Classic & Vintage - Most appropriate bartape for a 1970's restoration

I was wondering what the most common bartape was on 70's lightweights- I might soon be rebuilding one, and I'd like to get all the details right. It will be painted white, with blue lugs, and red bands in the middle of the tubes (Cambridge CC club colours), so I was thinking that white bartape and Campag brakes with white hoods would look rather smart. Presumably Specialized S-wrap wasn't around back then...

Also, I've seen white Rolls saddles before, would you find them on a 70's bike? A white saddle would match quite well with the bartape, and look Euro-pro! And were cable housings all white in the 70's, or would red look OK? Finally, what sort of bottle cage would be most appropriate?

If it was a production bike, the bar tape was probably plastic. If bought as a frame and built up, could've been plastic or cloth. I don't recall white seats in the 70s, more 80s. Cable housing either matched the bike or picked up a secondary color from the graphics: red or blue; white or black; yellow was very popular. Bottle cage was a TA.

You can't go wrong with Tressostar Cloth handlebar tape. If you had a nice bicycle, that would be on it. I remember the polypropylene plastic stuff. It would last a longish time, but nowhere as nice looking as the cloth tape. Or as nice to the touch/grip. Tressostar is still available. A coat of shellac will make it bomb-proof.

Oh yeah - we always wrapped from the stem down. None of this new-age bottom-to-top electrical-tape nonsense.

why the hell do people do that anyway? I can see no advantage whatsoever to wrapping from the bottom up, when you go stem down you don't need the tape or anything it's super clean? I'm not even an old guy and I know that

What is the cloth tape like? I'm quite used to the S-wrap, which is quite squishy. Isn't a layer of cloth rather hard? Or does it not matter on a steel bike? When did cork tape appear?

Also, what saddle would be appropriate, if not a Rolls? Was Brooks the only way? And finally, what is a TA bottle cage?

Wrapping top to bottom leaves a leading edge exposed which can be prone to rolling up from hand pressure and friction, especially around the bends at the ends of the top of the bar and up near the brake hoods. Wrapping bottom to top helps solve this potential issue. Not everyone has this issue.

With gel cork wrap I wrap bottom to top. With cloth or plastic I believe I'd wrap top to bottom for a cleaner look. Also a double wrap of cloth or plastic to start the top down approach doesn't build up as thick as doing that with the more modern gel cork wraps.

If it were me trying to do a period correct rebuild or restoration I'd find some cloth tape. For color just do whatever floats your boat, or match what was offered at the time when new.

All just my opinion, subject to change or coercion. ;)

What is the cloth tape like? I'm quite used to the S-wrap, which is quite squishy. Isn't a layer of cloth rather hard? Or does it not matter on a steel bike? When did cork tape appear?

Also, what saddle would be appropriate, if not a Rolls? Was Brooks the only way? And finally, what is a TA bottle cage?

Cloth provides a nice grip but really thin until you get 3 or 4 layers on there. Personally, I like the padded foam, and use it quite a bit, even on vintage bikes if I'm going to ride them a lot. Saddles were the Cinelli Unicanitors or Brooks/Ideale if it was a high-end bike. TA was the traditional chrome steel downtube mount cage of the 70s. Had a white plastic clamptype holder for the shoulder of the bottle. The Ale's are pretty similar, without the plastic.

Padded foam was not available in the 1970's. Then they came out with that cell-foam two-part slide-on muck. But what do you expect from a decade that brought you Mood Rings, Earth Shoes, and Johnny Travolta?

Here is Tressostar:

http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=419

+1 Back in the 70s, it was plastic tape on the bottom end bikes, and cloth tape on the better bikes. Neither one supplied any cushioning. They were mediocre materials then, and are mediocre now.

I also used leather in the 70s (a little better) and the ugly but cushy black foam (Grab On).

Tressostar provides no cushion, but it sure has fantastic grip. I really like it in hot weather, but I do recommend two layers unless you want to be periodic perfect.

I grew up with no-padding plastic and cloth tapes. It was normal to me, so I didn't think about it. But then I tried the web-backed, leather-palmed gloves. And that's what I wore on my cloth-taped machine. Later I found Brook's leather-tape. Which I still use today. Always from the top down:

http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp323/nagognog/IMG_0341.jpg

Both of my PX-10's have the priginal black plastic wrap. My '74 Paramouts getting black cloth.

I prefer padded cork wrap for my daily rider.

when did cinelli start making their cork tape?

when did cinelli start making their cork tape?

Certainly available 1984... got it on my '84 Cinelli.

Padded foam was not available in the 1970's.

Didn't say it was available then, said that's what I like to use now on a vintage bike I'm going to ride...

Certainly available 1984... got it on my '84 Cinelli.

