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Schwann Grips

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Kickstand3

Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
Info on these
2 different sizes
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The fat ones without the finger grips were first introduced in the 38 lightweight catalog and continued into the 50s on lightweights and tandems. The other is a typical early oval grip, introduced in 40.5 and up.

There may be slight differences in the prewar vs. postwar versions of both of these but I've never known exactly what those were.
 
All of the bike shops I worked at used long thin shanked screwdrivers and hairspray. It is all you need with a little practice to safely remove any rubber, vinyl, or foam grip. Always clean the bar with alcohol before reinstalling grips with hair spray. Here is a previous CABE thread on grip removal.

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Some grips can be blown off with an air nozzle and plugging the other end but it is easy to rupture the end of vintage grips if they are really stuck and/or thin walled. This technique is best saved for newer grips and to occasionally impress bystanders with your bike shop "magic" tricks.

WD-40 will help you get them off but only use it if you are not recyling the grips. The WD-40 is hard to completely remove from the inside the grips and sometimes makes them slippery on re-installation.

Banging them off with the flats of a Crescent wrench and hammer is effective but often damages the grip if it really stuck.
 
7/8 open-end wrench with single ply of tape on it so the bar does not scratch. 2 taps with hammer removes the most stubborn grips. Works first time, every time. No compressors, no mess, very simple. The only grips that can be damaged are very old, very brittle, junky ones that personally, I don't want on my bike anyway.
 
I filled my restroom sink with hot water and dipped my handle bar ends in there for a few seconds, twisted and pulled off, then reapeated for the other side.
 
7/8 open-end wrench with single ply of tape on it so the bar does not scratch. 2 taps with hammer removes the most stubborn grips. Works first time, every time. No compressors, no mess, very simple. The only grips that can be damaged are very old, very brittle, junky ones that personally, I don't want on my bike anyway.
I understand your satisfaction with the hammer technique based upon your 100% success rate. I work in a bicycle shop, so my perspective changes a bit when I am working on someone else's bike. Using hairspray to aid in the removal makes a lot more sense to me than just banging away and I have a 100% success rate as well. I have found in bike cleaning, a chemical solution or chemical/mechanical solution is often a better way forward with less risk of damage and better looking results.

Non-Schwinn muscle bikes and middleweight bikes had some fairly thin walled grips (Hunt Wilde, etc.) that might not survive the hammer technique. But because they are thin walled they are easier to remove with hairspay, being fairly easy to pry up. If the grips are junky, then just cut them off regardless.

Either technique is obviously effective and yours is certainly quicker, although I don't recall ever having to deal with a hairspray mess as it evaporates pretty quick.

I am not trying to convince you otherwise, or carry on a debate, but my info may be helpful for other folks to consider in finding their way forward and what may work best for them in various repairs.
 
Hairspray U say? I surely don't get that, unless the active agent doing the job is the isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) it's mixed with cause, the gum in it aint. I've always used Rubbing alcohol. It's cheap, sometimes takes a few minutes, or work to open it up on sides and completely evaporates. Seems to me too that, hairspray is also recommended when applying new bar tape.

U sure you're not thinking that hairspray helps stick a slippery grip or perhaps a double agent, slip off when wet and stick when dry? "Common polymers in hairspray include polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), vegetable gums and gum arabic, while alcohol and hydrocarbons make up the solvent portion. Other ingredients, such as propylene glycol, isobutane, propane and fragrance, may also be present."

I understand your satisfaction with the hammer technique based upon your 100% success rate. I work in a bicycle shop, so my perspective changes a bit when I am working on someone else's bike. Using hairspray to aid in the removal makes a lot more sense to me than just banging away and I have a 100% success rate as well. I have found in bike cleaning, a chemical solution or chemical/mechanical solution is often a better way forward with less risk of damage and better looking results.

Non-Schwinn muscle bikes and middleweight bikes had some fairly thin walled grips (Hunt Wilde, etc.) that might not survive the hammer technique. But because they are thin walled they are easier to remove with hairspay, being fairly easy to pry up. If the grips are junky, then just cut them off regardless.

Either technique is obviously effective and yours is certainly quicker, although I don't recall ever having to deal with a hairspray mess as it evaporates pretty quick.

I am not trying to convince you otherwise, or carry on a debate, but my info may be helpful for other folks to consider in finding their way forward and what may work best for them in various repairs.
 
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