So you have brought some new hand grips or you need to repair your brake levers and you have to get those hand grips off of the handlebars to do the job. If they are old hand grips and you are replacing them with new ones, then you can cut them off which works, but you normally end up cutting yourself or doing some damage to the bike.
If you have to get them off in one piece, then there is a simple way to do this. All you need is some sort of lever, screwdriver or tyre lever and hairspray. Yes that is correct, hairspray.
You may need to pull the hand grip back a bit.
The first step is to use the lever to lift up the edge of the handlebar grip which is closest to the brake lever. Then spray some hairspray around the edge of the hand grip.
While doing this turn the grip and let the hairspray soak in. Shortly you should be able to pull the handgrip off of the handlebars without too much effort.
Using a lever, spray some hairspray under the hand grip.
Before you put the new or old handgrip back on, clean the end of the bar where the handgrip has came off. Next spray a small amount of hairspray onto the end of the bar and inside the handgrip. Then place it back onto the handlebar and give it a few twists to get it where you want it.
The grip will move until the hairspary has dried then it will be quite firm. This trick will work with most rubber, so before you get a blade or call your biggest touring friend around to hang off of the handlebars, reach for the hairspray.
Many other sprays and products will probably work for instance CRC, WD40, etc, but I have found that hairspray works quickly on new and old rubber. And best of all, it smells good.
