Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - what is the tape on the top tube

i saw a lotta people wrapping their top tubes with an inch-wide tape, what is that for? sorry for being so naive.

swing your bars around real hard.....you'll figure it out.

it makes you skid for miles. bunny hop full grown men and do 1000 backwards circles in a row.

wild stuff give it a shot

Could be to prevent the handle bars from hurting the paint on the top tube, but it would depend on were the tape is.

swing your bars around real hard.....you'll figure it out.

do it to both sides too. it's the freshest end result.

it is meant to prevent the bars from denting the toptube if the bars swing around. wrapping it once around is insufficient to prevent damage. I recently used some springsteel, padding and an old innertube. then i wrapped it with tape. works great.

bartape works too, but I would recommend getting the bars/stem set up right and then figure out where to wrap the tube. and wrap it a few times around if you really want it to prevent dents.

']it is meant to prevent the bars from denting the toptube if the bars swing around. wrapping it once around is insufficient to prevent damage. I recently used some springsteel, padding and an old innertube. then i wrapped it with tape. works great.

bartape works too, but I would recommend getting the bars/stem set up right and then figure out where to wrap the tube. and wrap it a few times around if you really want it to prevent dents.
+1
I got tired of tt protector awkwardness and didn't want to spend money on a kashimax, so I wrapped mine with three sections of narrow black duct tape (each as wide as normal electrical tape) and it's about 2-3 mm thick. I took my time so that it would be nice, smooth and solid. I also use cork bartape, the combination of the two protects pretty well.
http://static.flickr.com/103/265681244_3f56d27f3e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbomb/265681244/)

+1
I got tired of tt protector awkwardness and didn't want to spend money on a kashimax, so I wrapped mine with three sections of narrow black duct tape (each as wide as normal electrical tape) and it's about 2-3 mm thick. I took my time so that it would be nice, smooth and solid. I also use cork bartape, the combination of the two protects pretty well.
http://static.flickr.com/103/265681244_3f56d27f3e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbomb/265681244/)

That's cool. But,

A) Duct tape is b*tch to remove. Especially after the glue starts to melt in sunlight. You will need some sort of glue remover like "Goo Off".
B) Gaffer's tape is what Duct tape wants to be (No residue, no melting, strong, tear with fingers, etc..).
C) Kashimax are very cool because the are easy to remove (for thieves too, I guess) and are made of something like super bouncy rubber-ball rubber. So it sort of absorbs and returns the energy back to the bars as opposed to just absorbing like tape would do. It has a metal thing inside to keep it springy.


http://www.businesscycles.com/graphics/tubeprotect2.jpg

basically what we've all learned:

wrap the **** out of the top bar.
cover the **** in tape.
or drop some scrill on a kashimax.

Better things to do with Duct tape:
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0873494261.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1056502801_.jpg

hey breadbutt - did you tape your valve stems too? rattle-prevention?

http://static.flickr.com/103/265681244_3f56d27f3e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcbomb/265681244/)

Why use TT protector when your bars don't touch the TT? Your bars obviously spin around 360 degrees without touching (180 degrees in the photo).

What bars are you running? Drops (flipped up in the photo) or Bullhorn?

to protect the top tube from the bars swinging around and hitting it.

edit: oops, must have had this window open for a while

I use a bandana wrapped and tyed around it is cheap easy and if you change your bars no worries

I found that if you slit a narrow road tube you get a piece of rubber the same width as gaff tape. I wrapped a few layers of rubber around my top tube at the proper place, finished it off with black gaff tape, and now have an attractive, functional TT protector that cost me nothing.

I wrap tape around my top and down tubes so they don't get banged up when I lock up. Ugly? Maybe. But at least I don't have to spend time bothering with how I lock up...

I cut a 2 inch gap in the top tube, this way I can spin the bars right round without them making a dent in the toob.

basically what we've all learned:

wrap the **** out of the top bar.
cover the **** in tape.
or drop some scrill on a kashimax.
and tape your kashimax so it wont be stolen as easy.

my bars are wrapped with a layer of cork and then a layer of cloth over that. i dont need a top tube protector.

I wrap tape around my top and down tubes so they don't get banged up when I lock up. Ugly? Maybe. But at least I don't have to spend time bothering with how I lock up...
Yeah, this is what I thought the OP was talking about. I don't do it on my aluminum frames, but the paint on steel frames seems to beg to be scratched, which immediately breeds rust in this climate. It looks a little fugly, but fugly>rust.

The tape is also so that you can conceal the the brand and model of bike, so thieves dont take them, messengers do this a lot because they dont usually lock thier bikes when they go in for a delivery.