If anyone reading this is thinking of leather bar-tape (or any type of bar-tape), here is my way with it: I don't wet it, but I give it 2 wraps around the top of the bar - while pulling it tight. It will stretch a bit. Then I give it another 1/2 wrap and begin the journey down to the end of the bar, stuffing the excess into the bar-ends and cap them tightly. I use Velox bar-caps, the ones with the screw in the center, and twist them in in the same direction of travel as I wrapped.
Then I apply Brook's Proofide to the tape generously and let it sit overnight/day. And remove excess with a soft towel as I buff them.
I've never had a handlebar-tape unravel on me. And top-down was the way
everyone wrapped bars. If someone were to show his bike with the bars wrapped bottom-top, people would have laughed at him and considered it a joke!
I was curious as to how the trend of bottom-to-top taping came about. People directed me to an Italian racer demonstrating "how to wrap handlebars." It was a video. I guess people thought "This MUST be the right way! He wins races!" And it picked up steam and roared across the land. Now people expect it done - and finished with a gob of electrical (or something) tape.
So the guy was a racer. He wins races. But what does he know about mechanics? If his other 'tips & tricks' are as good as his bar-taping, I wouldn't even let him change a tire on one of my machines.
So there's a flashback to the 1970's. That's the way we did/do it. Please be aware this option has been existing longer than the bottom-to-top method.
