Mike Mills

So, if you use cotton tape for the bars, where does one buy leather-palmed, cotton-mesh backed cycling gloves? Is there a source for those?

big chainring 

I knew a racer who would put new white tape on before every race. At Super Week in Milwaukee that meant new tape every day. His reasoning was that it looked better in photographs and that his sponsers would want clean white tape in a photo. If you look at photos of that era there is alot of white tape. Merckx had white tape on his orange bike. And it does look good in photos.

caterham

i totally agree that top-down wrapping was the norm for decades and that the bottom-up method is a fairly recent adoption.
to me the issue has always been a practical one.
plastic,cloth and the hugely popular benotto cello tapes benefited from the added friction/grip afforded by having their edges exposed towards the rider at the outer corners and near the hoods(a non-issue on the drops or tops).
when ambrosio and cinelli introduced their padded & cork tapes, the softness & compliance of the material could cause the tape edges to roll and tear if it wasn't wrapped tautly enuf. The new tapes afforded a good non-slip grip,so the need for top-down wrapping was diminished . without that need, it becamme an industry norm to wrap bottom-up as it requires much less skill and attention from the installer/ 'mechanic'.

bikerosity57

Tressostar BLACK.

Panthers007

Is that what I think it is on the Guerciotti?

Sacrilege! Heresy! Out, Demon - OUT!



Very nice wrapping!

Regards the gloves -

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...0Half%20Finger

cudak888 

What's on the Gooch that's C&V sacrilege and heresy? It's Benotto tape after all (was until that thing ended up RIP).

Or do you mean the *****mano?

-Kurt

unterhausen

I guess I was typical then, except I never had clean tape. For quite a while I had my bars half taped, the top of the bars looked nice that way. I think a lot of people liked new tape, it was cheap and it got nasty fast.

Panthers007

The blue Guerciotti - looks like electrical-tape!

Regards the tape getting nasty - that's where a coat of shellac, clear or tinted, came in handy. Tressostar with shellac will last and last and...

cudak888 

That's the last time I wrap with Benotto cello.

P.S.: It's black. I think of this vinyl tape when someone references to my "blue Guerciotti:"



I did ultimately part with that blue frame though.
-Kurt

delicious

wow. that looks really nice there, cuda.

cudak888 

I wish the frame had worked out as well as the bar tape.

-Kurt

Mike Mills

So, if you use cotton tape for the bars, where does one buy leather-palmed, cotton-mesh backed cycling gloves? Is there a source for those?

Anyone?

RoyIII

My PX10 had tressostar cloth tape. My cannondale singlespeed does, too. I still like the stuff,

https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/handl...ebar-tape.html

oldbobcat

I assumed that the advent of Benotto Cycle Ribbon was the start of bottom-to-top wrapping. It came with bar plugs that fit over the bar ends, so you couldn't anchor the tape ends by pushing them into the bar and holding them in place with the plugs.

Panthers007

I posted that above. Look and ye shall be rewarded. Or sumthin'...

Oh - and Mashbars also has another store brand for $3 - $4.

Kommisar89

There's an LBS nearby me that sells them. They are new production not vintage and have velcro fasteners with their logo but they look pretty good. I'll post a pick and a link to their website tomorrow.

Panthers007

They are very lightweight and airy on the backs. Nice for very hot weather. Though I've got Pearl Izumi's with padding on the palms and ulnar-nerve, I still wear a pair of the webbed-ones.

Again:

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...0Half%20Finger

Mike Mills

ty

I haven't seen any locally for years. I don't really like the spandex-backed gloves. But I love the cotton handlebar tape.

unterhausen

Benotto tape is horrible if you wrap it from the top down. I never really liked anything top down, but the cloth stuff worked best that way. I think some of us wrapped top down and bottom up and met under the brake levers. I have such an aversion to cloth, I don't think it matters any more because I would never use it even though it's still available. Wish I had bought a lifetime supply of Benotto.

Kommisar89

Here they are. I found the velcro flap with the "Planet Bike" logo rubbed against my wrist so I cut them off. You don't need to strap the gloves to your hands.

https://www.cswestbikes.com/servlet/t...Cycling/Detail

23skidoo

You can always ask Andy at yellowjersey.org, he's probably got a couple stashed away somewhere in there.

OK, I confess to both heresy and being a total doofus, but I love Benotto Cello tape.

Basil Moss

I got myself a pair of the old school gloves today! Found them gathering dust at the back of the LBS, and they feel like the most comfortable mitts I've ever put on! Now I just need to badger some of the old gits in our club for their old woolen club jerseys...

Mike Mills

I'm still looking for a pair of vintage shoes, too. heh heh.

dbakl

I still have my Adidas Eddy Merckx shoes with the nail on Anquetil cleats from the early 70s.. just for nostalgia's sake.

Mike Mills

I bought a pair of leather soled shoes but have been a bit disappointed with them, as they are actually a plastic sole with a VERY thin leather sheet laminated to the outside. The soles look like leather but are not and do not feel as if they are, either.

Sorry for off-topic tangential post.