Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Bar tape pictures:

A while back, I asked about getting some non-padded, cloth bar tape. You guys told me where to find it and someone suggested that if I put it on, I should post a couple of pictures, so here goes:

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k235/cyrano138/IMG_2107.jpg
This picture (above) is the old setup with the fake cork wrap.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k235/cyrano138/IMG_2128.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k235/cyrano138/IMG_2129.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k235/cyrano138/IMG_2130.jpg

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k235/cyrano138/IMG_2131.jpg
These last two show the difference, which is small, in how it looks. It's a little less bulky, which looks nice.

I can say, after taking a ride with it today, that I had no trouble riding without the cushion or shock absorption, and felt like I had a much stronger grip on the bars. It's a lot less slippery than the cork and since the bars aren't as thick around, I felt like I could grip it a lot better.

By the way, the tape is Velox Tressostar. I got it at my LBS for five bucks. Highly recommended.

i have the same tape. for longer rides, i need gloves. too much road vibration sucks on the wrists for long durations.

Those look like terribly uncomfortable bars.
The only slightly comfortable position I can imagine is on the hoods... if it actually had any.

Otherwise decent wrap job, way to HTFU and use cloth.
http://www.chicagoboyz.net/blogfiles/oldTDF-small.jpg

I can't take credit for the wrap; the mechanic did that.

As for the positions, I can get reasonably comfortable on the tops of the bars, a couple inches from the stem, and in a pseudo-bullhorn type of position. The drops are great for sprinting and pulling, but I'm pretty stretched out in that position so those are strictly utilitarian.

Those look like terribly uncomfortable bars.
The only slightly comfortable position I can imagine is on the hoods... if it actually had any.

Otherwise decent wrap job, way to HTFU and use cloth.
http://www.chicagoboyz.net/blogfiles/oldTDF-small.jpg

I want to have this printed on little pieces of over-head projector film and tape them to the inside of my sunglasses as a constant reminder of how much harder I should be riding.

i used cloth for awhile, but my town has tons of brick streets and the rest of the streets aren't that good either so it eventually started hurting in the wrists.

You can do this with cloth tape

^Cool!

My problem with un-shellacked cloth tape was that it leaked glue all over my hands. At first it was only happening on longer rides, but after a while it was pretty much like that all the time. It was gross. After an hour or two in the saddle my hands felt like I had just spent a week outside a porn shop shaking hands with everyone who walked out the door. Or at least, I would imagine that's what it would feel like.......... :o

^With our heat index pushing 100F this week, I'll be able to see pretty quickly if this is going to be a problem. If anyone's interested to know how the cloth wrap works, I'll post back in a while.

^With our heat index pushing 100F this week, I'll be able to see pretty quickly if this is going to be a problem. If anyone's interested to know how the cloth wrap works, I'll post back in a while.

I see you're in FLA, which means you probably ride through some heavy rain once in a while. If I were you, I'd get to putting some shellac on that tape.
I've got blue/white harlequin wrap using Tressostar tape on my fixed gear, and enough coats of shellac to make it smooth and shiny. I've put in a lot of rainy weather miles, and a lot of hot weather miles, all without any problems. No worries about it getting soaked through with rain or sweat, or about glue seepage when it's 90+ degrees.

Looks good! looks about like mine did...I definitely recommend you shellac 'em.
http://oregonstate.edu/%7Emoritaty/Bikepics/IMG_4438.jpg
http://oregonstate.edu/~moritaty/Bikepics/IMG_4879.jpg
http://oregonstate.edu/%7Emoritaty/Bikepics/IMG_4479.jpg

shallac made my bars slippery as hell when my hands got sweaty. sure looked nice though.

its much better if you get a cheap roll of cork tape and wrap the bars and then use the cloth over that. The cork will absorb vibration while the cloth will give you the grip you want and make the bars look cool as well. Your hands will thank you for it and so will the rest of your body.

ur bars will also be super thick using two layers of bartape... not a fan.

ur bars will also be super thick using two layers of bartape... not a fan.

And your bars will be super hard on your hands/wrist/elbows/shoulders using one layer of cloth bar tape. You can't have it both ways.

thats wat my gloves are for dude! Lol.

How well would cloth over cork hold up in the rain? Would it stagnate?

How well would cloth over cork hold up in the rain? Would it stagnate?

If I were doing that I would definitely shellac it! Forget about rain, can you imagine how bad your sweat would smell after a fermenting in there for a few months?! :cry:

I just taped up my nitto drops with some toshi cloth. Pretty sadlife tape job, I must say.

But wouldn't shellac negate the grip that cloth brings?

But wouldn't shellac negate the grip that cloth brings?

I have no idea anymore. Everyone should just use Fizik bar tape end of story.

I have no idea anymore. Everyone should just use Fizik bar tape end of story.

specialized tape is superior in my opinion.

ur bars will also be super thick using two layers of bartape... not a fan.

Not really that's why I said to use cheap tape or you can use gel tape as well. I had a set of bullhorns wrapped like this and they were comfy and grippy.

If I were doing that I would definitely shellac it! Forget about rain, can you imagine how bad your sweat would smell after a fermenting in there for a few months?! :cry:

What would make you think it wouldn't evaporate any less than any other type of bar wrap? And why are you smelling your bike?

What would make you think it wouldn't evaporate any less than any other type of bar wrap? And why are you smelling your bike?

