Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Cloth tape?

Anyone use cloth tape on their long distance bikes?

A few weeks back I re-wrapped my heavy duty commuter's bars with cloth tape in a "harlequin" pattern. It looks decent for my first shot, and I like the grip. There's less padding than with cork tape, but isn't uncomfortable with padded gloves.

I'm considering wrapping cloth tape over cork wrap on my LD bike. Any experience with this?

Also - I've not done any shellac on my city bike, and don't necessarily plan to.
Thoughts?

Thanks
-Sean

I had planned to use cloth tape (harlequin wrap) on my Bleriot (http://www.veloweb.ca/mybikepages/blerioso.html), but opted for leather. The plan also included a layer of "cork" tape on the tops of the bars, down to the hoods. That part of the plan didn't change.

I use cloth tape on 4 of my bikes. I like it a lot. Great feel, great grip.
I don't like too much padding and either use no gloves for shorter rides
or gloves for longer rides. I just use one layer of cloth tape, no padding
underneath. I like the feel of it, and I don't shellac it. I like the twine to
finish it off, and will shellac that. I really like the Harlequin look, but have only
attempted a normal one color wrap job thus far.

I am considering cloth tape on my next bar wrap on brevet bike. I will still put some gel pads under the wrap just behind the hoods. That is the only area where I really want padding.

I've always wondered about shellac causing blisters on bike bars. You know, on working tools like axes, hammers, hatchets and the like you never want to shellac or varnish the handles because you'll be guaranteed to get blisters using the tool; and in short time. With cycling gloves not an issue suppose, however, I often like to ride around without gloves on short runs. Any experience with this?

Later,
HB

I think a practical benefit to the harlequin wrap is how tough it is. It's effectively woven and doesn't (so far) seem like it'll unravel as a conventional wrap might over time.

For a hunter green and cream colored frame - what 2 tape colors would look good? I can readily find green, white, black, brown and red. Green and orange might look cool, but can't find orange very often.

shellac will help the cotton tape last much much longer... like years versus months. With only a couple coats, the feeling of the cloth won't change much. if youre going to the effort of a harlequin wrap over cables etc, you should shellac it IMO

shellac comes in clear if you're not into the foppish dandy look.

I think a practical benefit to the harlequin wrap is how tough it is. It's effectively woven and doesn't (so far) seem like it'll unravel as a conventional wrap might over time.

For a hunter green and cream colored frame - what 2 tape colors would look good? I can readily find green, white, black, brown and red. Green and orange might look cool, but can't find orange very often.

Velo-Orange has Tressostar orange cloth tape back in stock, and I think green/orange would look great. So would green/yellow, even if it is a little tractor-ish.

I have a Tressostar blue/white harlequin on my ss/fg rig which I use for commuting (30mi r/t) and weekend distance rides (100k is the longest so far.) I plan on a century with it in a few weeks, so it will be one of my distance bikes.

I've used a zillion coats of shellac on the tape to keep it clean and water resistant (PNW rider, lots of rain) and I don't have any issue when riding bare hands for 25-30 miles. Unlike tools where you're swinging them about and causing friction, your hands are steady on the handlebars.

CliftonGK1,

Are you a fan of "clear" shellac then? Any particular brand that's locally available you recommend?

CliftonGK1,

Are you a fan of "clear" shellac then? Any particular brand that's locally available you recommend?

I use Zinsser clear shellac, and I have a quart of the stuff. I'll be down your way on the 15th, if you want some. I'll never use all of it that I have.

I use Zinsser clear shellac, and I have a quart of the stuff. I'll be down your way on the 15th, if you want some. I'll never use all of it that I have.

That's awfully nice of you to offer. If that doesn't work out - I work in Seattle, but maybe if we're both doing an event in the near future...

I'm riding the May Day Metric this Sunday. I hope to start joining some of the RAMROD training rides that are usually in Bellevue or Redmond. I've had schedule conflicts so far, but hope to ride some of those starting next weekend (May 9).

