Renthal Lock-On Grip

I had heard a lot of good things about Renthal's ultra tacky compound and wanted to give them a try, but didn't want to commit to using the push-ons with glue. So decided to give their lock on version a test. I got the black Ultra Tacky compound, half expecting them to last about 2 months before falling apart.

However, I've been proved wrong. The grips are now coming on to a year of use and they are no were near as worn as you would expect. I would easily guess they have another year of use in them maybe more.

But the best thing about the grips is that because they are so soft, they have fantastic damping properties. I noticed in the months after fitting the grips that my forearms were becoming less fatigued on the same descents without changing anything on my suspension or tyre pressure. Due to the softness of compound your hands have this small cushion they can basically float on. But it's nothing like throttle grip, it's way more subtle than that because they feel exactly like a normal grip and at the same time they don't. Just on this alone I would recommend them to anyone who is having this issue but has their suspension and tyre pressures set just so!

The grips do have a few issues though, first riding gloveless isn't great in these because they are just so soft. Firstly your fingers and palms stick to the grip once you're holding on. So you have to unwrap your hand at the end of any descent to un-stick your fingers. 

The second issue I've found is the outside collar. Basically because the compound is so much softer than other grips your hand sits a bit lower when the grips are pressurised by your weight, so you can feel the collar more than you'd like in some situations. But with most of my gloves on I don't feel this anymore have just learned to make sure my hand is actually in the middle of the grip.

Overall these are great grips and tend to keep them until they start to fall apart and replace with the same ones. If Renthal could come out with these grips with no outside collar and just grip (like DMR deathgrips) they would be perfect and I hope it's coming for the future!

I had a pair of these to match a renthal bar and stem. Overall the Grips are nice quality with dual locking collars and the signature kevlar compound.

This grip is super soft and really forgiving on the hands an is really good for riding with gloves. The kevlar compound is really durable given how soft it is so if you use gloves and want a grip with a lot of "cush" this is a great option. 

I personally ride gloveless and with my hand right over the end of the bars and for me I just didn't get on with this grip. The grip pattern is a very subtle diamond pattern but is really not textured enough for riding without gloves. As soon as your hands get a bit sweaty, It feels almost completely smooth. Even though the compound is really grippy the grip design was just too smooth for me. 

The main thing that didn't work for me was the outside collar. I've ridden other dual locking grips and noticed the outside collar digging in but not to this extent. As the compound is so soft there is quite a lot of squish to the grip area, this created the feeling of quite a sharp edge on the inside of the outside collar. It dug into my hand really badly and I just couldn't use these grips. 

To summarise, like all contact components grips are a matter of personal preference. If you ride with gloves and wan't a grippy, comfortable and long lasting grip, these are probably a great option. If like me you like to ride on the outside of the bar, ride gloveless and like to get more feedback through the bars, then going with a grip with a single collar design is likely a better option.