Race Face Turbine 1x Dropper post remote_1608

Here is an improved review, since the last time I posted a review on these,

I have used Esi grips since 11.2015 until January 2018, so I am very familiar with them. updated it march 2018. But now finally I revised the review, new pictures, improved text. July 2019 I added video and revised the text some more.

I put them thru its paces, I rode with them in -11c to summer heat, in most weather conditions.

I went from hard and too small diameter grips to Easton MTB grips, which was torture to ride with so I had to get something better, but ESI Grisp were just a temporary solution.

I went for the 34mm diameter grips, they fit me perfectly.

I have been using these grips since 2015, they definitely work, but not for long, So I had to swap them out for a fresh set after few weeks.

my upgraded 2010 trek 3900 ESI Chunky orange silicone grips

If used for longer I managed to put a lot more wear in them, and eventually they were spinning slightly, especially at the the ends.

Some pictures:

2014 Fuel EX 7 29er: ESI GRIPS-Deore Xt M8000, M615 brakes-

View from left-Trek 6300 Race Face Turbine

Sortimo T-Boxx_20170424_103707 — I stored them in Sortimo T-Boxx

Flickr Album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskorWHoL

The Good:

Shock absorbing
Feels great without gloves
10 colour choices, I got green fits my fuel-ex perfectly.
reduces hand numbness – fatigue- arm pump
easy to clean with a hard brush
not effected much by the subzero temperatures, they work in the summer heat and in the freezing winter.
they can be used in the winter, I have ridden few days with -10 and more, with the grips, without any issues.

The Bad:

Not as grippy as rubber grips but not bad.
The end caps are junk, you can replace them with proper alloy end caps instead.
but they only last me 4 weeks, they become too soft and lose the shock absorption, and at that point, they are torture to ride, so they are expensive in long term. In the In the winter I use 2.1 Suomi Gazza Extreme studded tyres with 4psi higher pressure than my summer setup with Maxxis 2.3 tyres, which becomes torture to ride with once the grips lose the shock absorption feature, first comes the loss of shock absorption then the grip becomes more fragile and gets ripped apart easier and easier, then they begin to spin slowly, but this happens over the course of many weeks, with higher volume tyres I could ride them for bit longer, but not with my current winter setup, it’s torture, so I had to swap to fresh grips every 4th week, which cost way too much. even though the too soft grip is not as noticeable with bigger tyre volume this is not acceptable for me.

Birds can damage the grips like here, after riding with them more than a week after the bird attacking them there are holes so deep I can see the handlebar, so if you crash hard you will rip the grips part.

ESI Grips Extra Chunky Black- closeup — I don’t know what caused damage on this one, maybe some branches, they could definitely cause this.

Verdict:

If all grips are still like this I can’t recommend these grips due to the issue with the grips getting too soft fast, but so far it seems like I am the only one mentioning this, maybe I got a bad batches these years, I’ve chatted with others, and none I chatted to or commented to had these issues, if you have other experience with them why not comment below. if they lasted longer this would be a cheap and great option I guess, but for me it did not work that great for long.

So when I saw RevGrips I bought them, and that’s what I have been using since, and probably will continue to do so.

http://www.esigrips.com/Silicone_Grips_Shock_Absorbing.htm

The end caps are junk, you can replace them with proper alloy end caps instead.

Putting them on & off:

The best way to install the grips is by using a compressor.

here are some great videos I found on YouTube:

I put the grip under running hot tap water to heat expand it or fill the sink up with hot tap water, but a using compressor instead is much easier.

What you should NOT do:

DON’T USE A SCREWDRIVER TO PUT THEM ON AND OFF!!! It will damage the grips on the inside and the grip can rip apart.

Don’t use hairspray, even if the bike mechanic tells you to, it might stink, and make the grip slipperier on the inside. it’s dangerous stuff to breathe in.

Tuning:

https://revgrips.com/pages/sizing

The test was done with black inserts & thick shims.

The first test I did, was to check how the movement in the grips felt, I did some wheelies bunny hops and it felt quite good, so I went for a short ride later, I tested it on very touch icy pavement with tractor tyre tracks, which is basically a torture test for vibrations, I could definitely tell the grips were working, but of course grips have a limitation they won’t eliminate everything, but they definitely do a great job.

I lacked control I struggled doing manuals, So at the time the best combinations was blank & red inserts, do the upper and bottom are red and front and back are black, using no shims, for firmest set-up use black inserts without shims.

august 2018 I switched the cockpit over to my old bike so, so started with fresh set on the Fuel ex.

I switched to softest setup:

But after moths of use, I tested fully soft setup in June 2019, but I did not have any issues with the soft setup, I still was able to do manuals, that day I had great balance and was strong, so I did manuals, I did not find the softest setup to be an issue no matter what I did, I did some urban riding, did a lot of different things, the added comfort was definitely worth it, I am not sure why I did not like it at first, it might have been that I was weaker, was not as good at manuals, but now it’s not an issue.

It feels more comfortable than ESi grips do due to the slight rotation when riding roughest trails or riding hard down stairs or what else.

The sleeves/grips:

The sleeves/grips have similar grip levels to Maxxis MaxxGrip tyre compound, so of course, it has much greater grip than ESI silicone grips

Pros

The durability, I rode with these grips for few months. march 2018 I noticed slight wear on the grips, 11th march I noticed quite clear wear, on the inside and outside of the grips.

09.06.2018

After many long rides to Skansehytta, I was not surprised to see wear after so many months of use.

10.07.2018

as you can see the grips are wearing well, I will flip and rotate them to keep using them for longer, the grips are durable enough to do so

I got some riding done June & July, but less than the other months due to a lot of neck & back issues. but still these grips are far more durable than Esi Grips.

Very sticky grips, give great grip, much better than Esi silicone grips.
Colour choices
3 sizes, I use 34mm which fits me perfectly, any other sizes won’t fit my hands.
The thumb will rub against the lock on clamp when shifting with the XTR M9000 shifter, but this is not the Grips’s fault, I would like some more adjustment for the XTR shifters, but so far this has not been an issue yet, this of course leads to wear where the thumb rubs.

One pair got super sticky, but RevGrips Sent replacement.

I got replacement because these got too sticky after maybe about 8 months of use. I still have a part used 15 months that is still good. These grips have great grip, but this set just got sticky as jam. Things like this can happen, but they have great support.

I don’t know why this happen, I use Muc Off bike cleaner to clean them, I don’t know if that has done damage to it, but I did so with the other pair too, and they did not get damaged, and the new replacement pair is still going strong. I doubt it was the cleaner, maybe I got something harmful for the grips on them, I don’t know what. But RevGrips sorted it out.