painted my handlebars...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I finally got around to painting my cork handlebar tape to try to match my Baggins "Little Joe" grayish olive canvas saddlebag.
I think it came out pretty well! I also varnished them and twined and shellacked the ends:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Strumelia/LunaBike2008
I've ridden about ten hours on them now and they seem quite durable.

[Blueberry]

Beautiful!! I'm always impressed when I look at pictures of your bike It's lovely, and the bars look great!

CA

[tulip]

Beautiful! I didn't know one could paint cork bar tape. Thanks for showing us that you can.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Beautiful! I didn't know one could paint cork bar tape. Thanks for showing us that you can.

I didn't know if one could either.

[pardes]

Lovely job!

My Mom went through a contact paper stage when it first came out. Everything in the house was "contacted." I hid my bike.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My Mom went through a contact paper stage when it first came out.
Everything in the house was "contacted."
I hid my bike.

That's like a poem!

[Mr. Bloom]

Lisa, nice job!

My Mom went through a contact paper stage when it first came out. Everything in the house was "contacted." I hid my bike.

Hmmm, my mom went through a Telly Savalas stage...that was pretty scary for me too

[Urlea]

I love the look of your bike. It's very fun!!!

Curious though, what kind of paint did you use?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Curious though, what kind of paint did you use?

I'm a graphic artist/illustrator, and I used artist's oil paints with a few drops of Japan dryer added.
The paint sunk into the natural unfinished cork tape pretty well.
I picked three hot humid rainy days in a row in the weather forecast (not much riding to be had anyway). During those days I left my bike inside the living room for the whole procedure with our nice cool dry central air conditioning on and a small fan blowing directly on the bars 24 hours a day.

One coat of paint one morning, the next coat the second morning, third morning a thin coat of water-based polyurethane and twined and shellacked the ends.
By the fourth morning it was quite dry and ready to ride on.

[Grog]

Cute! I love how it goes with the more tan colour bits you have on the handlebars, too.

Is that your Nelson on the photo? How tall are you and how big is your bike?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Cute! I love how it goes with the more tan colour bits you have on the handlebars, too.

Is that your Nelson on the photo? How tall are you and how big is your bike?

No, that's my Rivendell Baggins "Little Joe" everyday bag. The Nelson is bigger and more of a greeny olive, not grayish olive. I'm 5'5" and my bike is 'somewhere' around a 54cm though it's hard for me to know since it's not a production bike.

[mimitabby]

that looks REALLY good. Amazing that it is paint!

[twin]

Great color and a very nice look!!!

[rij73]

Nice job! I just love your bike. It looks sooooo stylish.

[Aggie_Ama]

Looks great! If only I had a drop of your artistic ability.