Road Cycling - Leather bar tape?

I am in need of brown leather bar tape. Or a very convincing synthetic leather bar tape. Anyone have a good source? What about the fine leather steering wheel wrap found on luxury cars?

Color should match a well aged honey brooks saddle.

It's a long shot, but did you check Rivendell Bicycles (www.rivendellbicycles.com)?

They dont. However, they do have some cloth tape. I think I'll attempt to dye the tape for the wanted color. :)

www.bikeville.com

Nice! Thanks Shokhead! They have the sew in type, in black. I think i'll give them a try if I cant find a brown leather wrap.

dude, there is a tone of stuff in there that is waaay over priced...used shimano 600 brakes for 70 bucks? kinda crazy, but I suppose if they are in demand...

also joe, you ARE going to post a pic of this project you are building, right?

It's actually not really a project bike. Just a rebuild of my grandma's bike. Her bar wrap must be 20 years old. It looks amazing, but is starting to rot / stink.

The bike is an old 50's 3 speed (SA) cruiser. She rides 5 miles daily. Takes about an hour, but shes out doing it at 88yrs old. Last week she started to complain about the shifting. I took the wheel down to my bike shop, they knew NOTHING about sturmey archer hubs, so we replaced it with a 7 speed nexus hub. New chain ring, chain, seat post, handelbars and a bit of wax should finish it off.

I'll see if i can grab a picture for ya :)

I believe sheldon brown's web site has info on that hub if you actualy want to work on it for fun. How well does that nexus 7 speed work? I've seen them on-line but never in person.

The bike is an old 50's 3 speed (SA) cruiser. SWEET!, they knew NOTHING about Sturmey Archer hubs, WHAT?! so we replaced it with a 7 speed nexus hub. NOOOOOOO!

The ecstasy! the agony! SA 3 speeds are such beautiful things to be replaced by a soulless Shi*no Suxus hub is sacrilege man! I will give you cool points for helping out Grandma.

The SA hub was toast. We spent an hour trying to clean it up / restore it. The shop owner has had the nexus for a few years, so I picked it up for a deal. Rebuilt the wheel and we are ready to go. I think my grandma will enjoy the extra gears. The shifting hasnt been this smooth in 40 years ;)

I am in need of brown leather bar tape. Or a very convincing synthetic leather bar tape. Anyone have a good source? What about the fine leather steering wheel wrap found on luxury cars?

Color should match a well aged honey brooks saddle.

Joe:

Try Cinelli bar tape in "Brick Red'. It's awfuly close and can be artificially 'aged' with a little work.

I have it on my Kirk:

Dave, how did you age the tape? That looks exactly what I am going for.

Dave, how did you age the tape? That looks exactly what I am going for.

Joe, if you'll send me a money order for $20,000.00 I'll send you a roll. Actually it's standard Cinelli cork tape, the color is called "Brick Red" and the color in the pic is how it comes. It's not listed in the current QBP catalog, so I think my LBS got it at another supplier. I bought two rolls in June to put on my new Kirk and another bike with a Honey Brooks.

It's very slightly lighter than a new Honey Brooks, but with a little use, or 'aging' it comes around.

*nod* I'll put in an order today. Thanks!

Dave, how did you age the tape? That looks exactly what I am going for.

Joe: Just took this pic with a scrap of brand new 'Brick Red' tape draped over my Brooks. Saddle has about 2000 miles on it so it's darker than new. Tape will darken with use. I imagine that you could rub something dark, say charcoal, dirty gloves or something similar, gently into the cork to 'age' it.

I read once someone used golf club wrap to wrap their bars - it adds extra cushion and is leather or leathery and can just about match Brooks Honey sometimes... that's what I intend to do. Its tapered I guess much like other handlebar wrap... not sew on, but hey, its what's left I guess... otherwise - steering wheel wrap from a auto store maybe.

That's awesome! Your Grandma is 88 and riding five miles daily? You need to post a pic of your Grandma posing with her kick a$$ bike! I've been trying to get my parents to start riding and they are only in their 50's and they have a paved bike path 50 yards from their front door. They are too lazy though, it really iritates me. They will do the Atkins diet until their colesterol is 330 but wont get on a bike.

Cudo's to your Granny!!!!