DMR Deathgrip Flangeless Race Edition review

DMR Deathgrips handlebar grips are the product of a collaboration with DMR and Brendan Fairclough. We tested a thin version of the super soft, flangeless ‘Race Day’ edition which proved to be super grippy and comfortable but a little bit delicate to knocks and bumps.

The Race Day edition of the Deathgrips are available in black only and use a ‘super soft’ compound, for reference you can also get a set of Deathgrips in a ‘soft’ compound and a ‘hard’ one. All varieties come in both thin (29.8mm) and thick (31.3mm) diameters, with the soft and hard compounds also available in various colours. Then once you’ve made all those choices you can then decide if you want a flange or not!

The grips offer a mushroom pattern for comfort on the inner hand and a waffle pattern for grip throughout the rest of the palm. Even with relatively small hands, I positioned my hand naturally making use of both patterns. The inner mushroom portion is superbly comfy offering a little more cushioning between forefinger and thumb than you might find with regular grips.

As a whole grip, in the super soft compound provides tackiness that provides good traction for the hands in wet conditions as well as dry. I even found purchase with a palm covered in mud after a spill.

The grip has a single lock ring, with the outer end of the grip covered in the same super soft rubber. I did find that the grip was easily damaged, after one crash I punctured the end of the grip with the handlebar. Some more crashes and some careless leaning of the bike against rough surfaces has caused the end of the grips to look like they have seen better days. Lastly, the Deathgrips have a tapered core which when fitting meant I needed to encourage the grip onto the bar with a swift knock from my Allen key set. Before tightening the lock-on, these grips were hard but not impossible to rotate into position, just shows how effective the tapered end is for grip security.

With regards to the durability of the race edition, I’ll be testing the ‘soft’ compound too so I can provide a better update then of the longevity versus grip of the two. This soft compound hasn't, in three months of use, worn the waffle pattern of the grip flat as you might expect.