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View Full Version : Fun with handlebar tape


Andrea
03-23-2008, 03:00 PM
I saw some retro/track bike taping jobs around the net where people used two colors of cotton handlebar tape, wrapped them in a woven pattern on their handlebars, then coated them with shellac.
I thought it looked pretty darn cool, so, since I like to stand out, I decided to do an updated version on my Blue Rc7...

http://a478.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/77/l_c2f5bde8a0a4604c4ba9c63788028f45.jpg
http://a543.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/125/l_0905a36aa1962df2fc25b372f68af346.jpg
http://a711.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/59/l_4c2c63597a02ed9443d43ad48cc42f1e.jpg

My dog got tired of watching me...
http://a733.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/12/l_c8c0d2136993beecd42e2c28d16a3584.jpg

I used metallic blue & white Fizik microtex. It took a few tries to get it just right, and it's almost impossible to get it smooth around the shifters and across the tops, which is why I ended the weave at the shifters by cutting the white & electrical taping the ends to the shifters. I think it's pretty snazzy myself...
mimitabby
03-23-2008, 03:16 PM
nice work! it's beautiful!
RoadBunner
03-23-2008, 03:19 PM
Snazzy! I love the look of white handlebar tape but am worried about keeping it looking white. What you've done looks like a great solution.
Eden
03-23-2008, 03:27 PM
I did stripes in my team colors on my rain bike. It was getting pretty worn looking (the cloth tape was actually wearing through!) so I changed it recently to Cinelli Jelly tape, which is interesting in a different way - it is clear.
Fredwina
03-23-2008, 04:04 PM
Neat!
I had thought about doing some pink, but thought the solid pink would be too hard to keep clean, and haven't seen any marbled/patterned tape. That gives me ideas....
Bad JuJu
03-23-2008, 04:50 PM
Looks great, and very distinctive! I like the way it makes a kind of harlequin pattern when viewed from above.
emily_in_nc
03-23-2008, 06:09 PM
Very cool and creative -- nice job. Love the blue/white combo!

Emily
firenze11
03-23-2008, 06:15 PM
That looks great! I've been wanting to do something cool looking like that with black and yellow.

I love that beautiful blue color, though.
F8th637
03-23-2008, 06:18 PM
Why was the first word in my head 'SEXY'? ;) Great job!
Zen
03-23-2008, 07:03 PM
Why was the first word in my head 'SEXY'? ;)
Hey! That's the same thing you said when you saw me! ;):D

Really nice job.
I'm about as good (or bad) wrapping bars as I am sewing
KnottedYet
03-23-2008, 07:17 PM
That is really cool! And yes, quite "sexy!" :D
Trek420
03-23-2008, 07:30 PM
Cool. And is that two tired dogs I see? :)
Andrea
03-23-2008, 08:04 PM
Thank, everyone! It's really not all that hard once you get the hang of it. I would have taken pics as I went along, but I didn't really have the extra hands :D

Trek-Yep, my Jack Russell thinks that cameras will take his soul, so almost every picture I have of the dogs only includes the back half of him!
Starfish
03-23-2008, 09:46 PM
Wow, that is absolutely beautiful. You have given me something to think about!

I apologize if I have asked you this before, but what bars do you have? Are they made to make the reach to levers a little easier? I am always on the lookout for ways I could reach my brakes more easily without changing EVERYTHING. (I know this is a hijack...feel free to PM me.)
jobob
03-23-2008, 09:53 PM
That's really stunning. :cool:
Gowest
03-23-2008, 10:36 PM
Awesome job!!! As a track rider - I see the retro bars with the striped pattern a lot - but this is far superior and creative - of course by a woman no less. You have given me ideas for a black and white job on my white Pinarello track bike.......... maybe with pink thrown in somehow - because there is always some little itty bitty bit of pink on all of my bikes.

Debi
Trigress
03-24-2008, 03:54 AM
Groovy!

Hmmm, evil plans are being formed. Isn't my birthday soon, I wonder? Isn't my birthday present wish a new handle bar, I wonder? Wouldn't that mean taking off all the black handle bar tape, I wonder? Wouldn't my Morpho look stunning with Harlekin handlebar tape in black with red accents, I wonder? Is red handle bar tape available in the Norwegian bike shop third world, I wonder? :cool:
Andrea
03-24-2008, 04:43 AM
Wow, that is absolutely beautiful. You have given me something to think about!

I apologize if I have asked you this before, but what bars do you have? Are they made to make the reach to levers a little easier? I am always on the lookout for ways I could reach my brakes more easily without changing EVERYTHING. (I know this is a hijack...feel free to PM me.)

It's the Ritchey Biomax II handlebars. They are compact bend and the tops angle back slightly while the ends flare out a little. I got them so that I could climb/sprint easier in the drops (they're not quite a low as a standard bend and the flare keeps my forearms from hitting the bar tops). I do find it a little easier to reach the shifters as well, but that wasn't my main reason for getting them.

Any of you that try this out should post your pictures! I'd love to see what everyone else comes up with. If someone can figure out a way to get around the shifter and all the way up to the normal "stopping" point, pleeeeease let me know!
Oh yeah, and keep in mind that people originally did this with cotton tape, so whatever you use needs to be pretty flexible and thin. The microtex was great because it's thin, tough, and you can roll the edges up & down while you're weaving. Happy taping!
Starfish
03-24-2008, 07:17 AM
Any of you that try this out should post your pictures! I'd love to see what everyone else comes up with.

Thanks for the info on the bars.

And, LOL, I am thinking it will be a miracle if I can duplicate what you've done, looking at your picture, let alone invent something cool to show off!! :rolleyes:
rij73
03-24-2008, 08:52 AM
Wow! Snazzy indeed :cool:
And, the pooch is, of course, precious. :D
sgtiger
03-24-2008, 09:18 AM
Andrea, your bars look great!:cool: Blue, white, and black are one of my favorite color combinations. BTW, how are you liking the Sram Red?
Andrea
03-24-2008, 10:11 AM
^Thanks! The Red is awesome! It lightened my bike by a full pound over the Frankenstein mix of ultegra/tektro/truvative that I used to have, and it shifts "like buttah" :D
GLC1968
03-24-2008, 01:09 PM
Very nice! I think you are inspiring me to try something creative when I change out the handlebars on my 'project' bike!
madscot13
03-24-2008, 03:48 PM
I've been thinking of retaping my bars for a while now. that looks super cool. Maybe it could improve the old Turkey Bird, my bike nickname, and make it faster!
F8th637
03-24-2008, 06:32 PM
Hey! That's the same thing you said when you saw me! ;):D

Really nice job.
I'm about as good (or bad) wrapping bars as I am sewing

I guess I didn't do a good job of keeping my excitement down, huh? ;)
Zen
03-24-2008, 06:38 PM
I guess I didn't do a good job of keeping my excitement down, huh? ;)

HA! You're just being polite. I know what you were really excited about...SurlyGirl :D
ArmySpouse10
03-26-2008, 01:03 PM
I haven' t ridden much only two rides and then some on the trainer but I have pink handlebar tape. My bike is light blue and I'm doing pink accessories..looking for pink bottle cages..anyway it is hard to keep the pink tape clean looking. Like I said I haven't ridden much and mine already looks dirty. I think it was Fredwina(hope I spelled that right) that was thinking of doing the pink tape..

I LOVE the blue and white it's very nice looking!! :cool: