Found: Red Monkey Sports’ Made-in-USA Karv Silicone Mountain Bike Grips

Seriously, all this guy did was copy the ESI grips which have been around for years.

Hey Michael,

Very keen observation. RedMonkey Grips are actually beveled now, and we’ll be updating our site and sending Bike Rumor new pics as soon as the new studio shots are done. Thanks for your interest in RedMonkey!!!

I was given a pair and thought they looked like rough ESI grips. Being at the same exact price point with worse packaging and an even uglier bar end plug (I know, right?), I was skeptical. I put them on anyway though and they are completely ratted by my bar end after about a month of commuting 16 miles a day. Suspicions confirmed. 0/10 would not buy.

We sell these at our shop and they actually are beveled. This must be an old picture. They are super comfortable, much better than ESI. I have ridden ESI for a few race series hands still would go numb. I tried Ergon GP2 grips also better but still loose feeling, loose control. The Kärv 6.5 have kept my hands happy for races as long as the 6hr NUE Grizzly 100. I ride single Speed Rigid and good grips are a key to my success.

Disclaimer: I personally know the owner Michael Nasco and I had the privilege to test various compounds and stages of prototypes during the 2014 US-Cup Endurance Season and 12-Hour Solo Races. Reading all the previous comments, I 100% agree, the earlier versions did not made the cut for me either. (Some I threw back to him right away and luckily, these versions made it never to mass production).
But the current line of products are superior and I had no problems whatsoever on long rides or ultra endurance races. I had the pink version for about 3 months and can happily report, that the color was not fading.

Very similar to ESI… Few differencenes. They don’t tear like ESI’s once you rub up against branches/ bushes. They are much softer. And the biggest plus for me is that you can run them without gloves if you sweat a lot without your hands slipping off the bars all the time. I’ve found some ESI colors to be a bit mor slippier than others… ESI has more colors, Red Monkey are more funtional in my opinion. Both companies make a great product.

No brown to match my leather saddle. Poo…

Red Monkey Grips are great! I was running ESI for a few years and was happy with the product. I was encouraged to give the Red Monkey’s a try, and was actually surprised by how they were different. Tackier, softer, more durable…
Will it change your life or take minutes off of your race time, probably not. But will you be stoked with a new option for silicone grips, yes! I feel like these are a notch up from ESI and competition will only make better products for all of us down the road. We should be thanking Red Monkey for their efforts, not being negative that their product has similarities to a product that is already out there.