Review Absolute Black Silicone Grips

[Doomanic]

At £30ish plus post these are the most expensive grips I’ve ever bought but do come with nicely turned aluminium bar ends. They were fairly easy to fit following the supplied instructions.

I bought these as I suffer badly from numb hands and they have done a great job of reducing that. Unfortunately, after less than 40 miles the left hand grip looked like this;

I contacted Absolute Black on FB who initially just deleted my post but after reposting it they contacted my and asked to be sent pics by email. They have decided that the damage is a result of either the bike being upside down or crashed. I made it clear that is not the case at the time the pics were taken but they have chosen to not believe me.

I cant recommend them as the life is just far too short which is a shame as they are very comfortable.

 

[Iain at the back]

At £30ish plus post these are the most expensive grips I’ve ever bought but do come with nicely turned aluminium bar ends. They were fairly easy to fit following the supplied instructions.
View attachment 906
I bought these as I suffer badly from numb hands and they have done a great job of reducing that. Unfortunately, after less than 40 miles the left hand grip looked like this;
View attachment 907

I contacted Absolute Black on FB who initially just deleted my post but after reposting it they contacted my and asked to be sent pics by email. They have decided that the damage is a result of either the bike being upside down or crashed. I made it clear that is not the case at the time the pics were taken but they have chosen to not believe me.

I cant recommend them as the life is just far too short which is a shame as they are very comfortable.

Hi Doomanic. What a poor display of customer service. I had a little issue with my new bike but Wiggle have been brilliant at sorting it out.

I also suffer with numb hands when riding and have just switched to Spank Vibrocore bars and Ergon GA3 grips. They are really comfy and have made a huge difference to my comfort levels. I managed to get the bars and grips for just over £50 by shopping around.

Iain

 

[ccrdave]

Hi Doomanic. What a poor display of customer service. I had a little issue with my new bike but Wiggle have been brilliant at sorting it out.

I also suffer with numb hands when riding and have just switched to Spank Vibrocore bars and Ergon GA3 grips. They are really comfy and have made a huge difference to my comfort levels. I managed to get the bars and grips for just over £50 by shopping around.

Iain

Agree, a good set of carbon bars or the vibrocor ones go a very long way to improving arm comfort. My wife suffered badly with sore hands and forearms, fitted vibrocor, problem has gone away. I use nukeproof carbon bars and the standard spesh grips and my numb hand problem has also gone away. A properly tuned fork will also make a big difference as well. and in my experience stay away from 35mm bars

 

[Gary]

Wow. What a dick move by the company.
Refreshingly honest review.

 

[Kernow]

Carbon bars have been the best single upgrade to help with my numb hands problem . Not the cheapest but it was becoming miserable on longer road rides and on the hardtail touring

 

[Doomanic]

Absolute Black have offered me a replacement set of grips for half price but are adamant that I have misused them in some way. Given that the damage started after 4 rides of 3 miles each round the local park with my dog I’m not impressed with their attitude.

 

[Iain at the back]

Absolute Black have offered me a replacement set of grips for half price but are adamant that I have misused them in some way. Given that the damage started after 4 rides of 3 miles each round the local park with my dog I’m not impressed with their attitude.

Well I wouldn't bother buying another pair, even at half price. Plenty of options out there. In our office we use the phrase "standard reply number 1" which loosely translated means "go **** yourself".

 

[Kernow]

Absolute Black have offered me a replacement set of grips for half price but are adamant that I have misused them in some way. Given that the damage started after 4 rides of 3 miles each round the local park with my dog I’m not impressed with their attitude.

Discounted grips , that’s a pisstake
I would find their Facebook page and post the pics there with details how you have been treated , I bet that gets a better response .

It’s not the same company that make absolute black oval chainrings is it ,they have been really helpful to me in the past

 

[Doomanic]

I posted on their FB page first. They deleted it. So I posted it again. They requested pics by email and the deleted my post.
It is the same company. I’m dealing with/getting fobbed off by someone called Stan.

 

[Kernow]

I posted on their FB page first. They deleted it. So I posted it again. They requested pics by email and the deleted my post.
It is the same company. I’m dealing with/getting fobbed off by someone called Stan.

That’s pretty crap , most at least seem to reply with a ultra helpful post before deleting soon after ?

 

[Doomanic]

Update:
The grips are actually pretty good, combined with my new Vibrocore bars the numbness was much reduced, only really occuring in one hand, which could be down to lever position (I noticed after the ride that the left lever is slightly higher than the right).

