Our friends at Wide Open Mountain Bike interviewed DMR bikes’ Olly Wilkins about his designs for the Death Grip, and really got the root of what makes DMR’s grip designs different from the industry standard.
DMR could easily purchase grips from an eastern manufacturer (as many other grip companies do), toss their logo on it and bring the product to market. The success of the Vault pedal, another collaborative effort between designers and team riders, showed the designers at DMR the value of rider input for bike touch points. Anywhere a rider contacts their bike, subtle details make the biggest difference.
The design process for the Death Grip, from the first prototype (left) to the current model (right) -courtesy of wideopenmountainbike.com
“DMR is a brand built around a passion for riding. You wouldn’t want to ride something which clearly isn’t considered. I wouldn’t anyway.”
-Olly Wilkins, DMR Bikes
Wide Open’s article gets to the nitty gritty about what makes the Deathgrip unique, and how careful fine-tuning with feedback from DMR riders like Brendan Fairclough resulted in a grip that is rapidly becoming an industry benchmark for quality. You can find the full article here, and you can find the DMR Deathgrip at your local Live to Play Sports dealer.