Which insulation tape

mfin
mfin Posts: 6,729
edited December 2013 in Road buying advice
Suggestions for some insulation tape (black) for bar tape finishing. Fire away.

I've been looking at these:

http://www.yourspares.co.uk/parts/ys89032/pvc20bk-electrical-insulation-tape-20m-black-710305UK.aspx

http://www.screwfix.com/p/insulating-tape-black-19mm-x-33m/68918

Comments

  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Taking your life in your hands with that screwfix stuff. It could unravel, get tangled in your spokes and have you straight under a lorry. Lethal. I'd get the Rapha stuff.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • ovi
    ovi Posts: 396
    ...duct tape wrapped around several times wont unravel to badly and looks nice in silver too.
  • denniskwok
    denniskwok Posts: 339
    oxoman wrote:
    I just use any old insulating tape with no problems.

    Me too.
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    edited December 2013
    I'm currently trying one red and one green from a Chinese ebayer on my Colnago, I'm finding the handling a bit sluggish. It was 40p cheaper than uk though. Going to bite the bullet and get some plain black from a uk supplier.

    Buy cheap, buy twice. :(
    Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Me three, as long as it has good adhesion.
  • BillyMansell
    BillyMansell Posts: 817
    Just make sure it matches your racing socks.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I always go with the advice on here - www.whichinsulationtape.com
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    Typical noob questions keep coming up here!

    Www.insulationradar.com/forums/tapebuyingadvice
    Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • rickeverett
    rickeverett Posts: 988
    Rolf F wrote:
    Taking your life in your hands with that screwfix stuff. It could unravel, get tangled in your spokes and have you straight under a lorry. Lethal. I'd get the Rapha stuff.


    I really wouldn't be surprised if Rapha did insulation tape how many idiot would buy it.

    B&Q bog standard insulation tape works for me. It has been great. Also used to protect the frame under the forks and rear seat stay bridges from bits on the tyres cutting through.
  • andy9964
    andy9964 Posts: 930
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Typical noob questions keep coming up here!

    http://Www.insulationradar.com/forums/tapebuyingadvice
    Yeah, but have you seen the ad's on that site........ Utterly ridiculous and intrusive
  • philvantwo
    philvantwo Posts: 85
    That tape for fixing burst pipes is good stuff, will never unravel! Only seen it in black or red though.
  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    I cant believe nobody has brought up such a crucial point - but how many times around the bars should you go? I guess its a compromise between safety and weight really - but has clear performance implications!

    Is red insulation tape faster than plain old black? Is white insulation tape just wrong? Should you trim the ends to an angle to make it look neater?? Loads of questions - so should insulation tape get it's own heading along with "Road Beginners", "Road Buying Advice" and "Road General"??

    Serious questions to be answered - no fun here :o
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I am guessing you mean trim the ends of the bar tape and not the insulating tape Wirral_Paul?
    I would say that was a must to get a straight aero dynamic edge.
    The tape has to be arrow straight and only over the bar tape itself, not half over bar tape and half over bar as this could cause a vortex.

    The type of tape used is crucial. It has to have to have the correct elasticity and strength/weight ratio so that it can compress the bar tape to give a level surface (not a raised one) and hold without over wrapping and excessive weight.

    The other crucial and often over looked property is surface tension and pitting.
    If a tape has too many microscopic pits when stretched it will give excessive drag at high speeds.

    Different colour tape has different surface tension properties so using different colours will effect speed.
    Red actually causes most drag, and green the least.

    I hope the guy with red and green on his Colnago has the red over his left bar tape as having his bars pulled to the right at high speed could be a bigger liability :shock:
  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    A very good answer there Mr Carbonator - full of scientific facts and again raises an important safety issue that NapD needs to consider!! Should he ever go on a European holiday then it's vital that he re-wraps his insulation tape "the other way around" for when riding on the right hand side of the road.

    And yes i did mean cutting the bar tape at an angle - although if you impart some "stretch" when applying insulation tape then cutting the corners off can reduce the chances of an unsightly corner being on view from the less stretched ends!! :)
  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    Should I apply my tape clockwise or anticlockwise?
  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    Depends which side of the bike you're standing on when you wrap it
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    ALIHISGREAT wrote:
    Should I apply my tape clockwise or anticlockwise?

    A trick question?

    Its both as one side will be clockwise, and one anti clockwise :wink:

    If you did them both one way you would have serious handling issues that even one side red and one side green insulation tape could not counteract.
  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    Well I have followed all the advice on here, carefully wrapped the tape but my hands were still cold. I'm beginning to wonder if you lot actually know anything at all about insulation.
  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    wishitwasallflat wrote:
    Well I have followed all the advice on here, carefully wrapped the tape but my hands were still cold. I'm beginning to wonder if you lot actually know anything at all about insulation.

    This is the internet - we know everything about everything!! 8)
  • LegendLust
    LegendLust Posts: 1,022
    You lot are soft.

    Back in my day we didn't have fancy stuff like insulation tape. We used to use strips of old sack cloth, wrap it round the bars and then hold the two ends with our teeth and set off
    Selling my Legend frame
    http://owningalegend.wordpress.com/2014 ... ced-price/
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Carbonator wrote:
    ALIHISGREAT wrote:
    Should I apply my tape clockwise or anticlockwise?

    A trick question?

    Its both as one side will be clockwise, and one anti clockwise :wink:

    If you did them both one way you would have serious handling issues that even one side red and one side green insulation tape could not counteract.

    Ahh, but don't forget, as we ride on the left, so we have a camber causing us to drift to the left. Clockwise wrapping of the bar tape on both sides counteracts this. Or is it anti-clockwise......?
    Faster than a tent.......
  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    Rolf F wrote:
    Carbonator wrote:
    ALIHISGREAT wrote:
    Should I apply my tape clockwise or anticlockwise?

    A trick question?

    Its both as one side will be clockwise, and one anti clockwise :wink:

    If you did them both one way you would have serious handling issues that even one side red and one side green insulation tape could not counteract.

    Ahh, but don't forget, as we ride on the left, so we have a camber causing us to drift to the left. Clockwise wrapping of the bar tape on both sides counteracts this. Or is it anti-clockwise......?

    All due respect to Rolf F but one must take care with this as while he expounds a popular taping theory (with some empiric underpinning) it is heavily affected by dampness and hemipheralicy as one must plan for Coriolis effect if riding in the rain.

Categories