Thanks.

Out of curiosity, when did Benotto come out with its non-adhesive cello tape?

stan

Out of curiosity, when did Benotto come out with its non-adhesive cello tape?

stan

I was using it in 1982, so before then. Specifically, I would wrap Benotto on top of fresh Tressostar.

Anyone have any orange Tressostar cloth-tape? It's been discontinued. I have 2 rolls of the green - also discontinued - that I'd trade.

Both the cork and Benotto -over-Tressostar sound intriguing. Might give that a shout for my next project.

Anyone have any orange Tressostar cloth-tape? It's been discontinued. I have 2 rolls of the green - also discontinued - that I'd trade.

Both the cork and Benotto -over-Tressostar sound intriguing. Might give that a shout for my next project.

Here is a source for orange Tressostar (http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7317).

I, too may try the Benotto-over-Tressostar (light blue over white) when I get to that point on my Bianchi.


stan

Here is a source for orange Tressostar (http://www.benscycle.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7317).

I, too may try the Benotto-over-Tressostar (light blue over white) when I get to that point on my Bianchi.


stan

Thank you! Been looking everywhere but there. I ordered 4 rolls. :thumb::thumb:

In the 70s used Tressostrar black cloth on single bike.
Used black leather wrap on our tandem. The leather wrap had holes punched in it and had to use a large needle and sew the leather wrap onto the bar. Wet the leather first for a tighter fit when it dried on the bars.
Held up for at least 40,000 miles.

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.
http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp323/nagognog/IMG_0005.jpg

When I built my first "serious" bike in 1985, I wrapped Tressostar from top down, as I had when I rode a Schwinn. Maybe it had something to do with wearing leather cycling gloves, but the more serious I got about putting miles on, the worse the bar looked from fraying and rolling down -- and I did wrap tightly. Since I started wrapping from bottom up (and from inside over the top and over to outside), I've been much happier with both the comfort of the bars, and it wears better too. I've started to finish the top end with hemp twine, (threads are here for that), which looks Old Skool, even if it is not.

I'm going to try Cinelli tape on a 1980s build, but I really like the feel of the cotton. +1 on using more than one layer (or just wrapping a new layer over the old first layer) for a bit more cush.

70s racers typically had white tape and black saddles -- cf. A Sunday in Hell. Was it Bernard Hinault who was the clean freak and liked new tape for every race/stage because he needed "a clean place to put my hands"?

Cotton:
http://www.jaysmarine.com/Raleigh_Trio_5.jpg

Cotton:
http://www.jaysmarine.com/70paramount_092608_5.jpg

http://www.jaysmarine.com/70_paramount_071108_4.jpg

http://www.jaysmarine.com/70_paramount_redbar_3.jpg

Benotto (forgive the gap):
http://www.jaysmarine.com/90s_guerciotti_el_2.jpg

Suede (!):
http://www.jaysmarine.com/trek_610_bartape.jpg

-Kurt

So, if you use cotton tape for the bars, where does one buy leather-palmed, cotton-mesh backed cycling gloves? Is there a source for those?

70s racers typically had white tape and black saddles -- cf. A Sunday in Hell. Was it Bernard Hinault who was the clean freak and liked new tape for every race/stage because he needed "a clean place to put my hands"?

I knew a racer who would put new white tape on before every race. At Super Week in Milwaukee that meant new tape every day. His reasoning was that it looked better in photographs and that his sponsers would want clean white tape in a photo. If you look at photos of that era there is alot of white tape. Merckx had white tape on his orange bike. And it does look good in photos.

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...

i totally agree that top-down wrapping was the norm for decades and that the bottom-up method is a fairly recent adoption.
to me the issue has always been a practical one.
plastic,cloth and the hugely popular benotto cello tapes benefited from the added friction/grip afforded by having their edges exposed towards the rider at the outer corners and near the hoods(a non-issue on the drops or tops).
when ambrosio and cinelli introduced their padded & cork tapes, the softness & compliance of the material could cause the tape edges to roll and tear if it wasn't wrapped tautly enuf. The new tapes afforded a good non-slip grip,so the need for top-down wrapping was diminished . without that need, it becamme an industry norm to wrap bottom-up as it requires much less skill and attention from the installer/ 'mechanic'.

Tressostar BLACK.

Cotton:
http://www.jaysmarine.com/Raleigh_Trio_5.jpg

Cotton:

-Kurt

Is that what I think it is on the Guerciotti?

Sacrilege! Heresy! Out, Demon - OUT!

:lol::roflmao2::lol:

Very nice wrapping! :thumb:

Regards the gloves -

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000140&subcategory=60001224&brand=&sku=3833&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Half%20Finger

What's on the Gooch that's C&V sacrilege and heresy? It's Benotto tape after all (was until that thing ended up RIP).

