I saw these on Dylan Johnson’s latest video talking about his gravel bike setup. He uses them on his drops, but I’m not seeing what advantage they bring, if any, beyond maybe a comfort boost.
Anyone have any experience with togs?
I’ve used them on my MTB last year. Just allows some security when riding with your thumbs over the bar so your hand doesn’t unexpectedly bounce off. I took them off towards the end of race season as I found them to not really be necessary and I wanted to de-clutter the cockpit.
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I tried them because I wanted a little extra security when resting my thumbs on top of the grips. They can’t be tightened enough to keep them from rotating with mild pressure, so I removed them.
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I love mine, but you do have to get…creative…with how you get them to stay in place.
I used carbon paste in the clamp area, and a bead of super glue between the tog and my bar grips.
Unless I’m going downhill, Togs are my default hand position on my xc race bike.
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That’s good feedback. Thanks.
I have them on raceface carbon bars on both mtbs that I used for long races last season. I liked them alright. I like them more on my gravel bike. With arthritis pretty bad in one wrist I’m limited for comfortable hand positions. Togs on the drop bars gave me another position that my wrist could tolerate.
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Did you test with any grip paste?
Looks like they have a road-specific version now…
I used them for a season of endurance mtb. They are ok, gives some more hand position options on non technical trails. They can move, I could adjust them around with my hand but I didn’t have alot of unwanted movement. I took the off for the more technical shorter races, and never put them back on. Too much junk on my bars for me.
I think this is intentional and actually like that they can rotate. I have them on two bikes and yes, they rotate fairly freely but when my thumbs are hooked on in a riding position I don’t find it to be an issue because the pressure isn’t being applied in the direction of travel, but rather somewhat outwards towards your grips. Plus I suspect they’re intended for when you’re riding on a relatively smooth surface or uphill, not when you’re bombing down a mountain and should have a full grip anyway.
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I didn’t try grip paste. This was on a rigid bike and I wanted a little extra security when hitting an unexpected bump or hole while resting my hands. I didn’t feel like the togs would be effective for that scenario.
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I found them to be effective exactly for that scenario. Also, the slight movement is intended and in my experience a benefit. I have ESI extra chunky grips so the Togs were pretty tight, but with some force I could move them. Being able to move them was nice because it seemed at different times in the race I preferred them at a slightly different angle.
I’ve only been using the carbon ones a little bit calendar year 2020, three live rides and a bunch of stationary rides. I’ve not had any problem with them rotating. DIdn’t use any paste or anything.
My issue is fitting them between grips and shimano brakes. I have them pointing about 1 o’clock and want to shift them an hour, but they get real close to the brake lever housing and my thumps need to wedge in between. I’m actually thinking about cutting an inch off my extra chunky grips to slip the togs away toward the bar ends a bit. Seems i’m not using the whole width of the grip anyway.
I have them on my MTB to allow for gripping closer to the stem. Good for aero reasons, and change of hand position.
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now that’s interesting… you’ve got quite a system there with the additional grip pieces. getting them to work with my xt brakes has been difficult for me. i moved them too far around the bar that there’s insufficient gap between them and the brake. i might try to copy some of this.
They are ESI grips that I cut to size. Pretty cheap, so if you mess up the first time, no big deal. Just repeat with another pair to dial in the sizing.