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Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 4 out of 5
Long-term Fixed-Gear review, April 30, 2009
By sedition

"Power Grips: The Long Term Review

I hate people who do product “reviews” of something 24-hours after they purchased it. I mean, really, what kind of perspective does that give you? I have ridden Power Grips for about 9 months now, and this my first review of them. If you don’t ride fixed gear, skip to the “geared bike” section. If you do ride fixed, read below!

FIXED GEAR RIDERS
Some background: I live in Boston, and ride about 100 miles a week, year round, in hardcore city traffic. My bike is a fixed-gear, and I do not run a front break. Hence, I am pretty brutal on my pedal retention systems. I didn’t really like clipless. Clips are great, but it’s a pain in the booty if you don’t want special shoes to deal with them. Enter Power Grips. These things are as close to being “clipped in” as you can get with dropping some serious money on eggbeaters and Sidis. However, there are a few problems Power Grips.

First, the mounting hard ware can strip, and bend, if you oven tighten them. Be mindful of that when mounting them and later readjusting them.

Second, the straps can tear (after LONG use) if you run brakeless. If you have a front brake, and use it, then Power Grips will last you a long, long, long time. If run brakeless, then things are bit different. Power Grips are meant to help you pedal more effectively. They are really not meant to help someone pedal BACKWARDS. Hence, skipping/skidding places stress on them that was not intended by the designers. Despite this, they are quite strong and will last quite awhile before problems start. Mine are just starting to tear a bit, and I have put a ton of miles on them. Power Grips also sells replacement straps, so you can just replace that part instead of the entire thing.

Third, the straps can slip. Like the issue above, Power Grips were not meant to be used for backward pedaling. Over time, with a lot of skipping/skidding the straps can pull out of the mounts. You just need to put them back in, and your good to go. I have had it happen to me a few times. If you run brakeless, make sure you keep an Allen wrench with you when your riding so you can make the quick fix.

Last, is a clearance issue. Be mindful when cornering. Since fixed gear bikes have less clearance when cornering, the mounting hardware can scrape on the ground, and bend things. Not good.

In sum, I really like Power Grips a lot. I would recommend them to any fixed gear rider as a get substitute for clipless or clips. However, just be mindful of some issues you are likely to encounter while using these. Despite those issues, they are well worth the $25 bucks.

GEARED RIDERS
These things are great, and will last a long time. As close to be clipped in as you can get without eggbeaters and Sidis. I would recommend them to anyone.

Happy riding everyone!"

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