Well, I figure you've got a lot of layers going, it's going to be harder to evaporate if moisture finds itself going past the cloth into the cork. I dunno, I'm guessing you've actually done this before, sooo, does moisture get trapped/does it stink?

Those look like terribly uncomfortable bars.
The only slightly comfortable position I can imagine is on the hoods... if it actually had any.

Otherwise decent wrap job, way to HTFU and use cloth.
http://www.chicagoboyz.net/blogfiles/oldTDF-small.jpg

+1.

Gathering parts for my new bike (Surly Cross Check), I had to shop for some decent drops. My brother recommended some 42mm / 132mm drops and those are real shallow = perfect for me. He and I have similar measurements and he rides the gnarliest singletracks on his CX bike in the drops. Ideally, you should be able to stay in the drops without any discomfort at all.

Those look pretty damn low.

its much better if you get a cheap roll of cork tape and wrap the bars and then use the cloth over that. The cork will absorb vibration while the cloth will give you the grip you want and make the bars look cool as well. Your hands will thank you for it and so will the rest of your body.

I did this on my road bike. It works great!

Shellac does not ruin the grip of cloth, just don't go crazy with it. I plan on using shellac flakes next time instead of the pre-mixed zinser stuff. Here are my bars after four coats of clear:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3619/3471441304_e7a9dc533d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3470626683_d631cb6885_o.jpg

Shellac does not ruin the grip of cloth, just don't go crazy with it. I plan on using shellac flakes next time instead of the pre-mixed zinser stuff. Here are my bars after four coats of clear:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3619/3471441304_e7a9dc533d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3470626683_d631cb6885_o.jpg

well well, well done!

Shellac does not ruin the grip of cloth, just don't go crazy with it. I plan on using shellac flakes next time instead of the pre-mixed zinser stuff. Here are my bars after four coats of clear:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3470626683_d631cb6885_o.jpg

okay, some questions...

1. why shellac flakes and not zinser?
2. how much time did it take to do that fine wrapping job, and how much swearing did it involve to get it looking that good.
3. is that a particular cloth tape? if so, where did you get it? (please don't say yellow jersey)

okay, some questions...

1. why shellac flakes and not zinser?
2. how much time did it take to do that fine wrapping job, and how much swearing did it involve to get it looking that good.
3. is that a particular cloth tape? if so, where did you get it? (please don't say yellow jersey)

I think I can answer some of those questions.

1. Shellac has a shelf life, the fresher the better. The zinser shellac has been mixed and sitting for a while so it's supposed to be better to buy flakes and dissolve them in denaturized alcohol yourself. Use a natural bristle brush to apply it too. There is also a way to remove more of the amber color from the shellac, I am not sure how though.

2. Wrapping cloth is a bit of a pain in the butt. It seems like it's never quite long enough, some people use three rolls but I only use two. I soak the cloth in water and stretch the piss out of it while I wrap it. I also use a Ray Dobbins technique, I remove the brake lever and wrap around the post. Here is a link explaining the technique: http://www.raydobbins.com/molteni_replica/molteni_tip Still though, it takes a while, and it does take a lot of swearing. I still have a lot of room to improve, some of the wraps in C&V put me to complete shame.

3. This is just Tressostar cloth tape. I bought some at my LBS that has been sitting around for years and years. I have also bought it from Velo-Orange (http://velo-orange.com/hacoandta.html) too.

Something about wrapping I've always noticed.
Some people wrap from the center out, some from the ends in.
Under the natural pressure of your hands on the bars, they tend to slide out...so, if you wrap from the center out (like that ^), Wouldn't your hands have the tendency to peel up and curl the egdes of the tape on the top? Here's how I wrapped mine, from the outside in.
http://oregonstate.edu/~moritaty/Bikepics/IMG_4879.jpg
The wrap job isn't anywhere near as nice, and I know its a ****ty pic of the tape...I can't take a better one, but you get the idea. Wrapped like this, the tape stays good and stuck.

i like the wrap from center out, no need to tape the ends.

i like the wrap from center out, no need to tape the ends.

thats the way to do it.

It's not really a problem with cloth tape, it dries so tight to the bar. I wrap cork tape from the drops to the center, but cloth center out. That's the old school way of doing it, so far no problems with it.


Something about wrapping I've always noticed.
Some people wrap from the center out, some from the ends in.
Under the natural pressure of your hands on the bars, they tend to slide out...so, if you wrap from the center out (like that ^), Wouldn't your hands have the tendency to peel up and curl the egdes of the tape on the top? Here's how I wrapped mine, from the outside in.
http://oregonstate.edu/~moritaty/Bikepics/IMG_4879.jpg
The wrap job isn't anywhere near as nice, and I know its a ****ty pic of the tape...I can't take a better one, but you get the idea. Wrapped like this, the tape stays good and stuck.

Fizik micro tape is pretty decent. It's nice and in the middle. It has a sticky feel to it, while still feeling thin like cloth tape, but has a bit of padding at the same time

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2477/3632954075_98cedd626a_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2463/3632948461_07b7a933c0_b.jpg

That blue looks hot. The black Fizik tape (and perhaps even some other colours) has a texture more like suede. I have gloves with a similar surface, and those two uneven surfaces give me a VERY good grip.

edit: Here's a better look. sorry about the table breakage. http://velospace.org/files/IMG_5773.jpg