The Gusset S2 grips are good value, fatter grips that are best for bigger hands. There’s plenty of grip but the compound isn’t the softest.
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The S2 lock on is a relative new grip from Gusset as part of the brands Series 2 range of products. Gusset says they’ve worked long and hard on designed the perfect grip pattern for good grip in all conditions. They’ve designed the grip to utilise many different patterns, there’s little and large diamond knurling on the top and underside of the grip, a ribbed underside for finger grip and a dedicated striped thumb area on the inner end of the grip. Plus there are some extra ribs on upper outer edge of the grip which is Gusset say is supposed to help stop your hands blowing off the bars. There’s certainly a lot going on and I really noticed the traction from the underside ribbed pattern when the going got rough.
Elsewhere the grips feature a single lock-on (3mm allen key bolt), with the other end fully enclosed. The grips use a tapered core for a good fit, I found I needed to tap them on gently with a rubber mallet to fit them in the right position on the bars. Once in place, they don’t spin easily on the bars, showing the effect of a tapered core.
Gusset say they have eccentrically placed the padding around the grip, locating thicker rubber under the palm and thinner rubber on the underside to decrease squirm under the fingers. This isn’t something I could feel, in fact, I found the rubber of the grips to be firm rather than soft throughout. The grips offer a good amount of traction mainly due to the good use of knurl versus ribbed patterns throughout rather than tacky rubber. Tackier rubber would provide a little more grip in wet conditions but at this price, it's not a dealbreaker.
At 32mm diameter, the grips are pretty big and there’s no choice of a slimmer version. This grip was a little wide in diameter for me but it will suit others with larger hands. There are eight different colours to choose from and at £17, they are pretty good value, bearing in mind something like an ODI Elite series lock-on will cost £27 at full retail.
