[forgiven_nick]

Hi guys and gals. Looking to race my first endurance race this year.

Got a new saddle and figure that upgrading my other contact points is probably a good low cost/improved comfort place for me to invest $.

I currently use an old set of Oury grips that are okay, but with multiple wrist fractures from my earlier years of skate/snowboarding, I am concerned about my wrists enduring, not to mention the sore hands I occasionally have after long rides (Oury grips have improved the latter slightly).

I was all set on purchasing the Ergon GP1 grips, but then thought about my adjustable front fork. It goes from 100-130mm and I use the whole range on every ride. Would changing my forks travel have any bearing on my preference of the Ergon grips' angle? Which fork setting would I prefer it setup for if so?

Thanks.

 

[AZ]

IMHO , travel would have little to no effect on grip angle preference. Hand position is more closely coupled to seat/body position as I see it .

 

[KERKOVEJ]

I switched between a 100mm and 120mm fork on my FS bike in 2010....and I did not have to change the angle on my GX3 grips.

 

[forgiven_nick]

Is the GP1 still the grip preferred for 100+ mile rides/races by most of you or is there another grip you prefer for the long haul?

 

[KERKOVEJ]

GP1 is heavy. Look at the GX1 or the GS1. GS1 comes to market in mid-March 2011. GS1 is a softer version of the GX1. Been testing it for about 3 months now. It is intended and designed as a 'endurance' race grip. My teammate, Alban Lakata, used it this summer to win Marathon Worlds.

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[trhoppe]

While I won't argue that the GP1 is heavier, the $25 GP1-S SE at Performance Bike with the plastic clamps are right at 149 grams, which is only 15 more grams then the GX-1.

I REALLY REALLY like mine

-Tom

 

[staylor]

I think your question about the Ergon grips and an adjustable travel fork is a good one. I've been using the GX-2 Carbon since they first came out - love em'.

The bike I ride/race the most has an adjustable fork that switches from 115-140mm. I find that I adjust the travel back and forth between the two fork positions quite a bit during a 24hr race. IMHO the two positions have a preferred 'perfect grip setting' and it is a bit different for each one. But, there is a 'sweet grip spot' that covers both fork settings and it's hardly a compromise.

FWIW, I think the saddle is a much bigger issue for adjustable travel forks. Not sure if you have looked at it yet but the saddle position (nose up or nose down alignment) is a pretty big deal if you are going to be in a really long race and switching between the travel settings. Finding the happy medium for the saddle will take a bit of compromise, if you haven't played with it yet you should take a look at it as soon as you can.

 

[forgiven_nick]

I think your question about the Ergon grips and an adjustable travel fork is a good one. I've been using the GX-2 Carbon since they first came out - love em'.

The bike I ride/race the most has an adjustable fork that switches from 115-140mm. I find that I adjust the travel back and forth between the two fork positions quite a bit during a 24hr race. IMHO the two positions have a preferred 'perfect grip setting' and it is a bit different for each one. But, there is a 'sweet grip spot' that covers both fork settings and it's hardly a compromise.

FWIW, I think the saddle is a much bigger issue for adjustable travel forks. Not sure if you have looked at it yet but the saddle position (nose up or nose down alignment) is a pretty big deal if you are going to be in a really long race and switching between the travel settings. Finding the happy medium for the saddle will take a bit of compromise, if you haven't played with it yet you should take a look at it as soon as you can.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! That is super helpful. I agree that the saddle angle is huge on the adjustable travel forks. I am still messing with the recently purchased saddle and its angle. I think for my last saddle, I got it set up with a bubble level put on top of a hard bound book which was sitting on the top of my saddle. I set it up level when my fork was in the "climbing" or short travel (100mm for my fork) setting. I think that worked pretty good as my cockpit to saddle length is shorter than most who are my height, yet I am always seated for climbs. Maybe I should try setting it to level when I am halfway between the min and max travel settings for my fork (115 mm). Maybe when I get the Ergon grips, I should set them up at this halfway setting too?

 

[staylor]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! That is super helpful. I agree that the saddle angle is huge on the adjustable travel forks. I am still messing with the recently purchased saddle and its angle. I think for my last saddle, I got it set up with a bubble level put on top of a hard bound book which was sitting on the top of my saddle. I set it up level when my fork was in the "climbing" or short travel (100mm for my fork) setting. I think that worked pretty good as my cockpit to saddle length is shorter than most who are my height, yet I am always seated for climbs. Maybe I should try setting it to level when I am halfway between the min and max travel settings for my fork (115 mm). Maybe when I get the Ergon grips, I should set them up at this halfway setting too?

My advice would be to get both saddle and grips roughly where you think they should be and then grab an allen key and head out for a long ride to do the fine tuning.

I think you'll find the grips will be easy to sort out, just bracket it in until you get where you want to be. If you are OCD (ok, I admit it, I am a little OCD) the grips will drive you a little crazy as you make microscopic adjustments back and forth and eventually you will just have to say good enough - at least that's what I do. ;-)

For the saddle I think it boils down to which position you are in the most. I have my cockpit to saddle set up short as well and I quite like racing in the 140mm setting, it agrees with my racing style and my 47yr old back. It's hard to describe exactly what I do but it goes something like this...

- Set the saddle to my 140mm setting.
- Tap the nose of the saddle down 'a smidge'

With this saddle position I don't feel like I'm falling too far forward or loading up my traps/shoulders too much when I'm in the 140mm setting. So I'm basically neutral with a very slight saddle nose drop. When I switch down to the 115mm setting I have enough saddle nose drop that my taint isn't crushed by the pelvic area rolling forward effect.

Make sense?

 

[mudge]

Ergon grips are the best thing since sliced bread.

Mudge

 

[forgiven_nick]

Make sense?

Totally. Good advice. I think I would be racing a little more towards the 100mm end of the adjustable travel though. Bombed a downhill super fast and realized on the next incline that I was still in 100mm mode on the fork. Came back around the second lap and made sure the fork was @ 130mm and it (maybe just me being tired) seemed a little more slugish, less like I was railing it. That being said (sorry, this is a little off topic now), I realized that I really need to use the entire range of my fork's adjustable travel more often. I usually just change it for the steeps, setting it to one extreme or the other if I am heading up or down.

I guess I really need to figure out the middle ground a little more and adjust to suit that as best as I can. Kinda like knowing the middle chainring (on a triple crank) gear combinations so well that you only choose the extremes (granny and big ring) when you have to...not the best analogy, but that's kinda what I am realizing may work. Does THAT make sense?

 

[staylor]

Does THAT make sense?

Makes sense to me.

Have fun at your race!

 

[forgiven_nick]

GP1 is heavy. Look at the GX1 or the GS1. GS1 comes to market in mid-March 2011. GS1 is a softer version of the GX1. Been testing it for about 3 months now. It is intended and designed as a 'endurance' race grip. My teammate, Alban Lakata, used it this summer to win Marathon Worlds.

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So its mid March 2011. Where should I look to get the GS1 grips?