Bar tape - wrapping direction?

andylav

I've always started wrapping handlebar tape outwards (away from the head tube) - as per pictures on back of Cinelli Cork tape from some years ago - and then from front to back of bars (towards the rear wheel) once past the levers.

Recently watched a video of a pro bike build however and the mechanic started by wrapping the tape inwards (towards the headtube).

Just wondered if there was a consensus of opinion on what the 'proper' protocol is.

Monty Dog

I've always done it ends-in, anti-clockwse on the left and clockwise on the right - that way the general pressure of the hands stop it unravelling. I must have wrapped bars over a hundred times and never had it unravel.

hopper1

+1

ynyswen24

again, +1 for bar ends inwards with clockwise right and anticlockwise left.

If the bar end plugs have logos on them they must be upright and parallel to the floor. this is as important as lining the label on the tyres up with the valves. They don't work otherwise.

redvee

ynyswen24 wrote:

again, +1 for bar ends inwards with clockwise right and anticlockwise left.

And make sure you have enough overlap at the beginning of the wrap. I/Somebody recently applied their recently purchsed Fizik tape to my/their bars and left a small patch of bare handlebar. Luckily it doesn't show too badly as the bars are black as is the tape and the missed section is on the underside of the drops. :oops:

ynyswen24

And don't use the little bits of tape they supply to wrap around the end of the bartape up by the stem. Use insulating tape of a colour that pleases you mightily and give it a good few turns round the bars.

rake

ive done mine from the middle out which most people will say is wrong because the overlap is reversed. i wanted the bars tape free. no problems yet.

orderodonata

ynyswen24 wrote:

again, +1 for bar ends inwards with clockwise right and anticlockwise left.

If the bar end plugs have logos on them they must be upright and parallel to the floor. this is as important as lining the label on the tyres up with the valves. They don't work otherwise.

All bar plugs should have logos for this very purpose, I hope the new UK Government are reading this.

davidcambridge1

ynyswen24 wrote:

And don't use the little bits of tape they supply to wrap around the end of the bartape up by the stem. Use insulating tape of a colour that pleases you mightily and give it a good few turns round the bars.

Definitely!! The tapes seem to come off really easily, especially in the rain. Electrical tape is definitely the way to go!!

sheffsimon

davidcambridge1 wrote:

ynyswen24 wrote:

And don't use the little bits of tape they supply to wrap around the end of the bartape up by the stem. Use insulating tape of a colour that pleases you mightily and give it a good few turns round the bars.

Definitely!! The tapes seem to come off really easily, especially in the rain. Electrical tape is definitely the way to go!!

Electrical tape and then the useless bit that comres with the ribbon.

Nice.

neeb

Electrical tape and then the useless bit that comres with the ribbon.

Someone needs to start making electrical tape printed with cinelli logos...

andylav

Thanks guys, agreee that always start at bar ends; always finish with insulating tape; and always use bar plugs with logo position upright and parallel (critical).

But, by my understanding clockwise right and anti-clockwise left equating to wrapping inwards must be dependent on your position - standing over the front wheel facing towards the rear wheel ?

I've always wrapped clockwise right and anti-clockwise left but because I usually stand to the side of the bar that I'm wrapping and face forwards towards the front wheel, I've been wrapping outwards.

It's never unravelled in 10+years of doing it this way, and as I said, I was following instruction pics on the back of a Cinelli box from many moons ago, but seeing the video make me pause and wonder f there was any advantage to either method.

Am about to do a new build and may do a bit of experimenting....

ynyswen24

I've always taken the clockwise/anticlockwise conundrum as being solved thus; you are looking at the bars as if sitting on your saddle...

for the full effect, get some of the Benotto bar tape - shiny, usually pink, and no padding whatsoever - that was the standard before cork tape, you might as well just have wrapped the entire bar in insulation tape (hang on, that's worth trying...I might be some time...)

ynyswen24

Just had a look on the e-bay - benotto tape is still avilable, as is Tressostar cloth handlebar tape. Though this can be replicated by getting a roll of the tape plaster that you use to strap your fingers up after dislocating one of them. That hurt. You would have to source your own logo'd end caps though.

edhornby

ooh ooh I've just had a thought - 3 rolls of electrical tape in red white and Green will give you the italian flag, to go with the Cinelli bars and tape, on a colnago with full record and boras of course :-)

ynyswen24

Or go EuroDisco style - Gaffa Tape!

