I’ve ridden with a pair of these this entire season, and they rock the socks off all the other grips I’ve used over the years. Granted, I’ve never had any issues with numb hands/wrists, but I personally will never ride anything else again. They are THAT comfortable. The ONLY downside that I’ve found with this grip, is that the bar end is a much better conductor than the grip body so in cold weather the bar end can suck some heat away from your hands. It’s a minor issue, but I’ve really noticed it during a few cold races/rides. To each their own, but I’ll never ride without a set ergons on my bars.

These things are friggin awesome. Comfy beyond belief. First bar setup I’ve found that lets me ride for 15+ hours a day without ANY hand discomfort. ‘nuf said. I like the additional hand positions and climbing power the just-big-enough bar ends provide. Setting them up and getting used to them takes a while, be patient. It should be noted that I like the small size, even though I have average hands for a guy nearly six feet tall.

My grips of choice as well. I run the carbon barends instead of the magnesium. Been on these things since 2006, and WILL NOT go back to a normal grip.

Do these work well with slightly swept back bars? (Soma Odins, for instance?)

mike – I haven’t tried them on big sweep bars but I think they would work pretty well there too. Mike Curiak had something similar on TU this year – some pics and thread at http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,470.msg5500.html#msg5500, although the bike shots don’t show the bar he actually rode. You could ask him in that thread?

thanks dave. the bars i’m running are similar in bend to a riser, without the rise. 11 deg of sweep if i remember the specs. have looked at the ergons and some specialized things. need something out at the end of my long bar to keep my hands from wandering off when i start to climb. still getting used to a wide bar and the whole ss thing. i’ll check out the thread.

Ah, well I use the Ergons on riser bars. They work great there – for SS use I prefer the round grip style (I think it’s the GA1 model), for gears the ones above with carbon barends.

I have had numbness is my right hand off and on for a few years and I still have it with the Ergon, BUT, it takes a LOT longer to present and is easily mitigated by acting as a reminder to change hand positions. The climbing ends are very useful and they protect the hands in the event of a crash/nicking a tree when hugging a line at high speed. In short, I don’t use anything else for rides of 2 or more. I’d give 4/5 stars. Oh yeah, they function fine in technical situations (step-ups/drops/rock gardens/etc.).

I put these on for ultra distances and have loved them. I went with the smallest bar ends and have found that the grips and bar ends perform well on techy single-track also. At this point, grabbing a standard round grip feels odd. The installation was simple and fast. I only had to tweak the grip angle twice and the bar ends once and haven’t changed them since. They are the difference in ‘pain’ and ‘no pain’ when riding centuries. =)

Ergons web page states that models with bar-ends should not be installed on carbon handlebars. Anybody have experience doing it anyways?

I have them installed on a set of crank brothers carbon bars with no probs. But they are specifically designed to accept bar ends as long as they are not cut. In fact I snapped the alloy bolts in both grips without any damage to the bars.

I have been using the Ergon GR-2 grips for two years now. I love these things. I initially had the GP-1’s and then switched after about a year to the GR-2’s. Both are excellent. When I was running the OEM grips on my bike my ring and pinky finger would start to go numb after about 30-45 minutes. When I switched to the GP-1 I saw an immediate difference, and had no numbing. I ended up switching to the GR-2 because I wanted the leverage the bar-end provides when climbing on my single speed. I didn’t want the full on bull horn bar ends like I had back in the early to mid 90’s on my bikes back then. I was looking for something small that would just allow for a different hand position. The GR-2 is perfect for that. I also like the protection it offers. The end is just enough so as to protect my hand when going through tight spots, but not so large as to catch on vines or any other hanging hazards. I think these are great grips, and would recommend them to anyone. However, like most things, not everyone will be a fan. They fit my needs and desires, and are therefore perfect for my type of riding.