talk to me about bar tape...

[DebW]

Cinelli cork tape is wonderful and traditional stuff.

Cork tape is not traditional (for us over-the-hill types). Cloth tape is traditional, but you can't get it anymore. Wish you could. I just rewrapped my bars in Cinelli cork and I don't care for it. The edges are so thin they roll. With the old cloth and plastic tapes, you could start in the middle of the bar, wrap to the end, push the rest inside the bar, and insert the plug. With current tapes you have to do it in the opposite direction which makes it a little more difficult. But I've never been that fond of wrapping bars anyway. I'd much rather pack bearings.

Bar wrapping tips: overlap turns by 1/3, stretch the tape as you go around a bend in the bars. Usually you can do a figure-8 around the brake levers.

[spazzdog]

you can ask your friendly lbs to do it for you.

spazz

**I'd forgotten about that old cloth bartape... ah, nostalgia.

[Brandy]

you can ask your friendly lbs to do it for you.

spazz

Ooh...like that idea.

[caligurl]

the fizik black tape feels SOOOOOOO nice! it's suedey feeling! if i wanted black on my bike... THAT is the tape i would have!

as for wrapping it... i let hubby do it... and yes... i'm anal about it (he still needs to redo my silver cuz it looks like dookey!)

[pooks]

Okay, go even less than two years old and talk to me like a newborn!

What is the tape for? Do you put it on all bikes, or just racing bikes? Would it go on an upright like mine?

[KnottedYet]

Nope, on an upright you're most likely to be happy with grips. I changed my grips to Ritchey's, and used plain ol' rubbing alcohol to slide the old ones off and the new ones on.

I think my new ones were something like $9 from Performance.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5251

Now they're like totally on sale for around $5.

I like them much better than the originals my bike came with. They fit my hands better and absorb vibration better.

[pooks]

Oh. I'm assuming mine can't be changed since I have a Shimano Nexus 7-speed Twist Grip Shift.

[Veronica]

Cork tape is not traditional (for us over-the-hill types). Cloth tape is traditional, but you can't get it anymore. Wish you could. I just rewrapped my bars in Cinelli cork and I don't care for it.

Rivendell has cloth tape - rivbike.com

You can also get Brooks leather tape from wallbike.com. I really like it. It's great in the rain too!

V.