SPANK SPIKE 30 – GRIP REVIEW
SPANK Industries started as the brainchild of South African designer/manufacturer Gavin Michael Vos, and German distributor Sven Mack. Their goal was to create the perfect symbiosis of weight optimization, enhanced performance, and cutting edge style … and to do it at affordable prices!
Today SPANK is one of the very few brands of its size in the world, with in-house design, development, testing, and production of their complete line of unique and exclusive components. Much admired and adored by riders all over the world for their bars and rims, the SPANK Industries product line is continually growing.
SPANK claim that the SPIKE 30 and 33 grips have been designed from the ground up to reduce impulse shock and absorb trail vibration. SPANK have continued their shock absorption designs with the SPIKE grips. Interlocking columns support low profile fins to create a tread pattern which offers the benefits of both a finned grip and a low profile.
Grips are one of the most important parts of the cockpit, providing the connection and feel we need to not only enjoy the ride, but to actually ride better. Choosing a poor set of grips can impact your riding through poor bar/trail feedback, hand slippage and even injury over time.
Features
The SPIKE 30 is one of two new grips from SPANK. The grips come in either a 30mm or 33mm diameter option. The SPIKE 30 is the one we tested and falls into the “thin” grip, category. They provide excellent levels of comfort and cushioning with a ‘serrated fin’ pattern.
This serrated fin design helps provide increased grip and comfort without an overly spongy or vague feeling. This in part, is due to the serrated cuts not being too deep, offering a perfect balance of grip squish (our technical term) and direct bar feedback.
The total length of the SPIKE is 145 mm with the last 10 mm tapering down to the highly durable cone-shaped end piece. This piece has been designed to allow you to scrape and drop your bike without fear of ruining those bar ends (à la 1986 when we used to drop our bikes in the middle of the street and run indoors in time for the A-Team ).
e-bike tip:
The SPIKE grips, in our opinion, would be a good choice for e-bikes. Due to the heavier nature of the e-bike, the bar ends can tend to wear quicker than standard bikes when laying it down. This extra protection would certainly prolong the life of your grips.
The SPANK grip features anatomically shaped cut-outs with the hard PP plastic base, providing exceptional damping around the metacarpal bones. We tested the SPIKE 30’s on longer rides and the comfort was there all day long. We also tested without gloves and the grip was still excellent, even with mildly sweaty palms. We believe this was down to the serrated design allowing for slightly mixed surface contact.
This style of design comes from what SPANK is best known for, their damping technology. We were very happy to see this technology flow down into their smaller products, such as these grips. All of this clamps down together using a single alloy collar and steel bolt, securing the SPIKE grips firmly to the bars.
A grip that falls into the ‘thin” category and still offers exceptional levels of cushioning and overall comfort is a hard ask, but we feel SPANK has nailed it with this design, and we’re not the only ones. The people over at the Design and Innovation Awards have awarded SPANK a win for their SPIKE grips.
The oversized bar ends not only increase the service life of the grips but also minimise the risk of injuring your fingers.
Drop it like it’s 1986 again, with the reinforced bar ends.
Tech Specs:
- Reinforced bar end area.
- Anatomical bar end design supports and protects the little finger
- Cut outs improve impulse shock, vibration absorption and comfort.
- Interlocking columns support low profile fins to create a tread pattern which offers the benefits of both a finned grip and a low profile.
- Single lock ring design and smooth thumb zone.
- Material: Kraton Rubber, PP Plastic Base, Alloy Clamp, Steel Bolt (3mm Hex)
- Length (mm): 145
- Diameter (mm): 30
- Weight (g): ±100g / Pair
Price / Where to Buy?
The SPIKE 30 are priced at anywhere between $25.99 to $35.00 AUD.
Available to buy at MTB Direct or ask at your local bike shop.