Unfortunately, the left (damaged) grip is still wearing much faster than the right and had several punctures, probably from my last (and only on these grips) crash a couple of weeks ago. I lost a bar end plug as well, just to add insult to injury.

 

[Doomanic]

come with nicely turned aluminium bar ends

I lost a bar end plug as well, just to add insult to injury

Lost 'em both now. Didn't even crash this time either.

 

[R120]

looks like the grips had twisted on the bar, causing them to deform?

 

[Doomanic]

Finally removed the grips and went back to the OE Trek grips. OMFG! I had numb hands after a couple of miles and was still getting hand cramps 24 hours later! Now looking for an alternative.

 

[Levorunner]

standard reply number 1 Take that Absolute Black! LOL! ???

 

[davosaurusrex]

I have knackered wrists and get numbness and sore forearms as a result, I'm finding GA2 fats very good. Also running 12 degree backsweep SQlab bars which help

 

[Doomanic]

Tried them, didn't work.

 

[Jeff McD]

Tried them, didn't work.

A friend bought the grips below a year ago and they have held up well. They helped his numb hands quite a bit as well and he does not complain anymore. So I presume they would be durable enough even though they're cheap. Might try them:

1Pair Bike Silicone Anti-slip Handlebar Grips For Mountain MTB Bicycle Cycling | eBay

 

[Jeff McD]

Might try the grips listed in this forum post:

Best Weight Weenie Components under $50- Mtbr.com

Sounds like they hold up for a long time and at that price you could buy a bunch of them for spares. Should be easy to take off and replace easily too. I plan to try them for my next pair.

 

[davarello]

Durability seems to be an issue with these grips - I've read other reviews with similar results. After getting sore hands and shoulders on my 19 Levo I changed to Deity Blacklabel bars and Ergon GA2 Fat grips (33/34mm). The higher, wider bar position and thicker grips helped, but i was still getting tired hands and I worked out it was the grips being a bit too smooth (so I was holding on tighter) - changed back to ODI Rogues and no issues since.

 

[steve_sordy]

Ergon GP1

They solved my hand numbness. But you have to take time to get the angle spot on for you. Each grip might be at a slightly different angle. It took me about three trips before I was confident that I had the angles correct. The grips will end up flatter than you would think at first.

They are definitely a Marmite thing. My mate with hand numbness just could not get on with them despite a week of trying.

 

[Kangr]

@Doomanic I was watching gmtb tech and they had some dread locks on by odi. seem to be a foam grip similar to those you tried but with lock on collars, anyway when is saw them i thought of your problem and if these would help.

 

[bikerider007]

The other day I ran into a guy out on the trail got chatting... Turns out he was an ex downhill racer of some note... Anyhoo he got round to talking about Vibracore bars..
The spank ones... He had been running some because he also suffers with numb hands.. Then went to a trade show in Europe some and saw the Vibracore cut length way's turns out its builder's foam on the inside.. He then decides to replacate this on his second bike .. He reckons it was like night and day.. He chose a cheap set of bars and the cheapest can of foam.. He could find... He found no difference between the Vibracore and his DIY version....

 

[R120]

You could buy a can of expanding for, for under a tenner down Selco and pump it in - interesting.

Anyone seen these, they swear by them in motocross and they are now doing MTB bars. Not cheap though:

FasstMTB, home of Flexx MTB Handlebars, for a better day riding.

 

[Gary]

Needs MOAR pivots

 

[R120]

Needs a Girvin Flexstem too

 

[bikerider007]

He did just that £5 can of foam from screw fix and cheap bars.. No vibration at all... I don't really suffer from vibration but am going to try this today.... Just out of curiosity..

 

[Stevfro99]

I suffer from numb hands, not sure if its from being a tad larger bloke and with my weight forward it was causing the problem, i noticed if i slightly sit up the numbness disappears....ive just bought some sram lock on grips so i shall see how they go.

 

[davarello]

I suffer from numb hands, not sure if its from being a tad larger bloke and with my weight forward it was causing the problem, i noticed if i slightly sit up the numbness disappears....ive just bought some sram lock on grips so i shall see how they go.

New grips may do the trick, but the bars could be too low/forward. I was getting tired hands, so I changed to bars with 10mm more rise and a degree more sweep haven't had a problem since.

 

[Stevfro99]

New grips may do the trick, but the bars could be too low/forward. I was getting tired hands, so I changed to bars with 10mm more rise and a degree more sweep haven't had a problem since.

I think i need a taller stem so I'm not leaning further forward, i notice normally if i sit a little more upright the numbness dissapears