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Personomic's Custom-Fit Silicone Bike Grips, for Better Support and Less Pain

By Rain Noe - October 15, 2021

in Bikes | Digital Fabrication

A German startup called Personomic hopes to revolutionize bicycle grips. With standard offerings "you often have to deal with numbness, tingling or pain that can really ruin the cycling experience," they write. "Until now, bicycle grips have only been offered in standard sizes, developed with an average-sized hand in mind. Therefore, these grips only constitute a compromise. For many people it is mostly a bad one, because every hand is different.

"In addition, the vast majority of bicycle grips are made of rubber and start to become sticky after a short time. This is caused by the plasticizers contained in the material, which dissolve from the handle due to UV radiation and sweat."

Personomic therefore creates plasticizer-free, silicone bike grips created to fit your precise hand shape. Their procedure has you photograph your own hands; their software, they claim, can reproduce the shape of your hand in three dimensions. They then create a 3D-printed mold in which they cast your custom silicone grips.

"The force is distributed evenly across your hand and there are no pressure peaks that compress the nerves — similar to an orthopaedic insole. The enlarged surface with the wing also supports your wrist and prevents hyperextension, one of the main reasons for numb or tingling fingers."

You can choose from different textures and colors, and choose to have the handles "engraved" (i.e. the letters of your choice can be printed into the mold).

Here's a look at their process:

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The reviews from test subjects on Facebook have been effusive, and the company has successfully crowdfunded the next round of production. If you're interested, buy-in starts at €69 (USD $81) and the campaign is here.

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a year ago

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This is a great application for using additive manufacturing to build bespoke products on a mass scale. The dream is beginning to be realized.

At the same time, it looks like its strictly meant for sporty applications. These are meant for hybrid or touring bikes with relatively straight handlebars, where you lean forward, keeping your arms square to your shoulders and angled a little downward. It’s a very taxing posture that puts a lot of pressure on your wrists, but it’s more aerodynamic.

But this would never work for an upright bike with swept-back handlebars, like a Dutch omafiets. (Although, it’s an immensely more ergonomic bike design to begin with, so maybe custom grips would have much less of an impact.) I’m not sure it’d even be all that great for something like a mountain bike, unless you stick to roads and relatively smooth trails.

I’m hoping the next version (after their upcoming shortened one for paddle shifters) also factors in your handlebar structure, desired posture, and expected travel conditions. It’s a lot more numbers to crunch, but the nice thing about additive is that you don’t have to worry about tooling costs, so setting aside prototyping and design validation costs, that kind of added complexity is basically free.

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- Frank Borsboom
  
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  a year ago
  
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  haha! Exactly! I've never had any of the symptoms with my Omafiets ;) What are they talking about? :D
  
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safnish saeed

a year ago

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i like it,.......

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