Classic & Vintage - Today's Handlebar Tape Follies

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View Full Version : Today's Handlebar Tape Follies

robatsu
03-17-09, 10:13 AM
Taping my 1984 Del Rey. I decided to give the harlequin a rest on this bike. Here is the raw tape and cord whipping, pretty butt ugly bike at this point:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_P7m8p3pz-zo/Sb_II9YNwrI/AAAAAAAABso/GK59eWJUM_M/s800/Bars%20no%20shellac%20005.jpg

The theory is some amber shellac will turn the bright green into dark olive and the white string to brownish gold to match the bike. Gee, hope it works, those were my last rolls of green handlebar tape.

<off to work, hoping for the best....>

Now here it is after one amber coat of shellac. I may just stick w/clear for further coats...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_P7m8p3pz-zo/Sb_IJKJfe7I/AAAAAAAABsw/K0Zy4uywvWs/s800/Bars%201%20coat%20shellac%20wet%20016.jpg

rotharpunc
03-17-09, 10:25 AM
no worries, looks like it turned out great!
mkeller234
03-17-09, 10:32 AM
Yeah, from my screen it looks fantastic.

Caferacernoc
03-17-09, 12:49 PM
Dig it.
High Fist Shin
03-17-09, 01:33 PM
Looks like a perfect match. :)
robatsu
03-17-09, 01:59 PM
Looks like a perfect match. :)

Yeah, I really wasn't sure what it was going to look like and I didn't have any green tape to experiment on, so I just went for it. Really is working, you know, what are the odds of that? What may not be clear from the pics is that the cord whipping color then matches the downtube/top tub printing fairly well. Maybe a little too much red in it, but close enough.

I think I'm going to do a coat of clear shellac next, let that get good and dry, then see if it needs more amber, but my thinking so far is that it doesn't, and a little too much of it would turn the green to dark brown, and then where would I be?

Jay
WNG
03-17-09, 02:20 PM
Very nice touch. Such a close match, it's uncanny. I'm sure the redish tint will fade some with UV exposure. Then it'll match even more with the decals.
Old Fat Guy
03-17-09, 02:56 PM
Looks like an exact match on my monitor, nice work!
robatsu
03-18-09, 08:09 AM
Here is what it looks like after a second coat of shellac, this time using clear.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_P7m8p3pz-zo/ScD_LocUrMI/AAAAAAAABtQ/UF3DvVjIBpA/s800/Handlebars%202d%20Coat%20Shellac%20Clear%20002.jpg