First Look: Vibration damping grips & convertible water bottles from Leatt

Leatt enters the components game with vibration damping grips and an ‘upright drinking’ water bottle.
Exactly how much innovation is necessary when designing new mountain bike water bottles or a pair of grips? Not much really, or, I guess that depends on the brand. With Leatt, a company that was born out of prioritizing the needs of a rider, there is seemingly no end game to innovation. These, their latest releases, are testament to that.


Leatt SteadySip Convertible Water Bottle
For upright drinking
The SteadySip is available in a 600ml or 750ml size. It’s a soft and relatively easy-to-squeeze water bottle. Internally, a straw that is attached to the underneath of the lid, runs from the top to the bottom of the bottle. Externally, the regular bite valve can be swapped out for an extended tube/straw, with bite valve. Everything is easily disassembled for cleaning purposes and it has a wide opening, making it ice cube friendly.

Details: Leatt SteadySip
Bite Valve: Self-sealing Hydrapak Blaster |
Second Valve: Holds water in the inner straw |
Third Valve: Anti-vacuum valve equalizes internal pressure |
Material: Soft, ‘flexy’, odorless, tasteless |
Size: 600ml or 750ml |
Retail: ±R499 and R599 |
More: leatt.com |
The idea behind the SteadySip is to enable riders to keep their eyes on the trail, while drinking. With the internal straw, there’s also no need to tilt the water bottle to drink which means the rider is in a safer posture, when drinking on the fly. Riders using full face helmets will not need to remove their helmets to hydrate.

IMPRESSIONS: It seals well, is easy to squeeze and works perfectly in both setups. The look and feel is premium, the tolerances on the interchangeable parts are spot on. Gimmicky it ain’t — there’s real benefits for Endurance, Trail and Gravity riders here. A very clever idea!
Leatt DuoValve Water Bottle
Regular bite valve with maximum flow
The DuoValve is a more traditional bottle that is also available in a 600ml or 750ml version. Gone is the internal straw and convertible bite valve seen on the SteadySip model featured above. The DuoValve has a fast-flow valve, that can be closed to prevent spillage.

Details: Leatt DuoValve
Bite Valve: Self-sealing, high flow |
Technology: Anti-vacuum valve equalizes internal pressure |
Material: Soft, ‘flexy’, odorless, tasteless |
Size: 600ml or 750ml |
Retail: ±R249 and R299 |
More: leatt.com |
As with the SteadySip, this DuoValve bottle is pretty soft and easy to squeeze. It has two valves; the bite valve for drinking which is also a self-sealing spout plus an anti-vacuum valve that quickly resets the pressure after drinking, restoring the bottle to full size, so that it fits securely into the bottle cage.

IMPRESSIONS: The lid locks on nice and securely and there’s no leaking from either the valves or the lid. After squeezing, it returns to full-size, very quickly. What I really like is the bottle has very little indents so it fits very snug with bottle cages.
Leatt ReaFlex 6.0 Grips
Designed to combat hand fatigue and arm pump
The secret sauce inside these grips is the dual layering. The inner most layer, or core of the grip, contains ReaFlex — a material developed by Leatt that absorbs energy. It’s this inner layer that damps out trail vibrations. The outer layer has a soft rubber-like feel and has a variable profile (it is contoured and shaped) to maximize ergonomics. The idea behind the shapes is to reduce pressure points inside the palm, which then reduces hand fatigue.

Details: Leatt ReaFlex Grips
Material: Rubber-like external with Gel infused inner |
Clamping: Single ring with 3mm Allen bolt |
Size: Thin and thick versions, 135mm length |
Weight: 106g |
Colours: Black, Granite, Lava, Peanut |
Retail: R599 |
More: leatt.com |
When it comes to the design of the contact surface, this isn’t a plain Jane, copy-paste pattern. Leatt have really innovated here. Nearest the clamp is a section of ribbing that helps lock the rider’s thumb in place. The slightly elevated rectangular block is a bump pad, that provides additional palm support. For extra grip, a combination of half-waffle and triangular blocks line the underside.

Further efforts to boost comfort and ergonomics are evidenced by the 2mm taper — with the bigger section on the outer edge. The two available sizes are a regular which is a 33/31mm and a thin which is a 31/29mm taper.


IMPRESSIONS: The term gel conjures up images of something super-soft and squishy. That’s not what’s going on here. When fitted, I can feel these grips are only mildly softer than my choice of ODI or Renthal, but it’s that little extra margin of absorption that I anticipate will make a tangible difference to hand fatigue. Especially on longer endurance rides, technical lines and longer descents. Stay tuned for more feedback. //