Well, I’ve been using these grips now for nearly a month, so I thought I would re-visit them and just talk about how they’ve been over that time.
I’ve ridden with them in many different weather conditions now, and they’ve held up to being soaked with rain, snowed on, and then dried out and soaked again. I’ve treated them twice now with Obenauf’s Heavy Duty LP, which I also use for our Brooks Saddles, and one of my pairs of leather boots.
With the leather protectant, they definitely repel water for a while before they start to soak in on the ends. They do eventually soak through, but they dry out well, and the leather protectant helps to keep the leather supple, even though it gets soaked and dried. They don’t have to really hold shape like a saddle does, so the soaking and drying isn’t as major of an issue.
In terms of use, they have worked out quite well. They took a little bit of getting used to, as the factory grips on the Raleigh were curved on top, while these are just straight, so they feel notably different while riding.
There is no padding other than the leather itself, which hasn’t turned out to be an issue for me, as I’m not putting all that much weight on my hands.
The end-caps on the grips do come off a bit too easily, though I haven’t had any issues while riding, just while trying to hoist the bike around, one of them came off once.
The grips are a little bit slippery with just plain wool gloves or mittens, a little bit less so when the grips are soaked. With bare skin or my leather gloves, they grip quite strongly, better than the plastic grips that came on the Raleigh. Since my wool gloves and mittens also wear a bit in the fingers and palm from riding, my wife is considering sewing some small pieces of leather in those places, which should also drastically improve the grip.
Anyway, there you have it. Overall, the grips have been great, seem like they will hold up to the weather well, and have performed well over the month I’ve been riding with them. So far, I definitely feel it was a worthwhile update to the bike.
