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. 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:
Attachment 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:
Attachment 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!

[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.