Imprint Grips – Review
Mould your own grips to the perfect shape of your gripped hand? Seems like a good idea for optimum control. Hey presto…Imprint Grips.
Your hands and feet are, for the most part, your only contact with the bike. Getting those contact points right is as important as it is getting the right tyres for the contact point with the ground. We spend thousands of pounds choosing the right bike build and the sweetest looking race kit to get the ultimate trail slaying set-up but fundamentally the only things connecting everything together are your hands and feet to the bike and your tyres to the ground.
There are a myriad of Pedals and Tyres to choose from in almost limitless combinations of materials, patterns, sizes, weights and so on and so on. But it’s not unreasonable to say that when it comes to grips there isn’t a fat lot you can do. Feel is such a personal thing so ultimately you’re just looking for the right circumference and compound to get a reasonable level of ‘feel’ on a grip and that essentially is the only set of choices we have. Until now. Imprint Grips have realised that each of us has a unique way of holding a grip when we are out shredding, so why not design a grip which moulds itself to the exact shape of your gripped hand?
We’ll be honest. At first glance we really just thought they were little more than a gimmick. Nice idea but really; is it worth the hassle? Is it going to have any impact on your riding or your comfort? Well, much to our surprise; yes.
Firstly the “hassle” really isn’t hassle at all. Five minutes of effort and you’ve got them ready to stick on your bike and go ride. Basically fill up a bowl with boiling water and another with cold water, drop a grip in the hot water for 2 minutes, then quickly dunk it in the cold for split second stick it in your bar and grip it as if you were riding. Hold it there for 30 seconds or so then dunk it again in the cold water and Boom! you’ve got a grip moulded to your gripped hand shape. Stick it back on your bike, pinch up the 3mm bolt and you’re all done. Go ride.
The feel was immediate. Whilst visually the unique pattern your hand will have made is subtle it is very noticeable when you’re riding. The only way we could describe it is that it feels as though you are fixed into your bars, you’re part of the bike and completely connected. It’s like being clipped in via the hands but without actually being clipped in. Twist the bars and the movement feels more natural and direct. It’s almost as if you’ve removed a moment of lag that you never knew existed in the first place.
We are surprised at just how good these grips feel and how well they work. We were skeptical but these genuinely have a tremendous impact on how you feel riding a bike. It’s a no brainer for us, these are keepers.
Plenty of Choices –
Clamp Colour
Black
Blue
Gold
Red
Silver
Grip Colour
Black
Green
Magnesium
£25.00
