When done correctly, Cycling can be both the hardest and dirtiest of sports. We relish in the glory of returning from a ride, battered by the four winds and soaked by the seven rains; our bodies, faces, and machines covered in the reasons why most people might stay indoors. Given that, there is something almost cavalier about submitting to the deluge in the color white, particularly when it comes to shoes, socks, jerseys, and bar tape.
Modern cycling teams, with budgets outsized only by the egos inhabiting the roster, are tending strongly towards a Three Musketeers, unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno mentality. Yet, in years gone by, when Rule #5 was a way of life more so than a badge of honor as it is for us, teams were dominated by a single leader who shouldered responsibility in all manner of races throughout the season. In those days, team bikes were generally built, as they are now, in accordance with Rule #8, with bars wrapped in blue, black, red, or green tape. One bike, however, always stood out as the exception: the team leader’s bars were always wrapped in white.
White is a glorious color to grace a set of handlebars. It emphasizes the sensual sweep of the drops and the beautiful curve from the hoods to the tops. It brings out the crisp shadows of the cables running beneath the tape to highlight a perfect wrap. It stands as a testament to the care that is undertaken in maintaining the machine, for without meticulous attention white does not stay white for long. It states that these bars are graced not by the sullied hands of a domestique, but by the clean grip of a leader.
When it comes to wrapping bars, there are many classy possibilities – black is always stylish and versatile (you can dress it up or you can dress it down), red is fast, celeste is classic – but for Bike #1, I always choose white not because it’s Pro, but because when I go out, I ride like a leader.
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Never, ever slam at the cost of having a good position. And while slammed is in-vogue, the idea is just that lower bars looks cooler. I slam my stem because I have to, and it happens to look badass.
The slammed stems have more to do with the tall head tubes manufacturers have been making lately more so than the bars being particularly low.
@Mikel Pearce
Yes I've read that one.He lost to Greipel by sprinting on the hoods
@frank dude. That De Vlaeminck photo with the puddle splash is fucking gold. I want that on my wall. You see, I return and the quality is instantly top-drawer ;-)
The thing with Canc, is that he mainly rides on the hoods, thus allowing the Slammed look while retaining the bent arms of control.
@frank
Sorry, something went wrong there, meant to acknowledge @Minion for the truth about Canc
@Jarvis
You missed out; there was a whole article on that picture!
Doesn't like to sprint in the drops, does our Fab...
Flanders last year:
@SimonH "complete silence except for the sound of the derailleur purring like a contented cat sat in front or a warm home fire"
Nice image. Might take cat #2 on next ride to check.
@Ron "slammed stems are nice & all, but I'm going to ride whatever allows me to ride lots and lots of kms."
I concur. I've only just figured out that my training bike stem has to be slightly higher than on my race bike, cos I'm going slower (less load taken by legs) and for longer on the training bike. So ended many years of a sore back after 4+ hours...
@frank man, I've missed out on a lot of stuff #revivesdeadthread
Oooh boy, finally got one of my bikes back together after weeks of working on it. Very happy. New bars, tape, cables as well. Looks great, can't wait to take it for a long ride. Tape is white, of course!
Question for ya: I used some perforated Deda tape (Traforata). I normally like to wrap towards the outside on the drops (clockwise on right side, counterclockwise on left) and then switch it up so that on the flats the tape is coming back towards me, pulled tighter when you grab them. However, I couldn't work out how to do this with the perforated tape - my normal wrapping method would have hidden the perforations and exposed the non-perforated half of the tape.
It would also happen with the Microtex tape. Anyone use this wrapping method and figured out a solution? (sorry if I'm just being stupid and not seeing an obvious sollution.)
@Ron
You can change wrap direction by taking a turn around the shifter base (I've done this by accident in my early days of wrapping) if you want to, I personally don't.