Classic & Vintage - Brooks Leather Bar Tape - Shellac

Holy late post Batman.

I said I would post up a pic of my leather tape post-shellacing. I did this to prevent the tape from drying out and because is was way too slippery.

Success, 2 coats. Not the best picture, but here it is:

Looks very nice. How does it feel when you ride the bars?

Definite improvement, no sliding. Much nicer feel that shellac on cloth, and only two coats. We'll see how it feels in the summer.

I don't know why you'd put shellac, which isn't really intended to breathe, on leather - which is intended to naturally breathe and open up with age and accumulation of moisture. Especially when your tape was something like $80 a pop.

I sincerely hope this test goes really well. I'd hate to see you lose the leather.

Brooks tape looks nice, and apparently looks even nicer with shellac.:),,,,BD

I did this to prevent the tape from drying out and because is was way too slippery.


Proofide works pretty well for that.

I wouldn't shellac leather.

Well I think this was covered in another thread. For me the "breathing" means it dries out and looks like crap, or hand moisture, - or worse yet ..'proofhide' - gets into the leather and makes it's slippery and slimey to the touch.

Getting it to NOT to act like leather is the whole point.

Getting it to NOT to act like leather is the whole point.

Oh.

Getting it to NOT to act like leather is the whole point.

So...why did you buy leather?

Maybe next you could get your Brooks saddle reupholstered with vinyl.:lol:

I did the same thing with my tires because they were so slippery. The shellac really made me stick to the road like I was riding rails. I just have to re-apply it every few miles, no biggie.

I don't get it. If you don't want it to act like leather, there are plenty of synthetic bar wraps out there. I think this is a waste of nice leather tape.

I did the same thing with my tires because they were so slippery. The shellac really made me stick to the road like I was riding rails. I just have to re-apply it every few miles, no biggie.

:roflmao:

I don't know why you'd put shellac, which isn't really intended to breathe, on leather - which is intended to naturally breathe and open up with age and accumulation of moisture. Especially when your tape was something like $80 a pop.

I sincerely hope this test goes really well. I'd hate to see you lose the leather.
I could be wrong, but I thought that shellacing handlebars is traditional, at least in the UK.

Tough crowd! I don't know what shellac will do long term to the leather, but if it works, why not? It looks amazing, and will undoubtably hold off the sweat and grime far better than a traditional treatments. Looking forward to the summer followups.

I dunno FrenchFit, if you are trying to make your leather bar tape less slippery, I would certainly not use shellac on it as it will seal of the pores of the leather and might make it feel like it's encased in a plastic film. As for the leather drying out, I bet if you ride enough miles, just the oils from you hands will keep the leather from drying out.

Chombi

looks good and fits your needs. i would say a success!

time will tell on what affect shellac has on leather, but i would guess that it'll be just fine.

Stupid question about the shellacing:

Did you do it on your bike or did you take the bars off and put them on a vice? If you left it on your bike were you worried about shellac dripping on the bike if your brush got too much on it?

I've only ever done cloth, and I do cheap 3mil plastic wrap from Home Depot, over as much of the bike as you want. Heavy duty painters tape over the brake cables and hoods - if you leave them on during the application. Makes an easier cleanup too.


Stupid question about the shellacing:

Did you do it on your bike or did you take the bars off and put them on a vice? If you left it on your bike were you worried about shellac dripping on the bike if your brush got too much on it?

Stupid question about the shellacing:

Did you do it on your bike or did you take the bars off and put them on a vice? If you left it on your bike were you worried about shellac dripping on the bike if your brush got too much on it?

Shellac wipes right off with a little alcohol on a rag.

The bars won't go through the clamp after they're wrapped.

Shellac wipes right off with a little alcohol on a rag.

The bars won't go through the clamp after they're wrapped.

Ah, good point. I was thinking in that case of someone lifting the whole stem out and clamping it in a bench vice over a drop cloth, but a drop cloth over the bike would achieve the same ends. In my case, it'll be using a stem with a removeable faceplate as I shellac cork, but will have cables running under the tape, so yeah, I'll probably want to have it on the bike.

I do have to say I like the looks of the way that OP did it as it didn't cause the bars to mismatch the saddle in color, but I'd be afraid that the saddle will change in color and the bars won't.

I used to make some leather articles (billfolds, cases, purses, belts, etc.) that I applied a leather lacquer to (Fiebings), it was to give it that glossy, finished look. I like to use shellac on wood, but never tried it on leather. Think I'd have tried some assorted waxes (bee's, microcrystalline, carnuba) before I shellac'd my bar tape, but that's just me.

Edit: can't believe I wrote that, but: once you WAX something, you can't SHELLAC it. Shellac is an "almost universal" finish, but the one thing it won't stick to is wax. If you want to use shellac you must completely remove any wax (with solvents bound to be pretty hard on leather).

