Something similar to Rustines Constructeur Grips?

[Benjamin Kelley]

Good Day Group,

I'm building up a new bike (Raleigh Clubman with S&S couplers I snagged off ebay a while back) and went to purchase some Rustines Constructeur grips, which are my favorite, only to find that supplies of them in the US have dried up.

Velo Orange doesn't stock any Rustines products any longer. Good thing I bought a bunch of patches a while back.

Rustines.fr wants 45euros just for shipping.   Bluelug and Harris both out of stock.

Anyone know of any similar grips?  Ribbed, soft, natural rubber.

Are the VO Kraton basket weave a similar feel?  I could settle for those if so.

--ben in KC

[M D Smith]

Hi Ben-

There are a few sets on eBay right now.  Not cheap, but shipping is more modest.

Cheers- Mike

[Paul Clifton]

ODI makes ribbed grips with a flange. These are the long ones, but I feel like I saw a short version somewhere recently

http://odigrips.com/store/bmx/bmx-products/longneck-bmx-grips

Fabric also makes ribbed grips, but lock on only and no flange.

I may have bookmarked something else similar. I'll try to remember to look when I'm at my laptop.

Also, for some reason the website modernbike has a zillion grips, so it might be worth a look. I've been grip shopping lately after having to remove the long ESI grips from jones bars. I'm over that.

Paul in AR

[Shawn Granton]

On Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 8:11:46 PM UTC-8 Benjamin Kelley wrote:

I'm building up a new bike (Raleigh Clubman with S&S couplers I snagged off ebay a while back) and went to purchase some Rustines Constructeur grips, which are my favorite, only to find that supplies of them in the US have dried up.

Velo Orange doesn't stock any Rustines products any longer...

Are the VO Kraton basket weave a similar feel?  I could settle for those if so.

I also noticed that VO stopped stocking Rustines, wonder what's up with that.

I've used both the Rustines and the VO Kraton grips. The Kratons are ok, but definitely not the same or similar to those Rustines grips. But they are cheap!

I still have one bike with Rustines Constructeur grips. I have a back-up set if/when they wear out. I really liked the look and feel of the Rustines grips. My only gripe with those grips (ha!) is that the softness that makes them nice feeling also makes them easy to tear/rip/abrade. 

Good luck, Ben.

Best,

Shawn in PDX

[Brett Callahan]

I read earlier during the pandemic that Rustines has ramped up other aspects of their business. They make medical supplies and that has been a big driver of sales. The bike parts business, a tiny part of their overall sales, has been sidelined. This was in comments here, or another list serv. I can't vouch for the information, but it seems to make sense. It also seems possible that if VO can't reliably get the parts, they'd remove them from the website.