illdthedj

why do people do it?

i was perusing myfixedgear.net and im baffled by how many fixed gear bikes have no handlebar tape on them.

i was just wondering....is there a reason for it? like, a PRACTICAL reason?
is it just because one super cool hipster did it, and a domino effect of other hipsters following suit ensued? so its just for looks??

that seems like quite a sacrifice in practicality and function for the sake of looking cool.

i have a feeling this has been already discussed many a time in this forum, lol sorry in advance.

BUT, perhaps there is a functional reason for doing it i am just missing out on. please clue me in if that is the case...

tgscordv6

No reason behind it like skinny jeans

spcialzdspksman

WRONG
Skinny jeans double as spandex, breh

TheBikeRollsOn 

Skinny jeans are less likely to get caught in the chain.

AEO

it's totally cool to get corked by your bars because they weren't plugged.
if you do go tapeless, be sure to get some plugs for the ends.

tgscordv6

spcialzdspksman

Be sure to get these then.
A good place to hide the weed.

wearyourtruth

the closest thing to a "practical" reason i can think of is laziness. i also think people are soooooooo eager to take a picture of their bike as soon as they "finish" building it, that usually they haven't wrapped their bars even if they plan on it. it's the same reason every other post in the share your ride has something along the lines of "new pedals to come" "haven't gotten around to wrapping the bars yet" "front brake is in the mail" "chain tension will be fixed" yadda yadda

hairnet

shiny

illdthedj

haha those are cool....
reminds me of a running joke i have with a friend....whenever we see a random container we will open it and say "look....you can put your weeeeeeeeed in it, maaaaan"

JonRinehart

hipsters aren't smart enough to wrap bars.

milkcratebasket

unwrapped bars look terrible imo.

Young Version

Actually, this is the sole reason I wear 511s. They're not hipster-skinny, but they're almost impossible to get caught in the chain.

Agreed...looks unfinished.

TejanoTrackie 

Unwrapped handlebars = Big time poseur

Noir Lethal

Right now I am running without it on my geared bike (tape is on order from nashbar). However when I see people without I think hipster, or dam they spent $2000 grand on that bike and ran out of money before they could save $10 bucks for decent tape.

n8murphy

when i was a messenger in 96-2000 nobody really used tape i never did. Mostly you would ride with your hands together next to the stem unless you got in the drops but that was almost never. i got the drops wrapped now but thats the first time with a track bike on the street i ever did. thats probably where all the hipsters got their style from us, cept skinny jeans they got those from thier gf's closet. the hipsters stole the riser bars stuff from us too but i never used em anyway.

Fugazi Dave

Some people claim they don't need it, but there's basically no way you can grip very well with bare hands and bare bars. Even in good weather there's bound to be a bit of perspiration that makes its way to the bars. Slippery bars = fail.

Tomo_Ishi

I was going tape-less when I was uber-noob. Tapes never lasted long because I fell over too often. ... uber noobs don't ride too long, so bar tapes aren't strictly needed.

These days, I don't fall at all and I can ride considerably longer now. Which necessitates (and lets me use) good bar-tapes for better grip. Poor grip means sore hands because you need to clench harder. ... And you get popping finger joints. With good bar tapes, I can just rest my hands and I never slip. (I am stupid and figured out just this year.)

day1si

A few years back I rode to work on a bike I wasn't 100% done building...
It was about 20 degrees out, and let's just say bars that aren't wrapped are a bit cold

As far as why... To each their own, but I'll keep mine wrapped.

elemental

That's one expensive bike. I hope it's NJS.

the_don

I have a lot of friends who don't use tape. They think it looks sweet, I prefer to see track drops with at least Track grips on them, But what ever floats your boat! I have ridden my friends bikes and hated it, but then I hate riding track drops on the street because the only comfy position is in the drops.

aMull

No unless you use bike gloves, then slippage wouldn't be a problem.