Road Cycling - Bar tape

My bar tape is pretty worn and I’ve decided to change it. I’ve never done it before and want to get some pointers techniques on now to do it. Anything I should know before getting started, or I just can look at the other side of the handlebar and try to copy what was done in the shop? Should I even do this by myself or take it to my LBS?

Take a crack at it. Use a tape like profile that does not have adhesive on it so you can start again easy. Start at the bar end and wrap up. The short pieces are for fill in behind the levers. Use electrical tape at the finish and just use the branded tape that came with it for a cosmetic clean finish. Also at the end cut the tape at an angle on the stem side so it finishes smoothly.

Check out www.parktool.com. They have a pretty good explanation of how to tape your bars in their how-to section. Otherwise, expect your shop to charge you somewhere around $6-$10 to do it for you.

Go for it, figure worst case scenario you are out the $8-10 for the bar tape if you completely ruin it.. And is something fairly easy and good to learn, I like Rev's idea use some tape without the adhesive on the back will make it easier to backtrack and do it again.

Peel your brake rubbers back as far as you can and put on the short pieces of ribbon first. When you start wrapping make sure you overhang the bar end enough (about 1/2 tape width) so you can fold it over and stuff it into the bar end and finish with the plug afterwards. A bit tricky with thick cork tape.

Go to the thread in mechanics section /Barnetts Manuals / Chapter 28. It explains this perfectly. Give it a go, it is a basic mechanics task that you should be able to do yourself w no problem. If you do have tape w/ adhesive, do a dry run first to see how it fits.

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