goodbye kona

The old grips have served on the old bike and the new one but the rubber is worn out and one of the inner clamps has split. They have lasted well, never slipped and been on and off a few times for cleaning and shifter swap duties. I have soft hands and always prefer softer grips as a general rule but the Kona ones replaced some very soft WTB ones that wore out within a few weeks.

Overall 8/10 as they were a little hard and I prefer the raised shapes to fit my hand rather than spell the manufacturer’s name.

The new grips are on and the plastic clamp seems kinder to carbon handlebars than the Kona metal. Instead of a solid inner tube they have a cut out section which allows the grips to deflect inwards which feel softer.

Curiously there was no orientation diagram on the packaging but the website has full instructions. It seems a simple thing but I wonder how many people would rotate them by 90 degrees to move the clamps forward for easy closure rather than correctly underneath and in the way of my shifter levers.

On the up side though I have a reason for another tool in the bike shed in the form of a computer in order to cross-check manufacturers instructions. On the down side my neatly filed box of all my bike bits instructions has become extinct.