Bike Ribbon
 

I have become a big fan of Bike Ribbon handlebar tape, like many others here, as of late. but recently ran into a problem with some. I bought a pack of red and black from the same seller on Ebay. I used the black, no problem, but when trying to use the red the "sticky stuff" kept pulling off of the cloth, so any part I had to rewrap, the sticky stuff stuck to the bar. I only wrapped one side and when I got up the next morning the tape had completely unwound and the cloth was completely separated from the sticky. Anybody else have this problem? You think the adhesive was old? I just threw the whole mess away.

I've not had this problem. Did you secure the one end with the bar-plug and the other end near the stem with tape? It would seem impossible to unwind if it was secured.

I've had tape shift around because it was not tight enough, but this was primarily leather tape or bar wrap which had no or very little adhesive.

The sticky on the back is not intended to hold the tape on, it's intended to make it easier to do the wrapping, in that it generally stays where you put it, until your finished, it's about the same strength as post-it note adhesive, this allows it to be installed, removed and re-installed fairly easily. I remember taping bars in the 1970's before they put the sticky on, and you had to make sure you always had tension on it, so it wouldn't unravel on you. As for your tape, my guess is that the tape was either improperly stored or past it's best before date.

I just used a roll of Bike Ribbon synthetic cork like that, almost all of the adhesive came up with the backing tape. Personally, I prefer it that way, I always secure the end of the wrap and the tape doesn't shift around on the bars anyway.

I've never had the sticky stuff delaminate from the tape. It has even allowed be to make corrections if my approach angle at the brake lever clamp was off, and rewrap without issue.

- But it is primarily the tension and the bar end plug, not the sticky, that holds it in place - so I don't understand how a fully wrapped bar secured at the end could come loose. (I do always wrap mine top down BTW, so I never have to worry about the electrical tape unwinding either).

Maybe it's specific to the cork product?
I use the Bike Ribbon Pro exclusively - (not the cork).

If you secured both ends properly then you definitely didn't use enough pressure. +1 on the adhesive being an aid in application, not to hold the tape in place indefinitely. I have used cloth tape with no adhesive on it at all and it stays in place perfectly. You cannot lose tension once you start wrapping. Pull with great force and don't let up at all until you reach the top (or bottom if you wrap that way, personally I don't). I find it helpful to either have one of my kids hold it at the top while I get a piece of tape to finish it off or sometimes I use a clamp and it holds it tight while I reach for some tape. Another trick is to use hockey tape under your tape. I tried this once and couldn't believe the difference. It has a high degree of friction with the overlying tape and simply won't allow the cloth to slide like it does on a smooth metal bar. A roll will cost you about three bucks and you can probably wrap about ten sets of bars with it.

I've wrapped a dozen with it and never had that problem. I love it.

Yes, the adhesive is "working as designed." I've found you can double the life of the tape -- when it gets dirty or the edges start cracking, you can remove it and re-wrap it the other way around to expose fresh, clean tape.

I thought I was the only cheap bastard that used to do this. Hahahaha.

Guilty as charged.

I do the same thing with my fishing superlines (Spiderwire and the like). Spool the reel, use it for a season, then tie to a tree, pull it all out, then spool back on from the used side. Another season's use of fresh line that was hiding close to the spool for nothing!! :) :thumb:

+1 lol

And I thought I was cheap Bravo!

Hey, I don't call myself cheap, I refer to myself as "non-wasteful" :) But seriously, you only end up using 1/3 -1/2 the line anyway. You can back with monofilament to shorten the length of Spiderwire needed but that's one more step, ick.

I have had tapes the the sticky stuff came off and stayed on the bars. usually it was the real cheap stuff that came with the bike, but I have also had nice tapes do it. I never worried too much about it.

No, seriously, I know how to wrap handlebars. I have 3 other bikes that I have recently wrapped with Bike Ribbon (not the cork) and I never had it act like this. The sticky stuff instantly stuck to the bar and pulled off the ribbon. I probably did not get it secured well at the top that night, but never had one completely unwind because it wouln'td stick to the tape!