taping handlebars

[willcee]

Recently I was looking for tape for 2 of my own machines, and was totally amazed at the prices we are being asked for often cheap rubbish, and even worse expensive rubbish some at over 30 quid, so when a friend who runs a touring company asked me to clean and service and do some upgrade repairs to 5 of his fleet, I spoke to another contact who does quite a bit of bulk buying of all sorts of cycle trade service items, and sourced some Clarks black carbon look like bar tape, I had 4 to retape and never in hundreds of bar tape experiences did I ever work with such hard to use stuff, It wouldn't stretch, it didn't like being plugged when it did eventually submit to reach the bar ends, the only bits that looked decent were the straight bits heading for the stem.. Earlier i sourced some from China via AliExpress, leather microfiber in two shades of brown for my own machines and i hope to have a sweeter experience using that stuff.. ime tape has to be strong, durable, easily washed clean and stretchy to allow decent corners and in around the hoods, i'll do some pics when my camera reappears.AND dont ask about the wee strips of finisher tape God Alone knows how that works cause i never got it to look good at all.W..

[mattsccm]

Silicone tape is great to work with. Stretches where you want and can easily be undone whilst having just enough grip to itself to help you.

[jimlews]

The Clarks fake carbon look tape is, as you say, expensive rubbish.
If you must buy from Halfords, go for their cheaper rubber(?) tape.
It is much better and is thick enough to give a decent amount of padding.

However, this was my last bar tape purchase - Nice product and cheap ish.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/handlebar-t ... tape-2010/

[Biospace]

I use cotton herringbone twill which has just sufficient stretch to work fine round the bends and hoods, last time I bought a (25mm x 50m) roll it was about £7 delivered. Old inner tubes are used for extra cushioning as required.

I have seen some extraordinary prices for what looks like poor quality tape, but packaged smartly.

[AndyK]

Can't go wrong with Deda Elementi's standard Deda bar tape, from £8. Strong, reasonably comfortable, enough stretch to wrap well, good grip without feeling tacky, long lasting.The end caps aren't brilliant but they're OK.
I also use SRAM Supercork as it's a bit thicker - 3mm rather than the typical 2.5mm - and I like some good old-fashioned cork bits in there. Also good value at around £12.

[axel_knutt]

Mine's Deda that I bought for about a tenner in 2006/2007ish. It's been on and off numerous times since then, but it's still fine.

[keyboardmonkey]

Giant Connect Gel Handlebar Tape or Specialized Phat bar tape - but this last one is now pricier than when I got mine.

[mattsccm]

I have never managed to get the Deda to last . After a year or two iit seems to wear out in key areas. Great choice of colours so i use it on bikes that get use.

[Audax67]

I've used Bike Ribbon Cork Gel with gel underlay for the last 20 years. My only gripe is that recently the shade of red that I like has been replaced by a more orange-red shade, so that it shows the dirt much faster. As to price, it used to be around 8€ and now it's 11€. That's about the price of a sandwich and a couple of cups of coffee, so who's complaining?

I've used the same underlay the whole time. Never gets old.

[rareposter]

The best cheap stuff is probably Prime Comfort from Chain Reaction, it's about £12 or that SRAM Supercork mentioned earlier. Kinesis does a good one too, their 4 Season tape is about £20 but it lasts well.

Mine's Deda that I bought for about a tenner in 2006/2007ish. It's been on and off numerous times since then, but it's still fine.

You seriously re-use and re-wrap 15 year old tape?! That's just eeeewwwww.

[Jdsk]

Lots more useful advice from 2021: "Bar Tape":
viewtopic.php?t=147644

And from 2018: "Bar Tape":
viewtopic.php?t=126115

Jonathan

[axel_knutt]

The best cheap stuff is probably Prime Comfort from Chain Reaction, it's about £12 or that SRAM Supercork mentioned earlier. Kinesis does a good one too, their 4 Season tape is about £20 but it lasts well.

Mine's Deda that I bought for about a tenner in 2006/2007ish. It's been on and off numerous times since then, but it's still fine.

You seriously re-use and re-wrap 15 year old tape?! That's just eeeewwwww.

It must be ~12-13 years since I last took it off now, and 3 years since I rode the bike, but I had a lot of bovver finding tape I could get on with, so I wasn't about to chuck out some good stuff and start all over again.

[CJ]

Cinelli cork, available in lots of colours for about £13, even has self-amalgamating finishing tape that really works. Plus - after three years use - I recently half-unwrapped both sides to renew the cable casings and it went back fine. (Only the finishing tape was obviously single-use and replaced with PVC electrical.)

[jimlews]

Re: Finishing tape.

The standard item supplied with most bar tape does not survive hot weather IME.
So I use string - a nice traditional look and very neat, if done well.
Tuck the last wind underneath and secure with a dot of super glue.
BITD the string and the cloth tape would have been coated with shellac.
Very long lasting.