Gloves off on Grips

We selected five grips we have used in the last few years to give you our thoughts on them, and ffter riding on them hard you to see how well they have lasted. As with many things in cycling, grips can be a very personal choice and they can change the way a bike feels.

ODI Ruffian Lock-on. With over 5,000km on these grips we have become quite familiar with their characteristics. In the dry these thin profile grips are comfortable with or without gloves but in the wet the Ruffians can become slippery when not wearing gloves. We found they suited rides up to four or so hours.

ODI Yeti Chunky Lock-on. Another grip we have spent plenty of time with, ride with these and it is like having your hands massaged throughout the ride. They offer a ton of grip with their raised Yeti lettering, brilliant in all conditions.

Serfas Silicon. These grips may look new but have already been through the torture test of a 24hr solo. Their chunkiness forms slightly to your hand and provides suitable shock absorption throughout a ride. We also found that they remain grippy in the wet and without gloves.

JetBlack Lock-on "Scott 24 Edition". We gave these grips a fair shot but after numerous rides and races they just didn't offer what we wanted. Having said that these lock-ons could be suitable for your trail or casual rides.

ESI Chunky. Originally we tested the ESI Races-edge grips but found their lightweight nature not suitable for the riding we were doing. Moving to the Chunky versions we found the grips very comfortable even during extended rides. While they may wear with use and can tear easily the ESI Chunkys are a popular choice as they are light and secure without to much of a fuss.

No need to be Envious

Our initial look at the wheels, here.

With just about all major players now producing carbon rims and these wheelsets now becoming more accessible you no longer have to re-mortgage your house and spend what you could buy a great bike with, to benefit from the carbon revolution. Looking more locally there are Australian based companies hand building carbon rimmed wheels and where the prices are even more affordable.

The old-school new age look, steel frame and carbon rims.

The Good Edition wheelset from Curve Cycling is their most affordable build but by no means are they a slouch, spinning up as fast and suffered as much punishment as we could throw at them. All signs pointed to a good build, as the wheels remained true during the test period, no flex or creaking associated with bedding-in.

The Curve branded hubs roll on smooth Japanese enduro bearings. It was noted during our testing period that the front hub is a little wider than other hubs ridden on this particular bike. During hard cornering the spokes would lightly touch the brake caliper. This could be easily fixed by shimming out the brake disc. No such trouble with the rear hub, the alloy freehub had a distinctive light ratchet sound, with positive engagement and didn’t show any excessive gouging from the cassette.

Underneath the carbon rim is a full size 2.2" tyre, fat rims

Lacing the hubs to the rim were the reliable DT Swiss Competition double-butted spokes, another sign of the solid nature of this build. Additionally available through Curve Cycling and supplied on this occasion was one of the best rim tapes we have ever used. They certainly have done their homework in this area, the rim tape was easy to apply and during the test period there was no air leakage.

How close is the caliper to the spokes, very close.            We placed the cir-clip around the other way so it wouldn't touch.

A full carbon fiber rim features a 30mm external and 23mm internal width, which should provide tyre sidewalls with plenty of support. Fitting some 2.2” racing rubber was easy enough, while the internal profile isn’t UST, it is happily tubeless-ready, the tyres snapped into place on the rim and held there even while ridden at low pressures. We found the rims helped to provide a wider footprint and increased grip and control through various conditions we rode. And after rock strewn rides the gloss clear coat covering black and white graphics still remained intact, more importantly not a wobble out of the rims.

The rims are the same across the Editions with these rims taking Curve’s Jesse Carlsson along the Tour Divide and into second place this year. This wheelset with its carbon rim defiantly provides more stiffness out at the rim and has pushed us towards being converts to the wide rim ideal. We imagine you will be cheering when your rolling on a set of these sharp wheels.

Curve branded hubs, competition spokes, a solid build.

They said: Suitable for XC, AM and all round trail slaying. These hand built Carbon fiber MTB wheels are configured to compliment most riding styles over varied terrain. They feature a super wide profile that allows the use of tyres up to 2.5”. The layup of this rim allows for a nice balance of high-impact strength, lightweight and stiffness, whilst still maintaining enough deflection for comfort during those long rides and marathon races. In other words, they are stiff (much stiffer than many popular light weight alloy rims), but not so stiff to the point where they feel harsh on the trail.