Cult’s product designer Neal Wood on the cover of RideUK issue 23, June/July 1996.

Thanks to one of our favourite Instagram accounts @nealcult we pretty much have a timeline of events in the life of Alex Kennedy’s signature Cult Grips. Flick through this to see Alex’s first sketch, fellow Brit Neal Wood’s craftsmanship, followed by the final product. These should be available in the UK for Christmas! Hit up your local BMX store for more info.

AK’s first sketch for his all new signature grip with Cult. Since day one Cult have always been about the team’s input in designing product. They’re one of the brands with many signature lines available.

Using AK’s sketches, Neal starts to bring the grips to life. A reference to the vintage Jive Handles can be seen here as he starts the CAD process. Neal has worked with some of the most popular BMX brands ever over the years.

Prior to working on his own grip, AK’s favourite was the Bobby Simmons signature from Primo. Neal kept the same length, diameter and rubber compound. 29.7mm OD and 160mm in length. He should know this off the top of his head though, as he helped Bobby design his grip with Primo.

After the drawings were finalised and approved the Cult office took delivery of the first RP (Rapid Prototype) sample.

The first item samples showed up soon after, and AK get’s to session his own product. Here we see everything put together, from drawings, to RP, to the final sample.

On the bike and looking good. Here’s the most recent image from the AK Grips, as seen via his bike check. These look just about perfect in terms of wearing in. All to do now is package them up, get them into BMX stores and finally on your bike to enjoy.