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IB15: Gripping Round-up: Lizard Skins Adds More Colors; ESI Contours Grips & Says Death to Electrical Tape!

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Lizard Skin ESI-1-4Lizard Skin ESI-1-2Lizard Skin ESI-5

A couple of names synonymous with grip continue to grow and expand their current offerings to keep your hands on the bars. ESI and Lizard Skins, both known for their ability to remain grippy in both wet or dry conditions had some colorful and new things to show us.

Grab a firm hold and see what these two masters of grip have on hand….

Lizard Skin ESI-6

ESI who developed the original 100% silicone grips has taken their infamous silicone grabbers and given them some shape. The slight contour to ESI’s FIT Grip shapes to the hand while taking pressure off the ulnar nerve, (the one that makes your pinky go to sleep). Their new FIT Grips come in XC (extra chunky) which are available in aqua, black & red, and CR (chunky racer…. which is in between their Chunky and racer’s edge), and are available in aqua, black, green, orange and red. Both sizes retail for $32.95

Lizard Skin ESI-1-3Lizard Skin ESI-5

ESI’s Silicone tape won the award for least innovative yet most useful product at Interbike….. well, to me it did. ESI’s silicon tape has ZERO adhesive and works by bonding to itself. Once you peel the backing off, it takes only a few seconds for it to start bonding, and is fully bonded within a few minutes. Because there is an actual bond without adhesive, heat or moisture will not cause it to lose its hold like that on electrical tape. To add to that, it’s really grippy. Gary Stewart, ESI’s CEO says in addition to securing handlebar tape, it works great on chainstays and about anything you can wrap it around that you want more grip on. Tools, brake levers, beer mug…..

The Silicon Tape is available in 8 colors and comes in 10 foot rolls retailing for $8.99, (there will also be 50 foot rolls available to shops).

ESIgrips.com

Lizard Skin ESI-4Lizard Skin ESI-3Lizard Skin ESI-2Lizard Skin ESI-1

Lizard Skins have battled their way into becoming a major player in handle bar tape, and because of their grip, whether wet or dry, glove or no glove, they’ve been ending up on everything from baseball bats to golf clubs, (according to Sales Manager Ryan Hunnington, the sporting goods market is eating their stuff up). Already offering more colors in bar tape than anyone else, Lizard Skins tosses a few more into the collection. New this year is blue, red, gray, and black camo, their first ever non-solid colored tape. (remember the “marble” cork tapes from the 90’s….. this looks way better). They have also added purple and hot pink, (which is more vibrant than their pink).

LizardSkins.com

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Seraph
Seraph
8 years ago

That’s cool that it bonds to itself and all, but it looks uncomfortable so I will probably steer clear. Might be cool for some of the tools in the shop though.

sd
sd
8 years ago

its cool yeah but i’ve another argument which is.. well my electrical tape doesn’t fall off (just get the 3 bucks one instead of the 2 bucks one) as long as you stretch it a bit.

So 32usd a roll for questionable advantage, i mean, cmon lol

mechanic
mechanic
8 years ago

The ESI stuff is FINISHING TAPE, not bar tape. It is the best thing since jalapeño bacon mac’n’cheese. Unless you are that dood from UConn.

Sickboy
Sickboy
8 years ago

How did yall think it’s bar tape? It’s better than electrical tape and only 8.99…. the grips are 32.99. Silly rabbit.

Avi
Avi
8 years ago

Or you could just use hockey tape instead of electrical for finishing bars. Holds fast in the rain and cold, is cheap and widely available, comes in all sorts of colors and patterns, and grips better than anything when wet.

Drew
Drew
8 years ago

Finally someone at ESI went into an adult toy store… sticks to itself not to you.

Michael
Michael
8 years ago

That tape has been available at marine supply and home improvement stores for decades. You can find it in the electrical or plumbing aisles.

Erich
Erich
8 years ago

Marble / splatter bar tape was awful in the 90’s… and that has not changed.
Lizard Skins did not get the memo.

Big mike
Big mike
8 years ago

The esi stuff is very comfortable and works great. It is that much better than electrical tape. And I but the $7 roll of 3M. Try it.

the other Andy
the other Andy
8 years ago

The self-bonding, non-adhesive tape has been at Home Depot for at least a year. In both black and clear.

I’ve been using it for a wide variety of applications.

Pistolero
Pistolero
8 years ago

never had a problem with the cheapest 3M tape with free shipping from ebay. About the esi grips, they are great, though they are getting quite overpriced.

DaveT
DaveT
8 years ago

the self bonding tape is just self-amalgamating tape, its been available since the 90’s and is brilliant and probably much cheaper from a hardware shop or Ebay.

Its really good for making chainstay protectors that stay put

STEEVE
STEEVE
8 years ago

I picked up the contoured ESI grips and actually prefer the non-shaped, original grips. To each his own I guess.

Jonathan M
Jonathan M
8 years ago

I’m not sure why people are talking about how comfortable the ESI finishing tape is… I have some that came with the ESI silicone drop bar tape. It’s very good, but not sure where comfort plays into it. I’ll definitely pick some up to use with other bar tape as well.

pmurf
pmurf
8 years ago

OMG purple dsp tape. That made my day.

Darren
Darren
8 years ago

I got the ESI tape, nice and chunky on my cx rig, rides nice no gloves

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