Thanks
-Sean

I started using cloth way back when it was the only thing available. As the trends came and went I switched to the thin plastic Celo tape, the padded vinyl, the cork tape, and now back to cloth. I think the cloth is superior to all of them. The two downsides, IMO, are that it's easy to get the edges to curl up -- especially if you tape from top to bottom -- and that the light colors get dirty fast. Both of those problems are solved with shellac, and I now use shellaced cloth exclusively.

I also never wear gloves, and have had no problems with the shellaced surface raising blisters. I have experimented with cloth tape over cork, and also over a thin layer of rubber. This increases comfort slightly, but I do not at all care for the look of it -- very chunky -- so do not find the trade-off worthwhile.

I actually prefer Cateye tape over all others, even though it is some of the cheapest around. I have used Tressostar, and several other types of Japanese tape including the expensive "premium" tape made by Toshi. None of it goes on as smoothly and wrinkle-free as Cateye. Unfortunately, it may no longer be available in anything but black.

I've also used several types of shellac, including the Zinser Bullseye brand. The Bullseye is decent, but doesn't stay fresh in the can for long. I've found that after about six months, it takes forever to dry and is not as water/sweat resistant as it should be. It's also sort of thick, and very many coats will give you a shiny smooth handlebar. I personally don't like the clear at all, at least not on white tape. It look like dirty bandages, IMO.

So I've come to prefer flake shellac, prepared by the addition of denatured alcohol. I have had good luck with the flake available from Velo Orange, but like the dewaxed flake from shellac.net (http://shellac.net/) even more, especially as it is a good deal less expensive. They also have a wider selection of colors. One of the nice things about flake is that you can mix it up quite thin if you still want the feel of cloth, or quite thick if you're looking for a shiny Zinser-type surface. And it's the best tubular tire glue available!

HTH!

I've also used several types of shellac, including the Zinser Bullseye brand. The Bullseye is decent, but doesn't stay fresh in the can for long. I've found that after about six months, it takes forever to dry and is not as water/sweat resistant as it should be. It's also sort of thick, and very many coats will give you a shiny smooth handlebar. I personally don't like the clear at all, at least not on white tape. It look like dirty bandages, IMO.

1) That's why I'm willing to give half of it away before it goes bad. Pretty much any pre-mixed shellac will go bad in the can after about 6 - 12 months, from what I've heard.

2) I LOVE that shiny handlebar look! I've been doing thin layers and slowly building them up to a nice, high-polish looking shine. I'm going for that miltary high-gloss appearance. :D (The clear over white tape is a bit skunky lookin', but on my harlequin wrap the white is the accent colour so it's minimized.

1) That's another good case for flake. I can mix up just enough for one set of bars. And I can't find Zinser in anything but the quart cans anymore. Which meant that every time I did a set of bars, I used a couple of ounces and then ended up with $19 of useless shellac.

2) Yeah, I kind of lean toward "shiny" m'self. I finally got to the point, though, that my bars looked kind of like a wooden table at a seafood restaurant: natural fiber under a quarter inch of plastic! So I've tried to be a bit more moderate these days...

yes But I take the inexpensive way out.

I grew tired of Mail ordering tape whenever I changed things at almost 4.00 per roll plus shipping.

My main bike has 48cm noodle bars thus 4 rolls of Tape are needed.

One day I re did my cabling and didnt want to order 16.00 worth of tape and 8.95 for shipping.

I remembered My Hockey playing days and thus went to a hockey shop and bought 2 giant rolls of Yellow CLOTH
stick tape $1.65 per roll .

1 roll was plenty enough to do the 48cm noodle with 2 layers and its looks every bit as good as the Bike specific stuff when it has shellac on it durability hasnt been an issue either though its pretty thin, but easy to put on and with a few layers of shellac very tough.

I have this on all my bikes.

on my commuter /LD bike 2 layers yellow hockey tape with amber shellac,

on my single speed one layer cork and 1 layer hockey tape with Amber shellac same on the single speed cross bike.

lots of colors availible too. black, blue ,green, orange ,yellow, whiteand red I believe

"John"