Ergon Grips

I ride regularly, almost every day more for exercise and to blow off stress from work.  Other than a comfy saddle(Brooks B17 highly recommended) the 2nd most important touch point will be the grips.
The Egron Grips are funny shaped grips which with the use of wider surface area, reduce the pressure point on your palm and grip. They come in 3 different sizes and really depends on the rider preference.
My first grip was a small but I have come to realise I like a large which is more comfortable for me.
Here is are some photos of a stylo bio-cork option for my Tokyo bike.

Ergon Biok Cork Grip. Nice Packing with min paper. 

How to set it right. The box hides the other grip. 

Fitted to Tokyo bike. The Brown area is harder while the black patch is a softer rubber material = comfy grip

Looking from Front

Looking from Side. The allen Key screw is to tighten the grip in the required angle. 

Brompton M touchpoints improvements

This is for a friend(Adriane lee) who has a Brompton M....but I thought I share it with you too. Going for a long long ride means that ur palms, bum will be tired. I consulted Russ of Pathlesspedaled and followed his setup. I changed out the following....

Ergon GC2 on my brommie

white markings to help u gauge the angle that best fits u

1) Handle bar grip - Change to Ergon GC2 grips. The design of the grips is ergo styled which has a wider plattform to rest the palms. Also comes with bar ends to have alternative gripping position. This is good for hill climbs. To fit Brompton M, u got to loosen the shifters and brake levers and move inward the bar. Once u do that, u can fold with no problem. To be even more comfortable, I wear gloves all the time when I ride...cuz u never know when u fall.

Shimano R770 levers

Done!

2)Shimano R770  Flat bar brake levers - It has a return spring buildin with a sculpted shaped levers, which makes braking easier. Cheap and easy mod. Get it at Rodalink.
3) Brooks seat -  For my butt, I swear by brooks.. choose B17 for general purpose.
PLS NOTE, IT TAKES TIME FOR THE SEAT TO FORM TO UR BUM. So don't fit a new brooks seat for the long journey... ur ass will break.. confirm and chop!
For my brompton, I choose the Flyer model with spring... it cuts away the road vibration...


4) Marathon tyres - I don't like changing tyres.. esp on a hot dust road. So I fit my brompton with Swalbe Marathon tyres. Abit draggy but good on broken road and is more puncture proof. I rather be slow and steady. and not need to change tyres :)

Flamingo prepped and ready!

Marathon Supremes 

 Going for the first overseas riding trip(Bintan) with some really seasoned riders tomorrow. I have prepped the flamingo with new tyres which MBS says is supposedly puncture proof... hope it does the job well.  For the past 2 weeks, i have being using it and it rolls well on the road and on gravel.. so it should be OK. Anyway to buy more insurance.. I got a portable hand pump and Patch kit/levers....

Touchpoint wise, I have finally got myself a Ergon Grips which was also comfortable and doesn't rotate as the original grips installed on Flamingo F1.

Rear rack, I just got the simplest version which is Topeak MTX V neck rack. It is secured by the seat post but sometimes it will rotate slightly. I added a rubber shim to increase the gripping force and the rack is now very stable. The bag is a very nice addition, which slides in neatly. It also features two light duty side bags which I stuff with my barang barang. To prevent the side bags from rubbing again the tyres.. i rigged a tyre guard which is made from all the spare parts from the baby seat... I hope it works..

rear rack with bag to hold stuff

Ergon grips

Ready to roll

   So there.. Flamingo is ready to roll and do some exploring!