Portland Design Works Speed Metal Grips

Portland Design Works Speed Metal grips, a refinement to traditional style MTB grips with a bit of added bling.

More times than not people spend enough time trying different grips in order to find what works for them and what doesn't. In their defense, most grips available for bicycles today are nothing more than a cylinder of rubber with varying patterns to provide grip. Some feature large chunky patterns, like the Oury's and others provide a micro knobby pattern like the Ruffian, but in the end they are still the same shape for everyone's hand. The outcome for many people is sore hands and wrists along with the problem of hand pump on sections of trail where you are heavy on the brakes a great deal of the time.

While there are more ergonomic grips on the market like the Ergon's and a few others, for many riders, they feel awkward after learning how to ride on a round grip, this is where the PDW Speed Metal grips come in. Portland Design Works takes a slightly different approach to their “Speed Metal” grips. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, they have chosen to simple refine it. By eliminating the full length rubber grip and replacing the area where your thumb and index finger wrap around the grip with a contoured anodized aluminum ring, the Speed Metal's provide a smaller diameter area to your braking finger and shifting thumb. This translates into the ability to almost pivot the inside of your hand around the grip as you shift and brake as well as less hand fatigue and less hand pump on those sections where you're hanging on for dear life.

As for overall design and construction, the PDW Speed Metal grips are no more difficult to install that your average ODI lock on's. The large inner ring is seamless and features a compression plate which pushes against the handlebar in order to lock itself in place. The outer ring is a split clamp and is not much different from a standard ODI lock on ring aside from the interface for the rubber insert. The rubber insert slides into the large inner ring with a slot and channel system and the outside ring snaps onto the rubber grip much like a ODI providing a very secure, not slip system for the grips.

Once I had the grips installed, I immediately could feel the difference between these and my usual ODI Ruffians. At first it was a little strange not having any grip on the inside of my hands, and my gloves just slid over the aluminum inner surface, but as soon as I actually rode with the Speed Metal's I was hooked. Since I am a one finger braker, I am only gripping with my 3 outside fingers anyways, so once I applied my normal riding grip everything just seemed to “fit” naturally.

On my first day riding the Speed Metals on my DH bike I could tell a major difference. Sections of trail where I normally would expect to be getting hand pump there was none and by the bottom of the runs I was really starting to get a feel for being able to pivot my hand around the grip without actually fully letting go. After a few more days of riding the grips on my DH rig, I went out and bought a pair of Speed Metals for each one of my full time bikes including my DH, FR, AM and DJ rigs just to see how the design would translate over to other types of riding.

Out of all the bikes I have been running the PDW Speed Metals on, the most noticeable benefit has come on my 5.5” all mountain bike. On longer rides, and especially ones with lots of gradual climbing I like to have a pretty relaxed grip on my bars so that my hands just kind of float with the bike over the terrain. With the Speed Metals, I can just rest on the inside of my hands with one finger on the brake and my thumb on the shifter and still feel like I have complete control over the bike while being able to let the bike float underneath me. On the past couple 4-5 hour mini epic rides I have done I have noticed no hand fatigue throughout or after the ride, which has been an issue before on longer rides in the past.

The grips are only available in the micro knobby pattern which is almost identical to the ODI Ruffian's pattern. For me, this was a plus as I have been running Ruffians for years, but for others who are accustomed to the thicker patterns like the ODI Rouge or the Ourys may have a problem adapting to the different texture. Also, this leads me to my other con. As anyone who has ridden ODI Ruffian's in wet conditions knows, they tend to not be the best grip choice when things get sloppy. Take that fact and remove 25% of the gripping surface and in the rain the Speed Metals get a little slick at times. Again, not a deal breaker in Arizona, since we can count the annual wet days on both hands, but something to think about elsewhere in the world.

All in all I think that Portland Design Works has a winner on their hands (or in yours) with the Speed Metal grips. They provide a more ergonomic grip without completely straying away from what most people are used to. They are in my category of “bling” with 7 different colors (Gold, Red, Blue, Black, Silver, White and Pink) available to match all the little ano bits on your bike and are sure to catch everyone's eye who hasn't seen them before. A complete set of grips will set you back $40 which include everything you need to get set up including hex keys and once you wear out the grips replacement cores will cost you $10.

For more information check out Portland Design Works and the Speed Metal grips on the web at: www.ridepdw.com

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