Ride Cool

Ride Cool

Dresden

Ride Cool gives bike handle grips some pop.

Sylvia Müller, Uwe Richter, and Nico Müller, all Dresden locals, have been best buddies for a long time now. Then, when they formed the idea for a company of their own, they gave it an ingenious and expressive name: RIDE COOL. It’s a perfect choice, since their authentic tuning for the bike cockpit is just that: so cool it’s practically on ice, aloof, with sleek, clean lines. It also looks a bit like a statement or a life motto, perfectly encapsulated in a bike handle grip, standing for pure enjoyment and the desire for self-expression. We talked with co-founder and managing director Uwe Richter.

You founded Ride Cool GmbH as a business last year. Its centerpiece is the Cool Grip. Can you tell us a bit about it?

It’s the first bike handlebar grip where people can choose the design themselves. The Cool Grip is a cool feature that anyone can use to give their bike an individual pop of color. It’s the centerpiece of our business, and it also happens to be a highly functional and chic tour companion.

Why should every bike be equipped with your Cool Grips?

These days, many people feel a drive to invent themselves individually and show the real them. So if you’ve always felt like your bike handles were too neutral, here’s a solution for you! Right now, we have 19 different designs on offer, and the number is rising. The great thing about it is if your taste changes or you get tired of a certain look, you don’t have to buy a whole new grip. You can just replace the design label under it. That’s a reasonably priced solution, and above all, it cuts down on waste.

Is the Cool Grip just a design element, or does it also have special features?

The latter, most definitely. Of course, the grip is a real head-turner, but it also meets the most ambitious standards in terms of feel and functionality – ours. We designed these grips to have a great hand feel, including what the surface feels like to the touch and the softness and grip contour. Our grips aren’t round. They have a polygonal shape and a pleasant firmness. Both help to reduce hand fatigue by a huge amount. Our grip ribs have also proven their value on rough terrain, helping to minimize the risk of hand slippage.

Foto: Ride Cool

Foto: Ride Cool

Your whole team is made up of only cool people: Cool Sylvia, Cool Nico, Cool Konsti, and you yourself, of course: Cool Uwe. Are your products only for cool people, too?

Not only! (Smiles.) Our grips are really suitable for anyone – anyone who wants something different, something sustainable, and great performance. The grips are easy to install, and they have standardized diameters, so they fit almost any set of handlebars, from mountain bikes to city bikes, touring bikes, fixies, and even youth bikes. The only ones they don't fit are drop bar and racing bike handlebars, but we're working on a solution for that.

Amid the pandemic, the past two years have brought a major upturn all across the bicycle industry. Have you benefited from that as well?

I wouldn’t want to say the pandemic has benefited us directly. But compared to before the pandemic, we do think many people have become more aware of the need for ecofriendly mobility. Our Cool Grips are a perfect fit for that mindset.

Where exactly are your Cool Grips made? What materials do you use?

Our grips are produced right near Dresden. The grip material is all about sustainability, like our production activities in general. We use a special kind of material called Thermolast. It’s highly transparent, resistant to UV and sweat, and EU certified. It is also 100 percent recyclable..

Your product range includes not only Cool Grips for bikes, but also individualized grips for filter holders in espresso machines. What grips are next on your list?

Funny, right? The idea of using our grips for filter holders came to us from our community, of course. We just recently developed a custom hammer in partnership with a friend of ours who builds bikes, and we hope there will be many more of these kinds of cool alternative applications from within our community.

What drives you personally? What’s your company philosophy?

We are driven by a thirst for innovation. We didn’t start out to produce bike parts. We just wanted to bring together our individual skills and see where it might take us. Our friendship was an important part of that (between the three founders, Sylvia Müller, Nico Müller, and Uwe Richter – Ed.), and having fun in everything we do. Does that count as a philosophy?

Ride Cool

Original tuning for the bicycle cockpit: individually designed bicycle handlebar grips.

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