Nothing says “amateur” more than an imperfect handlebar tape job, a dirty bike or a nasty grimy chain. Conversely, a clean bike feels faster. And new handlebar tape and a clean chain imbue a rider with extra fortitude and a little extra snap in the legs.
The professionals don’t need to wrap their own bars-they have full- time mechanics who can do it blindfolded. No matter how carefully I did my handlebar tape around shop owner George, he would regard the job, and then cruelly shoot me a look that said “amateur!” I have studied him wrapping tape. It looks effortless and he might also be talking to a customer, mocking a minion, his mind on many things – but the final result is perfection.
This drives me crazy.
It should not be so hard. I replace my tape maybe two or three times a year, just seldom enough to forget how to do it properly.
The Velominati have spent a lot of energy debating bike color co-ordination (see Rule eight) and I had a bad tire/tape issue, so I had to go white (I don’t do black tape). There is no doubt white looks great; the question is how long will it look great?
The bike shop I like to use, close to us, did not carry my favorite Fizik tape. It is bombproof and magically never ever gets dirty. So I bought what they carried, some white Deda tape.
I stripped off the old and tried to put on the new. After three attempts of rewrapping with more tension and less overlap each time, I was still short on one side. The tape was so stretched I might as well have been wrapping my bars with plastic wrap or the old Benotto cello tape. Son-of-a-bee-aatch!! (F’ing Italians, would it kill them to give me another few centimeters? The other side was better – could they be different lengths? F’ing Italians!) The only way to make it even meant both sides ended up short and too far from the stem-completely unacceptable! This put me in a mood most foul.
I called the other shop within riding distance, a Specialized shop, and was told they had three kinds of white Specialized tape. Three kinds- really? Of course when I got there, it wasn’t so-but the one they did carry has rocked my world. Specialized S-Wrap Classic 3 ply fake leather with some sweet dot perforations. It is $25 but supplies more than enough tape for the perfect wrap. It’s mighty fine looking and feels perfect; perfect cushion, perfect grip, oh, I’m in love. But, will it stay white? How bad will it look in a month? Two weeks of fair weather riding leaves the tape still bright white.
Again Specialized has impressed me with their form and function. I have some Specialized S-Works road shoes and a pair of their leg warmers and they are great. Their glue-less inner tube patches: the jury is out. Sure they lose some cachet because their items are made in China not Italy but until the Italians give me a little more tape, I’m an S-Wrap boy.
*Is it wrong to be this excited about handlebar tape? Is it dangerous to ask this question? I’m hesitant to answer either of these. And yes, Rules violations in photo, how many can you find?
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I'm from Portland. And you are correct that the distance an climbs aren't bad. Of course it depends on how your legs are on the day, but I don't find it a particularly hard ride. From what I can infer from your group, you'll have no problems unless you ride balls out the whole time. But the weather can be very unpredictable, so bring more clothes that you think you'll need in the car so you have choices when the ride starts. Often misty and cloudy (and very windy) on the last climb. Roads aren't great the first 25k on the flats and rollers, but are generally wonderfully clean on the climbs. Giant shoulders and very little traffic make for a very nice ride. Epic views if it's clear, so bring a camera. Cheers to a sunny day and great legs for you and your crew.
@frank
So how do you stand on a wrap of insulation (electrical) tape, topped with the proper bar tape finishing tape?
Also, I would expect that you finish the taping by cutting the tape properly on a curve, rather than merely taking a knife and cutting around the bars.
@Jarvis
Are you kidding me? I feel GREAT about that approach. It's the one I use. I use a color that's contrasting to the tape and finishing tape, and matched some element of the frame. Then I wrap the finishing tape on there as the final touch.
And yes, absolutely, cut the team just right at just the right angle so that it wraps up perfectly. Cutting it with a knife seems so crude.
@frank
I tend not to be quite so fussy as far as the electrical tape though.
I'm super anal about my bikes. BITD when I BMX raced I always ran Campy large flange track hubs. Imagine the ecstasy when I discovered that a Campy bar end plug fit perfectly into the bottom of the steer tubes on my BMX bikes. Anyway, you know how Cinelli bars had the little sleeve at the center of the bar? Well I came up with the ultra sano taping method. I would take a precise measurement from the edge of the stem to the edge of this sleeve. Then I would wrap the tap past the edge of the sleeve. Taking the spoke length ruler I would take a pen and make the aforementioned measurement on the tape. Then you take the appropriately colored electricians tape and do a couple of wrap pulled tight to make the tap skinnier than its untensioned width. Then you let the tape hang for a moment to let it shrink (grow actually) to its normal width. Now do a couple of wraps without pulling the tape tight and make sure that the inside edge is lined up with your mark and that there is no overlap on the wraps - you should have a uniform width of tape all the way around the circumference of the bar . Now take a brand new razor blade and cut along the edge of the tape to remove the excess bar tape that you wrapped past the edge of the bar sleeve. If you did it correctly then the cut/tape will but up against the sleeve and you will have the cleanest tape termination in the peloton.
Alas, Carbon bars lack this sleeve so it's back to some pulled tight overlap with the electrical tape. :(
Put some Specialized S-Wrap Roubaix tape on my bars this past weekend (next step down from the Classic). Black, I'm afraid, but it picks up the trim from the frame nicely. Must say I'm well pleased with product and results. Problem is that the saddle picked up the grey in the old tape and frame. I may now have a color-coordination rule breach on my hands. But under my gloves, the bars feel oh so good.
Hey, I did too. White. And it's already dirty. Sigh. I think white tape demands white gloves. But, it's good tape, for sure.
The Fizik Microtex tape is the best, but the generic black plugs just didn't quite seem 'right', so Souleur did this which seems right now.
+1 on the Fizik Microtex (black of course), but I don't mind the plugs. I've got some Cinelli "Carbon" I'm going to try out next, but if it's not da bomb, it's back to the Microtex. @Souleur
@Souleur
That is absolutely so incredibly cool. SPOT.ON.MATE.
The gears are turning for how to make ones with an orange v-cog.