London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

could also just get squash or tennis racquet tape.
get the squishy stuff.
pretty cheap.

Fuck it, go the whole hog and get Cinelli leather; they only grow up once!
Failing that get some cheap stuff off ebay, multi coloured 80's cork style would look ace.
Can also get the foam tube stuff from sjs i think.

i can't help thinking insulating tape would suffice. Should cost under £1

Why skimp with insulating tape...? I had enough leftover fizik to wrap the handles of my suspension spanners. Luxury!

Pipe lagging and insulation tape... Just like my first frame pads on my Raleigh Burner when I was 8!

Pipelagging with a layer of electricians tape round the outside for ultimate cheapness TOO SLOW BALLS

squash grips are what, two quid each? buy four and double wrap it! v comfy

bar tape double wrapped, the roubaix stuff is squidgy

Oh yeah, was gonna do this on our Bugaboo pushchair when my first son was little. Never did though!

Cheers all, I'm gonna go with some roubaix stuff as I want it looking a bit smart. Child B needs it for about another month or two then will flog it for £X plus massive hipster tax. Do hipsters have kids? Or do all the campfire troubador guerilla cupcake secret cinema bagel clubs get in the way?

With those tight jeans?

I think not.

Except for Pistanator that is. And BMMF.

Damn, need to work harder on being a hipster to make Clive's list.

There's a sewing tool that's a clear piece of perspex with measure marks and rows cut in it to give a straight line and put the leather under it to put pressure on it to keep it straight. I have one and would not mind if someone wants to come over to use it. Lemme know.

god, was that English?
also, 7.5 cm would work for one width of bars but not another. 25.4, 26, or I have 22.2s (I think).

these look really nice and a really good price.

leather handlebars

I recently had a very good experience with Specialized S-Wrap Cork bar tape (bought from Condor). As with all things mechanical, I'm extremely rubbish at wrapping bar tape, but with the Specialized tape I found it very easy, much to my surprise. In between wrapping two bikes with Specialized tape, I also used some Ciclolinea tape and another brand I can't remember on two other bikes, and made a right hash of that, as usual.

This being comfy cork tape, I also love the feel of it and the nice dampening effect when riding. I'm really comfortable on the bars now.

I realise that this sounds a bit gushing, but as this thread is for recommendations, I thought I'd recommend this, if only for mechanically challenged people like me. For balance I should say that I don't use many Specialized products at all.

#notsponsoredbyspecializedhonestandguaranteednotas troturfing

Also, we don't seem to have a Grand Unified Bar Tape Thread, hence the dredge.

I can also second the Specialized wrap. I'm not sure we are talking about the same product though. The stuff I got has a cloth like appearance but its cushioned, I believe its called Roubaix. Its both ergonomically and aesthetically pleasing. I like it lots.

Also, the Easton cork bar tape is excellent stuff, more cushioned than the Specialized stuff but cheaper and it lasts for ages.

Fizik or die

Aye, the Roubaix stuff is really nice to perch on.

I still like the 'buffed' Fiz!1k tape though.

Anyone here know how to achieve this? I have some white fabric tape, and would like to try it at some point, Alex Singer style...


image why you not display ffs!

http://www.framebuilders.toucansurf.com/Singersown.htm

isn't it just the same stuff you use on wood? varnish?

Looks like varnish, marine varnish perhaps for durability? Could be shellac given how shiny it is.

Yes it is shellac. You can buy shellac flakes in hardware shops, then you dissolve them in denatured alcohol and paint onto the cloth.

Velo Orange dose them too, http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...ac-flakes.html

as well as the cotton bartape.
http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...ebar-tape.html

Thanks guys!

Need to find an occasion to do this, looks really cool...

L

Popular on old tourers as its a very hard wearing set-up. Its especially resistant to rain. Theres a guide somewhere on the colours to be expected from various tape/shellac combos.

It's nice to work with, used it on loads of stuff over the years. Really cheap, great smell, loads of colours.
Can get a lifetimes worth for about a tenner.

I have light brown Cinelli bar tape on my drop handlebars, honey coloured, with time it is darkening off but today i have noticed it is blackened off with dirt, wanted to know whats best to clean it off? Any suggestions would be great????

No really good suggestions, but I cleaned my brooks using a citrus degreaser, and then used the brooks proofide to renourish it. However it's still well used and has dark sweat marks. Just no black oil marks.

Maybe just try a light solution of fairy, and if it works follow up with a leather nourisher.

This is a great video from on how to wrap your cloth tape. I've got Newbaum's cloth, really nice.

Hi,

I wanted to replace the bar tape and rubber hoods on my s/h paddy wagon. Tektro don't sell the rubber hoods so I had to buy a new pair of levers, which of course are a different design (so I couldn't just swap the hood covers).

That meant new bar tape, fine, as the current stuff was OK but a bit dull. I bought some fizik dual tape, black with a grey stripe (to match the mid grey colour frame). It's very thick/cushioned tape and I was told, tricky to fit. Oooops

Then I found I had to fit new cables (had to cut the old ones to get the levers off). So a 'quick' job turned into a project!

Job done, the bar tape was fine to fit (my first attempt) and it's REALLY nice!

No point to this thread really, I'm just feeling pleased with myself and my smarter looking bike!

I'm thinking of yellow tyres now (it's got yellow highlights on the Kona badges) or red, or one of each............

LOL! love that cool cat!

Tektro somenumber is the same lever same as the forgot-teh-name name-brand with little lizards.
The brand has hoods available that fit Tektro.

ORLY?

is it the Tektro 340s levers?

...please remember.

Most interesting post in this thread so far.

Cane Creek and Tektro R100/R200

....or somethingorother

Dia Compe and Cane Creek too.

Shimano and Campag also

Fizik dual tape is really comfy, surprisingly heavy though.

My bike has a rack. I don't care about heavy.

I grow leg hair. Will that make it heavy?

Thinking of trying the fizik gel pads things that go under the bar tape. Anyone had any experience of them? Just wondering if they're worth the money, or if I should just reuse a bit of old bar tape.

they're awesome. Do it.

+1

Have the stuff on the commuter, and putting it on the fatbike. Difficult to confirm any vibration damping, but the added squish adds grip. I like it under the relativily thin Fizik microtex tape.

Gel pads:


HTFU!

FTR I use mine on bikes that I ride off-road, yet have bar-taped bars.

;)

Party feet are a must for an evenings intense mincing though.

just wrapped my bars with the VO leather tape. First impressions: very, very nice. I also took the opportunity to move the hoods up about a cm which gives me a more comfortbale riding position. Unfortauntely it now means I have a mis-matched saddle and tape (a Charge Spoon, but a different shade of brown) but I'm going to save pennies for either the e-Regal or maye a Brooks I want to put on it