What are the best mountain bike grips? Wil’s tested a bunch over the years, and here he’s put together five of his favourite lock-on grips. Over to Wil!
Makers of grips, bar tape, gloves and body armour, Lizard Skins was an early adopter of lock-on mountain bike grips, having launched some iconic models over the years like the classic Logo. Starting out during the sport’s heyday back in 1993, the brand now offers no fewer than 20 different grip models.
As well as being the first single sided lock-on grip from Lizard Skins, the MacAskill is purportedly the brand’s most technical grip too.
Lizard Skins Lock-On MacAskill Grip Specs
- Diameter: 29mm
- Total length: 136mm
- Grip area length: 129mm grip length
- Single locking clamp w/3mm hex screw
- Confirmed weight: 84g
- Colour options: Black, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange
- RRP: £26 / $49.95 AUD
On The Trail
Among present company, the MacAskill grips are not only the lightest at 84g for the pair, they’re also the thinnest with a svelte 29mm diameter. They have the widest grip area too, measuring 129mm from the inside of the alloy clamps through to the edge of the integrated plastic end caps.
All of this makes sense when you consider that they’re Danny MacAskill’s grip of choice. The wide perch gives you plenty of room to park your hands when you’re trying to re-clutch the handlebars, while the slightly flared edge towards the alloy clamps creates a mini-flange of sorts, providing your hands with a quick point of reference for where they’re located in space.
Being so thin, these are definitely not the most comfortable. I found them pretty rough when riding gloveless, and prefer using these on longer travel bikes where the supple suspension and big, low-pressure tyres take care of vibration damping.
The advantage of the thin rubber is exceptional feedback and tactility though, with the knurled pattern creating loads of tiny edges all the way around the grip surface. Without any deep grooves however, I’ve found that traction starts to suffer in wet weather and when riding with sweaty, gloveless hands in hot conditions.
Installation is easy via the 3mm hex bolt, though it’s worth noting that these grips are left and right specific, with the backwards-facing spiral ridges providing a slightly more comfortable fit with the angle of your palms.
Durability has been great. I’ve smashed these grips around a bit with a healthy dose of crashes thrown in for good measure, and save for a few scratches on the outer caps, they’re wearing very well.
Overall
An exceptionally thin and tactile grip for those who want to feel the trail underneath their palms. They’re not overly comfortable though, and bigger-handed folk may want to check out Lizard Skins’ new 31mm diameter Charger Evo grips.
Review Info
| Brand: | Lizard Skins |
| Product: | MacAskill Lock-On Grips |
| From: | 2pure.co.uk |
| Price: | £26 / $49.95 AUD |
| Tested: | by Wil Barrett for 9 months |
