It Aint Easy Bein’ Cheesy…

…and it sure as hell aint easy putting grips on powdercoated bars. If you’re like me and enjoy all these newfangled colored parts(or white) then you might want to read on.

Last night I threw my all white Spank Lounge Bar and 1.5 Not One Timer Stem(strange name, I know) onto the Bandersnatch. Everything was going smoothly until I got to the grips. I slid my cheapo ergo lock-on grip on but it wasn’t happening. I then tried forcing it on with my high-tech tool(left shoe) and the grip split. I actually had to Dremel the other one off after it wouldn’t budge. By this point I was cursing freely. It really surprised me that Spank didn’t account for this in their design, especially since they cater to more aggressive riders who lean towards lock-ons.

Point is, if you buy any colored components that have a powdercoat you have to account for the ever-so-slight increase in thickness that comes with it. I’m not sure if this is true for other powdercoated bar brands though, so take this with a grain of salt. The increase in the diameter of the bars is very subtle, but even my other ODI lock-ons wouldn’t go on them. I ended up having to use a pair of regular grips in the end. The brakes and shifters were a little trouble also but they went on with minimal fuss.  So just be wary of the added thickness powdercoating gives your parts.  Now I have to go home and apologize to my Spank parts for all the nasty things I said.