White the new Black?

[Pedal Wench]

What's up with all the white handlebar tape in the Tour? Doesn't it get dirty? Do I need to change out all my bikes???

[mimitabby]

yes, it gets dirty. my husband has yellow tape on his bike friday and it's GROSS.
and look at my avatar. my bianchi came with yellow and the previous owner
changed it to black. hmmm i wonder why!

[DeniseGoldberg]

I once had a bike that came with white bar tape. That was the first thing I changed! The tape looked awful within just a couple of rides.

Black is great, but oddly enough one of my touring bikes has tape that is a combo of dark purple and black, and that works well too. If you need to use something other than black, darker colors are probably best.

--- Denise

[Aggie_Ama]

I have white bar tape and it looks nasty. It is all black from my gloves. :rolleyes: I plan to change it, but I haven't found the *perfect* replacement.

[DebW]

I had white tape on my yellow bike when I was a bike mechanic. People used to ask me how I found yellow tape to match the bike! It really looked pretty good after a few months of my grubby hands on it. No one could guess that it used to be white.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My Rambouillet, which I'm picking up in about 10 days, will have natural cork tape, which I may finish off with amber-shellac. Then it will match my honey leather Brooks saddle, will look something like this:
1083

(hope this picture attachment test works)

[Kathi]

Hmmm, thanks for the reminder, I haven't picked out tape for my new bike which I hope to get tomorrow. :)

The colors are grayish pink with quicksilver (grey). The pink is on the front of the tt, headtube and downtube. If I remember correctly, the seatpost and handlebars are black, although, the handlebars barely show they are so small.

Any suggestions?

[Pedal Wench]

My Rambouillet, which I'm picking up in about 10 days, will have natural cork tape, which I may finish off with amber-shellac. Then it will match my honey leather Brooks saddle, will look something like this:
1083

(hope this picture attachment test works)


Oooooh, now THAT is pretty.

[Adventure Girl]

White tape should be for pro riders only. They have it changed all the time. White bar tape tells people, "I never have to touch my tires or chain."

[Fuji Girl]

Yeah, my bike came with white tape, but I made them change it to black before I even rolled it out of the store. Not only is it impractical, but IMO it just doesn't look right.

[jobob]

My Rambouillet, which I'm picking up in about 10 days, will have natural cork tape, which I may finish off with amber-shellac. Then it will match my honey leather Brooks saddle

That's precisely what my husband Lee does with his bikes ! Feel free to PM me if you need any hints.

(Personally, I use plain black cork tape on my bikes, but Lee likes the shellac look)

- Jo.

[fixedgeargirl]

XH shellaced my bar tape on both my road and fixed and, well, I wish he hadn't. I often ride the fixed without gloves, and the shellac is slippery. On the road bike, he did it over a white/purple/blue/black fleck tape, and it hasn't aged well. It's changed colors so that is looks dark and grungy and is wearing away in places. It does look a lot better over the "leather" colored tape on that pretty Rivendell, though!

[caligurl]

my ruby came with black... but i changed it to silver and LOVE it!

my dolce had black... and i changed that to a pretty blue marble... (some white... several different shades of blue)..... i loved that too! but it did get dirty after a while... but no disgustinly so!

i worry about the silver.... but i figure if it gets nasty... i can have hubby change it! http://www.smileycons.com/img/emotions/110.gif

[bcipam]

White on the Tour bikes looks pretty and when you have full time mechanics and other helpers... and a big budget... it can be changed almost every day so it still looks nice and pretty on camera.

For us regular folks who change tape only when necessary... white is not such a good idea.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hmmm, thanks for the reminder, I haven't picked out tape for my new bike which I hope to get tomorrow. :)

The colors are grayish pink with quicksilver (grey). The pink is on the front of the tt, headtube and downtube. If I remember correctly, the seatpost and handlebars are black, although, the handlebars barely show they are so small.

Any suggestions?

Kathi, I would think that black tape would look beautiful on that pink/silver bike. I love the combination of black and pink. Tres chic.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

That's precisely what my husband Lee does with his bikes ! Feel free to PM me if you need any hints.

(Personally, I use plain black cork tape on my bikes, but Lee likes the shellac look)

- Jo.

Cool!
Underneath the shellac, does he use white cloth tape, yellow cloth tape, or natural cork tape?

P.S. I like using gloves, especially since I figure I will have my share of falls.

[VW Beetle]

Every time I see white bar tape, I think Pat Boone..

[Kathi]

Every time I see white bar tape, I think Pat Boone..

One of Pat Boone's hit songs :D

April Love

(Words by Paul Francis Webster, music by Sammy Fain)

April love is for the very young
Every star's a wishing star that shines for you
April love is all the seven wonders
One little kiss can tell you this is true

Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers
Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet
But April love can slip right through your fingers
So if she's the one don't let her run away

[Instrumental Interlude]

Sometimes an April day will suddenly bring showers
Rain to grow the flowers for her first bouquet
But April love can slip right through your fingers
So if she's the one don't let her run away

Seriously, thanks for the discussion, I decided to go with black on my new bike. I looked at the roayal blue on my current bike and its already showing dirt, so black it is.

[emily_in_nc]

My Terry Isis came with white bar tape, which looked grubby almost immediately. Changed it out for black, and what an improvement!

I really like colored bar tape, though, if there's a good one that matches the bike. I spec'd out the prettiest matching "Bordeaux" tape for my raspberry-colored Aegis Swift, and bright blue for my white Bike Friday (with matching blue Candy SL pedals).

So now that I am doing the mountain biking thing, I'm wondering about replacing the boring black grips on my new bike with colored ones, like these (http://www.ourygrips.com/grips_menu.html). The blue ones would look good with my front fork, which is also blue, and I am going to put the blue Candy SL pedals on too. I just like color! I don't even mind being just a little bit over the top. :cool:

Back to the original comment, though, I have noticed the white bar tape on the tour riders' bikes (so clean, so sparkling fresh, so pretty), and last night the photographer did a close up of one of their immaculate white bikes. I commented to my husband that you could sure tell that someone (not the riders!) was spit-cleaning their bikes every night after the stage! :D

Emily

[velogirl]

You forgot about the white saddles and white shoes. If you recall, we first saw an abundance of these (along with white bar tape) at the tour last year.

I've been using white bar tape since I got my ti bike in 2003. My newer road bike is white (and pink and silver), so white works great. I keep it clean with a little simple green -- it never looks too grungy.

I also wear white shoes.

And, I had a white saddle for a while -- just didn't like it as much as my favorite black one.

I would never, however, wear white shorts!

My motto is "if you can't be fast, you can be flash!" White is totally flash (and you don't need a mechanic to keep it looking fresh).

[emily_in_nc]

And, I had a white saddle for a while -- just didn't like it as much as my favorite black one.

Just interested...does a white saddle discolor at all if you wear black shorts and they get wet (or sweaty, which mine always do)?

Emily

[velogirl]

Just interested...does a white saddle discolor at all if you wear black shorts and they get wet (or sweaty, which mine always do)?

Emily

I've actually had three different white saddles over the years (see, I really like white). One of them discolored a bit (but I don't think it was the shorts). I think the white color was super-whatever -- a layer on the outside -- and when it wore down it wasn't as white on the inside.

Now, my pink shorts got discolored from my black saddle.