Fitting Ergon GP5 grips

[Matt2matt2002]

I've been using Humpert comfort bars for a year or so.
The covering has recently thinned out and torn in a few places.
This, coupled with being unable to sell my spare Thorn Mk2 Comfort bars made me think of trying out the Ergon GP5 grips.

I managed to track down a pair on eBay and they arrived today.

Am I correct in thinking they just push onto the ends of the Thorn bars?

I haven't opened the packet completely. The outer bar pulls off the packaging but the second bar end is inside.
There doesn't appear to be instructions.
I don't want to open the packaging I case they are unsuitable/ not what I want, and I need to sell them on.

Anything I should watch put for when moving the Rohloff changer from one bar to the other?

Thanks

Matt

Corrected title for better searching. -- Dan.

[IanW]

Hi Matt,

I tried a set of GP5 grips. But did not get on with them. (And still have them, if anyone wants to make a bid for them, but they are rather scuffed)

Yes they do slide onto the bar ends, but the bar ends then clamp onto the bar and onto the main body of the grips.

Pictures are probably the most information:

[Slammin Sammy]

Hi Matt,

Yes, you are correct. All Ergon GP grips install the same way - the grip itself slides onto the bar, and the bar end then is positioned and tightened. (The package always comes with instructions and a real scale template).

Things to check:

1) Is the bar the correct diameter? (They are often REALLY TIGHT, but will go on with some gentle encouragement from a New York Persuader, otherwise known as a rubber mallet.  )

2) Measure the length of bar to be covered by the grip accurately (it's on the package), mark it on the bar and make sure the inside edge of the grip is flush with the mark. For safety's sake, the bar end must be positioned correctly to have sufficient grip on the bar to avoid rotating or worse.

Like Ian, I tried the GP5, but found it was too much bar end, and replaced them with GP2 (BTW, the grips on all models are interchangeable.) The main advantage of the GP5 IMHO, is the opportunity for mounting mirrors, etc. on the big horns. 

[phopwood]

Matt,  how do you get on with your comfort bars, I have looked at them a few times in the past.  Do you have the adjustable version.

Peter

[Matt2matt2002]

Hi folks.
What a pig of a job.
First problem was getting the old bar ends off. ( the curved end parts )
One side came off after I had pealed back the covering and found the locking nut inside the bar end.
Other end was jammed so had to hacksaw it off.
( cue naughty words )

Then fitted one Xtr brake. No problem
But then had to remove the Rohloff shifter fom the other end.
And if course all my Allen keys were anything but the 2.5 mm required.
Rats.

So I have had to abandon the exercise until tomorrow when I can buy a set if keys with the 2.5 mm on.

Also....
Does the brake mech go on first and then the shifter?
If so, then there will be a lot of reach to make when braking.
If shifter first then braking will be easier but shifting will need more hand movement.

Thanks for your comments so far.

Re the old bars....
Non adjustable. One end sawn off so unable to pass them on.

Grips? Gosh. I do hope they are suitable.
The old bars were good for giving a variety of hand positions but the padding was never up to much.
On reflection perhaps I should have kept them on and re padded/ tape.

Matt

[JimK]

Here's my set-up... I hope you get to a good solution after all the fuss. These things somehow are never as simple as they ought to be!

[Matt2matt2002]

Nice picture. Thanks.
Yes. Even the simplest of jobs turn into minor projects.
I didn't even bother to put on my latex gloves at the start, thinking it would be a quick 15 minute job! Finished up with gruppy hands.

Looking at your picture....
No problems grabbing the brakes? Looks like you have a bit of a reach?
Guess you can't have both the shifter and brake equally to hand.

Many thanks for the photo. Hopefuuly when I buy my 2.5 mm Allen key tomorrow and finish the job, I'll post a few snaps of my own.

Matt

[JimK]

Funny, the reach to the brake levers does look awkward. But I don't notice it at all!

I do think about bar ends sometimes. Now and then I will actually just hold the ends of the grips as if there were bar ends, just to get a little variety in hand position. Not very comfortable though! But usually I will just stretch my arms, most often one at a time, but ... I love my Nomad! - stretching both arms up is a delight, and the bike is stable enough I can ride that way over bumps and up slight inclines. But only when I have good visibility and no traffic anywhere around!

[Matt2matt2002]

Big problem!
I have removed the x2 2.5mm grub screws from the shifter but cannot budge it off the handle bars.
Am I missing something?
I can't see any other thing to loosen.

The bars have been cut at the other end when I removed the curved part if the bars that was jammed.
So I'm really stuck.
Any advice, most helpful

Matt

[in4]

Furniture polish is great for getting grips off. Might be worth a try even if you do smell of lavender afterwards!

[JimK]

sure looks like just two clamp screws ought to do the job.... As I recall, I just loosened those to rotate my shifter along with the brake levers to get them comfortable. But the exact shifter design keeps changing. I did notice when I changed my shifter cables that my shifter didn't quite match whatever document I had found on line. Just little details.

http://www.rohloff.de/uploads/media/8206_Twistshifter_en.pdf

[Matt2matt2002]

Thanks for that. Very handy.
However, I decided to hammer.out the bar that was inside.the shifter.
It was a pig.of a job and in the end.I only succeeded.in buggering up the shifter and its still not.off the bar!
The shifter won't rotate now so I know it's truely.kaput.

Local.bike.shop is ordering a replacement and new cables.
Booked in for next Thursday.day before my birthday.
So something to celebrate.

I can't think why it was so hard to remove. Can't have been grease before putting on?

Thanks again for your I the rest and help.

Matt

[JimK]

Ouch, that really sound frustrating! The grease idea is interesting. This kind of story certainly does motivate a person to ponder how to avoid such a problem!

I wonder, too, about the diameter of the bar to which it had been fitted. If the diameter was a tad too big, maybe the shifter would have been sort of jammed on. Just an idea.

[Matt2matt2002]

Thanks Jim.
I can't put the bike in to the shop until next week so I'll take a few snaps of the situation/ damage.

Yes, the bars could have been a tight fit to start with.

By using the brake fitting and the old bars I was able to hammer out the bar within the shifter. But not completely.
With all the hammering, the inside of the shifter got chewed up and now will not turn at all.

Just have to look on the bright side that I'll finish up with a new set up and gear.

Although I have been more than happy with the Raven, having bought it second hand I am not sure of what bits are of what age and wear. Know what I mean?

[JimK]

haha! Here is a funny story....

Must've been 1986 or thereabouts. My Honda Civic... oops, the exhaust got blocked up somehow. I drove it slow to keep the temperature down but I shouldn't have driven it at all. End of car.

Somebody at work, her husband was selling a 1973 Volvo. Started right up, solid car for sure. Decent price. So I bought it.

Well, within a week the husband has left town, end of marriage.

Then the car starts burning out tail lights etc. Hmmm. Take it to the shop. Somehow the voltage regulator has been taken out of the circuit. Actually the entire wiring looks to have been creatively reengineering. A maintenance nightmare! Turns out one of my crazy buddies from work helped do this, along with the amazing disappearing husband. The car can't pass inspection and it'd cost like three times the price I paid for it to get the wiring back to standard.

Ha, then I get a phone call from some bank, asking did I buy a red Volvo from this fellow and do I have any idea where he might be? How is that car, anyway?

Can you imagine but fast forward maybe 15 years and I ended up hiring that crazy work buddy at a different company. An unmanageable genius! There is indeed such a thing as *too* creative. A kind of insensitive impulsiveness, one could say. This Lord Byron stuff... well I guess he was a bit of a handful himself!