gnrboyd

I've watched a few on-line videos on how to wrap handlebars but none of them I've found cover how to do it with the old style handlebars that have the secondary brake lever attached on the same pivot point as the main brake lever. (see attached photo...sorry it isn't very good....click on thumbnail to enlarge)

I bought some inexpensive foam bar tape and if I wrap it behind and around the brake lever mount, the secondary brake will rub the foam. Should I just wrap around the brake mount and then cut away part of the tape to make room for the other brake lever to pivot? I'm fearful of doing that because I think the tape might tear in that place or even break.

If I don't wrap around the back of the brake lever mount, it will leave an unsightly gap on the outside even if I use the 3" strips. It also wouldn't reverse directions on the tape at that point which goes against standard procedures from what I understand.

Also, I really can't use the 3" pieces that come with the kit that are to wrap aroudn the bottom of the break lever mount. There isn't enough room on the inside of the brake mount. I could use it on the outside and then stop just after the bottom. The bike doesn't have hoods either so I'm not sure what these pieces would look like anyway without a hood to cover up the ends.

The tape that was on the bike was original (early eighties) and was about as thick as electrical tape. I'm sure this has been encountered before with those wanting to put some thicker tape on the old style handlbars. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Thanks

AEO

use a thinner bar tape, like cloth.
or use 4 pieces of rubber grips.

Doohickie

Those foam rubber grips get nasty. Just wrap it like normal, use the little piece on the outside only (and parallel to the bar, not around it), and try to leave as much room as possible around the suicide lever. I've managed to do it successfully.

mcgreivey

If you want to keep the auxiliary levers (all us kool kids just took them off back in the day), you'll have to either use cloth bar tape, or so something kloojy.

If your goal is to do a vintage restoration of the bike, use cloth tape.

If your goal is to make the bike comfortable, either take the aux levers off, or spend $20-30 on some new levers, like basic Tektro ones, and wrap with the padded tape you have.

A klooj could be worked up, using some combination of padded tape, old fashioned cloth tape, and/or maybe something like gel padding. One way that comes to mind might be to wrap with padded tape from the stem to the point where the padded tape would start interfering with the aux lever. Then cut it and tape it down, and cut 2 or 3 or 4 3"-5" strips of the padded tape. From the point where you stopped wraping the padded tape, start wrapping with thin cloth tape, wraping over the strips of padded tape, which you're orienting parallel to the bar. When you get just past the brake lever clamp, cut and tape down the cloth tape, and start wrapping again with padded tape.

OK, that would be a pain to do, and might look ugly. I guess I'd attempt it, just to prove it could be done. Prove to whom? No one, I guess.

Yeah, I'd just take those aux levers right off and wrap with padded tape, I would.

Panthers007

You can take a 6-inch or so rectangle of the tape (if it's cloth and has stick-um on one side) and place it on one side of the brake-fastener - around the bar - and onto the other side of the brake-fastener. Then wrap the bars. I wrap from stem - to - bottom. It doesn't come loose if you give it 2 1/2 wraps to start while pulling tight. Looks better than a encirclement of electrical-tape. And it's the way my friends & colleagues have always done this.

We always removed the 'suicide-levers' as they promote confidence in grabbing those things in a panic stop, and ending up on the hood of a car. Or worse.

Retro Grouch 

"Tressostar" cotton tape is the period appropriate handlebar wrap. It'll leave you enough room for your levers to operate. Each roll is only long enough to do one side so you have to buy two. I find it faster and easier to remove the "suicide levers" and replace them after I'm done wrapping the bars.

HillRider

One comment; have you been wondering why many of the above posters have refered to the auxiliary levers as "suicide levers"? There is a reason.

AEO

speed adjusters is what I would call them.
if you combine them with modern calipers or cantis, they will work pretty decently if the pads are set really close to the rim.

gnrboyd

I know the auxiliary/suicide levers are not "cool". Well, neither am I. I just find them funcitonal. First of all, I'm not setting any world speed records when I ride and when I am going fast, my hands are not in that upper position. From time to time, I just like to change my position and use them. Call me stubborn I guess.

