We first heard about TriRig’s Ergo Cups when we were getting our introduction to the new Alpha One. Nick, the owner of TriRig, was filling us in on all the details of the Alpha One, and in passing, mentioned that the Ergo Cups that ship with it had already won over a TriRig-sponsored athlete. They were using the Ergo Cups with an Alpha X and said they were the most comfortable pads they’d ever ridden. Well, we wanted in. and the next thing we knew, a set had shown up in the AeroGeeks mail room. So, did they live up to our expectations? Read on to find out.

The TriRig Ergo Cups

The TriRig Ergo Cups are all about size, or more specifically, surface area and arm wrap. The cups have a length of 115mm and a width of 112mm. For comparison, a set of Profile Design F35 TT pads are 80mm x 95mm. TriRig tells us that a set (two cups and pads) weigh in at 230g. Unfortunately, we neglected to weigh them before we got them set up, so we will take his word for it. Again, for comparisons sake, those same F35 TT pads and cups we mentioned earlier come out to 95g. Clearly surface area isn’t free.

The pads are made of neoprene and feature a grippy textured surface. We had some reservations about that since there was no cloth top to capture sweat, which made us worried that our arms would start to slip once the sweat started pooling. Luckily, quite the opposite was true. More on that in a bit.

The cups feature 16 mounting holes, allowing for 12 different mounting positions. There is 20mm between each hole front to back. And 15.5 mm spacing for the actual mounting holes. We installed these on a 2^nd generation Trek Speed Concept and had no issues (but we did validate the 15.5 mm spacing beforehand).

The Ergo Cup and pad kits retail for $74.99 (with the pads alone available for $29.99).

Our Thoughts

The first thing you realize when you take the Ergo Cups out of the box is just how big they are. And that is before you get them on your bike. Once on, the size really stands out. In the bars, it’s awesome. The cups more than delivered on support. The drawback is when we are on the pursuits—our wrists just barely clear the cups (and that was after moving them back a bit).

Because of the extreme amount of arm wrap, your arms aren’t going to slip out off the sides, which was something we occasionally experienced with other cups and pads in the past. The Ergo Cups perfectly hug your arms and give you increased security as the hours on the bike start to increase.

The next thing you notice are the pads and their complete lack of a cloth covering. They feature just a single beautiful layer of grippy neoprene. As we said above, this made us a little nervous. After coming out of the water or just a hot ride, would our arms start to slip when water started pooling? The answer was a resounding no. These pads gripped our arms like they were glued down. And we were super comfortable in them. We maxed at around two and a half hours in our recent training rides with the Ergo Cups, and the pads were comfortable all the way from pedals up to pedals down.

For those that have their arms set fairly narrow, they may also have challenges with setting up a BTA bottle. Though we have no doubt solutions will reveal themselves, including advice from TriRig: “Use some ordinary standoffs/spacers from the hardware store to lift the BTA bottle upward and clear of the cup itself.”

One thing we found when installing the cups was the lack of fore and aft adjustments in any of the 16 mounting holes. We have typically preferred to mount our cups tilted in slightly towards the bar ends but that is not possible with the Ergo Cups. The good news was that this wasn’t a deal breaker, and we were able to find an almost perfect fit with them regardless (thank you John at the Racers Edge!).

Wrapping Up

So, are these the most comfortable pads we have ever tested? We’d have to say the TriRig Ergo Cups are definitely up there. They provide an incredibly stable and comfortable perch even as the sweat starts to pool. At $74.99 they are on the higher end of the price range for pads and cups, but not incredibly so (with prices typically ranging from $49.99-$84.99). If you are finding your current pads and cups lacking, these are definitely worth a good look – just make sure you have the room!