Fitting bar tape

[bikeworkshop]

Yes you need the bars Stable, it's a 2 handed job.
The cinelli glue can be unstuck if you find you've wandered off. Some brands rip the tape up instead.

Don't answer the phone once you've started - although if you have a clean pin spanner... You can clip it over where you've wrapped to and answer the door, phone, spouse, call of nature etc without ruining it.

 

[Jesper]

Very good points all around!
I still like cloth tape for looks and feel on my old bikes (pre-mid 80s), but I also like a bit of cushion so I have done this a couple times which worked well both in looks, comfort, and durability. I put 2 very thin lines of contact cement/glue on the bar with a bit wider swath on the outside of all bends (do not cover the entire bar, it's a mess and makes it hard if you need to reposition the tape). I then take cheap foam cushion tape (it is horrible if used by itself), color will not matter as it will not be seen, and do a non-overlapping wrap with it first while keeping the edges tight to each other and giving the bar a smooth appearance. I start about an inch from the bottom of the bar and stop about an inch from where I would normally wrap the bar near the stem. Next I do a normal wrap of cloth tape over the foam. I have generally always had enough to complete the bar, but a couple times either due to getting some shorter (?) rolls of tape, doing too much overlap, and/or wrapping a very wide bar I was slightly short when reaching the stem (probably the last 2 instances) so I had to use a little more electrical/finishing tape to complete the job. I practiced doing this first without any glue and also with more glue than I presently use. Some cloth tape either has no adhesive backing or it is very minimal. In that case I have used a couple thin lines of glue on the foam tape before wrapping the cloth over the top again using a little more around outer bends. I think using glue on each layer is best regardless.

I need to do my bar on a bike I just rode with tape coming off/sliding around which I originally did in a similar manner except bottom layer was all cloth (no real cushion effect, done for looks only) with no overlap, and top cloth was wrapped in and "open" helix providing a 2 tone spiral effect having the bottom color partially exposed. I did it because I got a bar on a purchased bikr done in that manner and it looked cool. My work looked good for quite awhile, but it was an experiment and I never practiced with it prior. Mistake turned out to be not using any glue on the underside of the top cloth wrap which is what slid around (after a couple years; I wrapped it super tight) due to not having the best purchase with a cloth on cloth wrap. It never "curled up" at the edges though. It only slide down making it look all one color. Yesterday I had a streamer of tape while riding because I had not redone the job yet. No excuses! A possible solution would have been a urethane overspray to help secure the wrap; also keeps it cleaner. I will not use any white this next time!

Here is what it looked like when purchased before I got my grubby gloves on it. I redid it the the same way when it got dirty. This original wrap did not slip and the top did not peel off like my job did even with e-tape wrapping on the end (not sure if it was the type of tape or if previous owner added more adhesive).



My next effort will be a three color braid with cloth (cutting tape to 1/2 width). Never tried it so practicing with some old scrap.

 

[jim haseltine]

It was Cinelli Cork that ripped when I tried correcting my wrap. Back when Benotto tape was the thing to use one of my bikes was wrapped with yellow and blue which even though I say it myself, looked something else. Think the only pictures I might have left of it will be black and white.

 

[Nabeaquam]

In the 60s-70s bar tape started at the stem and the tape end was stuffed into the bar end. That was held in place with the plugs. All the books showed this technique. I don’t know when thinking changed. Part of the problem is fragile tape nowadays. If you stretch it a little it breaks. There is no turgor to keep it firmly in place. I think it’s kinda dumb to start at the ends and use tape to hold the final wraps at the stem. Being old, I remember when stuff actually worked and lasted. I saw the world befor technology turned everything to shite. Anyway, I still wrap like I did in the 1960s. I don’t have any problems with it coming apart. I refuse to accept this new fangled idea. I’d use thin double sticky back tape around the brake levers before I reduce myself to this stupid backwards way of taping a bar. I just removed my soapbox from Hyde Park.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Your beautifully taped soapbox?

Ribbon style tape is hard so it doesn't lift.
So you can wrap it top down, which is tidier.
We can do it like that when requested - looks cool on the right bike.
Some of the unglued tape could be unwrapped and cleaned and refitted when it started to slip.

(Afaik stretchy pvc insulation tape only dates from the 1950s)

Cork cushioned tape is soft, so it can stretch and roll, so you need to tape it up so downward hand pressure doesn't ruin it.

The final covering up by the stem needs to be done carefully, with the right colour tape. Some brands used to offer plastic covering collars to finish, but I haven't seen them for a while

But it's comfier.
I couldn't ride without cushioning because of carpal tunnel/ arthritic swelling of the wrists.