I'm not looking for a vintage look. I'm doing this because I got this bike in high school (28 years ago) and there is a little bit of sentimental value in keeping it on the road. Secondly, I need a new car more than I need a new bike so I'm being frugal with it. As for taking off the levers... see my comments above. I just plain like them.

I guess there is some danger to using the suicide levers but like I said, I use them as a change of pace rather than for primary braking. In 28 years of riding the bike, I've never had an issue with using them.

I was hoping to get something more comfortable than what I had before. (cheap vinyl junk) It lasted a long time (28 years!) but it was not very comfortable. I guess I will have to look into the Tressostar cotton tape because I'd rather keep the levers than to take them off and use foam.

?? Huh?

I just had a thought....... What if I wrapped the bars with the foam tape and skipped going around the brake lever mount and just kept wrapping. Then If I came back with the cloth tape over it it would cover the uglyness caused by skipping around the brake lever mount. I've have comfort and cosmetics. Do you think it would be too thick? Would it even work?

Thanks everyone for your advice.

Torchy McFlux

With brake levers like those, I just wrap up to the bottom of the lever bodies, cross over on the clamps, and continue wrapping above.
Since there's no hoods, and making sure there is clearance for the suicide levers is very important, there's no point in using an extra piece of tape or wrapping around the lever body to cover gaps or whatever.

AnthonyG

I had a look at your picture and thought to myself, where are your brake hoods?

Then I remembered that those levers with the suicide levers didn't come with hoods and to be honest that changes everything. All the instructions you have read so far on bar wrapping are assuming that you have rubber hoods and NO suicide levers.

Back in the day when those levers were common cheap bikes just used a thin plastic bar wrap and expensive bikes used cloth tape which wasn't much thicker. To do a really neat wrap job with those bars and levers I would make sure the levers were positioned where I wanted them, tape the underside of the lever body clamp in place, take the lever body off, wrap the bars and when you get to the lever clamp wrap as closely as you can without interfering with the bolt hole but definitely covering the underside of the clamp and then bolting the lever body back on.

Thats the best you will do with those levers. The technique of wrapping around the lever body with it bolted in place is assuming that you will cover them with rubber hoods.

EDIT: Ohh, and I forgot to mention. Modern cork tape may not be the best to use with such levers. It just wasn't part of their design considerations. Cloth tape would give the neatest result. You may be able to bolt the lever bodies back down onto cork tape although its possible that the bolt won't reach. You will just have to see.

Anthony

gnrboyd

I hadn't thought of removing the brake levers before wrapping. Sounds like a good idea. I have a couple of concerns though.

1. You say to leave the clamp on and wrap the underside of it without interfering with the bolt hole. The bolt hole is on top of the clamp. Are we talking about different types of clamps or am I just not understanding? (The clamp is a c shape with a nut connecting the two sides which is where the bolt connects just under where the brake lever mounts. If I understand you correctly, I would wrap close to the clamp, then on the under side of it and then continue on. The bolt couldn't interfer. ??

2. Assuming I wrap using your suggestion above instead of the methods described previously, I won't reverse directions at the brake lever which will mean the top of the bar is wrapped in reverse of the usual method. How likely is this to cause the tape to become lose?

3. If I clamp the brake lever down, it will be on top of the foam tape (assuming I use the foam tape I have instead of finding the cloth tape.) I am fearful the brake clamp might cut into the foam causing early failure.

4. You say to tape the clamp in place before starting. Are you meaning to tape it in place with the bar tape or some electrical tape?

Thanks

celinajuggalo

i have a 74 le tour w those "suicide levers". i left the levers on and had no problem wrapping my bars. i like to be able to change hand positions from time to time. i converted it to a single speed. feel very safe when i ride. never got the flying over the handlebar feeling. i ride my bike in the country and the city in all conditions.

