Best way to remove grips without compressed air or cutting them?
12-01-11, 10:56 PM
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Best way to remove grips without compressed air or cutting them?
All,
So back when I had a compressor, getting handlebar grips off handlebars was a snap. But now I'd like to remove a set of grips without cutting them off, and I don't have a compressor any more.
What clever tips can the forums offer to get these grips off?
Thanks,
Warr
So back when I had a compressor, getting handlebar grips off handlebars was a snap. But now I'd like to remove a set of grips without cutting them off, and I don't have a compressor any more.
What clever tips can the forums offer to get these grips off?
Thanks,
Warr
12-01-11, 11:15 PM
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Now that you've taken the two best ways off the table, we're down to the dregs.
My favorite way to remove grips that can't be blown off is to open an adjustable wrench to span the bar, and push the grip off from the front.
My favorite way to remove grips that can't be blown off is to open an adjustable wrench to span the bar, and push the grip off from the front.
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12-01-11, 11:27 PM
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If you're not worried about scratching your bars, or have something softer (like a wooden skewer), get it under the grip while adding a little water. Rotate the grip slightly with your hand while working the device deeper in. Eventually it'll just plop off.
12-01-11, 11:33 PM
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I find alcohol works best. Try to lift a bit of the grip with a stick and pour in a little rubbing alcohol. It's best to tip the bar to let the alcohol flow into the grip & bar interface. Start twisting and the grips will slide right off. This is also how I install grips, too.
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12-02-11, 12:34 AM
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If I don't care about the bars much I'll just grab an old spoke from the junkbox and use that instead, saves a trip to the kitchen.
12-02-11, 12:55 AM
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Water or denatured alcohol from a cooking syringe. Doesn't make a mess or leave a residue on the inside of the grip.
12-02-11, 01:38 AM
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chopstick and fabreze.
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12-02-11, 01:44 AM
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Windex works nicely also.
I gotta try the syringe method. I've a syringe for refilling printer cartridges that should work well.
I gotta try the syringe method. I've a syringe for refilling printer cartridges that should work well.
12-02-11, 02:06 AM
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Use your hand pump , maybe chuck up a ball inflation needle ,
in the schrader valve head.
cover the hole in the other grip end with your finger.
once that grip is off cover the bare end and the nearside grip should pump off..
in the schrader valve head.
cover the hole in the other grip end with your finger.
once that grip is off cover the bare end and the nearside grip should pump off..
12-02-11, 06:34 AM
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I like to ease a small screwdriver under the grip and then use the thin plastic "straw" attachment to spray WD-40 under the grip. It's about the only thing I use WD-40 for in bike work.
12-02-11, 07:22 AM
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I find alcohol works best. Try to lift a bit of the grip with a stick and pour in a little rubbing alcohol. It's best to tip the bar to let the alcohol flow into the grip & bar interface. Start twisting and the grips will slide right off. This is also how I install grips, too.
12-02-11, 07:27 AM
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Alcohol, water (with or without soap) or anything non-oil based will work. I use a basting syringe and insert the needle through the grip to inject liquid...water usually...under the grip. A small screwdriver and a spray bottle works almost as well.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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12-02-11, 07:48 AM
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There are many good ways of removing grips without air or cutting them off and many are given here. Using an oil based method isn't one of them. If you are going to use oils, just cut them off because they aren't going to be usable afterwards.
Alcohol, water (with or without soap) or anything non-oil based will work. I use a basting syringe and insert the needle through the grip to inject liquid...water usually...under the grip. A small screwdriver and a spray bottle works almost as well.
Alcohol, water (with or without soap) or anything non-oil based will work. I use a basting syringe and insert the needle through the grip to inject liquid...water usually...under the grip. A small screwdriver and a spray bottle works almost as well.
Right! DO NOT use oil! Oil and rubber aren't the best of buddies.
Water or alcohol, using a method of prying up one side of the grip (I use a screwdriver) then pour/spray in the water.
Work it until the water gets around the grip and slide off.
To install, I use hairspray (my wife's, so don't tell her). Hairspray will then dry, making the grip adhere to the bar but still easy to get off later.
12-02-11, 08:00 AM
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A pump spray bottle of Aquanet will last you roughly 50 years. I bought a bottle back in the 80's and I still have most of it left.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
12-02-11, 08:14 AM
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Buy yourself a bottle of Aquanet ($3) at the local drugstore and quit using your wife's expensive toiletries. Wives get testy when you do that!
A pump spray bottle of Aquanet will last you roughly 50 years. I bought a bottle back in the 80's and I still have most of it left.
A pump spray bottle of Aquanet will last you roughly 50 years. I bought a bottle back in the 80's and I still have most of it left.
12-02-11, 08:43 AM
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
12-02-11, 11:02 AM
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I have used the WD40 and screwdriver method on 40 year old Raleigh grips with success. Just make sure you wash them off good to remove the residue WD40.
I used windex to put them back on and position them. Good as new and tight as ever.
I used windex to put them back on and position them. Good as new and tight as ever.
12-02-11, 12:31 PM
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If you use Windex to take them off, there's no need to clean them before you put them back on. Why add an unnecessary step?
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
12-02-11, 12:36 PM
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windex and a small tire lever do wonders, especially if you have a strong grip and a nice pair of work gloves to give the grip a nice firm set of twists in between applying the windex.
12-02-11, 12:56 PM
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I find alcohol works best. Try to lift a bit of the grip with a stick and pour in a little rubbing alcohol. It's best to tip the bar to let the alcohol flow into the grip & bar interface. Start twisting and the grips will slide right off. This is also how I install grips, too.
12-02-11, 01:44 PM
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Cyccommute,
The extra step is no biggie. These grips were on for almost 40 years at the time. I did not want to damage them. I asked the same question some time ago and this is how I was told to do it.
It worked, no problem. Just make sure you use a small thin flatblade screw driver and take your time. No damage to the bar or grip. No special tools required. Came right off.
The extra step is no biggie. These grips were on for almost 40 years at the time. I did not want to damage them. I asked the same question some time ago and this is how I was told to do it.
It worked, no problem. Just make sure you use a small thin flatblade screw driver and take your time. No damage to the bar or grip. No special tools required. Came right off.
12-02-11, 06:13 PM
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a long thin phillips screwdiver (those sold as 'precision' screwdrivers) dip it in a mix of water and washing up liquid, 'screw' it up the grip then put pressure on the grip with the other hand so that as you screw the driver it makes its way all around the grip, grip slides off without damage in about 20 seconds.