A few weeks back some of you may have noticed a blurry photo that we posted to Facebook and Instagram of a pair of grips. Well the embargo on these guys lifts this morning so I can now tell you about Easton’s new carbon friendly lock-on grips.
There is no doubt that Easton has been making some of the best carbon bars over the years so it should come as no surprise that they have entered the grip market with a carbon friendly grip. Unlike other lock-on grips available that have a tendency to gouge bars and cause weak points and stress (hands up if you use a torque wrench for your grips?) Easton’s new offering is a two clamp design that has no metal on carbon contact, and the outboard collar features a one piece integrated cap to protect your bar ends.
Not content to stop the innovations with the clamp, Easton’s new grip also features a bunch of other nice subtle touches. Like the fact the grip material covers over the lock rings giving you grip right to the end of the bar and no slippery cold sharp metal. The clamp’s hex nut is still easy to access by just rolling back the end of the grip.
One of the other areas where Easton have changed things up is in the material that the new grips are made from. Elastomeric Polyurethane is used in place of Kraton (found on most other lock-on grips) for increased comfort and durability, and after riding them for the last couple of weeks I can vouch first hand (no pun intended) that this is a comfy grip which does its intended task extremely well. The grips do have a top and bottom which is designated by the top being a the larger Easton logos and the lower being the smaller logos. The top portion of the grip has a little extra meat in it for increased comfort and cushioning while the smaller logos do a stellar job of really holding on to your fingers. I’ve ridden them in the sweltering sun and as of this week, the pouring rain, and have been blown away with their grip.
To make life easy for retailers the grips come in two diameters, 30mm and 33mm, and six colourways. I’ve always been a fan of larger grips and have been running the 33mm, but even the packaging is designed to make it easy for you to try before you buy, as the grips flip out and give you the chance to easily wrap your mitts around them.
Key features of Easton Lock-On Grips include:
• Elastomeric Polyurethane that delivers better abrasion and UV resistance than common grips using Kraton. Elastomeric Polyurethane also provides advanced cushioning properties without sacrificing handlebar feedback and control acuity.
• Carbon-friendly clamps with an aluminum clamp that doesn’t directly contact the bar (a frequent source of stress risers).
• Grip material over clamps—hands contact comfortable grip material, not metal clamps
• Large pad section under palm giving ‘worn-in’ feeling right off the shelf
• Numerous small, directional detailing in the fingertip are to provide a responsive grip and decrease slip
• Two diameters: 30 and 33mm
They will be available here in NZ in June.
Keen to see how the ‘Lager logo’ will improve my grip ‘while the smaller logos do a Stella job’……..based on my extensive research any Lager such as Stella seems to relax my grip. Both on reality and my (handle-) bars……Liking that blue colour and the grip ends covering the lock-bolt heads. Always the main fault with ODI’s, even though I reckon they rock