Brooks Cambium Ergonomic Grips

Brooks Ergonomic Rubber Grips are a really comfortable shape that fills your hand very nicely. Their firmness is something you'll either love or hate, but nobody's going to be very impressed by their price. Nice end-plugs, though.

The shape feels like it's been very thoughtfully designed to nestle comfortably in your hands – or at least in my hands. (For reference, I usually take a Large or XL in gloves.) My partner Caroline, who's usually a size M, also found the shape worked, but felt anyone with smaller hands might find these grips too bulky.

The grips are an asymmetrical shape, slightly convex on the top to fill your palm, slightly concave underneath to give your fingertips a place to be. The top surface has a covering of fabric, rather like the top of one of Brooks' Cambium saddles. On the underside, ridges in the rubber help with grip.

The rubber is quite firm so you might think that would make the grips less comfortable, but they're actually really supportive. Your hands aren't cosseted, but the shape is bang-on so they're still comfortable.

If you prefer a squishy grip, you probably won't get on well with these.

> How to make your bike more comfortable – check out our 14 tips

Overall, then, these are really comfortable grips thanks to the careful shaping and supportive rubber.

You do, however, have to set the position up quite carefully, so that they put your wrists at a comfortable angle. It's worth taking some time to tweak this: ride around for a while carrying the necessary 3mm hex and fiddle about as necessary.

Fitting is a doddle. Loosen the clamp screw off a touch, slide the grip onto your bar, tighten the clamp. I remember what a gamechanger clamp-on grips were when they first appeared. No more messing about blowing grips on with compressed air, getting messy with Renthal Grip Glue or relying on bodges like hairspray or cold milky tea (the latter two worked poorly at best, and failed if your grips got wet).

Once the grips are on, you push the Brooks-logo end plugs into place. While it's hard to get too excited about end plugs, these are really rather nice, with an aluminium body and rubber flanges to grip the inside of the bar.

Rivals & value

Nice as they are, the Brooks Ergonomic Rubber Grips are mind-buggeringly expensive at £55. About the only grips I can find that are more expensive are also made by Brooks and have leather coverings rather than the rubber of these grips, or are Ergon units with built-in bar ends.

Speaking of Ergon, they're probably the best-regarded ergo grips, and its GP1s are not only cheaper at £36.99, but can also be found heavily discounted, which isn't generally the case with Brooks.

Conclusions

Well shaped and very comfortable, these are truly premium grips. If you ride a flat-bar bike that already has Brooks parts and accessories, then you're going to have to get a pair of these to go with your Cambium saddle and Scape bags. Yes, they're pricey, but that's just the way it is. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

If you're not a Brooks über-fan, but fancy treating yourself to some very good ergonomic groups, then these are certainly worth considering, but they're very much at the luxury end of the price range.

Verdict

Wonderfully well-shaped grips that do a great job of supporting your hands, but the price hurts