[Closed] Highly padded mitts

personally

as a rigid singlespeeder.

I preser ESI grips in chunky with completely padless gloves. I find a thick mitt means I have to grab harder or the pads bunch up making its realy uncomfortable.

and tyre pressure/tyre choice can make a massive difference (more than a glove ever will)

Also found TOGS on the handlebar hep to relax the grip during the more mundane bits.

Thanks. I've got grips similar to the ESI ones (Richey WCS) which work well. What pressures do you run up front?

Those TOGS look useful too...

I've had the WCS grips, they're not at all like ESI* TBH. ESI* are more like a tacky rubber foam, the WCS are more like a dry plastic/polymer foam.

I was a fan of the WCS grips for years, but ESI* really are a lot better.

I've got endura "aero gel" mits which have an solid ~3mm thick vented pad on the palm which works really well on the road bike. Not so great on flat bars through. I much preferred ESI grips and thin gloves.

I've been riding with my thumbs over the bars for years. Never got to the bottom of why but I get really bad joint pain in my thumb after riding rough stuff. TOGS might help, but TBH I happily just ride with my thumbs on the bar when climbing or cruising. I really wish someone (On-One) would make a modern swept back riser bar, like a fleegle, but 20mm wider and carbon)

*this is caveat-ed by the grips I gad might not have been ESI and were actually one of the cheaper brands like Vel, supercaz or XLC. I've also had some really cheap ones (£1.10) from china which were really good in the dry but slick when wet.

I've used ESI in the past, both the standard and the chunky but they're expensive and I've found they're not that durable...

Maybe mine weren't ESI then, I'm a serial destroyer of grips and bar tape, a mix of rough* hands and a tenancy to "throttle" the bars and they came on a bike, and I left them when I sold it ~2000 miles later.

Having said that, the current uberbike XL grips have worn the print off my palm in the last hundred miles!

ESI are expensive i agree.

Personally not had durability issue but i have heard that criticism before.

TOGS aren't strictly necessary but they do allow a bit more security that the thumb over on their own. There are cheaper copies now i think. I really rate the concept though more than i thought i would.

Tyre pressures.. soft as i can get Away with without banging the rim.. AKA the thumb test