PNW Loam XL Grip [Rider Review]

The direct contact we have with the bike is the pedals and grips, and the comfort of your grips can play a big role in a riders' comfort on the bike. For riders who have big hands and prefer big grips, PNW offers the Loam XL. See what our customer thinks of them!

Overview

Bigger is better! There are a bunch of reasons why the PNW Loam Grip XL is an awesome grip. But the most important one? Steeze. Look at all those color options. The Seafoam Teal happens to be a great match for my 2024 Tallboy. I also have these grips in purple on another bike. The colors they offer can be matched to their pedals, their dropper posts, and dropper levers. The colors also do a great job of lining up with offerings from other brands. So, it is really easy to make your bike look awesome and you can come up with just about any color scheme to match your style. The design of the grip also isn't too busy or awkward looking with random features. They look good, but are very functional and durable. Style, function, and tough: the Holy Trinity of mountain steeze.

Secondly, the grips come in XL. I wear a size large glove in almost every brand and the XL size in these PNW Loam Grips is perfect. I can feel a solid difference in comfort and reduced hand fatigue when compared to other grips. There is a small amount of taper from the edge of the grip down to the inner part. This helps give you good and consistent hand positioning in the attack position. The inner flare is nice for grip and identifying hand position without looking down, but it is also small enough not to interfere with brake levers if you like running them close to the bars, which I most certainly do. Why would you want the levers far away? I have no clue. Get 'em close, maintain good control, and these grips make sure you won't have any interference. The XL size provides all these benefits, but is still easy to grip on rowdy descents. Lastly, the clamp is only on the inside, so you get the entire bar's width for grippin'.

Lastly, the grip material is incredible. It is grippy, but not sticky feeling. I live and ride in Park City, so we have longer climbs and a variety of going down from blue flow to steep and rooty. For long climbs, it is easy to move your hands around to keep the blood moving. Even in awkward hand positions on the climb, it is easy to maintain control with the softness and stickiness of the grip material. They reduce chatter, but don't reduce trail feel. I always ride with gloves. But, if you like to ride gloveless like some kind of ruthless animal, these grips would also be super awesome. They are durable and don't instantly rip or tear if you take a tumble or haphazardly throw your bike to the ground. And they don't hold dirt and look awful after your first ride. So, the colors will still be popping when you can super sick photos for your tens of Instagram followers. I've also been in some drizzly wet days with these grips, and they remain just as grippy as when dry.

Final Thoughts

So in conclusion, get yourself some PNW Loam XL grips! They look great and perform even better.