Ins & Outs of Pro Scooter Grip Tape Posted in: Product Reviews, Scooters – Tags:

To ride at an optimal level you’ll need quality grip tape on your scooter. On the other hand, even if you aren’t that good at riding you’ll still need a decent grip to stay on your scooter while riding and even more so to catch and land tricks.

Although it might seem like its grip tape isn’t just grip tape, there are a few different factors you should consider before keeping your stock grip tape on or switching to another brand.

 

Grittiness

Some scooter grip tape is extra grippy which is preferable for some riders but as a downside tape with extra grittiness will wear out shoes faster. The other option would be to go with a less gritty grip tape this would improve upon the wear and tear on your shoes but it will also compromise your performance and the ability to stay on your scooter.

Ideally, you want to go with something in the middle of the spectrum. A strong yet very popular grip tape is Mob grip, Mob is extra grippy even enough to cut your skin if you were to rub your arm across it. If you want something more on the mild to medium side Jessup grip tape is a good choice.

 

Ease of Removal and Application

Nothing is worse than removing your worn-out grip tape and having it shred apart. What could have taken 5 mins of removal time can easily turn into 45 dreadful minutes of scratching and clawing at sticky sandpaper.

Usually higher quality grip tape will be without this type of problem but the standard grip tape that comes stock on most completes won’t.

From our experience the longer you allow standard grip to stay on a scooter the harder and harder it becomes to remove. Our advice is to immediately remove cheaper paper-based grip tapes immediately and replace them with quality vinyl-based tape.

Applying grip tape is a pretty straight forward process. However, practice truly makes perfect in this endeavor. The more times you install grip tape on your scooter decks the better you will become at it. If you are a rookie check out this video for some pointers.

If you want to get more for their money what a lot of riders do it buy skateboard grip tape and cut it down to fit their scooter deck. A skateboard intended sheet of grip tape will measure 8” x 33” which is enough for at least 2 scooter applications.

 

Stylishness

Grip tape is not black with varying degrees of sparkle anymore. There is a wealth of patterns and designs. Everything from kittens to pizza, to skeletons and women.

Grip tape has really become a way for a scooter rider to express their individuality and sometimes the lack thereof. The Friendly grip tape took the scooter scene by storm and was almost every scooter at the skate parks.

Hella grip also has done an incredible job marketing the sloth lifestyle with shredders tearing up street spots bearing their insignia. Another graphic that seemed to stick around was the galaxy graphics that Envy released.

 

Custom Scooter Grip Tape

If you don’t find anything that tickles your fancy from the various grip tape offerings on the market you can always opt for custom.

Custom grip tape comes in two different forms. You can make designs but cutting your grip up into different layers and create stunning visuals by removing parts of the grip.

The second way to get custom grip tape is by starting with standard grip tape and putting your own spin on it by drawing on it or sending it off a custom grip tape designer like ThatGripTapeGirl.

Emma Finnegan aka ThatGripTapeGirl has designed custom grip tape graphics for and inspired by top pro scooter riders.

 

Which Scooter Grip tape should you buy?

This will depend on your preferences, if you are a more reserved person you aren’t going to want grip tape with a pin-up girl on your scooter. So select your design accordingly to what you like or what you want to represent. As far as quality goes Mobb, Jessup, Hella Grip and Black Diamond are all standouts.

Also, consider the different degrees of grittiness for each grip tape. Mobb is going to be the grippiest, Jessup is going to be the least grippy, and the others all fit in between.

 

All in all, we hope this is enough information to help you select which grip tape you want on your scooter.
Your selection should be based on quality first, grip strength second, style third, and application difficulty last (it’s not everyday you have to remove or install your grip tape).