A friend of mine who used to ride BMX in his younger years enlightened me about this trick. I ride a mountain bike about town most of the time. In the course of normal use, the ends of the handle bars eventually work their way through the end of the grips. Now this doesn’t bother me much — I’m more about function than style — but if you are style conscious this may lead you to run out and buy a new pair of grips every few months. No need. I recently bought a new pair of Oury grips as my last pair was about 10 years old and had turned into something like those rubber animals that stick to the wall they used to put in your cereal box. Needless to say they were nasty. Anyway, prior to installing your new grips jam a nickel in the end of the grip. Once the grip is installed this nickel will spread the load from any impact to the end of your grip and lessen the likelihood of your bar ends ruining an otherwise lovely grip.

Also, quick tip on installing your grips. Use a compressor to shoot air under the grip when sliding it on. This makes it soooooo much easier.