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Minoura Spacegrip SGS-300M

8
£15.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Extremely useful and a massive improvement over the original Spacegrip
Weight: 
98g
Contact: 
www.zyro.co.uk

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Joy beyond measure, Minoura have finally revised and improved their venerable Spacegrip.

The original Spacegrip performed a useful function, giving you extra bar room for lights and so forth, but was a complete horror to fit and had a reputation for being made of cheese. Between us my wife and I have three of them in various stages of dis-assembly, none actually attached to our bikes. I swear that when I clapped eyes on the new and improved MK2 hanging up in a bike shop I heard a choir of angels burst into song while a shaft of heavenly light illuminated the joyous object.

The reason for my excitement is that *finally* Minoura have figured out a way to make the Spacegrip quick release, which means fitting is a doddle and you can whip it off your bike complete with all the attached gubbins whenever you want. There's an allen bolt which expands the clamp according to the size of your bars and a simple clip which pulls the clamp shut and keeps it closed. It doesn't look very elegant but it works brilliantly. According to the blub, the clamp will work on bars from 35mm down to 28mm. There's also a version with a smaller diameter clamp, the SG-300s that fits bars from 22-29mm and both versions also come in a choice of a standard 100mm bar extension which will take two items or a longer 130mm option for Inspector Gadget types.

I fitted it to my Dawes Century which has challenging bars: huge, fat and ovalised. No problem, the Spacegrip locked on and stayed put, aided by the thin plastic shim tape that Minoura provide. The wiggle test demonstrated that it was very firmly fixed indeed. The heaviest front light I can think of is a Cateye HL-EL 300, which packs four AA batteries and is the size of a housebrick but even that wouldn't trouble the MK2. The extra space you get isn't enormous, enough for a couple of front lights, but with bar space at a premium and new widgets like GPSes to accommodate that extra 10cm (8.5cm if you discount the bit where it attached to the arm) is very handy indeed.

If you feel the need this new version of the Spacegrip can be fully disassembled and rebuilt with the bar rotated through 90 degrees.

The only downside is that it is a sinfully ugly object to slap on your bike, but if you value function over aesthetics and need space for that extra set of lights then there isn't anything better.

Verdict

Extremely useful and a massive improvement over the original Spacegrip.

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Minoura Spacegrip SGS-300M

Size tested: Oversized

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Minoura don't waste effort on daft blurb. Basically, it's a bracket that gives you extra mounting space for lights, computers and other gubbins.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

"Newly developed quick-release clamp allows mounting/dismounting in mere seconds. Fits all diameter between 28 and 35mm flexibly by single bolt"

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Sturdy.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Does good job and can be easily swapped between bikes.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

The MK1 Spacegrip worked pretty well, once you'd fitted it. The MK2 performs the same function but is much more practical.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

So much easier to use than the old version and can be swapped between bikes in a blink.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Ugly as sin.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?

About time! Shame it's so ugly though.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 42  Height: 5' 8  Weight: er....85kg

I usually ride: Kona Dew Drop, Dawes Century SE, Carlton Corsa  My best bike is: Guess SC1 scandium

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, Audax and long distance solo rides

Add new comment

9 comments

Avatar
cidermart | 12 years ago
0 likes

all set up and it seems to have stopped the problem of moving whilst standing still. the bar which you attach to looks a bit cheap, but this is covered up by what you put on it. the clamp looks quite good, bit of a milled ali billet look to it so its a shame they didn't carry that on to the bar. a quick tighten up of the two allen screws that join it all together and i'm a reasonably happy bunny with it so far lets see how it holds up to the winter  39

Avatar
cidermart | 12 years ago
0 likes

as yet undelivered but i will get back to you as soon as.

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cidermart | 12 years ago
0 likes

Any ideas where to buy this as my lights are interfering with my wireless computer, quite surprising to be doing 47kmh sitting at traffic lights.  7

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Rob Simmonds replied to cidermart | 12 years ago
0 likes
cidermart wrote:

Any ideas where to buy this as my lights are interfering with my wireless computer, quite surprising to be doing 47kmh sitting at traffic lights.  7

Most online retailers will have it (all the usual suspects did when I did a quick Google) I spotted it in a branch of Cycle Surgery and I'd be surprised if you couldn't get one from pretty much any LBS.

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cidermart replied to Rob Simmonds | 12 years ago
0 likes

job done thanks Rob and it was cheaper than stated with free delivery to boot.

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Rob Simmonds replied to cidermart | 12 years ago
0 likes
cidermart wrote:

job done thanks Rob and it was cheaper than stated with free delivery to boot.

Cool. Prices quoted in reviews are always RRP, so you can often get things cheaper by nosing about on the interweb.

What do you make of it? I can't believe it took them this long to re-work the old version, but now they have it's a nice piece of kit.  16

Avatar
Ridire | 12 years ago
0 likes

I have the old SpaceGrip and a Topeak version on two different bikes. The latter is infinitely superior in fitting and stability and copes much better with two Fenix TK11s. Looks marginally better too. http://www.topeak.com/products/Xtras/BarXtender

But the new Minoura certainly appears to be more solid than its predecessor - and the ability to shift the thing easily from bike to bike would have saved me a few quid.

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dave atkinson | 12 years ago
0 likes

Yes you could, ideal for that and a bunch of other uses too...

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Gkam84 | 12 years ago
0 likes

So in theory i could use this to rise my lights above my bar bag when out touring? Its always a problem for me, stick my bag bag on and i have to move my lights out wide, leaving me with very limited space for my hands on the top of the drop bars  7

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