Lizard Skins, the manufacturer of bike grips and handlebar tape, celebrates its 30th anniversary in January.
The company’s product offerings span cycling, baseball, lacrosse, hockey, and gaming for companies including Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch controllers. More recently, the company launched a grip tape for pickleball.
Its grip tape is licensed as an official product of the National Hockey League, and its bat grip is officially licensed as an on-field product for Major League Baseball.
“I started the company in 1993 with one simple product, and I look at where we are now, and I’m amazed,” said Brian Fruit, Lizard Skins Founder. “If you would have asked me back then if I had expected to be still going 30 years later, I would have been uncertain at best. But we’re still going strong, and I can tell you that I am still as passionate about the company now as I was when I started it.”
Lizard Skins’ products focus on simple, innovative solutions for common issues and used by pro athletes who have played a significant role in the brand’s history, including cycling trial rider Danny Macaskill, UCI MTB World Champion Myriam Nicole and Tour de France team Movistar. In baseball and hockey, players include Hall of Famer David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox and Stanley Cup Champion Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche.
“It is amazing to see that our technology in our DSP handlebar tape and expertise in grips has allowed us to get into these other sports,” said Brad Barker, Lizard Skins general manager. “Our tape was a game changer when we introduced it, and we never thought we would be working with legendary baseball players like Mike Trout and Mookie Betts.”
Lizard Skins continues to produce products in its American Fork facility using responsible manufacturing protocols. It is a three-time award winner of the Mountain West Capital’s Top 100 fastest-growing Utah companies. It has also long supported local projects, from trail building and maintenance to high school cycling teams. The company recently worked nationally with industry partners and teams to help promote sports.
In 2017 Lizard Skins purchased the Colorado brand Oury which opened up new customers in the Powersports world. In 2021, Compass Diversified backed Marucci Sports purchased Lizard Skins.
