How to fit handlebar tape on drops?
I'm sure it must have been asked before but my search doesn't bring anything up that looks remotely useful!
It doesn't happen very often but I spent the morning cleaning my bike. It looks lovely except for my white bar tape which has now turned to the colour of a very old pair of knickers! I've just been to buy black tape and I'm going to change it this evening. I remember seeing a step by step guide in a cycling magazine - was it C+? I've saved them all so will try to find the article later.
In the meantime, does anyone have any tips or links to online guides for changing bar tape please?
Thanks everyone 8)
It doesn't happen very often but I spent the morning cleaning my bike. It looks lovely except for my white bar tape which has now turned to the colour of a very old pair of knickers! I've just been to buy black tape and I'm going to change it this evening. I remember seeing a step by step guide in a cycling magazine - was it C+? I've saved them all so will try to find the article later.
In the meantime, does anyone have any tips or links to online guides for changing bar tape please?
Thanks everyone 8)
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http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=71
Step by step guide. It's got pictures, so it should explain better than I could here.0 -
Youtube is your friend......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyvL7M680D4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs7BY4wKHTM
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Basicaly start at the drops and work towards the centre of the bars. Doing it that way means the tape overlaps itself in the direction your hands will be. Doi it the other way and you'll get the tape starting to lift on the edges. Insulation tape is better to finish the tape in the centre, longer and more pliable than the 2" you get with the tape.I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.0
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Use the aforementioned electrical insulation tape to hold the cables to the bars - I use a full wrap and then fit the bar tape over the top. it means that if you have to unwind and refit the tape, it comes off easily, whereas if it goes straight on the bars, it sticks more firmly and can be difficult to remove. Wrap the tape from the ends to the middle - anti-clockwise on the left and clockwise on the right - the most difficult part is getting it neatly round the lever without leaving a gap - which is where the short lengths of tape come in, which go over the bar clamp but under the wrap - you might need a couple of tries to get it right and even, so be patient.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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And keep a decent tension on it when wrapping - but not too tight that it rips (like my nice £10 Cinelli cork last week)...I was only joking when I said
by rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed0 -
Thanks guys.
I've just done it and it actually looks pretty good - I took pictures so I'll post them on my blog over the weekend. (does this mean I am a geek?) Quite chuffed with myself anyway - another skill mastered.
I think I'll replace the brake blocks next - there's not much left on 'em.0 -
Godammit! Is it clockwise or anticlockwise!? Parktool says the opposite to Montydog and all the youtube vids are different!0
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Heavymental wrote:Godammit! Is it clockwise or anticlockwise!? Parktool says the opposite to Montydog and all the youtube vids are different!
I go clockwise0 -
Sorry...parktool says right hand side should be wrapped anti clockwise and the left clockwise.0
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Heavymental wrote:Sorry...parktool says right hand side should be wrapped anti clockwise and the left clockwise.
Right - clockwise left- anticlockwise.
It just seems right when you do it that way.0 -
Ah well. I did it the Park Tool way as thats what I'd been told before.
You'll be pleased to hear that the yellow tape adorns my 2nd bike aswell! Its blue too!0 -
Heavymental wrote:You'll be pleased to hear that the yellow tape adorns my 2nd bike aswell! Its blue too!
Yellow tape is going on my blue bike too, along with red tyres and a red saddle.0 -
I have just taken the manufacturer's oroginal bar tape off to re-tape it and it came off in about 1000 annoying bits. How do I clean off the fragments still stuck to the bars? They are carbon, so I can't use a solvent, can I?
Also, the tape had gel beneath it. Would that have come with the tape or do you buy it separately?0 -
Heavymental wrote:Sorry...parktool says right hand side should be wrapped anti clockwise and the left clockwise.
I alwaqys remember bar tape as doing it from outdside to inside of bar but don't think it makes any difference as long as you start from the bar ends 0 -
My mate insists you start from the middle of the bars, by the stem, so not even that is a given!
Mega, use some wd40 to get rid of any sticky residue. You can buy gel pads seperately I think, or maybe they come with some tapes but not that common generally. On one of my bikes I have some old tape that I've left underneath the new tape in some sections to give a bit more padding.0 -
Heavymental wrote:My mate insists you start from the middle of the bars, by the stem, so not even that is a given!
Yesterday I did this for the second time ever and made a pigs ear of it. I think I might get some more tape and try again. I started from the ends and followed Park Tools instructions but it occurs to me that if you start from the middle you will get a nice edge in the middle of the bars and not have to do the diagonal cut, which ends in a mess when I do it. The messy bit would be at the bar ends which get pushed inside the bar anyway.0 -
richardjallen wrote:Heavymental wrote:My mate insists you start from the middle of the bars, by the stem, so not even that is a given!
Yesterday I did this for the second time ever and made a pigs ear of it. I think I might get some more tape and try again. I started from the ends and followed Park Tools instructions but it occurs to me that if you start from the middle you will get a nice edge in the middle of the bars and not have to do the diagonal cut, which ends in a mess when I do it. The messy bit would be at the bar ends which get pushed inside the bar anyway.
If you start from the middle, the overlaps will be the wrong way so when you put your hands on them the natural hand movement down the bar will unravel the tape. It is for the same reason sports rackets are done from the bottom of handle to the top.0 -
If your having trouble, practice doing it without removing the backing tape a few times 0
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Apparently Sheldon Brown says you can use solvents on carbon frame components. Alchohol or acetone.
Just fyi...0 -
Been there,done it,on my winter bike.As said by others,the edge of the tape peels down & looks a complete pigHeavymental wrote:My mate insists you start from the middle of the bars, by the stem, so not even that is a given!
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WORK FROM THE ENDS OF THE BARS UP TO THE MIDDLE!so many cols,so little time!0 -
By the way. If you pull the tape up on the inside of the shiter then continue wrapping, you're now going clockwise aren't you. This is what I did. So on the right hand side the lower section is anti and once past the shifters its clockwise. Opposite for the left bar.0
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MegaCycle wrote:I have just taken the manufacturer's oroginal bar tape off to re-tape it and it came off in about 1000 annoying bits. How do I clean off the fragments still stuck to the bars? They are carbon, so I can't use a solvent, can I?
Don't know if it can be used on carbon, but the best stuff to remove sticky residue is petrol lighter fluid (such as Zippo). It's basically what commercial sticky remover is, but a lot cheaper, and it evaporates pretty quickly, leaving a nice clean bar. I used it last weekend on my alloy bars and they've cleaned up a treat."There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage."
James Holt McGavran0 -
Heavymental wrote:By the way. If you pull the tape up on the inside of the shiter then continue wrapping, you're now going clockwise aren't you. This is what I did. So on the right hand side the lower section is anti and once past the shifters its clockwise. Opposite for the left bar.
Obviously I meant 'shifter'! What a strange mental image!0
