Having taken delivery of the delightful Penelope, she does need a bit of personalisation. Particularly in the handlebar grips department. I'm surprised that, since they produce and sell leather handlebar grips, Pashley doesn't offer them as standard on their top end bikes such as the Princess Sovereign. The only bit of my bike I don't like is the cheap rubber grips, which are actually not comfortable when you ride for more than a few minutes.
Petunia the Mixte has been prettied up with lovely Brooks leather handlebar grips, which replaced her own cheap rubber grips. They not only look nice, they feel fantastic. As you can see. They match her pretty champagne-coloured frame. (She is still to get her own Brooks saddle though it's in the pipeline.)
I'll be getting Brooks grips for Penelope in the next couple of weeks - they are more readily available than the Pashley grips and I suspect a little more padded and comfortable. I've found two on eBay - one is the same colour as Petunia's, which complement the brown Brooks saddle. Currently they're very affordable but the auction ends on Sunday. The other option is a Buy It Now from the USA for GREEN leather grips which echo Penelope's shiny paintwork. They are a similar hue only lighter in shade. Both eBay options are cheaper than buying through a bike store here in Oz; the US one is more expensive than the auction due to the exchange rate and the postage (international postage seems to have increased significantly lately).
My heart says go with the green grips and be a bit different. Not everyone has green grips. :-)
I installed the Brooks leather washer grips on my Pashley as well - But I know that some people prefer the classic vintage-style plastic grips to any of the leather or cork ones. Some say that the cork and leather grips are too slippery, and that the Brooks washer-style leather to have too much metal in them. Just a matter of personal preference I think.
ReplyDeleteI love the green grips and saddles. Did you end up getting them? I bought a discontinued green B67 saddle on clearance and gave it to my husband for his vintage black Raleigh Tourist. Looks great and I'll get him the matching grips soon.