports medicine doctor. I'll update the post after I get them on and have time for a good ride. From the weather report - it probably won't be this weekend...

oldngray

Just reading my past posts and realized that I never updated this thread as promised - yeah I'm 2 years late, but you can still buy these grips. I'm still running the Serfas RX grips on the tandem, but both of us still had discomfort/numbness in our hands and wrists on rides more than 12 miles or so. I'm not sure if this is an issue with the Serfas grips, or just an argument that ergonomic grips alone aren't the answer.

We tried a few different bar ends for additional hand positions before settling on the Specialized Overendz bar ends. They provide a few new positions and are very comfortable for my wife and me. We both have fairly small hands, so I'm not sure how well they would work for larger riders. We've done several 30-40 mile rides with good comfort, even without cycling gloves.

I'mnotdeadyet

the Ergon grip with the mag ends. They're on my straight carbon bar tandem. I've had them for 8 months now, and usually go between 30 and 45 miles at a time. I've adjusted them 2 ways. First the pad so that it sucks up pressure, and then the bar end. I actually have the bar end down a little to mimick the top of a race bar, so I have 2 positions. I also cut off the bar ends about 75mm. These Ergons have a system that you don't have to worry about clamping pressure, but of course, use a tool for proper tightness. So you have to play with both positions, until you find one good for you. No problems for me, and I like the larger surface, and the bar ends.
INDY