More Thoughts on the Ergon GA1

Ergon GA1 in Team colors

I got a chance to put the Ergon GA1 grips on my bike for the last couple of months. The GA1’s are a bit different from the normal Ergon grips that everyone knows. Rather than having a flat area for you to rest your palm on, thereby increase more palm/grip interface, the GA1 has a slight oval shape to it which tucks inside your hand and thereby increasing palm/grip interface over the normal round grip.

Since RL did a full review on these grips before, I thought I’d just add my experience with them. I’ve found the GA1’s shape to be very easy to adapt to. I know RL had a bit of a hurt palm when he first started riding with the GA1, but I’ve found it to be instantly familiar and comfortable. They were more than comfortable enough for a 4+ hour 20+ mile jaunt in the mountains two months ago.

About 10 miles in on a 20+ mile ride. The GA1’s were comfy

I recently swapped the grips over to the Niner AIR9 I’m riding to continue the testing. The change has been nearly seamless although I did have to find the sweet spot again as it wasn’t as easy as just bringing the handlebar over. This took all of 1 ride and I’ve been happy with the comfort and lack of hand fatigue from the grips ever since.

Although not a weight weenie grip I definitely don’t mind the extra grammage of the GA1. After using foam grips for the past few months then switching to the GA1, there was definitely a weight gain. However, I am more than happy to take the weight gain because the comfort level of the GA1 and the clamp that keeps the grip in place. In comparison to the original GP-1, which I’ve run for years, the GA1 is about 50 grams lighter.

Swapped to the AIR9 when the Jet went down for recall. Great on this bike too!

My final thought is to stick with the small. Even though I wear XL size gloves, I find the small to be more than enough room for me. The fit is really good with the small and I really can’t imagine how much bigger the Large sized version of the GA1 would be.