AnthonyG

It was a little hard to describe but it sounds like you understand what I mean. Use some electrical tape on the inside of the handlebar to make sure that the clamp doesn't move on the bar with the lever body removed. Wrap as closely to it as you can when you get to it without covering the bolt you need to attach the body to. How the foam tape will handle having the body clamped to it is what I'm not sure about myself. You will just have to try and see.

As to wrapping direction you could start at the top and work your way down. That works quite well. You end with inserting some of the bar wrap into the handlebar and then fit the end cap. Its designed to work like that.

As to the sturdiness of foam/cork wrap? Well its nowhere near as sturdy as the old style cloth tape. Everyone here is re-wrapping bars more than they used.

Anthony

Panthers007

I find good cycling-gloves - with padding where your nerves are - are better for promoting a comfortable grip than thick, spongy tape, multi-layer tape, or foam. I ride Pearl Izumi Attack gloves. There are many styles of gloves out there. These are my current favorites.

gnrboyd

Did you use cloth tape? foam?

I can't see myself wearing gloves to ride. I don't really consider myself a "cyclist" and don't wear special clothes to ride. I just ride on the weekends for exercise. Maybe that's why I bought my last bike 28 years ago. LOL.

My wife is laughing at me for reconditioning the old bike. She asked me if it was going to fall apart after I get it back together. I'll show her......

Panthers007

I dress like a hippie. Period. Except for the gloves & helmet.

Torchy McFlux

Those levers won't throw you over the bars. Just the opposite. They generally won't stop a bike. The cheap flexy ones, anyway. Which is the vast majority of the ones that used to be on the market.

mkeller234

+1 I think this would be the best route cosmetically and functionally. Here is a link where Ray Dobbins demonstrates this technique with pictures:

https://www.raydobbins.com/molteni_replica/molteni_tip

Your clamps are probably not exactly the same but it should still work. I don't wear cycling clothes either, but I do have gloves that I wear. For what it's worth, I have cork tape on my newer bike and I don't think it is as cushy as most probably imagine.

Tressostar cloth is about 4 dollars per roll and cork is usually around 12. At those prices you can buy one, try it out and replace it if you don't like it.

gnrboyd

mkeller234: Thanks for the link. I think I will go this route. My clamps are different and will be more challenging than the ones in the photo. My clamp has the bolt coming from the brake lever to a nut on the clamp instead of having the bolt sticking out of the bar. I may not be able to get 100% of my clamp covered. I might have to customize some small pieces to put around the clamp and glue them on before I start the wrap.

CACycling

I've done a couple of 70s Le Tours with foam tape and it works fine. I'm sure you have the same claps as I do. They are just a strip of metal around the bar with an insert on the front side for the screw that attaches the brake housing. As noted above, make sure the clamp is where you want it; cut a short strip of the wrap and wrap it around the clamp (no need to glue, you can tape it together in the front till you get the wrap done); then wrap the bars (I prefer stem to end myself as well) and try to have your wrap just miss the top of the clamp as you go around and then drop just below the clamp on the next wrap (no bare bar visible if done right); finish off the wrap; tuck the end in; pop in the plug; and remount the brake levers over the wrap (it may take a bit of force to compress the foam enough to get the crew started but once you do it looks really clean).

DMF 

The correct spelling is KLUGE, thus KLUGEY though that really is bad usage.

clancy98

How much thread do you have in the suicide lever bolts? Pull them out and install a small spacer. You may have to mod the suicide lever, or find a suicide lever from another bike with more "reach" to the hood.


The other option is to adjust the levers (read - bend them a bit) Could be done without looking sloppy if you have a vice and some patience.

mcgreivey

Kloojy is itself a kluge of a word, anyway. In any case, I suspect the OED is silent on this word (though I don't feel like checking). What's its derivation, in any case? I dunno.

mzeffex 

Protip: at the shop we always remove them, wrap the bars, and then put them back on.