Anatomy of the Icon Grip: Your Hands Know Before You Do
Anatomy of a Tenet Component — No. 01
A mountain bike grip is doing its best work when you stop thinking about it. Your hands stay planted, your forearms stay relaxed, and your fingers are free to brake and shift without feeling like you have to hang on for dear life.
That was the goal behind the Icon: create a grip that feels soft and broken-in from the first ride, but still gives your hands something positive to lock onto when the trail gets rough.
Getting there took more than choosing a tread pattern. The rubber, texture, internal structure, and even the way the mold was machined all had to work together.
Soft from the first ride
We tested multiple rubber compounds while developing the Icon. The firmer options lasted longer before showing visible wear, but they also felt harsh out of the box and required a longer break-in period.
We chose an ultra-sticky Shore 20A compound because it delivered the softest, grippiest feel immediately. There is no waiting for the grip to come around and no stiff first few weeks before it starts feeling like yours.
That softness works together with the raised ribbed sections of the tread. The ribs flex beneath your hand, giving the surface a cushioned, broken-in feel without turning the entire grip into one undifferentiated soft surface.
Soft does not mean vague
Comfort was only half of the job. A grip can feel soft in the parking lot and still leave your hands searching for traction once the bike starts moving underneath you.
Between the raised ribs, we added lower-profile knurled sections. These firmer-feeling contact zones give your hands something to lock onto and help prevent slipping. The ribs provide the softness; the knurling provides the security.
The result is a surface made from distinct working zones rather than a single repeated texture.
More rubber where your palm carries the load
The design work continues beneath the visible tread.
The Icon uses a tapered internal sleeve that allows for greater rubber thickness beneath the side of the palm, where most riders place the majority of their weight. This matters because your palm is often carrying the load while your fingers are freed up to brake and shift.
By putting more compliant rubber beneath that high-contact area, the grip adds comfort where it is most useful without making the full 31.5 mm diameter feel unnecessarily bulky.
A pattern designed twice
Every fine rib and knurled detail on the finished grip first had to exist in reverse inside a steel mold.
Machining that tool was a slow and tedious process. The fine pattern required very small cutting tools, slow milling, and completely submerging the part in oil during machining. It is not the fastest way to make a mold, but it is what allowed the finished rubber to carry the texture and detail the design required.
In other words, the Icon pattern had to be designed twice: once for the rider's hand, and once for the tools capable of producing it.
Designed to wear in
Shore 20A rubber will show signs of wear sooner than a harder compound. That is the tradeoff for a grip that feels soft and sticky from the first ride.
With the Icon, that early wear is part of the break-in process. As the surface wears in, it becomes more comfortable and begins to conform to your hands similar to the way the sole of a favorite shoe becomes yours over time.
Eventually, all grip rubber reaches the end of its useful life. We did not think that should mean throwing away perfectly good aluminum lock rings. The Icon rubber and lock rings are sold separately, so worn rubber can be replaced while the existing rings stay in service. You can also change ring colors without replacing a grip that still has life left in it.
Soft where it matters. Locked where it counts. Replaceable when the time finally comes.
That is the anatomy of the Icon Grip.
SHOP ICON GRIPS