Theres a product called 303 Protectant thats made to rejuventate pretty much all rubber and plastic, it also works well on leather and fabric. It preserves and adds UV protection. I wouldnt use it on synthetic bar tape cause it can be a bit slippery but on leather tape i think it'd work well. By the way this stuff is great for softening up old rubber brake hoods and no i don't own the company :)

You're getting a real shellacking here Frenchfit. Say, how come you spell shellac without a "k" but shellacking with a "K"?
Anyway, shellac, as we all know, is a dried secretion from some bugs. Cut with alcohol, it then dries to a pretty hard shell, so to speak. Not as hard as varnish or poly, certainly. I use it in my woodworking too. I love the stuff. My guess is that it will crack and flake off over time on a porous, semi-flexible material like leather. But what the heck, it's worth a try and you may be a pioneer and/or start a trend.

Correct me if I'm wrong but, that looks just like the wrap that you can buy for your steering wheel.

What if you put resin on it like what you put on a baseball bat?

What if you put resin on it like what you put on a baseball bat?

Pine tar??

Oh for goodness' sake! Forget the perfect bar wrap. Just put something on your bars (or don't) and ride. How comfortable do you have to be to put in some miles?

Sorry, I'm not as grumpy as I sound. I use cheap handlebar tape, and it's not as good as some other things, but it's good enough!

What if you put resin on it like what you put on a baseball bat?

That would be awfully sticky, and it would get all over your hands / gloves, your brake levers, your shift levers, etc... In other words, not a good idea.

Sorry, I'm not as grumpy as I sound. I use cheap handlebar tape....

Maybe thats why you're so grumpy?

Back in the 70's we used to just slap on those Grab-On foam grips and be done with it till it falls off our department store bike's bars a couple of years later.......yeah they're ugly and heavy..... BUT DAMITOL, WE LIKED IT THAT WAY!!:p

Chombi

What if you put resin on it like what you put on a baseball bat?

that's not one of your better ideas.

After awhile the shellac is going to start cracking and flaking off. It works best on a substrate that's not spongy or compressible-- this is why it works so well on cotton. On cork tape, I have had bad luck with cracking, especially where my hands grip the tape. I suspect a similar fate for leather.

I have VO perforated leather tape on one bike. Might have been a little slippery when I first used it but feels fine now and looks even better with use. Shellac actually made cork tape very slippery when I tried that. I know it's also popular on cloth tape but I don't get that either as nothing feels better or grippier to me than double-wrapped cloth.

Which brings us back to the question why the OP is using shellac to supposedly avoid slipperiness and drying out of his leather bar wrap(??)....:twitchy:
Go get honey colored wrap if that's the color you want, but don't ruin a good set of leather wraps by putting shellac on it......Shouldn't that be the better response to his post??:rolleyes:
I think sometimes we're just too nice to tell the truth here....:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Chombi

I do have to say I like the looks of the way that OP did it as it didn't cause the bars to mismatch the saddle in color, but I'd be afraid that the saddle will change in color and the bars won't.

You mean the saddle isn't shellaced to match the bars? Lame.

After awhile the shellac is going to start cracking and flaking off. It works best on a substrate that's not spongy or compressible-- this is why it works so well on cotton. On cork tape, I have had bad luck with cracking, especially where my hands grip the tape. I suspect a similar fate for leather.

Brooks tape, at least the kind I bought, was neither spongy nor compressible. In fact it was horrible, lol. Rock hard and no give at all.,,,,BD

Brooks tape, at least the kind I bought, was neither spongy nor compressible. In fact it was horrible, lol. Rock hard and no give at all.,,,,BD

Maybe you wrapped it too tight. Mine is pretty awesome.

I think sometimes we're just too nice to tell the truth here....:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Yes, you're right. At least ....some of us are ;)

Wow, who'd expect these posts. In response:

So why'd you buy leather bar tape? - Never again, but it does look nice right now.

Why not shellac your leather seat? - I don't ride naked, if I did I might try shellac; which would help with stains I'm guessing.

Shellac is slippery yo! - No it's not, yo. It has fine grippy texture, just enough to keep from sliding, so far.

How to apply safely? - It couldn't be easier, I do block tape at the end, mid bar...I like a clean edge. But drips on the bike are rare and will come off with a little rubbing alcohol. Shellacing cloth is harder because it's so thin, it tends to make little drip mounds and other problems as it dries. Leather just soaks it in and goes hard. I did my fixed gear with weaved cloth, it took some 6-7 coats to get right.

Doesn't work on flexible material! - There is nothing soft and flexible about Brooks leather bar tape, not once it sets into position. Rock hard.

So match that saddle! Surprisingly, the color ends up damn close to the saddle. Accidents happen.

This is nothing new! 1000s have done it before, millions maybe. 100s of millions.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=&q=shellac+bike+handlebars&oq=Shellac+bike+&aq=1sv&aqi=g-v1g-sv1g-v3&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=614l4564l0l6450l7l7l0l1l1l0l75l334l6l6l0

There is nothing soft and flexible about Brooks leather bar tape, not once it sets into position. Rock hard.


Just how tight did you wrap it? Mine is awesome. You shouldn't be wrapping it as tight as you would cotton tape.



This is nothing new! 1000s have done it before, millions maybe. 100s of millions.
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=&q=shellac+bike+handlebars&oq=Shellac+bike+&aq=1sv&aqi=g-v1g-sv1g-v3&aql=&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=614l4564l0l6450l7l7l0l1l1l0l75l334l6l6l0

Shellac on leather? No.