How to replace handles?

Question

I've got an old bike from my friends, which basically looks good (just needs some oiling), but its handles are really beaten up and greesy. I couldn't find any screws or anything which keeps these handles in place - please see photo.

Is it possible to replace handles without replacing the whole gear switching mechanism?

Swifty · Accepted Answer

The rubber degrades and goes super tacky and gross as you note. The rubber and plastic part does remove by pulling outwards - and could therefore be replaced - this is how you change cables on these SRAM gripshift. The problem however is that the rubber rotating part is probably not available as a spare part. The shifter unit itself is generally considered cheap enough as a whole.
Searching online for 'SRAM rotating grip assembly' does bring up some spare parts, though I can't see a straight match and they are about the same cost as a whole replacement unit. These seem to be for higher tier units.
A visit to your local SRAM Dealer might be helpful, they could look up the current spare parts catalogue with you and see if it's even listed as a spare, more categorically.
Bear in mind that replacement units come with their own inner cable, so it might be a reasonable time to go with new units and saving the cost of the inner cable as a nice part to freshen up too.

Criggie · Answer

I've "fixed" these in the past by putting some large heatshrink tube on, and warming it with a hot air gun.
This provides a new layer of hard rubber that encapsulates the old tacky stuff and looks acceptable.
You can also add several layers just out-board of the grip shift, to bring the level up even with the outside of the shifter

How to replace handles?

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