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Specialized Sip XL Grips

Comfort in troubled grounds

In 1974, way before they started producing bikes, the Californian brand Specialized started importing bars and stems from Europe into the US. Two years later they started making their own range of parts, starting with tyres. High quality, well designed hardware has always been at the heart of this company and is often overlooked, sitting in the shadows of their extensive bike range. Take a good look at what they offer; it sure is impressive. The Specialized SIP XL Grip is just a small part of that range.

The Sip grip from Specialized has been about for a few years now and was a bang on design from day one. It is standard kit on many of their bikes as well as available aftermarket.

“On repeated DH runs on sun-baked tracks, test riders reported much less hand and wrist fatigue with these larger diameter Sip XL grips fitted”

So what’s so special and why does the Sip make the grade for the Dirt 100?

Well, it looks like a classic design of a finely textured upper grip with the often seen MX style raised surface below. A single inner locking collar clamps the grip to the bar securely whether carbon or aluminium aiding comfort when riding on the ends of the bars. A super-tacky rubber compound gives added security whatever the conditions; dry, dusty, wet, muddy, no problem with the Sip grips. All great features, but what else?

 

Size… Here we have chosen the XL Sip grip. Eh? Yes, this grip is offered in two sizes and we have gone for the larger of the two. In general, on longer travel machines with superior damping and a quality bar we would go for a slimmer grip by default. It’s a preference we’ve developed over the years. However with Specialized offering this grip in two sizes (30mm diameter and the XL in 32mm) we have found the larger of the two to be a winner.

Repeated runs when testing DH bikes this summer, in the sun-baked terrain of southern Europe had us reporting much less fatigue in the hands and wrists than on our usual slimmer grips… we soon warmed to these grips and they won us over. That 2mm extra diameter makes a real difference.

If you’ve ‘slimmed down’ over the years to gain control and feel but have found a compromise to all-day comfort, then give the Sip XL a go. Trust us, we’ve done our homework.

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