Nigel Bennett

Oh yes - that cloth tape....it lets all the sweat from your hands migrate through to the bars. If, like I did, many years ago, you never bother removing the first layer of tape but just stick the next one on top for added padding, you find, when you eventually do remove the bottom layer, that the bar looks like a seive...holes right through, I kid you not.
And I had the bar end logos on straight and it still corroded....

ynyswen24

Nigel Bennett wrote:

And I had the bar end logos on straight and it still corroded....

Monty Dog

I find I still use the little pieces of tape behind the lever clamp - depends on the type of levers and the shape of the bars and whether I can be ar$ed unwrapping the tape and restarting. With STIs you can used a figure-8 wrap round the lever body for similar effect. For the ultimate handlebar wrap anal-obsessive, get some Velo-Orange elk-hide bar wrap. You sew it onto the bars!

gethmetal

Can anybody give me advice on wrapping leather tape?
Shifters are Veloce Ergo's.
Thanks in advance.

MeatyLegs

Anyone double rapped their bars?

I have recently been getting numb left hand when riding, got glove, shortended the stem, now im going to add bar tape ontop of the bar tape already on the bars.

Was wondering if anyone else has done this, and if it sticks ok?

calvjones

gethmetal wrote:

Can anybody give me advice on wrapping leather tape?
Shifters are Veloce Ergo's.
Thanks in advance.

1. Close your eyes and imagine it's Cinelli cork tape. Wear thick gloves so you are insulated from the feel of leather.

2. Wrap as per instructions on this thread

3. Open eyes and peruse Brooks retro look in all its glory!

4. Decide it makes you look like a plonker, remove and stick on your commuter, and put proper bar tape on your best bike instead*


*this is what I did. Your mileage may very.

ADIHEAD

Anyone tried Lizard Skin DSP - utter SH&*te

Looked and felt great for a few weeks, started tearing after about 2 months and 800 miles above the right hand lever. Put some insulating tape over it which was ok. Now it's tearing on the right hand drop below the lever.

I't's on my carbon bike, which never goes out in the rain and I've not used any detergent on the bars or anything.

Maybe I just use my right hand too much

gethmetal

calvjones wrote:

gethmetal wrote:

Can anybody give me advice on wrapping leather tape?
Shifters are Veloce Ergo's.
Thanks in advance.

1. Close your eyes and imagine it's Cinelli cork tape. Wear thick gloves so you are insulated from the feel of leather.

2. Wrap as per instructions on this thread

3. Open eyes and peruse Brooks retro look in all its glory!

4. Decide it makes you look like a plonker, remove and stick on your commuter, and put proper bar tape on your best bike instead*


*this is what I did. Your mileage may very.

Thanks Calv, I suspect you're probably right...

Hugh A

MeatyLegs wrote:

Anyone double rapped their bars?

I have recently been getting numb left hand when riding, got glove, shortended the stem, now im going to add bar tape ontop of the bar tape already on the bars.

Was wondering if anyone else has done this, and if it sticks ok?

You could also try some of the gel type inserts - or the foam Marsas, to go under tape. They do add a bit of bulk but pretty good on the whole for numb hands. If like me you don't spend much time on the drops then don't bother putting anything there - just on the tops.

salsarider79

Or Spech do bar phat which is good.

I have gone for red bar tape going into black bar tape on both bikes. With no tape in the middle, and no lumps where one tape runs over the other. If you do it right, you can tape both bar tapes under the hoods and not have any electrical tape on show. It's not easy, but is fun to waste several hours of your life doing. The bikes haven't done enough milage and I'm a fairly light rider but everythings stayed in place so far.

How about it? Anyone else managed to run bar tape with no end caps?

(It'll be different when my new bike has all it's sexy Italian kit on it and new Fizik tape)

andrew_s

MeatyLegs wrote:

Anyone double rapped their bars?

I do.

For the top layer I use Profile cork tape.
This doesn't have glue - it's got a strip of stuff like the silicone gripper you get on some shorts or armwarmers. It doesn't slip, and unwraps easily enough that I don't generally replace the bottom layer.