Or do you mean the Sh!tmano?

-Kurt

70s racers typically had white tape and black saddles -- cf. A Sunday in Hell. Was it Bernard Hinault who was the clean freak and liked new tape for every race/stage because he needed "a clean place to put my hands"?I guess I was typical then, except I never had clean tape. For quite a while I had my bars half taped, the top of the bars looked nice that way. I think a lot of people liked new tape, it was cheap and it got nasty fast.

What's on the Gooch that's C&V sacrilege and heresy? It's Benotto tape after all (was until that thing ended up RIP).

Or do you mean the Sh!tmano?

-Kurt

The blue Guerciotti - looks like electrical-tape! :lol:

Regards the tape getting nasty - that's where a coat of shellac, clear or tinted, came in handy. Tressostar with shellac will last and last and...

That's the last time I wrap with Benotto cello.

P.S.: It's black. I think of this vinyl tape when someone references to my "blue Guerciotti:"

http://www.jaysmarine.com/78guerciotti_bars.jpg

I did ultimately part with that blue frame though.
-Kurt

wow. that looks really nice there, cuda.

wow. that looks really nice there, cuda.

I wish the frame had worked out as well as the bar tape.

-Kurt

So, if you use cotton tape for the bars, where does one buy leather-palmed, cotton-mesh backed cycling gloves? Is there a source for those?

Anyone?

My PX10 had tressostar cloth tape. My cannondale singlespeed does, too. I still like the stuff,

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/handlebars/handlebar-tape.html

I

I was curious as to how the trend of bottom-to-top taping came about.

I assumed that the advent of Benotto Cycle Ribbon was the start of bottom-to-top wrapping. It came with bar plugs that fit over the bar ends, so you couldn't anchor the tape ends by pushing them into the bar and holding them in place with the plugs.

So, if you use cotton tape for the bars, where does one buy leather-palmed, cotton-mesh backed cycling gloves? Is there a source for those?

Anyone?

I posted that above. Look and ye shall be rewarded. Or sumthin'...

Oh - and Mashbars also has another store brand for $3 - $4.

So, if you use cotton tape for the bars, where does one buy leather-palmed, cotton-mesh backed cycling gloves? Is there a source for those?

Anyone?

There's an LBS nearby me that sells them. They are new production not vintage and have velcro fasteners with their logo but they look pretty good. I'll post a pick and a link to their website tomorrow.

They are very lightweight and airy on the backs. Nice for very hot weather. Though I've got Pearl Izumi's with padding on the palms and ulnar-nerve, I still wear a pair of the webbed-ones.

Again:

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...0Half%20Finger (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000140&subcategory=60001224&brand=&sku=3833&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Half%20Finger)

ty

I haven't seen any locally for years. I don't really like the spandex-backed gloves. But I love the cotton handlebar tape.

Benotto tape is horrible if you wrap it from the top down. I never really liked anything top down, but the cloth stuff worked best that way. I think some of us wrapped top down and bottom up and met under the brake levers. I have such an aversion to cloth, I don't think it matters any more because I would never use it even though it's still available. Wish I had bought a lifetime supply of Benotto.

There's an LBS nearby me that sells them. They are new production not vintage and have velcro fasteners with their logo but they look pretty good. I'll post a pick and a link to their website tomorrow.


Here they are. I found the velcro flap with the "Planet Bike" logo rubbed against my wrist so I cut them off. You don't need to strap the gloves to your hands.

http://www.cswestbikes.com/servlet/the-1431/Planet-Bike-Taurus-Cycling/Detail

http://www.cswestbikes.com/catalog/pbtaurus.jpg

So, if you use cotton tape for the bars, where does one buy leather-palmed, cotton-mesh backed cycling gloves? Is there a source for those?

Anyone?

You can always ask Andy at yellowjersey.org, he's probably got a couple stashed away somewhere in there.

OK, I confess to both heresy and being a total doofus, but I love Benotto Cello tape.:love:

I got myself a pair of the old school gloves today! Found them gathering dust at the back of the LBS, and they feel like the most comfortable mitts I've ever put on! Now I just need to badger some of the old gits in our club for their old woolen club jerseys...

I'm still looking for a pair of vintage shoes, too. heh heh.

I'm still looking for a pair of vintage shoes, too. heh heh.


I still have my Adidas Eddy Merckx shoes with the nail on Anquetil cleats from the early 70s.. just for nostalgia's sake.

I bought a pair of leather soled shoes but have been a bit disappointed with them, as they are actually a plastic sole with a VERY thin leather sheet laminated to the outside. The soles look like leather but are not and do not feel as if they are, either.

Sorry for off-topic tangential post.