Got new bar tape but the handlebars are different!

This has been nagging at me ever since I got my Specialize Ruby back from the LBS. Here's the thing....I took it in for a tune up, new back tire, and new bar tape. The bike looks great with its new pink tape! Trouble is..when I took it for a ride the next day..the handlebars felt different....they were skinnier!

To set the stage, so to speak, I have a specialize sequoia expert (that is for sale) which I have changed the tape on quite a few times myself and I know that there is a gel layer that is squishy and sometimes "leaky- meaning that it comes off in your hands" but I just covered it over with the bar tape and it still funcitoned as extra cushion...

So..I go back to the LBS with my new skinnier bar with the pink tape and talk to one of the mechanics...and he tells me, that yeah there was a gel pad there but that sometimes the gel thing desinigrates and ...well they just threw it away.

Well, I guess I am a little bit peeved...based on my experiece with my sequioa...but maybe the pad on the Ruby wasn't as well made??

Has anyone had an experience like this when changing bar tape?

So if you're selling it, why do you care if the bars are skinnier? I really do not intend this as a snappy or mean question -- it just seems like it shouldn't matter that much. After all, not everyone likes gel (I don't, as a matter of fact), so it shouldn't affect the value of your bike.

I have a little bit of experience with gel pads, you generally have to tape them on (with electrical tape) to get a smooth fit, and sometimes the combination of whatever tape you use plus any adhesive that was originally on the gel pads will cause the pads to disintegrate. Also, sometimes you have to stretch the gel to get it to fit right on the bars, and if it comes off when you pull off the tape, it doesn't go back on the bars correctly.

Generally, you kind of consider bar tape to be more or less disposable, along with whatever goes under it. If you are careful, you can sometimes use it more than once or rewrap it, but even if you are doing it yourself and are very careful sometimes it gives out.

I wouldn't get upset with your LBS about this. They probably assumed that you wanted "all new" -- but it's possible that even if you'd done it yourself, the old gel would have come apart this last time...

I would be a bit peeved too, the least they could do is call you and ask you if you want the gel replaced while the bike was there, or tell you that it disintegrated. I am a firm believer that you return something to the owner in the same or better shape it was given to you. Not changed.

And Liza, I think she is talking of 2 seperate bikes, the Ruby is the one that was changed (and keeping) and the Sequoia is the one she had previous gel issues with (and for sale).

Dig..

Thank you. My thoughts exactly.

Liza..I see your point, too. (Sorry my original post was so confusing). I just wish they would have called me and asked me what I would like to do about it then instead of just assuming that it wouldn't matter.

Thanks for your replys.

CC

Actually, reading this over in the daytime. I'm finding that I agree with you Clare, they should have asked you.

Sometimes when I'm on TE late at night because of insomnia I write stupid things that I disagree with later :rolleyes:.

I would ask them to redo it with gel pads in there. It seems that since they didn't give you a choice they should make up for it. For free.

I changed the bar tape on my Ruby and the gel pads were fine. I repositioned them carefully and retaped without any problem. I even took the pads off the drops so I could get closer to the brake levers and used those pads on another bike. I have even changed the tape and reused the pads again on the second bike! I would definitely get them to redo the bars WITH the gel pads!