I don't think I've split a Cork tape in several hundred wraps - but im almost always using the same brands.. cinelli, pro

 

[Nabeaquam]

Your beautifully taped soapbox?

Ribbon style tape is hard so it doesn't lift.
So you can wrap it top down, which is tidier.
We can do it like that when requested - looks cool on the right bike.
Some of the unglued tape could be unwrapped and cleaned and refitted when it started to slip.

(Afaik stretchy pvc insulation tape only dates from the 1950s)

Cork cushioned tape is soft, so it can stretch and roll, so you need to tape it up so downward hand pressure doesn't ruin it.

The final covering up by the stem needs to be done carefully, with the right colour tape. Some brands used to offer plastic covering collars to finish, but I haven't seen them for a while

But it's comfier.
I couldn't ride without cushioning because of carpal tunnel/ arthritic swelling of the wrists.

I don't think I've split a Cork tape in several hundred wraps - but im almost always using the same brands.. cinelli, pro

For my gravel bike, that I’ve ridden close to 100 miles a few times, I used foam insulation tape that was compressed with another wrap of electric tape and a top cover of bar tape. I was 75 when I did these rides and I have finger arthritis, fused fingers, Dubutryns contractions, wrist arthritis and dual carpal tunnel surgery. My bars are a little thick but comfortable for vibrating bouncy long rides.

 

[Glug]

In the 60s-70s bar tape started at the stem and the tape end was stuffed into the bar end. That was held in place with the plugs. All the books showed this technique. I don’t know when thinking changed. Part of the problem is fragile tape nowadays. If you stretch it a little it breaks. There is no turgor to keep it firmly in place. I think it’s kinda dumb to start at the ends and use tape to hold the final wraps at the stem. Being old, I remember when stuff actually worked and lasted. I saw the world befor technology turned everything to shite. Anyway, I still wrap like I did in the 1960s. I don’t have any problems with it coming apart. I refuse to accept this new fangled idea. I’d use thin double sticky back tape around the brake levers before I reduce myself to this stupid backwards way of taping a bar. I just removed my soapbox from Hyde Park.

Some of us prefer that style.

Velox Tressorex wrapped top to bottom, figure 8 round the levers, shrink wrap at the end (I'm a heathen).



Shrink wrap on last half inch:



How to do figure of 8:

 

[pigman]

Cork, cloth and ribbon, glue and unglued, are slightly different:

Do the first loop projecting half over the end (allows you to tuck it in later with the plug)

bar tape wraps from the ends up, maintaining direction of rotation, and keeping the min overlap (and angle) constant round the curves. You put some tension on the tape to avoid wrinkling on the inside of the curve, and help it hold on, glued or unglued.

Only do the figure-of-8 around the hood if you are not using dual control levers
(sti/ergo -i can't bear the B-word, won't have it said in the shop)
and you are using ribbon or cloth tape.

(Cinelli invented the soft cork tape and supply it with 2 short strips to put round the back of the lever brackets, so that's from the Horse's Mouth)

When hipsters gave up on fixies and singlespeeds they brought the vintage fig8 wrap style to Cork tape on modern levers, ending up with an uncomfortable lump in the tape behind the bars. they also set the bottom of the drops parallel with the ground... almost always wrong.


...Whereas thin ribbon or cloth you can do a fig 8, because it's so thin and was historically unglued.

Cut to a taper at the top end and wrap with decent electrical tape, which you can cover with the supplied decorative tape - curiously if you use this tape on its own to finish the wrap, it will peel off overnight.
One of the last remaining great traditions of the cycle world!

If you do it gently enough, you can probably have a second try, although some brands of tape leaves the glued strip on the bar.

Just use cinelli!

I have the bottom of the drops parallel with the ground. I find it so much more comfortable when I can bury my hands into the curve. Sloping bottoms are fine for resting when riding softly on the flat, but when you want good braking power, you need your hands behind the levers

Saying that, there is no right nor wrong it's what works for the individual

 

[novocaine]

you know what, screw it, as said in the Inn a few days ago, bar tape sucks, stitched leather is the one true way.

https://flic.kr/p/ATGAJN

 

[Nabeaquam]

Some of us prefer that style.

Velox Tressorex wrapped top to bottom, figure 8 round the levers, shrink wrap at the end (I'm a heathen).

View attachment 868058

Shrink wrap on last half inch:

View attachment 868062

How to do figure of 8:

I use a lot of tar tape. Good enough for racers in 1910, good good enough for me now.