SexPanther

I've got some plastic handle bar tape that matches my bike great, but I've only had it for a few weeks and it's torn to **** already. So I need something thats more durable. I've been looking into cloth tape lately and I was wondering what you guys thought of it. Should I buy fabric, or just find some cork?

And any suggestions either way would be awesome, I'm trying to get the closest I can to neon green.

Thanks guys.

JellyMeetsJam

This bike's velospace says neon green Casiraghi tape

SexPanther

Thats the same tape I have actually, got ripped up pretty quickly, seems to have lost most of the adhesive on it as well, slides all over the place.

Thanks though!

JellyMeetsJam

If you've got drops you could run green oury's on the top and green champs on the drops.

SexPanther

I got bullhorns, but I'm sure I could rig something with those.

mander

Cloth and shellac are the most durable, crashable combination I've found. Cork and gel both tend to tear easily when you wipe out. You might be able to get neon green with clear shellac over neon tape, but amber shellac over any colour won't do it. This is amber+ yellow tape:

.

nathbdp

Elkhide bar covers from velo orange. Grip, durable, and looks.

https://www.velo-orange.com/elsebarco.html

Other than this, I use cloth tape with shellac.

bexley

Ah, I thought your bars were done with white cloth, mander. That colour is what I'm aiming for when I manage to pick up some tape.

That nice Viva cloth tape comes in yellow, but I'm ambivalent to putting shellac over that stuff since it has a really soft feel.

For the OP, Jitensha has Viva in few nice greens: https://www.jitensha.com/eng/tape_e.html

Landgolier

Bar tape shouldn't slip around even if it has no adhesive on the back, you probably need to wrap it tighter. This might be why it's getting hacked up, most people get 6-12 months out of a tape job, and sometimes more. I'm assuming by "plastic" you mean normal soft bar tape, not benotto plastic ribbon or something like that.

Shellaced cotton tape is tough, pretty, and grippy, but it's not very soft. Better quality normal cork ribbon is tough and comfortable, it has long been the choice of almost all serious riders except for those who stated out when cotton tape was standard. This statement will of course draw a lot of griping from those people, but it's reality, go to any road race, club ride, track not dominated by newbies, or rando event and you'll mostly see foam/cork tape. Grips work OK if you like the texture, but they're kind of weird if you have brakes, and they do look kind of weird to anyone who doesn't speak FG scenester.

mander

Griipe! Gripe, gripe!

666pack

tressostar cloth tape.

jgedwa

Hockeystick tape!!!! 3 bucks worth can put three layers on three sets of bars.

bexley

...and it gives you enough gooey crap to require more bottles of Goo Gone than rolls of hockey tape.

SexPanther

Whew! Thanks for all your responses. I'll take a look at your suggestions.