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The New Ergon GR2

By Darren Dencklau (review) / Claire Bonin (interview)

The last time I rode with bar ends was when I owned an early 1990s Kona Lava Dome that was equipped with a pair of Scott one-piece aluminum “bullhorn” handlebars. Most of the people I rode with and raced against back then were using bar ends. However, that phase of mountain biking’s history, for the most part, fell by the wayside as soon as riser bars took over.

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Ergon GR2.

Climbing, especially on a singlespeed, requires a fair amount of upper body and core strength. To avoid spinning out on steep and loose ascents, centering your weight over the rear hub and finessing the front end so it stays firmly on the ground is crucial — all while being nimble enough to clear obstacles like rocks and roots.

Ergon’s GR2 grips are designed to provide 100% hand contact, thereby dispersing pressure to the palms and fingers. The wider platforms let the majority of the hand rest on the grips’ tops. I tested them out recently and was pleasantly surprised.

The GR2’s lock onto handlebars via a single 5mm allen bolt located on the underside of each bar end. The larger bolt/clamp has less tendency to strip out than most lock-on grips available. Angles can be adjusted independently to suit each rider’s preference.

I was skeptical of the GR2’s initially due to their odd looks — once mounted on my riser bars they look like giant bat ears, not to mention risers and bar ends are a faux pas in the cycling world. I also figured the wide platforms would inhibit my grasp while out of the saddle or when riding technical sections. My reservations were soon forgotten.

The moment I set out I noticed how comfortable they were. And despite the wider feel they felt almost perfect, right away. The ball of my hands rested on the platforms comfortably, taking pressure off my wrists and fingers.

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It took me a while to get used to the confined feeling of my hands positioned to the inside of the bar ends, though it was virtually unnoticed after a few minutes out of the saddle. I soon found myself rocking the bike back and forth much more than usual. I could also stand up on the pedals more freely, which helped me keep more weight over the rear wheel and expand my chest for additional oxygen intake.

I found the wide and knobbed rubber platforms reduced the “throttle grip slip” that sometimes happens with sweaty, wet or muddy palms.

The only downside to these style of grips is while riding really technical sections, as the wide platforms inhibit hand rotation, which is needed to clear obstacles such as large rocks and downed trees. It can be done, but it's nice to be able to freely rotate your hands to accommodate the needed positions.

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Ergon GR2.

They boosted my confidence and reduced fatigue. I’m still going back and forth with the aesthetics of the bar ends, but I will say they work well. I am sold on the shape of the grips and want to try the GP1 BioKork model next. I have a feeling I’ll be riding Ergon for a while.

MSRP for the GR2’s are around $40. Visit their website at ergon-bike.com for more information and to view the other grips they offer.

The Interview

While the GR2’s may look funny to Darren, there are important design and engineering aspects behind their creation. Designers, ergonomics experts, engineers and pro racers all collaborated over an intense eight-month period to develop this latest version. I had a chance to chat with Anna Carrell, senior partner at Ergonomidesign and Ergon GR2 team lead product designer.

The group did a lot of research to pinpoint various elements that needed to be modified from previous year’s grips. They considered the user’s needs and the function of the product as well as how to improve its performance and aesthetic.

Regular grips are quite narrow, often causing numb fingers, aching hands and forearms, so the challenge was to optimize their shape to alleviate and disperse the pressure on user’s hands. As a result, the GR2 design showcases larger “ears” as Darren calls them, to spread the load over a larger area. They used a softer plastic, which is lighter and provides better friction. The group also came up with two different sizes to provide a better fit for all hand sizes. The development team paid particular attention to the fact that women have more sensitive hands so they used a softer material to improve comfort as well.

To get to the final product the GR2 crew created clay models, performed pressure testing and had professional racers test them in real racing conditions to get direct user’s feedback and not rely solely on technical data. According to Carrell, the firsthand reviews made a huge difference. With the GR2, performance was not as big of an issue at first, but the comments prompted them to improve the performance versus comfort ratio, which turned out to be a huge benefit, as more comfort brought better results — the more comfy you are, the longer you’ll ride.

When asked how much they take the complete bike fit into consideration when creating grips or other cycling products, Carrell said, “You can try to optimize as much as possible,” but you have to start with the idea that people will be fitted properly, as there is nothing you can do for a bad position.

When it comes down to looks against comfort, Carrell doesn’t see a contradiction, on the contrary. “The appearance makes people want to touch them ... then they get to feel them,” she said. She likes the fact that many bike manufacturers use Ergon grips on their demo models, because people are normally curious and tend to grasp them.

Although the 2010 GR2 grips are a huge improvement over previous models, Carrell and her team are already hard at work trying to improve them even more, but she wouldn’t tell us the exact details except to say that “more sustainable is the new trend” and that “the sports industry in general is moving toward being more environmental friendly.” She also added that cork would replace other material. That should give you a hint as to what is coming next, as she says, “you can always find things to improve.”