Bicycle Mechanics - Taping Handlebars w/out Electrical Tape

I have heard of people being able to tape without using any electrical tape to finish off handle bar tape. Does anyone having a link or picture of how to do this?

I don't have any links for you but I know one way you could do this. You start at the top and work down towards the bar end. Start with one complete straight wrap and then start wrapping across. This will leave a little bulge but its not that untidy. When you get to the bar end you wrap a little past the end of the bar, insert a short piece extra into the end of the bar, fold the wrap thats gone past the bar end into the bar end and then insert the plug to hold it all together.

Anthony

+1 for what Anthony said.

You may also want to consider the direction of the wrap. When doing the right side, bring the tape over the bar towards the rear of the bike and under the bar going forward. That way, when riding, your hands will tend to tighten the tape rather than loosening it. However, you'll want to reverse the direction of the wrap when you get to the brakes or brifters. Do this by stopping the wrap and going straight down one side of the shifter before starting again in the opposite direction.

Better yet, do a search on YouTube, there are several demos of wrapping bars - - some good, some not so.

bumper

2 1/2 wraps (tight!) to start - on the 1/2, begin the journey down the bar. This is how we always did it. The tape-job with electrical-tape is recent. Last 10 - 15 years or so. Top-down is much cleaner. Here:

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

Thanks for all your answers. Great pic Panthers007. Exactly what I need to see. Looks soooo much better than tape. How cool are those levers!

Top down wraping does eliminate the need for "finishing tape" but makes the wrap vulnerable to slipping as the exposed edges face the direction your hands tend to push. Bottom-up wraping does rerquire tape or a substitute of some kind but the wrap stays in place better in use.

Colorado Cyclist (and probably others) sells bar tape finishing rings to avoid the tape that make a neater appearing finish. Here is the reference:

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/item/BKCLJZAA

hey Panthers007, Is that leather bar tape you got there? if so, where did ya get it? it looks great.

It's Brooks. Widely available. Cost you plenty though. Look around. There are other brands out there.

By the by - never had a slippage problem. Just pull TIGHT when you start your wrap.

Anyone try a 1/2 inch wide ring of heat shrink tubing?

thanks! I just bought some Velo-Orange bar tape. I was expecting perforated but I got solid and it doesn't look anywhere near as nice as yours. I think I am going to move it to another bike and get that. Furtunately I have another bike to put it on.... shopping now, doing my part for the economy,
Actually gonna go for a 40 mile ride right now. I was just waiting the the temp to creep up to close to 40 and looks like it's there.

Colorado Cyclist (and probably others) sells bar tape finishing rings to avoid the tape that make a neater appearing finish. Here is the reference:

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/item/BKCLJZAA

I have these on 3 bikes now. A few notes on the install that might be of help to others:

1. The 26.0 and 31.8 versions actually are different sizes. While the clamp diameter on the bars is the same, the cable groove on oversize bars extends into the enlarged center section. If you don't get the larger size, you'll only be able to wrap a very short section of the tops.

2. Because these must be installed near the end of the cable groove, those of you who like to wrap your bar tape to within an inch or so of the stem won't be able to use them. This bothered me at first until I realized that I really never put my hands there anyway.

3. They are definitely easier to install with normal, uncushioned tape. The first install I did was on a bike using Fizik's soft touch tape and it went very smoothly. The next two bikes used Cinelli gel tape and Fizik tape with bar gel. I had to be very precise with how I ended the tape to get the clamps to fit right. It took several tries with me trimming off bits of tape/gel at a time to get the perfect wrap.

In every case, I'm very pleased with the results. The clamps rigidly hold the cables up against the bars and provide a stress-relief in the event that something tugs on the cables (which could stretch electrical tape or unravel the top down method).There's no sticky residue left on the tape after removal and no chance of the tape ever coming loose.

Get some Proofide while you're at it. You'll want to treat the leather to keep it from drying out.

Anyone try a 1/2 inch wide ring of heat shrink tubing?

Someone posted a photo of just that very recently.
Only problem I found was that in searching where to buy tubing that large, I only found companies offering 50+ foot rolls that cost a *lot*!

1 inch x 4 foot black at digikey (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=A100B-4-ND), $4.
1 inch x 4 foot clear at digikey (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=A100C-4-ND), $4.

Edit: maybe 1.5" diameter would make more sense, still digikey has 4 foot lengh (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=RNF112K-ND)t for $12.

Wrapping from the top of the bars down is very...uncommon. It results in the edges of the tape starting to flip up on the tops.

Wrapping from the top of the bars down is very...uncommon. It results in the edges of the tape starting to flip up on the tops.


Bingo! I have heard of it called "shelling". In the "olden" days thin plastic or cotton tape was not as prone to this but thicker modern cork and gel tape gets that curling of the wedges in short order if you wrap from the top down.

We didn't use thick, spongy tape. Or cork. Those are recent innovations. And I use cloth or leather - and NEVER have had any problems. Call it unusual, but if you were from my generation - you'd be the unusual person wrapping top-up and finishing with an ugly glob of black tape! :roflmao2:

http://www.rivbike.com/images/products/full/0000/1313/16-086_blueclothgood.jpg

I really like the look of hemp twine like rivendell shows http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/handlebars_stems_and_tape#product=16-086