talk to me about bar tape...

[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.

[Kano]

Pooks -- I think they could be changed if you felt you needed them changed -- they're not part of the shifter! (well, on my bike, anyway!)

Deb, what kind of fabric is (was) the cloth tape made of? Could we stage a come back with bias cut strips of delightful fabrics?

Karen in Boise

[DebW]

Rivendell has cloth tape - rivbike.com

Thanks V. I'll order some.

Deb, what kind of fabric is (was) the cloth tape made of? Could we stage a come back with bias cut strips of delightful fabrics?

It has to be sticky tape. Think of hockey stick tape but narrower and thicker with more texture. I just got some new gloves with a really nice leather (real leather) palm pad, so now I want less padding on my bars. The cork tape or other padded tapes are better with thinner gloves.

[pooks]

Kano -- it's okay so far. I haven't been interested in changing yet.

Like so many things, it's all so new to me that if it's causing me any trouble, I don't know enough to recognize it!

[Kano]

It has to be sticky tape. Think of hockey stick tape but narrower and thicker with more texture. I just got some new gloves with a really nice leather (real leather) palm pad, so now I want less padding on my bars. The cork tape or other padded tapes are better with thinner gloves.

How sticky? What kind of stick? How permanently sticky? I'm not too familiar with hockey stick tape, darn it! How does it compare to that tape for "DIY bandaids" -- you know, the kind for the really BIG boo boos!

I seem to remember doing some plastic type tape on my bike when I was a kid, but I don't remember any stickiness to it.

Karen in Boise

[DebW]

How sticky? What kind of stick? How permanently sticky? I'm not too familiar with hockey stick tape, darn it! How does it compare to that tape for "DIY bandaids" -- you know, the kind for the really BIG boo boos!

I seem to remember doing some plastic type tape on my bike when I was a kid, but I don't remember any stickiness to it.

Karen in Boise

There was plastic tape back then too, and it was not sticky. You just overlapped a couple turns, then went down the bars and held the last turn with an end plug. It worked OK, but when it started to come loose it could all unravel. The cloth stuff was sticky like cloth bandaging tape but had a much more textured surface for a good grip. It was permanently sticky, but not quite as sticky as duct tape. Does that help?

[Kano]

There was plastic tape back then too, and it was not sticky. You just overlapped a couple turns, then went down the bars and held the last turn with an end plug. It worked OK, but when it started to come loose it could all unravel. The cloth stuff was sticky like cloth bandaging tape but had a much more textured surface for a good grip. It was permanently sticky, but not quite as sticky as duct tape. Does that help?

Yup, that helps -- now, repositionable forever, or did it get stuck stuck after you wrapped it? and how textured? Do we need to be thinking like denim, or pique? Or is a nice quilter's cotton something to consider? (corduroy comes to mind, but I don't think it would wrap nicely!)

At the moment, I'm visualizing making strips of fabric, and laying them on something like carpet tape. Then you've got the fabric stuck to the tape, which would then be sticky on the other side....

(more work than buying "ready made" but it could be fun to have unique wraps!)

Karen in Boise