Fitting bar tape

[The History Man]

I thought bar ends point at rear axle?



FIGHT!

 

[bikeworkshop]

22.2, 24.0??
We've all got them the wrong way up!

Also no need for Tape if you use wheelbarrow grips

 

[Fatal Swan]

I don't do this job often but each time I'm about to do it I go back to review the Park tools video:

He shows the 'wrong' way to wrap at the STI levers and then the right way at the end. It's also slow and quite long, which forces me take my time.

I've only wrapped with modern bar tapes, personally like the feel of the Lizard Skins tapes but they're also not easy to fit as they slide around the bars a bit. My favourite at the moment is BBB tape that you can get from Amazon for £18-19 - long length supplied, easy to fit, comfy and grippy with or without gloves: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QQZ3HWS.

On the drops and the corners I wrap with a portion of old bar tape to double layer at the main contact points, though you can only do that really if you know the tapes that you're fitting over them are long enough.

Personally I hate this job but my latest efforts have been ok:

 

[Frankenorange]

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

Tidy taping

On the subject of cotton tape; i got some Newbaums to try, a while back. I had been using Velox. The Newbaums tape faded so fast it got binned and i won't bother with it again. It got replaced with old plastic tape as i am done with fading cotton tapes and the minging state they get in.

 

[novocaine]

I don't do this job often but each time I'm about to do it I go back to review the Park tools video:

He shows the 'wrong' way to wrap at the STI levers and then the right way at the end. It's also slow and quite long, which forces me take my time.

I've only wrapped with modern bar tapes, personally like the feel of the Lizard Skins tapes but they're also not easy to fit as they slide around the bars a bit. My favourite at the moment is BBB tape that you can get from Amazon for £18-19 - long length supplied, easy to fit, comfy and grippy with or without gloves: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QQZ3HWS.

On the drops and the corners I wrap with a portion of old bar tape to double layer at the main contact points, though you can only do that really if you know the tapes that you're fitting over them are long enough.

Personally I hate this job but my latest efforts have been ok:

View attachment 868173

much as I don't like Park Tools, he does a very tidy job there, with none other than Cinelli tape too.

on the G&T Gravel bike I have 1 strip of bar tape laid along the top of the back at the bend and on to the hood for the same purpose. no point in thickening the back up by double wrapping for me.

 

[Glug]

Tidy taping

On the subject of cotton tape; i got some Newbaums to try, a while back. I had been using Velox. The Newbaums tape faded so fast it got binned and i won't bother with it again. It got replaced with old plastic tape as i am done with fading cotton tapes and the minging state they get in.

Good to know Newbaums is worth avoiding.
I did some research on cotton tape a while back and only found these three:

Newbaums: 10' long x 3/4" (19mm) width

Velox Tressorex: 2.5m long (8.2') x 20mm width
Velox Tressostar 90: 2.6m long x 20mm width

Americans seem to like Newbaums, I couldn't find any (in white) in the UK.

I'm still not certain of the difference between Tressorex and Tressostar, apart for allegedly the length.​

 

[bikeworkshop]

I'm still not certain of the difference between Tressorex and Tressostar, apart for allegedly the length.​

Not sure Velox will know either

The Newbaums tape faded so fast it got binned.

Sometimes the colour dye is the culprit - some colours might be less stable than others.

Remember red 80s cars?

Cloth tape only really finds a home on a classic piece or hipster tool these days. It looks lovely on the right bike, but Cork is the common choice now for a reason.

 

[novocaine]

Cloth tape only really finds a home on a classic piece or hipster tool these days. It looks lovely on the right bike, but Cork is the common choice now for a reason.

Is it cos we are all boozy and it's a good reminder of that?




Note, I didn't wrap those bars, a pro did. Not rewraped the yet.

 

[bikeworkshop]

And in the park video... If we did that, I'd get it done again.

Maybe he sorts it out in the video, but I can't watch that stuff it makes me nauseous for some reason.

Unless it's youtube chainsaw operators felling massive trees onto their own pickup trucks or houses

 

[novocaine]

And in the park video...View attachment 868229If we did that, I'd get it done again.

Maybe he sorts it out in the video, but I can't watch that stuff it makes me nauseous for some reason.

Unless it's youtube chainsaw operators felling massive trees onto their own pickup trucks or houses

that was the "how not to do it" example.